Our People

Gisela Wendling, Ph.D.

CEO

With more than 30 years of experience, Dr. Gisela Wendling supports leaders, their teams and their organizations to realize visionary futures. She collaboratively engages people from across the organization to tap into their intelligence and capabilities to initiate change and realize their desired future. She coaches leaders to develop their ability to lead effective change, connect to their own vision, and develop their relational skills. She is the author of The Liminal Pathways Study and the co-author of Visual Consulting: Designing and Leading Change. She holds a doctorate from Fielding Graduate University’s School of Human and Organizational Development.

David Sibbet

Founder

David Sibbet has been an organizational consultant and information designer since 1977. He is the author of John Wiley & Sons’ four-volume Visual Facilitation Series and many of The Grove’s leading-edge group-process tools and models for facilitation, team leadership and organizational transformation. He is a master facilitator of large-scale group processes, strategic visioning and creative, future-oriented symposia. He frequently lends his coaching and design expertise to Grove project teams.He holds a master's degree from Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a B.A. in literature from Occidental College.

Joran Slane Oppelt

Senior Consultant

Joran Oppelt supports teams in achieving alignment, drawing on two decades of experience in visual consulting, strategic visioning, graphic facilitation, executive coaching and team development. He has helped enterprise clients shape strategy in the technology, sport, healthcare and finance industries. He is a master facilitator who has helped shape strategies in technology, finance, software, sport and healthcare. holds certifications in coaching, design thinking and virtual facilitation. He is the author of Facilitation: A Human-Centered Guide to the Art of Collaboration, Visionary Leadership, and The Visual Meetings Field Guide.

Nevada Lane

Senior Associate Consultant

Nevada has over 20 years experience in facilitation and visual thinking, and creates environments where people can show up fully, learn and grow together, and make a real impact. She graduated from UC Berkeley, with an M.S. in Organization Development and has had positions at Genentech and Lorensbergs, Sweden’s leading facilitation and training firm. She works with clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small consulting firms.

Laurie Durnell

Senior Associate Consultant

Laurie Durnell applies more than 25 years of diverse experience in facilitation, strategy formation, team development and management training to her work in organizational consulting and information design. Her clients include public, private and public-benefit organizations. Laurie is known for her strategic acumen, visual facilitation mastery and results-driven collaborative style. At the heart of this work is her appreciation that people’s ability to understand and respond to complexity is greatly enhanced when they can literally see what is happening and are directly involved in the process.

Brian Tarallo

Senior Associate Consultant

Brian specializes in visual methods and virtual meetings. He works in the federal and state government, defense, engineering and healthcare industries. He has served as a business process improvement manager for a federal agency, an operations manager and later a senior consultant for a Washington, DC-based consulting firm, an associate and later an associate partner for a Washington, DC-based engineering firm, a project manager and an operations manager for a national development firm, and a development volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps. In 2023, Brian was awarded an IAF Facilitation Impact Award. 

Trent Wakenight

Senior Associate Consultant

Trent is a graphic facilitator who helps organizations and leaders who need expertise in visioning and strategic planning, change management, team development, focus group implementation, design thinking and strategic communication. He has supported 27 U.S. Federal agencies, and worked in higher education and with non-profit organizations for more than 20 years in the U.S and around the world.

Paula Hansen

Associate Consultant

As a graphic recorder and facilitator, Paula Hansen creates compelling visual displays to help groups engage and create together. She has over 15 years of experience working with a range of organizations from Fortune 100 companies to start-ups and non-profits, She has worked throughout the US and all over the world, from China, India and Nepal to Iceland, Denmark and Australia.

Karen Stratvert

Associate Consultant

As an independent graphic recorder since 1990, Karen has worked with businesses, nonprofits, government agencies and educational groups in meetings around the world (North America, Europe, Central America, Asia). She has worked in meetings in a wide spectrum of organizations (high tech, finance, healthcare, pharmaceutical, entertainment, education, government, nonprofit, etc.) and has a solid understanding of business concepts (M.B.A. in Finance). 

Balderhaar Consulting

Stahnsdorf, Germany

Brings experience improving work processes in organizational development through coaching, training, strategy and team development.

Markus Engelberger

Vienna, Austria

Contributes graphic recording, strategic illustration, meeting facilitation, strategic consulting, as well as workshops and trainings.

ES Consulting

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Enables change in organizations by focusing on strategic issues at a senior-management level. Conversant in visual tools and methodologies.

Heiko Veit

Düsseldorfer, Germany

In Germany I offer Organisational Development, Training for OD Consultants and Coaches and special developmental programs, that cover the full range of the development of consciousness.

Otherwise

Milan, Italy

Designs and facilitates behavioral training and team coaching, LEGO® Serious Play® and unconventional, engaging events. trainings. trainings.

Team Management Services GmbH

Bad Nauheim, Germany

As experts in team development, we train coaches and HR business partners in The Grove’s Team Performance System and other world-class tools.

Visual Facilitators

Hamburg, Germany

Pioneered graphic recording in Europe and focuses now on strategic visualization, organizational development, process consulting and explanatory videos and training.

Megan Hinchliffe

Chief Operating Officer

Megan Hinchliffe brings more than 25 years of administration experience to her role managing all facets of administration and accounting at The Grove. She has a bachelor’s degree in American studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz and holds a certificate in human resource management from San Francisco State University. 

Bobby Pardini

Director of Design and Licensing Solutions

Bobby Pardini supports organizations and partners who wish to license The Grove’s products and training services. With more than 30 years of design and production experience, he also leads The Grove’s efforts in new product creation and design-focused client work. He has worn many hats during his tenure, including project manager, communications designer, product developer and writer/editor. He has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, Columbia and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of California, Berkeley. He joined The Grove Consultants International in 1990.

Ronita Johnson

DEI Advisor

Ronita Johnson has worked in the area of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for over 35 years. She began her DEI career as Manager of Diversity for Pacific, Gas & Electric Company where she was responsible for the training and development of 20,000 employees. She began consulting externally in 1993, focussing on cultural assessments, awareness training & development, strategic planning, diversity dialogue and coaching. She has a B.S. in Psychology from Cal State, Hayward and is a certified coach from New Ventures West. 

Anne Merkelson

Marketing Manager

Anne brings over 20 years of marketing and communications experience to the Grove, in such varied industries as performing arts, higher education, alumni relations and tech. She is endlessly curious about what makes people tick and channels that curiosity into her messaging-strategy work. She has a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of California, Santa Cruz and a teaching credential from San Francisco State University.

Olivier Sibbet

Administrative Assistant

Olivia supports all aspects of The Grove’s operations from product development and marketing to tech-hosting and workshop support. Olivier is a recent English and Psychology graduate of Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. Outside of work, she runs a local writing group in her home base of San Francisco, CA. Her time is best spent talking to people from all walks of life, asking absurd questions and playing table-top role-playing games.