"Impossible" sounding goals and objectives were broken down and put into perspective. This, plus she's really approachable, and we had a huge range of people there from the community--all ages and professions were represented. Also, seeing the end-result the last night--it was pretty cool to see it all come together.

The way the process works! And the coming together of ideas. This process really allows people to be vocal without conflict of ideas! A must-have in most situations to be able to arrive at a common purpose!

Excellent all the way around--she took many abstract ideas and in the end allowed us to see they all had several common denominators. Teachers never felt fired upon, and outside community leaders learned a lot about the school atmosphere that they may not have known. No one got defensive or uppity. Dang it, she is GOOD. She also has a neat sense of style--it's clear she thinks outside the box, and I really think that is one aspect that is needed for this position.

...she was a GREAT facilitator all around and amazing did a great job of just observing conversations without us knowing she was taking it in! That, I believe helped her help us!

Mary did an excellent job encouraging the group to do the work that needed to be done. She really seemed to know when we needed to be pushed and when we needed praise. She had the ability to make the group feel safe to share. I only knew about 40 % of the people in the room yet I still felt like I had a voice. Her quick follow-up via email with the results of the previous night's work was great.

Breathing Space Facilitation: Mary Overlie,CTF: mary@maryo.org