Who we are

Carl Reynolds is a mediator and facilitator working in social, political and environmental arenas. He works with all sorts of organisations including community groups, campaign groups, companies, local and national Government and, over the years has created a few voluntary, community and campaign groups with others.

“As an initial member of Rhizome, I want to be able to look back and say that I was part of an organisation that supported people in their efforts to organise and work with their communities or constituents consensually.”

“As a mediator my strongest challenge is to ‘sit on the fence’ – I’ve been considered dubious by both those with power and conversely by campaigners. That’s good – it keeps me on my toes and forces me to reflect on my practice.”

Emily Hodgkinson is a psychotherapist and facilitator with a passion for diversity, conflict and eco-psychology.  She is a Diploma-holder in Process Work – a radical method for working creatively and sustainably with change in which problems and disturbances, when approached with curiosity and awareness, become the seeds of solutions and new growth. Emily has worked as a counsellor and diversity trainer specialising in sexual and gender minority issues. She’s also involved with the Transition Towns movement and is co-creator of the Footpaths carbon reduction project.

“My personal eco-mission is to support environmental activists to get more effective at what they do and to promote the understanding of environmental issues as systemic issues involving community, conflict and the psyche.  I’m excited to be part of Rhizome where I’m looking forward to exchanging ideas and experience with a diverse group of top-notch facilitators.”

Hannah Clayton is a trainer and facilitator who has spent the last ten years working in various NGOs in a range of human rights education, training and capacity building posts. Until October 2011 she was Training Manager at Amnesty International UK, running a training programme to support Amnesty activists in their local campaigning. She is passionate about supporting groups to feel more effective and empowered in creating change and is constantly inspired by the groups and individuals she works with.

“I’m really excited about joining Rhizome and being part of an impressive team who deliver exceptionally high quality support to grassroots activists and organisations that support them. Rhizome is a fantastic resource and I’m looking forward to being part of it and working with a diverse range of organisations and groups.”

Jo Melzack is a facilitator, trainer and capacity builder, who initially spent several years in anti-racist education and in adult basic skills development. For over 16 years she has worked with Greenpeace in the Active Supporters Unit, developing and training activist networks around the UK to enable them to communicate campaigns, to lobby effectively and to take nonviolent direct action. She is passionate about the use of nonviolence and the empowerment of individuals and groups to bring about peaceful and sustainable social change.

“I’ve known Matthew for a long time, and when he asked if I’d like to join Rhizome I jumped in at once, grinning all over! A bit impulsive, I know, but it’s a real privilege to be able to work alongside amazing people with masses of experience and similar values. It enables me to continue to develop my own practice, to be actively involved in working with NGOs and grassroots activists, be part of the change I want to see in the world and still have time for cooking and pottery.”

Maria Franchi has been working in voluntary and community settings since 1992. Having spent some time being a full time students’ union and then trade union activist, she became involved in demos around Reclaim the Streets and anti-globalisation actions such as the G8. Meanwhile she developed a career in information, advice, training and policy work.

She has done much of her work in community settings, in activist groups, and with local community centres. The issues she faced everyday around involvement, empowerment and voice, as well as the difficulties of enabling people to get involved in activities led her to complete an MA in Political Activism and New Social Movements. Experiences abroad and working in communities here in the UK have led her to adopt reflect-action approaches to working in groups.

“As I have become better known in the sector, I have been asked to become more and more ‘mainstream’ in my approach. Rhizome gives me an opportunity to use my skills in a way that is more meaningful in terms of social change.”

Matthew Herbert is an activist-trainer and facilitator who has worked within the social and environmental movement for over 20 years. In that time he’s co-founded a number of co-operatives including Seeds for Change Oxford, and worked a capacity builder, both paid and voluntary, with Greenpeace and People & Planet. As a consultant he’s helped several large NGO’s better connect with their grassroots. Somewhere along the way he became passionate about consensus. Matthew’s worked on many of the major grassroots campaigns that have taken place here in the UK over that time.

“I’ve  seen local groups and campaigning NGOs reinvent the wheel more times than I care to remember. Rhizome is one way of making that process obsolete, or at least a little quicker, so that groups and organisations can concentrate on the change they seek to make.

For me, Rhizome is an attempt to bring it all together – a high quality resource to support the passionate people out there making change, right livelihood for the Rhizome facilitators, and enough time left over to get down to the allotment”

Perry Walker is a facilitator, but also a designer of participatory processes, many intended to minimise the need for facilitation. Two are for deliberation: Democs conversation kits and Open Up argument maps. The one that has brought him into contact with Rhizome is Crowd Wise, an approach to consensus decision-making that combines deliberation with a form of voting called consensus voting. Until early 2011, Perry was head of the Democracy and Participation programme at nef (the new economics foundation). He is now a Fellow of nef.

“As the new kid on the block, it’s been a pleasure both to meet people who truly believe, as I do, in consensus and to feel that I bring something genuinely new to the party.”

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