and offerings of Aimee Samara Krouskop
PROJECTS
Center for Sustainable Economy
Design, consult and production work for a series of forums on climate solutions for the U.S. Pacific Northwest, Olympic Peninsula region.
Global Earth Repair Summit 2022
The Global Earth Repair Summit 2022 convened a wide cross-section of restoration practitioners and thinkers to share practical information, synthesize new ideas, collaborate, and to scale up local efforts. This international gathering continues to support the grass-roots, locally-managed restoration mass movement to regreen our planet and recarbonize our soil. I served the summit with project management, program design, and organizational development.
Open Oregon Educational Resources
Open Oregon promotes textbook affordability for community college and university students, and facilitates widespread adoption of open, low-cost, high-quality materials. I am a lead author of an openly-licensed textbook and course materials designed for introductory courses in social change. My focus is on content and pedagogy that has an equity lens, amplifies inclusion, and is decolonizing. I am also a contributing author for an Introduction to Sociology textbook, providing international content, and I'm providing Sociology consultation for a Marriage and Family textbook.
Peace and Conflict Studies in Jordan
Peace-building and Conflict Transformation from a Humanitarian Lens
This study abroad program focuses on innovative peace initiatives designed to support communities in Jordan. Exploration will include an introduction to the historical and current conflicts in this middle east region, including international intervention and the role of water scarcity. An initial four weeks will be presented online and the abroad portion of the course incorporates various site visits to cultural and political entities in Jordan, homestay opportunities, and excursions to world-famous locations, such as the Dead Sea, Wadi Rum, and Petra. In collaboration with Portland Community College and the School for International Training, this program is open to any who are interested.
The Andean Experience of Pachakuti
This travel program explored the question: What perspectives do indigenous societies of the Andes have about our changing social environmental world? Through close-in connections with wisdom-rich docents of Bolivia's indigenous communities we observed the innovative roles they play in responding to rapid globalization and environmental concerns, how social change is manifesting in the region amidst extraordinary circumstances, and how we can best acknowledge and serve those on the front lines protecting our natural world.
United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Serving as a Humanitarian Officer, I developed systems and hosted events that launched a more collaborated response to Peru's earthquake of 2007. Our goal was to amplify the efficacy of UN, NGO, government agencies, community leaders, and funding entities to better address unmet needs in emergency zones. My strategy was to quickly engage aid actors in the design of the process, and reducing power imbalances across relief actors, while agencies moved from an emergency response to a repair and development stage. I applied mediation and facilitation with groups of 5 to 150 to find common ground, then to strategize for action. I also designed a set of cloud-based online tools that prompted data sharing and engagement across 3 disaster sites. New and productive relationships were created across more than 500 local and international aid actors.
Alongside a team, I designed and led Art of Hosting Leadership Workshops. Intensive three-day events that trained leaders to develop meetings and practices for working better together amidst times of rapid change and high complexity.
City of Portland Sick Time Ordinance
I led field outreach and listening events for the City to address implementation of Portland’s Protected Sick Time Ordinance, engaging with businesses, organizations and employees. My approach was to partner with more than twenty local business and service organizations, then 1) connect employers to the technical help they needed to understand their obligations under the law and 2) inform employees of their rights. I gave significant focus to providing relevant outreach and resources to new immigrant business owners and created a survey instrument to assess business and employee experiences.
Portland Human Rights Commission Forum on Creative Solutions to Homelessness
As a human rights commissioner for the City of Portland, and with the city's Office of Equity and Human Rights I designed and implemented this forum focused on long-term, affordable housing solutions for people without housing in the Portland region. Panel members provided context and expertise for facilitated discussions as each group developed recommendations that support the success of those solutions. In partnership with the Interfaith Initiative on Family Homelessness, the New City Initiative, and the Day of Homelessness Awareness.
Oregon Department of Agriculture
Insect Pest Prevention and Management Dept.
I contributed to design, facilitation, and mediation for a series of public events that provided outreach and public input regarding aerial fumigation of an invasive insect species in north Portland. These events provided opportunity for the public to engage directly with many agencies involved with the plan and gather detailed information as needed.
At this projects closing, I facilitated a multi-state, multi-agency SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges) Analysis of the entire eradication project, including its outreach.
Portland Human Rights Commission Roundtable 2013
I designed, produced and led this roundtable which was the Commission’s first step in implementing a discovery process designed to holistically identify and assess human rights issues in the City of Portland. We created a base of human rights information with the help of organizations from around the city. It additionally offered a first-ever opportunity for commission members and representatives of human rights advocacy groups to meet en masse in a format dedicated to cross-collaboration. The event allowed those community based representatives to share the human rights issues they are working on, their insights on unmet needs and strategies, and to provide recommendations for action. See the report and video.
Colombia Peace Presence
Alongside a team in Colombia, I organized, led, and facilitated in-country delegations of international citizens, including elected officials. The goal was to provide exposure and education about the human rights concerns amidst Colombia's civil conflict. We facilitated meetings with human rights defenders in Bogota, as well as rural regions; with Indigenous, Afro-Colombian, and farming communities in resistance. Participants gained an in-depth understanding of the complexities of this protracted armed conflict and then were supported in lobbying human rights protection for those they visited, as well as resolution to this conflict in their home regions.
Pallas Communications and Douglas Bloch
I provided ongoing outreach, business, editing, and design consulting for this organization that produces published works, presentations, workshops, and educational websites on the topics of psychology, healing, and spirituality. Significant project was website Overcoming Suicidal Pain.
Grantmakers for Education
I supported the 19th Annual Grantmakers For Education Conference of this organization dedicated to improving outcomes for all learners by serving as a trusted partner for all education philanthropists as they adapt to the changes impacting our world. The conference created a robust learning environment for funders working independently, collaboratively, across the spectrum of education, and in partnership with other sectors to ensure that the nation fulfills its promise of excellent and equitable public education for every learner today and into the future.
People's Health Clinic PDX
I provided facilitation for founders as they shaped the vision, mission, and strategic planning for this Portland-area free health clinic "...serving those of us living at the crossroads of economic injustice and other systemic oppressions."
Living Room Conversations
I organized and facilitated a community forum sponsored by Living Room Conversations to address: "Homelessness in Portland: Challenges, Solutions and Lessons from the R2DToo Relocation Experience".
The Standard Insurance
Working within their Organizational Development Center, I re-designed this company's employee insurance training system, which included migrating from an external vendor to an in-house system. Key to the success of this migration was our role in organizing and facilitating orientation events affecting hundreds of employees across multiple departments.
