Sonja gets excited by holding the bigger picture and laying out the details and structure that create a pathway to creativity and growth. Her brain filters information in this systematic way while infusing these pathways with consideration of how systems, histories, and places have shaped our movement in the world and how they may express themselves in our bodies.

Sonja’s core professional experience lies in systems creation, operation, maintenance, facilitative processes management, design and creation of multimedia materials, space holding in liminal spaces and times, conducting/implementing research, organizing, and convening difficult conversations. These have expressed themselves in the domains of spirituality (expansive), public health, small business, grants management, and refugee/asylee resettlement. Sonja values emergent and participatory leadership, co-learning and equipping, mutuality as a mechanism of imagining and implementing change, and witnessing a colleague’s skills and gifts bring them delight and fruition.

Sonja holds a Master of Public Health, Maternal and Child Health from the University of Minnesota, a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She is trained in facilitation by the Minnesota Technology of Participants (MnTop) and is currently pursuing doula training and certification in grief work.

Inspired by: the authentic pursuit of healing and transformation, pausing and slowing down,  invitations to adventure, a thoughtfully decorated space, public health, the complexity of the human body, asking for help, and exquisitely flowing systems that birth creativity.

Refreshed by: a robust laugh, cold-presses, her dog (and pretty much any animal!), feet in the dirt, rides on Lime scooters, expanse, re-imagination, Kali stickwork, bodies of water, deep discussions, trying new creations with her garden herbs, unexpected connection, the little, but profound, synchronicities that bring us together or invite us to move on.

You can rely on Sonja to: see something through from start to finish, make a lot of lists, ask questions, remember a plethora of strange facts, stabilize and summarize, take care of business, have your back, and ask about your astrological placements.