Alex Handfinger, MPH, MPS, is the Nutrition Outreach Manager at the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance. He is responsible for recruitment, training, and retention of statewide partner organizations seeking to implement evidence-based nutrition education. He believes that equity, democratic participation, and organizational culture are the too-often overlooked essential elements to success. As a food baby born the day after Thanksgiving, he believes that everyone deserves access to DELICIOUS foods, and spends most of his time thinking about what he’s going to eat next, taking his dog and best friend Maggie Mae to a beautiful swimming hole, and noodling around on whatever musical instrument he can get his hand(fingers) on.
Alex Handfinger
Culture change, Teambuilding, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
United States
United States
Alex Handfinger
Geographic experience
North America, Africa
Languages
English
Experience as a coach (formal/informal)
12 years
Experience as a facilitator
8 years
UFacilitator stage
Lead
Alex would be great at leading projects particularly in food and agriculture and education. He would also benefit from observing another facilitation coach in action if we are able to organize that. He is excited about projects where leadership is truly bought into the idea of changing organizational culture. When leaders not only want feedback from stakeholders but are actually willing to enact changes based on that.
Sector(s)
Food and agriculture, Education, International development, Race equity
Strengths
- Methodologies creatively used: World Cafe, Liberating Structures, SWOT analysis Working in public education, food systems in the United States, food and agriculture
- Extensive experience working with grassroots projects in the United States and Africa
Areas of development and learning
- How to get people to STOP talking when it's too long or not on-topic! How to not feel self-conscious about this irrespective of who the person is.
- How to walk the line between democratic inclusion and having so many divergent voices that you're not even sure what to do with it.
- How to ensure that the product of these facilitation processes is actually utilized and implemented by leadership and not just thrown up on a shelf.
- Feeling more confident about his own skills and feeling more comfortable with ambiguous situations.
- Coaching people to build their own facilitation plan and skills.
About us
UFacilitate exists to coach leaders so they can create the conditions that are needed to drive inclusion and collaboration.
