Executive operations, Governance & Organizational Leadership
Business Intelligence & Performance • Executive Advisor • International Partnerships • Portfolio Stewardship
I advise leaders and institutions through growth, organizational change, complexity, and high-stakes decisions.
Executive oversight of multimillion-dollar international programs, organizational intelligence, distressed portfolios, and cross-sector partnerships spanning Indigenous nations, foundations, and business enterprises.
Leadership at Altitude
A birds-eye view: an altitude that can offer precise details on how leadership, relationships, learning, resources, and decision-making are in relationship with one another- especially in business.
I recognize where momentum is building, where information or authority is becoming concentrated, and where strain may be limiting progress. From that wider view, I help create the conditions for decisions, wise and fair use of resources, and more purposeful investment in people and opportunities.
Leadership at altitude means seeing the whole ecosystem (data rich) while remaining close enough to understand what people need, what the moment requires, and where focused action can have the greatest influence.
*AI is a new form of intelligence that requires shared responsibility. Building an understanding of this is imperative as we integrate this into our workflows and utilize it to create ethical, clearer and efficient systems.
PROFESSIONAL highlights
My work is grounded in direct responsibility for organizations, programs, financial portfolios, partnerships, and teams.
Executive oversight of international social-impact programs growing from approximately $1M to $4.7M annually
Management of monthly operating budgets ranging from $20K to $100K
Support for philanthropic fundraising exceeding $3M over three years
Development of proposals and donor engagement securing commitments of over $1M from a major foundation
Design of a federal compliance and recovery system for 50+ distressed small-business loans of approximately $3M–$5M across a federally backed loan portfolio
AI is a new intelligence the collective is responsible for. I help leaders approach AI as a shared responsibility—building understanding, integrating it into workflows, and using it to create clearer, more efficient systems.
Direct reporting to NGO boards on strategy, budgets, performance, compliance, and risk
Leadership across multidisciplinary teams, including Indigenous leaders, legal professionals, community organizers, and international partners
Collaboration with Indigenous nations, foundations, universities, nonprofits, and cross-sector partners
How I lead & build
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leading across the web
I bring leaders and teams into meaningful exchange across initiatives, nations and institutions.
Through traditional enduring practices and practical organizational strategy it is possible to strengthen the humans behind the work to succeed- while keeping high degrees of accountability.
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Guiding Work Through Change
I name transitions clearly and make sure people are working at an altitude that prevents burnout.
When the path is uncertain, I strengthen communication and resilience, address challenges or power imbalances, and then clarify decisions, responsibility and the use of resources.
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Building Programs and Systems
I design leadership programs, curricula, governance processes, operational plans, budgets, and strategic initiatives that connect vision with execution.
This phase can stand alone or be stronger as part of a larger evolution.
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Setting direction
I skillfully identify the forces shaping results, uncover what others may miss, and turn that insight into a clear strategy people can understand and carry forward.
Who I work with
I work with leaders and organizations responsible for shaping strategy, directing resources, and building what comes next.
CEOs, presidents, founders, and business owners
Indigenous nations and community leadership.
Foundations and donors.
NGOs and international initiatives.
Cross-cultural and cross-sector partnerships
Universities, researchers, and educators.
Business owners and organizational managers.
Legal, compliance, operational, and program teams.
My work is especially valuable where different forms of knowledge, authority and responsibility come together.
Writing, research and media
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June 2025
Published on Swamphen, a journal of cultural ecology of the University of Sydney, Australia
Keynote Essay : Indigenous Embassy
As Indigenous Peoples, our own orientation to boundaries is incompatible with oppressive constructs because, for us, borders are dynamic, semipermeable sites of relational increase. We will share this orientation from our unique experience of emergent embassy rituals between Cañari and Kara::Kichwa of the Andes::Amazon and Bama/Murri of Australia’s northeast (see Jacobs & Narváez; Yunkaporta).
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Fall 2026
Fall 2026
“Seeds and Structures”
By Tyson Yunkaporta, Gabriela Romero, and Stephanie Beck
Emergence’s seventh print volume will explore the role of seeds and structures in bridging the worlds and sowing a future where we embody an ontology of ecology. Central to this inquiry will be an examination of ancient and existing ways humans work with seeds and structures—spanning physical, cosmological and spiritual, and ecological knowledge systems that honor our sacred relationship with the Earth.
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The Other Others | November 2024
Indigenous Borderwork, Kinmaking & Migration
With J.Gabriela Romero, Nkwi Flores, Amazon Andes First PeoplesA dialogue exploring the relationships between identity, migration, governance, belonging, and community formation across cultures and territories. The conversation reflects on Indigenous approaches to stewardship, kinship, and collective responsibility, and considers how different systems of knowledge inform the ways people organize, lead, and navigate change.
Enduring Perspectives
These perspectives inform how I see our role in the work, our systems and the conditions that allow people and environments to work with respect and even ease.
These enduring learnings come from my Ecuadorian Kañari background and from a lifetime of learning shaped by family, tradition, observation and lived experience.
Much of this was not taught in formal institutions. It was carried through stories, relationships and the ways my family understood responsibility and relating.
These enduring perspectives are frameworks and master tools that help guide my work, leadership and orientation:
Get in touch
Due to the confidential nature of my work I maintain a deliberately limited public profile and rely on direct professional networks and referrals.