Faculty: Visiting Experts

In addition to our regular faculty, a number of other organization development practitioners and educators provide a rich range of perspectives through short workshops, guest presentations in courses, internships, and participation in students' culminating project committees:

Saul Eisen, Ph.D. is one of the founders of the OD Program at SSU. His international consulting practice integrates strategic planning and organization development. He partners with clients to develop empowered individuals, high performing teams, competitive organizations, and thriving communities. As part of this work, he facilitates small and large group conference sessions, bringing together stakeholders with diverse perspectives. He guides them in creating an environment in which they can discover common ground, develop a shared vision for their desired future, and generate concrete action plans for implementation. Follow-through support provides training and coaching for task-force groups, and consultative guidance through the crucial implementation stages.

Among his clients have been Fortune 500 companies such as Bank of America, Texas Instruments, and Hewlett-Packard; educational institutions such as Rancho Cotate High School, Instituto Centro-Americano Administración de Empresa (Costa Rica), and the Jerusalem Academy of Art; and community organizations such as the three federations of Kibbutzim in Israel, the City of Sebastopol, the Napa County Department of Health and Human Services, the School Board and Town Council of Windsor, and the Oregon Symphony.

Ellen Raboin, Ph.D., is a collaborator and researcher in Human and Organization Systems. Her current work engages front line clinicians, patients, and family members in co-creating new ways of working together in their movement toward collaborative practice. Her research applies a practical communication perspective rooted in relational social constructionism. Broader interests include exploring the meaning of health and healing in support of health care transformation. She has 25 years of work experience including process engineering, hardware and software systems implementation, account management, and consulting in organization change.

Ellen is an Associate of The Taos Institute, an active board member for the Ronald McDonald House of San Francisco, and is Past-President of the Bay Area Organization Development Network. She holds a Doctorate in Human and Organization Systems from Fielding Graduate University, a Masters in Organization Development from Pepperdine University, and an MBA from Cal State.


Geoff Bellman worked inside major corporations (Ideal Basic Industries, Amoco, and G.D. Searle) for 14 years before starting his own consulting firm in 1977. His external consulting has focused on renewing large, mature corporations such as Booz Allen & Hamilton, U.S. Bancorp, Verizon, Intuit, Ernst & Young, Shell, Price Waterhouse Coopers, BP, SABMiller, Boeing, and Accenture.

Over 250,000 copies of Geoff's books are in print in a dozen languages:

  • The Consultant's Calling: Bringing Who You Are to What You Do (Jossey-Bass, 2002-2nd edition). FORBES cited this book as among their most popular small business books.
  • Getting Things Done When You Are Not In Charge (Berrett-Koehler, 2001-2nd edition), a Fortune Executive Book Club selection.
  • The Beauty Of The Beast: Breathing New Life into Organizations (Berrett-Koehler, 2000), is about successfully working in large organizations.
  • Your Signature Path: Gaining New Perspectives on Life and Work (Berrett-Koehler, 1996) assists readers through significant life and career change.
  • The Quest For Staff Leadership (Scott-Foresman, 1986), received the National Book Award from The Society for Human Resource Management.
  • Finding the Magic: Why Some Groups Achieve Amazing Results, will be finished later this year. 

Geoff's consulting and workshops have taken him to five continents. He serves as guest faculty for several university graduate programs, including Pepperdine, Fielding, Antioch, Bowling Green, and Sonoma State. In 2006, Geoff was chosen to receive a national award from Organization Development Network for his contributions and generosity in advancing the profession.

Geoff grew up in Washington state, completed his undergraduate work at Gonzaga University, and did his graduate work at the University of Oregon.


Lee Glickstein is founder of Speaking Circles © International and author of Be Heard Now! Tap Into Your Inner Speaker and Communicate with Ease (Broadway Books). An authority on presence, ease, and authenticity with groups, he is a keynote speaker and a leadership communications consultant and trainer. He delivers programs and coaching sessions with a unique combination of inspiration and step-by-step innovation to clients ranging from top professional communicators and business leaders, to "non-speakers" with severe stage fright.

A lifetime of stage fright motivated Lee to develop a gentle, elegant approach to break through epidemic fear of being fully oneself in public. This process of discovery led him to a thorough understanding of the principles of authentic presence. Lee has been a member of the Northern California Chapter of the National Speakers Association since 1990. In 1996, he was awarded the Athena Award for Excellence in Coaching and Mentoring.

Lee lives in Woodacre, California, with his wife Audrey and three cats, and his hobby is constructing crossword puzzles for the New York Times.


Lisa Heft is a facilitator and interactive learning specialist known internationally for her resources, trainings, tools, and workshops on Open Space Technology and other dialogic and interactive methods for engaging deeper reflection, learning, and dialogue. Whether facilitating international conferences, consulting on conflict resolution processes for teams working in Northern Iraq and East Timor, engaging interdisciplinary thinking between housekeepers, hospitality managers, and CEOs for the future of a luxury resort facility, teaching interactive learning methods to health monitoring specialists from developing nations, or facilitating learning and dialogue with prison inmates--Ms. Heft is known for her thoughtful design, clarity of communication, and ability to bring diverse people together in dialogue and co-creation.

Clients on five continents include the International AIDS Conferences, U.S. Departments of Labor and Transportation, National Forum for Geosciences Information Technology, One Ocean Marine Forum, U.S. Scholar-Athlete Games, Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics, Inc., Family Health International, Bernardus Lodge and Winery, Quail Lodge Resort and Golf Club, International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies, Canadian National Council for Tobacco Control, Heifer International, San Quentin State Prison, and Columbia University Center for International Conflict Resolution (with whom Ms. Heft is a Fellow).

Ms. Heft is Vice President of the U.S. Open Space Institute, author of The Open Space Idea Book, and chapter author for "Beyond Bullets and Bombs: Grassroots Peace Building Between Israelis and Palestinians" and many papers on facilitation, interactive learning, and community health. Ms. Heft's resources and papers for facilitators and educators--as well as more information about Open Space--are available at her website.


Gary Hochman has worked in the development of organizations for over 20 years, during which he has served in senior executive, staff, and consulting roles. As founder of The HR Matrix, his consulting practice integrates strategy, work systems design, team performance, and human resources practices to enhance organization effectiveness and employee engagement.

Throughout his career, Gary has led countless projects helping executives and managers rapidly achieve results in a wide variety of demanding situations. His facilitation and leadership skills, coupled with his business acumen and understanding of organization change, have made him successful in start-ups, mature organizations, and rapid growth companies. His expertise includes business process improvement, meeting design and facilitation, and the design and implementation of strategic human resources solutions.

Gary is the former vice president of human resources at OCLI / JDSU and served as the senior OD consultant for Hewlett-Packard. In addition to his commitment to Sonoma State University and his consulting practice, Gary is the president of the Community Child Care Council of Sonoma County (4Cs).


Lenny Lind is President of CoVision, which has supported organization development projects with appropriate technologies since 1985. In 1991, CoVision began fielding a portable groupware system for meetings--Council--through which anonymous feedback from participants allows the views of a whole group to be addressed while all are still convened. To date, 2500 meetings have been supported by the firm. In 1997, work began on WebCouncil--an online collaboration platform for dispersed teams. This was the system used to host a Delphi conference moderated by Saul Eisen, to consider future OD intervention strategies, and the continuing professional development of OD practitioners.

Lenny is Co-author of "Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making", 1996 (2nd ed., Jossey-Bass, 2004).


Drawing no sharp distinction between work and play, Edie and Charlie Seashore have been surfing white water through half a century of experiences that have ranged from individuals to small groups to large gatherings, from organizations to systems to global institutions, and now to understand "use of self" as the focus of their work.

Edith Whitfield Seashore, M.A., has more than 40 years of experience in successfully training and consulting with governments and corporations in organizational development and behavior. She is a past president of the NTL Institute and currently is on the faculty of the Johns Hopkins Fellows Program in Change Management. She is the co-founder of the American University/NTL Institute Master's Program in Organization Development and continues as a faculty member in that program. She has co-edited The Promise of Diversity as well as the book What Did You Say? The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback.

Charles Seashore, Ph.D., has 37 years of experience as a consultant and trainer in corporations, health care, higher education, and government. He is currently on the faculty of the Doctoral Program in Human and Organizational Development of the Fielding Institute and teaches with Edith in the Johns Hopkins Fellows Program in Change Management and the American University/NTL Institute Master's program in Organization Development. He is an organization development consultant in many health care institutions including academic medical centers and teaching hospitals. He is a past chair of the board of the NTL Institute and co-authored the book What Did You Say? The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback.