THE BESTWORK PEOPLE
Marsha Shenk
Karen AberleEllen Hoenig-Carlson
Michael MacNeill
Lisa Marshall
Dan Montgomery
Karen Aberle has been helping organizations throughout the United States , Latin America, and Europe to create cultures of trust and ever-increasing effectiveness and satisfaction for over 20 years. Her discourse of "Mindful Collaboration" enables people to see the fundamental dance of human existence (the one in which we are always working to produce fulfillment for ourselves and others) in simple terms and practices. This discourse represents a convergence of multiple worlds of learning Ð sales, fine arts, ontology of language, and ancient spiritual traditions.
Karen began her career with eight years at American Airlines in Sales and Marketing. She was trained as a sculptor at the National Academy of Fine Arts in New York. After American, she pursued advanced study into the nature of design with Fernando Flores, philosopher, Stanford researcher, and entrepreneur. In 1988, after completing a 3-year program in ontological design, Karen became the director of education for Action Technologies, Flores' company that introduced one of the first PC-based workgroup productivity tools called "The Coordinator". As she began training companies in the fundamentals of coordinating action, she discovered a profound lack of basic understanding of the moves to make in developing highly effective partnerships.
In 1997 Karen found herself in a completely unexpected path, that of the Huichol Indians of Central Mexico, when she undertook the ancient rite of passage known as vision quest, a journey alone into the wilderness, sitting many days and nights without food or shelter, seeking a vision and divine guidance and wisdom. Understanding that hers was the work of providing healing and divine support to her people, she entered into a 12-year apprenticeship to become a Shaman. After the first six years, she was initiated and has been integrating this spiritual learning and practice into her work with leaders, companies, and communities. Her ability to bring people to the center of divine flow and give them tools to navigate the inevitable challenges of commitment has earned her a reputation as a powerful force of intervention that comes with humor and humility, and gratitude for all that human life bestows upon us.
Karen lives in New York with her husband and manages to balance concerns for her worldwide clients, two daughters, and three grandchildren in Dallas, and extended family in Chile .
