Barbara Lewis

Principal, Rocky Mountain Center for Positive Change
1579 South Washington Street
Denver, CO 80210

Email: Barbara@positivechange.org
Phone: 303 335 5185
Web:www.rockymountain.positivechange.org
www.positivechange.org
http://www.aipractitioner.com/appreciative-inquiry-practitioner-november-2013

Barbara E. Lewis is a Principal with Rocky Mountain Center for Positive Change, which specializes in strategic transformation through innovation and collaboration. She is also President of Catalyst, Inc. and the Colorado Chapter of the International Association for Public Participation. With 30 years of experience in facilitating positive change, Barbara’s consulting and speaking engagements have focused on advancing the power of collaboration in local government, schools, non-profits, faith-based organizations and communities. Barbara is also a skilled trainer, with expertise in Appreciative Leadership, Appreciative Inquiry and community engagement. 

Barbara is a pioneer in strength-based, stakeholder engagement processes. She managed the award-winning citywide strategic plan for the City of Longmont and has been instrumental in Longmont’s widespread use of appreciative inquiry. She designed and facilitated similar innovative approaches for inclusive, strength-based engagement on such issues as community visioning, transportation partnering and planning, airport sustainability management, and educational excellence. 

Barbara is co-editor of The Promise of Appreciative Cities: Compelling the Whole to Act, the November 2013 edition of the Appreciative Inquiry Practitioner. She also co-authored the International Association for Public Participation’s Techniques Training Manual and is a contributor to the 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Positive Questions: Volume One: Questions to Bring Out the Best at Work (Crown Custom Publishing, 2014).
Barbara’s academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in Economics from Colorado College and a Master of Science in Water Resources Management from the University of Wisconsin.