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Hi! I'm Téa Jones-Yelvington.
In astrology, the moon represents emotion; fire is energy and inspiration. My sun is in Cancer, the moon's favorite sign, and my moon in fiery Aries. I bring to my projects emotional intelligence and a passion for justice and liberation, complemented by a deep appreciation for complex systems and interconnections, and the unique contexts of diverse communities and institutions.

ABOUT ME

For nearly 20 years, I’ve successfully occupied a variety of roles as a capacity builder, program developer, strategizer, researcher, facilitator, fundraiser, and funder.

My strengths include systems thinking, collective impact, collaboration, grantmaking, meaningful stakeholder engagement, youth development, racial and social justice, and community organizing. My network is broad and crosses many sectors, from grassroots organizations to philanthropy, community development to public health.

SERVICES

Writing, synthesis, narrative

Efficient synthesis of data, insights and perspectives from stakeholders, literature & ecosystem scans into navigable and actionable stories & takeaways.

Projects:

For Elevated Chicago, synthesized goals and priorities from 4 neighborhoods, 3 citywide working groups, and more than 15 coalition members into a regional workplan for Equitable Transit-Oriented Development.
For the Chicago Community Trust, integrated literature with takeaways from 4 practitioner engagement sessions with 50 cross-sector leaders, to inform a new grant program focused on neighborhood investment.

program development & implementation

Merging innovative and ambitious ideas with concrete operational tools and processes for program and project management. Specializations include grantmaking & youth development.

Projects:

Developed and ran, for ten years, a national, Oberlin College-based leadership development program and ongoing network that prepared nearly 200 high school students to pursue their callings as changemakers.
For Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago, designed and facilitated a youth leadership cohort that helped plan Chicago's first citywide youth public health conference.

leadership development

Facilitating opportunities to increase capacity for meaningful impact, such as coaching, workshops, and learning cohorts.

Projects:

Co-designed and led two multi-month Learning Circle cohorts to address the unique needs of leaders of multi-stakeholder initiatives.
Developed and facilitated interactive webinars on essential skills for social impact, including trust, collaboration, power, and managing feedback.

Facilitation

Human-centered, inclusive convenings. that surface stakeholder insights, generate meaningful outcomes, and foster collaboration.

Projects:

For Metropolitan Planning Council, co-facilitated organizational development sessions to refine decision-making and cross-issue collaboration.
Helped design and facilitate collaboration-focused grantee gatherings for Walder Foundation, and stratefic planning retreats for Chi Flats Coalition, Elevated Chicago, and Common Pantry.

Writing, synthesis, narrative

program development & implementation

leadership development

Facilitation

REach Out: Tea@teajonesyelvington.com