Samuel Mahaffy, PhD is a consultant, facilitator, published author and public speaker. He has assisted more than 500 nonprofits and has been recognized for inspiring hope and awakening possibility through Appreciative Inquiry (AI). He works with institutions of higher learning, community and faith-based organizations, and public and private agencies.
Often, his work includes “standing in the fire” with organizations in conflict. With extensive experience in mediation and conflict resolution, Samuel Mahaffy leads organizations through a process which allows a community to honor the relational complexity of both their connectedness and their shared woundedness. This process mirrors back to participants in a poetic, responsive format, and in their own words, their shared voices. Participants discover a relational restoration that grows from honoring the individual and collective voices, the passionate voices of both hurt and shared vision.
Samuel Mahaffy seeks integral, collaborative, and relational perspectives on human engagement. This led to his PhD dissertation work with the Taos Institute/Tilburg University on Relational Presence: The Spatiality of Breakthrough Decision Making through a Relational Constructionist Lens. Samuel Mahaffy extends the notion of relational being developed by Kenneth Gergen (2009) to an understanding of relational presence. His forthcoming book on relational presence in decision making describes the inhabited space where relationships are valued above agenda allowing the sacred potential of relational being to emerge.
Born and raised in Eritrea, East Africa, Samuel Mahaffy brings a perspective that is enriched by his encounter with the wisdom of indigenous cultures and the sacred texts of the major religions of the world. Samuel Mahaffy organizes community conversations to support immigrant and refugee communities. He is available as a management consultant, workshop leader, public speaker, and welcomes collaborative conversations with those seeking life-giving alternatives to predominant paradigms.
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As a facilitator and management consultant, Samuel has assisted more than five hundred organizations, including community groups, churches, schools, and nonprofits around the world. He is a member of the Academy of Management. How might he help your organization?