Special Guests for 3/1 DFA-DFNM Meetup: Noted Peace-Maker/Coach Plus Candidates for Top DPBC Offices

Our regular monthly DFA-DFNM Meetup will be held on Thursday, March 1, at 7:00 PM, at the Social Hall of the First Unitarian Church at Carlisle and Comanche in Albuquerque. To RSVP or to join the group and get on our email list, click here.

Our special guests this month include:

1. Candidate Slate for Democratic Party of Bernalillo County Offices (elections set for April 14, 2007) 

• Robert Aragon, Candidate for Chair
• Carolyne Devore-Parks, Candidate for First Vice Chair
• Mike Rose, Candidate for Second Vice Chair

2. Something a Little Different: Holly Kawakami on Life Coaching and a Life of Peace-Making. (Tip of the hat to Robb Chavez.) Check out her impressive resume of academic, peace and life experience:

According to life coach Holly Kawakami,

"Working with a coach is a smart choice for people who seek to take stock of where they are and want to maximize the possibilities of living a balanced and fulfilled life. Within the structured, confidential coaching relationship, clients examine values, clarify issues and challenges, brainstorm new ideas, and celebrate accomplishments."

Ms. Kawakami has expanded into coaching as another way to empower individuals who are transitioning, who want to see their values expressed in their communities, and who act to create the world they want to see.

Holly has a 25-year career assisting people who are crossing cultures and managing diversity to be successful in the global, interdependent business world. She brings fresh perspectives and innovative alternatives to problem-solving.

One client says, "The coaching experience with Holly helped me articulate ideas that had been floating around vaguely in my head and to accomplish tasks I*d been telling myself I'd do for months."

Robb Chavez, of DFNM, adds, "Holly listens well, and brings a sensitivity that allows her to hear even the unspoken concerns of her clients. She thus is able to prompt these individuals to achieve a clarity that can help them resolve outstanding issues, be they personal or social."

Kawakami holds a B.A. in Japanese and Asian Studies, an MBA-International, and is finishing her doctorate in intercultural communication at UNM. She also is a qualified mediator and has taught mediation, negotiation and all kinds of communication courses.

Her early years in Chicago exposed her to the struggle for civil rights and to principles of community organizing. Holly then lived outside the United States--20 years in Japan--until moving to New Mexico in 2000.

Connecting people in order to create peace and understanding has always been at the center of Holly's work. For example, the Governor of Osaka appointed her, the only Westerner, to the Osaka Council for World Peace in the 1980s. In 2005, she accompanied and interpreted for the two atomic bomb survivors who came to New Mexico to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Holly Kawakami currently is a member of the UNM Peace Studies Committee and is once again part of the planning for the annual UNM Peace Fair. Holly has studied Japanese tea ceremony for three decades and teaches in the community as another expression of bringing people together in peaceful communion.

For those interested, the first coaching call is complimentary and includes explaining the coaching structure, listening to a client's expectations, and setting up the best schedule to meet that client's needs.

Contact Information: hcsk48@gmail.com

Website: www.goglobalcoaching.com (under construction)

Holly Siebert Kawakami
Ph.D. Candidate
Intercultural Communication
University of New Mexico
Communication Instructor, Water Resource Master*s Program
Albuquerque, NM 87106