SUMMARY
Burt Woolf is chief principal of the Center for Quality of Life, which he founded in 2003 to nurture those who want to live and work in a quality-of-life context. His professional career spans more than three decades in senior executive capacities in the nonprofit world, with a focus on community quality-of-life improvement. Since 1974, Burt has facilitated, coached and advised people, teams, organizations and communities to achieve their full potential.
Burt has been a federal agency program director (National Endowment for the Arts), a nonprofit organizational executive director (Creative Education Foundation; Massachusetts Cultural Alliance), a professional consultant/facilitator of community development initiatives (Economics Research Associates; QL Consulting, Inc.), a technology entrepreneur (TEAM SYSTEM Development Software for Nonprofits); and author, lecturer, trainer, workshop leader, and keynote speaker.
Burt holds a BA in Political Science from Amherst College, and an MS in Management from UCLA. In 2011, he earned his doctorate (Ed.D.) from the University Of Massachusetts (Amherst), College Of Education; his dissertation research explored how people from the business sector can make comfortable and effective transitions to nonprofit service.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Accelerated Consensus is Burt's own participatory approach to facilitated problem-solving, strategic planning, organizational assessment and decision making. Burt has used the Accelerated Consensus stakeholder -based process to facilitate strategic decision-making for dozens of organizations and public agency initiatives throughout the United States. (Click here for more on Accelerated Consensus Web Site)
Living at the Edge: Creativity Inside the Box is a transformative learning program Burt delivers in partnership with his son Max. This program uses the Box of Possibilities metaphor and the 8 Principles for Quality of Life to help people live in a state of resilience, high-level accomplishment and personal fulfillment, regardless of the daunting circumstances they may face in their lives.
Effortless Leadership is an executive development program Burt created to help people re-discover their intuitive inner wisdom, so they can lead others productively, without struggle.
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
Burt has led a wide variety of corporate enterprises, governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations as a consultant, entrepreneur, and chief executive. From 2001-2003 he was Executive Director of the Creative Education Foundation, an international organization which is best known for its Creative Problem Solving Institutes and the Journal of Creative Behavior.
Prior to founding QL Consulting, Inc. in 1992, Burt was Senior Consultant to Economics Research Associates (1988-1992) where he directed dozens of community and economic planning studies throughout the United States. As CEO of Burt Woolf Management, Inc., (1983-1988), he designed and marketed the TEAM SYSTEM® Development Package, a fundraising software program that was installed in over 140 nonprofit organizations and public agencies in the U.S. and Canada. As Executive Director of the Massachusetts Cultural Alliance (1978-1983), Burt led a 250-member association, providing management services, professional development programs, publications, and public advocacy campaigns. At the National Endowment for the Arts, he was Project Director of the CITY SPIRIT Program (1974-1978), which provided funding and consulting assistance for community-based cultural planning in over 200 communities nationwide. Earlier in his career, Burt was a museum administrator.
PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS
Burt has conducted professional training programs, facilitated workshops and retreats, and delivered keynote speeches in facilitation, quality-of-life planning, public management, and information technology. Articles by or about Burt and his work have appeared in Association Management magazine, The Taft NonProfit Executive, Fundraising Management magazine, CNN.com, Careerbuilder.com, AOL.com, and the electronic newsletter of the American Library Association Allied Professional Association. Burt has been a regular participant and presenter at the Creative Problem Solving Institute and at national meetings of the American Society of Association Executives. Burt is a featured workshop leader for the Center for Quality of Life. He has been a lecturer at Harvard University, UCLA, Sangamon State University and Lesley College.
EDUCATION, TRAINING. PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Burt holds a BA Cum Laude, in Political Science from Amherst College, and an MS in Management from the University of California at Los Angeles. He earned his Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Educational Policy and Leadership from the University Of Massachusetts (Amherst), College Of Education; his dissertation research explored how people from the business sector can make comfortable and effective transitions to nonprofit service.
He was a charter participant in the Harvard University, Institute in Arts Administration, and is certified in the Interaction Method of facilitation. He has been an active member of the American Society of Association Executives, the Creative Education Foundation, and the Kripalu Consulting Consortium; and a former member of the International Coach Federation, and the "Top Gun$" Club, sponsored by Creative Sales + Management, Inc.
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