A little about us

Our Story
What makes community building so complex is that it occurs in an infinite number of small steps, sometimes in quiet moments that we notice out of the corner of our eye. It calls for us to treat as important many things that we thought were incidental. An afterthought becomes the point; a comment made in passing defines who we are more than all that came before. If the artist is one who captures the nuance of experience, then this is whom each of us must become.
Peter Block

Community: The Structure of Belonging

In the summer of 2021, Beth Ellen and Anna spent the day on a beach at Lake Michigan talking about all the barriers to equity and the systems that perpetuate them.   While it’s not the most relaxing beach conversation, it’s all we talk about when we are together.  We realized that our theory of change (for everything) starts with a culture of belonging.

We spent the last seven years working together towards achieving a sense of community with staff, volunteers, and in Together Women Rise chapters all over the country in the pursuit of global gender equality.  Beth Ellen was the CEO of Together Women Rise and Anna volunteered to lead national efforts there while pursuing a masters degree in social justice and serving as VP of Business Development of a $35m community development organization. Somehow in these busy times, we connected deeply in our desire for trusting relationships in community impact organizations.

Now we are using the depth of experience in our careers  to create a business that fosters the sense of belonging we crave and to help social benefit organizations become communities of belonging unto themselves.  We believe this is the requirement for the justice, equity, and inclusion we all seek in our work in nonprofits, but also for ourselves.

We look forward to working with you,

All of us at The Hive Collective

Our Values

 

 

 

Question the whole shebang.

 

Own it.

Disrupt oppression.

 

 

 

Community is everything.

 

Courage
over fear.

We are here for
the long haul.

Beth Ellen Holimon
Founder and CEO
Adaptive Planning | Culture First Governance | Equitable Fundraising

Beth Ellen Holimon is a consultant and executive coach who has spent most of her 25 year career in the executive director chair and knows the joys and tribulations of the nonprofit leader. With her expertise as a Certified Governance Consultant at BoardSource, a specialist in Human Systems Dynamics, a CFRE, and a trained executive coach, Beth Ellen will help you in creating adaptive planning systems, help you realize values-based governance, and create fundraising plans that fit in your ecosystem. She is a beekeeper who loves gardening and birds.

Anna Schoon
Senior Consultant
Adaptive Planning                      Belonging and Community
Anna Schoon is dedicated to the practice of ‘belonging’ has over 25 years of leadership experience in a variety of human service settings. Since 2006, Anna has been working at Northwest Indiana Community Action, based in Crown Point, Indiana where she currently serves as Vice President of Planning and Business Development. In her role, Anna leads the organization’s community needs assessment processes, develops outcome-oriented strategies for change, and leads the organization’s efforts to measure and document success.
Lisabeth Medlock, PhD
Consultant
Program Design and Evaluation Adaptive Planning
Dr. Lisabeth Medlock is a psychologist, consultant and coach who works in all of the life cycle of organizations and initiatives; from mission, program development and resourcing to evaluating outcomes, impact and sustainability.  One of her main roles is to assist organizations in telling their story  with a focus on how they promote and achieve meaningful change in the short and long term.  She believes information gathering and evaluation systems should be client-centered  and provide quick feedback for continuous improvement.
Sheila Whittle
Business Manager
Management | Finances | Organizing
Sheila Whittle has been working in the education and nonprofit fields since 2006. She has dedicated her life to serving at-risk and vulnerable populations with a focus on women and children. Sheila is a licensed educator in multiple states and has taught both Special Education and English Language Arts at Title I Middle Schools. Her commitment to educating and empowering youth earned her the Teacher of the Year award for the 2014-15 school year.
What People Say

The results of our program exceeded expectations. The program content was what we needed to inspire and re-energize our Board as a more cohesive team of dedicated volunteers. With a better understanding of our governance strengths and opportunities and a renewed commitment to the values of belongingness, diversity, equity, and inclusion, we were ready to take on our challenges with a deeper understanding of where we are and where we wanted to grow.  Thank you, The Hive Collective, for being a supportive member of our team as we navigate these challenging times.

Stand Up Placer Board of Directors, Auburn, CA

[The Hive Collective] is amazing and very knowledgeable about governance systems, boards and CEO. In my opinion [they] brought a sense of enlightenment to the group because focusing in the future is so needed.

Board Member

Sherman College of Chiropractic, Spartanburg, South Carolina

Past Clients

Stand Up Placer | Utah Disability Law Center | Utah Architect Association |G.Wiz Science Museum | Power Stories | San Ysidro Foundation | Northwest Indiana Community Action | The Nickelodeon Theater/Columbia Film Society | Sherman College of Chiropractic | Reach Out and Read Utah | Utah Community Associations Institute | Weilenmann School of Discovery | Norwegian Outdoor Exploration Center | Wild Utah Project | Lucina Foundation | Pay It Forward Media | KNSJ Radio:  San Diego, CA | Red Cross of Sarasota County |Area Five Agency on Aging & Community Services | Community Action of Greater Indianapolis | Community Action Program of Evansville and Vanderburgh County | Dubois-Pike-Warrick Economic Opportunity Committee Inc. d/b/a TRI-CAP | Northwest Indiana Community Action | Indiana Community Action Association | Northwest Indiana Reinvestment Alliance | Prosperity Indiana | Indiana Association of Adult Day Services | National Community Action Partnership |