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About Us

  • About Us

Our Community

Faculty and Staff

Mary Beth O'Brien
Creative Director And Facilitator
Mary Beth began participating in Women Writing for (a) Change circles in 2013 as a weekly writer. As she became more involved, she served on the Board of Directors and volunteered at special events. In 2019, she completed Conscious Feminine Leadership Training (CFLT), as a member of the “Journeyers” cohort. She is delighted and honored that this path has led her to her current position as Creative Director. Mary Beth is dedicated to the work of providing space for voices to be heard and for writing to be used as a tool for growth and change. This work now includes co-facilitating CFLT for new cohorts of conscious feminine leaders. She enjoys writing, reading, social justice activism, outdoor activities, and playing with friends and family. 
    Laura Lasuertmer
    Assistant Creative Director and Facilitator
    Laura Lasuertmer has been a writer with Women Writing for (a) Change since 2010, and on staff since 2021. She completed the Conscious Feminine Leadership Training in 2019, and has focused on facilitating all gender circles and outreach circles in the jail, schools, and with clients at Stone Belt. Laura is completing a Masters in Mental Health Counseling, and brings multi-cultural compentencies and therapeutic awareness to inform her facilitation. She is dedicated to holding safer space for all kinds of people to grow and change together. Outside of this work, she is one of the founders of Common Home Farm, a small intentional community in northern Monroe County. She lives there with her two children, Alice and Leo, and her husband, David.

     

      Denise Breeden-Ost
      Registrar and Facilitator
      Denise has been writing creatively (fiction, memoir, poetry, essays) since childhood, and has been writing with WWf(a)C since 2005. She completed Conscious Feminine Leadership Training in 2015, as a member of the Luminaries cohort. Denise loves to create spaces where people can hear their own creative voices, listen to one another, and build transformative community together.  She is a certified facilitator with WWf(a)C, and facilitates classes for youth and adults.  Denise’s novel Making It All Right was published in 2020 by Clockflower Press.  She is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, and an Assistant Teacher at Open Mind Zen Indiana.

      Contact Denise

        Beth Lodge-Rigal
        Founder And Facilitator
        Beth founded Women Writing for (a) Change® Bloomington in 2004 and directed its trajectory through 2021. In addition to facilitating writing circles, outreach, retreats, and directing programs at the Bloomington school, Beth designed and implemented next-generation Conscious Feminine Leadership Training in both Cincinnati, Ohio, and in Bloomington for women who are hungry to learn new paradigms for leadership in the 21st century. In September 2021, Beth transitioned out of her official role as Creative Director. She plans to continue specialized facilitation in coming years with the organization she loves.   Contact Beth
          Rebekah Spivey
          Facilitator
          Rebekah has been a participant with WWf(a)C Bloomington since 2005, for which she is a certified facilitator. She has also served as Registrar & administrative assistant for the organization. She facilitates the Tuesday morning core circle and has led several workshops based on the concept of aging creatively. She also leads the winter retreats and has been a long-time contributor to the Poplar Grove Muse.

          Contact Rebekah

            Kelly Sage
            Facilitator
            In 2011, Kelly attended a summer retreat and immediately fell in love with the WWfaC process and community. After completing the Conscious Feminist Leadership Academy in 2013, she started facilitating adult and young adult writing circles. Along with facilitating writing circles, Kelly is an English teacher. She teaches creative reading and writing classes on Outschool and Creative ELA. Kelly’s classes and resources, aimed at fostering the love of learning, can be found on her website- https://curiosityencouraged.com

            Contact Kelly

              Licia Weber
              SoulCollage®

              Licia is a Certified SoulCollage® Facilitator and WWFaC Facilitator. She has been holding SoulCollage® circles at WWFaC for since 2017 and loves the compatible nature of these two empowering, nurturing practices. Now retired, holding degrees in Fine Arts and Geology, Licia is called to her love of creativity and enjoying the natural world around her. She is a seeker of spirit, lover of life and the outdoors, artist, singer/musician, friend, mother, and caregiver of the world around her. She finds great joy in holding creative circles that shine light on the soul and invite discovery of each person’s own deep wisdom and capacity for healing. Contact Licia

                Allison Distler
                Facilitator
                Allison is a Certified Rolfer™, Yogi, and movement teacher in private practice. Outside her personal practice, she finds joy in facilitating body-centered classes and retreats. Her background includes degrees in psychology and sociology from Indiana University, as well as studies in Soto Zen Buddhism, the Hakomi Method of Mindfulness-Based Assisted Self Discovery, and Body-Mind Centering. She lives and works in Bloomington, where she also facilitates writing circles through Women Writing for (a) Change® Bloomington. When not practicing or facilitating groups, Allison can be found distance-hiking through forests or urban landscapes. Learn more about her creative and professional work at www.allisondistler.com.
                  Amy L. Cornell
                  Facilitator
                  Amy has been part of the Women Writing for (a) Change community since 2006. In addition to local freelancing, she has written a community column for the Herald-Times in Bloomington, Ind. Along with Lauren Bryant, she co-edited the anthology Women With Wings. Amy co-leads circles at the Monroe County Corrections Center and leads creative writing and memoir circles at the Poplar Grove Schoolhouse. She received her certification from the Feminist Leadership Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2009. Amy writes poetry, creative non-fiction, novels, blog posts, book reviews, short stories, and loves to hear other women tell stories both real and imagined.
                    Amy Lifton
                    Facilitator
                    Amy has been with WWfaC since 2008 and is a certified facilitator. She co-facilitates writing circles at the Monroe County Corrections Center and also facilitates circles at the schoolhouse. She has a Masters in Child Development, is a certified elementary and Montessori teacher, a meditation teacher, and has taught her entire adult life. She is interested in peace education and appreciates the power of WWfaC circles to contribute to peace.
                      Kim Evans
                      Facilitator
                      Kim began her Women Writing for (a) Change® journey in 2007 and completed facilitator certification training first in 2009 with founder Mary Pierce Brosmer and again in 2018 with Beth Lodge-Rigal. She has served on the WWf(a)C board of directors and facilitates adult writing circles and retreats. Kim is the author of the memoir What I Gave to the Fire and is currently at work on her first novel. In addition to her writing and family life, she works as a graphic artist at Cook Medical and is a certified Kaizen-Muse™ Creativity Coach. Learn more at www.kimflowersevans.com.
                        Lauren Bryant
                        Facilitator
                        Lauren is a writer and editor in Bloomington, Ind., and has been a participant in the Women Writing for (a) Change Bloomington community since 2006. Since 2008, she has assisted with writing circles for women incarcerated at the Monroe County Corrections Center. Lauren and Amy Cornell are co-editors of  Women With Wings: An Anthology from Women Writing for (a) Change Bloomington, published to celebrate the Bloomington school’s fifth anniversary.
                          Susan Failey
                          Facilitator
                          Susan has spent her life among books and words, first as an avid reader, writer, and English major, later as a lawyer and therapist. She began writing with WWfaC in 2007 and is a certified facilitator. She facilitates circles for adults and since 2016 has co-led a writing circle at Stone Belt for a group of its clients. She enjoys helping people find new insights and ways to communicate and connect.
                            Ali Meyer
                            Facilitator
                            A lifelong lover of language and writing, Ali has spent a career teaching language arts with a variety of students both in the US and abroad. A graduate of Conscious Feminine Leadership Training, she is currently helping co-facilitate circles with young writers as well as adult circles like the Dream Circle and outreach circles. When she’s not writing, she can be found practicing Reiki, working with dreams, or taking her faithful co-pilot Chewbacca on car rides, long hikes, and maybe for an occasional ice cream. .