LISA FITZHUGH, Founding Partner of Creative Ground, is a professional team builder and leadership coach. She combines the art of creative insight and her implicit trust in each person’s innate capacity for greater emotional intelligence to cultivate resilient relationships and cohesive teams. Lisa is often asked to support groups when there is a legacy of unaddressed conflict. She works from the assumption that conflict is fertile ground for transformational change–it is the essential dynamic tension that allows for more creativity and growth both in individuals and organizations.
Lisa is also the founder of Arts Corps, the largest arts education program in Washington State reaching underserved communities throughout King County. Before Arts Corps, Lisa worked both for elected officials and as a consultant designing and implementing public engagement strategies. She served as an aide to Seattle Mayor Paul Schell, Seattle City Councilmember Tom Weeks, and U.S. Congressman Ben Cardin, D-MD.
As a community activist, she has supported the visions of the New School Foundation, the Children’s Music Foundation, the Learning Committee for Seattle Center’s 50th Anniversary of the World’s Fair, LoveCityLove, an improvisational arts collective, and most recently, the Garfield High School PTSA. Lisa grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. She holds a political science degree from Duke University.
“Working with Lisa allowed both our team and me to confront old paradigms of how we operate. It also allowed us to reach closer to our highest potential for work and leadership. The outcomes were stunning for all of us. We accessed a much greater understanding of the shifting landscapes we work within. I could not be more pleased with Lisa’s support to bring us to these new levels of awareness and reflection. The end result has been a new ability for me individually as well as for our team to meet the pressures of the seismic shifts within our working landscape.”
–Ed Zuckerman, Senior Vice President, League of Conservation Voters
For 14 years, I’ve seen Lisa in numerous professional situations—motivational speaking, retreat facilitation, community visioning, and leading. Lisa is a deep listener and sows seeds for change that resonate long after she has left the room. Witnessing participants reconnect with their own creative rocket fuel is something to behold! Beyond her leadership prowess, value-driven work and persistence, Lisa is a beautiful writer and speaker whose gifts of reason and critical reflection are unwavering. Her authentic spirit leads us to new places where we can tap into our full potentials and see the vision for a world healed and enlivened by collaboration and creativity. Lisa IS the rocket fuel that everyone needs.
–Sarah Davis, Board Member, Going Elemental