Meet Our Global Team
This work started with Heather Plett’s vision, but quickly evolved beyond that. From the start, Heather knew that holding space was not something she was meant to do alone, so she began to gather the people who were passionate about doing it with her. Team members have taken on many of the teaching duties and are beginning to serve as consultants and coaches on behalf of the Centre. We are excited about the strength and capacity of this team, the increasingly broad global reach, and the growing diversity of skills and voices.
Whether you’re taking one of our courses, working your way through the certification process, or working with us in your organization, we know that you’ll be in good hands.
HEATHER PLETT (SHE/HER)
Heather is the co-founder of the Centre for Holding Space and the author of The Art of Holding Space: A practice of love, liberation and leadership. She is also the author of the upcoming book, Where Tenderness Lives: On healing, liberation, and holding space for oneself (to be released in January 2024). As a leading global expert on the topic of holding space, Heather travels all over the world teaching workshops and speaking at conferences. She recently sold her home in Canada to spend eight months living as a digital nomad in Europe and Central America – a trip she called her Tenderness and Liberation Tour. Earlier in her career, Heather worked in director-level positions in government and non-profit, but the most important teaching she has received in the art of holding space was at her mother’s deathbed and in the hospital when her stillborn son was born. Heather is the proud mom of three grown daughters who are all launching themselves into interesting and meaningful lives.
KRISTA FOLKERS DELA ROSA (SHE/HER)
Krista is the co-founder of the Centre for Holding Space. She has spent many years holding space for organizations, helping them work through conflict, relationship dynamics, and visioning for the future, Krista is passionate about leaning into, learning about, and intentionally growing complex, justice-and-mercy seeking, loving communities. Krista has been involved in church leadership since her late teens and is currently working with Good News Fellowship Church in Winnipeg as Leadership Coordinator. She and her husband, Vergil, are the privileged parents of two very cool humans, Kai & Micah, and are happy to taxi them around to all their many and various activities. In her spare time (as little as that might be at the moment) Krista writes a lot of fiction that no one is allowed to read, and enjoys having meaningful and hilarious conversations with her friends and families.
EMILY GILLIES
Emily is a Master Practitioner with the Centre for Holding Space, where she facilitates the Certification Program, offers One-on-One Coaching, and hosts in-person workshops in her local area. Stepping away from her earlier career in Law Enforcement, Emily answered her soul’s call of creating compassionate, brave spaces for personal reflection. This was sparked by completing The Circle Way training in 2016, enriched by owning and operating a Mindfulness Retreat Centre in 2018-19, and solidified by being part of the Centre for Holding Space’s teaching team for the past five years. Emily has worked with families and individuals who are seeking stability and support in times of crisis, and is a community and church leader with the United Church of Canada. Emily joyfully weaves her love of Holding Space into other realms of life including: as a single mother of two teenage sons, as a musician and a textile artist, and to her various spiritual practices which include reiki, yoga and riding her motorcycle around the Canadian prairies as much as possible in the summer months.
NAM PHAM (HE/HIM)
Nam loves questions and brings questions to ignite the magic of circles. For the past 8 years, Nam has held space for circles in personal transformation settings and in corporate settings, where people gather for conversations that matter. Nam co-founded Healing Circles Network Việt Nam and currently teaches The Circle Way process in his own language. Being a Holding Space Master Practitioner and assisting the Holding Space Foundation Program, Nam’s gift is his daily endeavor to bridge the power of inner transformation with the outer structure of belongingness through conversations. Facilitation is Nam’s most intimate calling and his utmost edge of learning as a human being.
Nam is also a father of two puppies, Cốm and Nếp. Nam and his boyfriend have an intimate connection with Japan. Privately, Nam loves daydreaming and procrastination – this is when his mind works its magic!
MARY SCHOLL (SHE/HER)
Mary deeply values presence, learning, empathy, creativity, and curiosity and is founder and fellow of the Institute for Collaborative Learning in Costa Rica. She has been teaching language for 30 years, designing and implementing educational projects in Latin America for over 18 years and served as an English language specialist for 16 years in 9 countries. A teacher-trainer and trainer of trainers, Mary holds an MA in Teaching English and Spanish from SIT Graduate Institute and has done doctoral studies in Adult Learning and Leadership at Teacher’s College at Columbia University. She also holds a certification in teaching mindfulness meditation from Greater Good Science Center and The Awareness Training Institute at the University of California at Berkeley and is a Master Practitioner with the Centre for Holding Space. Mary currently enjoys working virtually around the world from her home in rural Costa Rica. In 2021, she was named as one of the top 30 English Language Specialists by the U.S. Department of State in recognition of her lasting impact on the Specialist Program and on the field of TESOL.
IVÁN SUAZO (HE/HIM)
Iván is the Assistant Director of the Institute for Collaborative Learning. Originally from Nicaragua, Iván now lives in Costa Rica. Iván believes in the role of empathy and communication to create an inclusive learning environment that supports the learning process of all learners. He is an alumnus from the US State Department and studied Law at the Central American University (UCA) and received the Fulbright scholarship for a Master of Teaching at the School for International Training (SIT) in Vermont, USA. Iván is a licensed trainer of World Learning’s TESOL Certificate Course and a regional academic consultant for Oxford University Press. Past President of NicaTESOL, He has been a leader in educational institutions in Nicaragua, a trainer of English teachers in the region and a presenter at conferences in Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United States of America.
LUCY KARNANI (SHE/HER)
Lucy is a Master Practitioner and on the teaching team of The Centre for Holding Space. She has hosted Listening Circles and run retreats for many years. She has also been leading training programs and coaching individuals in Conscious Communication for nearly 30 years (she’s even written a book about it! CONNECTING – Conscious Communication for Yoga Teachers and Therapists).
Transitioning out of the corporate world in the early 2000s, Lucy developed a regular and committed personal yoga practice from which she gained many health and wellbeing benefits. As well as hosting Circles and sharing her expertise and experience in various training programs, she particularly loves her work as a mentor, coach, and communication consultant where she feels very grateful for the opportunity to support all space holders (and yes, we are all space holders) on their personal and professional journeys.
