ABOUT ZENA
Writer, consultant, change-maker
Using strategy, facilitation, and story to create more liberatory and caring futures
About my work
My work as a writer and consultant is driven by my passion for creating transformative possibilities in our communities, our organizations, and our systems of care. I want to understand how we care for each other, and how to create change that lasts.
My career path includes a mix of professional, community-based, and creative work. This has given me opportunities for applied leadership, learning, and collaboration in diverse contexts—from designing multimillion dollar strategic funding programs to practicing consensus-based decision-making in a community-led nonprofit to writing and curating queer stories.
I draw on all of these experiences and more in my work as a writer and consultant. In 2023, I launched my own consulting business so I could bring my skills and experience to groups and organizations seeking a trusted partner in defining their visions and navigating change. Today, I work with clients across North America as a strategist, facilitator, educator, and coach.
I’ve authored three award-winning anthologies and am an internationally recognized expert in LGBTQ+ health. My fourth book, and debut memoir, Staying Power: On Queerness, Inheritances, and the Families We Choose, is forthcoming from Arsenal Pulp Press in February 2026.
Experience and expertise
A PhD in health research and fifteen years of leadership experience in national and provincial organizations
Accomplished writer and speaker known for crafting compelling, visionary narratives
Extensive experience designing and implementing organizational strategies and leading complex organizational change processes
Training in participatory- and complexity-informed approaches to strategic planning and facilitation
People-focused attention to the embodied, relational, and cultural aspects of change
Grounding in grief- and trauma-informed practices for working with people and groups
My commitments
These core commitments underpin my approach:
Relationality
Relationships are integral to our ability to do authentic, challenging, and visionary work. I’m committed to working together in ways that nurture and strengthen our relationships.
Learning
Learning is an active, ongoing process that keeps me grounded in curiosity, generosity, and humility. I approach my work as a learner committed to helping others grow their knowledge and capacity as we learn alongside each other.
Solidarity
Our world doesn’t need heroes or saviours, it needs solidarity. I’m committed to holding my power with courage, integrity, and accountability as I do the work of showing up in service of liberatory transformation.
Belonging
We’re wiser, more creative, and more adaptable when we can be our whole selves. I’m committed to co-creating environments that centre accessibility, hospitality, and care, where it’s possible to find pleasure in our work.
Care and community
Beyond my professional work, I find joy in my roles as a partner, parent, and friend. I’m happiest playing with my kids, walking through the forest deep in conversation with a loved one, or sharing a meal with people I care about. I’m an avid reader who visits my local library at least once a week. I also volunteer as a grief companion at Cowichan Hospice.
I live with my family on Vancouver Island, where we’re grateful to make our home on the unceded and traditional territories of the Quw’utsun’ people.
Pre-order my forthcoming book:
Staying Power
On Queerness, Inheritances, and the Families We Choose
Coming
February 2026
Staying Power, a memoir-in-essays about interdependence, grieving, and parenting as a queer femme, is my most honest and personal book. A celebration of the transformative power of queer family-making, it tells the story of being raised by a mother driven to break cycles of violence in our family and my sideways journey into parenthood after she died.
Coming February 2026 from Arsenal Pulp Press, Staying Power is available for pre-order now.