About Rooted in Process

Jess Stempien is the founder of Rooted in Process and a facilitator who helps groups move from complex conversations to clear direction and meaningful action.

Her work sits at the intersection of environmental stewardship, community engagement, and participatory leadership. With a background spanning environmental science, government, education, and coaching, Jess brings a deep understanding of how people, communities, and natural systems are interconnected.

She is a graduate of the Natural Resources Leadership Institute at the University of Florida. Jess is an Endorsed Facilitator by the International Association of Facilitators, a ToP® Qualified Trainer and Certified Facilitator, and Everything DiSC® Facilitator. She is also the co-founder of FloToP Facilitators, a growing network strengthening facilitation capacity across Florida.

Sharon Ryan is a Certified Professional Facilitator and member of the International Association of Facilitators, as well as a Technology of Participation (ToP)® facilitator and member of the ToP Network. She designs and leads intentionally sequenced facilitation processes that move groups from dialogue to decision and from decision to coordinated action. Through participatory strategic planning, action planning, consensus building, and stakeholder consultation, she helps teams achieve clarity, alignment, and commitment.

Sharon brings 25 years of international leadership experience across research institutes, business organizations, and federal government agencies. For example, she led strategy, public programming, science education, exhibits, and partnership development at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and held senior communications roles at Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galápagos Islands, grounding her facilitation in deep institutional and cross-sector experience.

Krystallyn Keith is the principal owner of Kindred Consulting, a firm committed to capacity-building for organizations and initiatives that address social determinants of health. She prioritizes culturally competent, evidence-based participatory frameworks in her facilitation, consulting, and research and evaluation practices. She brings 15+ years experience in research, process improvement/quality assurance, and program development in her work with non-profit, for-profit, academic, and government organizations.

After serving in the USMC as a linguist, she recognized that creating meaningful change starts with deeply understanding culture. She pursued her B.S. in Anthropology and B.A. in Spanish from the University of West Georgia and later received her Master of Public Health from Eastern Washington University, a CEPH-accredited school.

She has been formally trained in mixed methods research, ethnographic interviewing, program planning, implementation, and evaluation, strategic planning, ethics, leadership, environmental health, and health equity. She also is a certified white belt in Lean 6σ. Krystallyn also participates in the Getting Further Faster Community of Practice for social determinants of health, is a member of the Tampa Bay Area Evaluation Society, and is the co-chair for Tampa Bay Sisters in Public Health. She currently resides in Land O Lakes, FL.

Dawn Newman is a ToP® Certified Facilitator Mentor and Trainer specializing in participatory strategic planning, consensus building, and community development. She helps organizations turn dialogue into shared decisions and coordinated action, fostering trust through inclusive, respectful engagement.

As the founding principal of Blackhawk Facilitation, Dawn provides facilitation, training, and consulting services to Indian Country and across nonprofit and for-profit sectors. An enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, she brings over 30 years of experience working with Indigenous communities. Dawn holds an M.A. in Education from Roosevelt University and a B.A. in Business from Elmhurst College.