About Us
Roots of Change is dedicated to building healthy communities and transforming lives through holistic programs and consulting services. By bridging individual, organizational and social change, we work toward a more just and loving world that honors the interconnectedness of all life.
We believe that sustainable change requires a community of support and a fundamental shift in all of our relationships and social systems—including the ways we relate to ourselves, the earth, one another and all living beings. Initiating a path of self-inquiry and change can feel overwhelming at times, but through that change we can become the loving community and loving world that we so deeply want to live within.
“I have inherited a belief in community, the promise that a gathering of the spirit can both create and change culture. In the desert, change is nurtured even in stone by wind, by water, through time.”
-Terry Tempest Williams
Biographies
Kim Phillips-Knope, MSW
With two decades of experience in education, social work, public health, and non-profit organizations, Kim brings a varied skill set in professional development trainings, research/resource development, program management and evaluation, and holistic program facilitation.
Professional Development Trainings,
Research & Resource Development
As a consultant for state and local governments as well as community-based organizations, Kim facilitates workshops for and collaborates with a diversity of schools throughout the country. From San Diego, CA to Laramie, WY, and Detroit, MI to Washington, DC, Kim supports critical efforts to create safer environments for all youth, including those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or are questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity (LGBTQ). Her specialized approach engages participants in both heart and mind, generating a space where learners feel safe yet challenged to tackle the complex issues they face. Kim has co-edited two resource guides on the topic of LGBTQ youth, developing curriculum for organizations across the country. She is a member of the American Psychological Association’s Healthy Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Students Project national cadre of trainers and formerly served as the LGBTQ youth content reviewer for the Sex, Etc. Medical Advisory Board. She has been a certified secondary education teacher in the state of Michigan and also serves as an apprentice of Opening the Heart—an experiential workshop that engages participants in holistic healing, reconnecting with core truths, and learning to live more fully from the heart.
Program Management, Evaluation
As the Director of Programs for Affirmations, an LGBTQ community center, and with a Master of Social Work degree focusing on social policy and evaluation, other key areas of specialty include: evaluation planning, logic models, needs assessments, survey design, focus groups, qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and report writing. Using an empowerment-based model, Kim works collaboratively with clients to develop an approach that engages key stakeholders at all levels of the evaluation process. Kim is highly skilled at both long and short term reviews of program effectiveness and integrating this information to support the implementation of future program modifications based on critical analysis.
Leigh Ann Phillips-Knope, MA, RYT
Leigh Ann integrates a wonderfully diverse background in community engagement, program management, social and environmental advocacy, and the healing and ceremonial arts.
Social & Environmental Advocacy
Leigh Ann has pioneered numerous educational, policy and community development initiatives on behalf of gender equality, environmental justice, therapeutic gardening, and beyond. Having successfully envisioned and led multiple grassroots advocacy campaigns and community health programs, she’s effectively implemented large-scale systems change within health care and faith communities, schools, businesses and the criminal justice system. Leigh Ann specializes in using participatory planning processes which empower stakeholders and build lasting leadership; creating experiential and transformative learning experiences; facilitating meaningful group processes, coalitions and a deep sense of connection and belonging. She earned her unique graduate training, a Master of Arts in Service, Leadership and Management, at SIT Graduate Institute in Brattleboro, VT, where she was fortunate to learn and grow with change-makers from across the globe, studying innovative strategies for engaging diverse communities for positive change. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Women and Gender Studies, and Journalism, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She completed her professional certification in Horticultural Therapy from the Horticultural Therapy Institute in Denver, CO.
Yoga & Healing Arts
Leigh Ann’s approach to Yoga is compassionate, strengthening, grounding and restorative. Through 15 years of teaching Yoga—she has synthesized a deeply inspiring style focused on therapeutic breath, personal exploration, embodied postures, imagery, healing and connecting with the earth. Known for creating a joyful and freedom-filled learning environment, Leigh Ann empowers her students to connect to the teacher within. Having studied Yoga for 20 years with master teachers internationally who emphasize the inward approach to Yoga—her primary influences are Angela Farmer (Greece); Donna Farhi (New Zealand); the Esther Myers/Vanda Scaravelli approach (Toronto); Erich Schiffman (California); and Patty Townsend (Massachusetts).
Leigh Ann leads specialized Yoga programs within universities, medical centers, businesses and nonprofits. In additional to traditional students, she’s committed to reaching underserved populations—including elders, survivors of violence, low-income communities and people living with serious health challenges.
The Ceremonial Arts
With 15 years of experiences leading ceremonial and healing events, Leigh Ann has reached over 7,500 people through 150 ceremonies recognizing the earth’s seasonal changes, healing and recovery, birth and end-of-life, grief and new beginnings, weddings and community celebrations. A poetic writer, inspiring public speaker and skillful ceremonial leader, Leigh Ann completed her professional training as a certified Life-Cycle Celebrant® through the Celebrant Foundation & Institute, graduating with honors as the Valedictorian of her class. Bearing witness to the joys and losses we experience as human beings, Leigh Ann creates remarkable ceremonies for individuals, couples, families and communities.