Sally Loftis
Crossnore, North Carolina, United States
Certifications
- Facilitator
About Me
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About Sally
Sally Loftis
Loftis Partners
Managing Director
English
Biography
Margaret Wheatley once said, “When we take a step or make a decision, we are tugging at webs of relationships that are seldom visible but always present.” Sally Loftis is tugging at the webs of relationship that hold our systems of injustice in place through consulting.
Sally is the daughter of teachers, innovators, and visionaries who taught her from a young age to deeply listen to everyone in her circle of influence. Starting with activism in high school, Sally volunteered and worked in spaces so that all people feel seen, heard, and represented in her work. She has worked in mostly human resources roles and most recently completed her masters’ thesis on pay equity in nonprofits.
Sally finds that facilitating learning for large groups is powerful, but building a sense of community and collective purpose requires additional skills, specifically listening. Sally co-led the equity, diversity, and inclusion taskforce at Penland School of Craft. This group of staff, community, and board members formed to build a space where they could support thought diversity with loving curiosity and courageous authenticity. In this work, Sally has recognized her own need to excavate the white, male, able-bodied, homologous narrative of her upbringing. This excavation is primarily listening, watching, and reading the voices that push her out of unconscious bias. See her full resume on LinkedIn.
You can listen to an interview with Sally where she discusses pay equity in the nonprofit sector here. You can also read an article by Sally here in the Fall/Winter 2020 issue of Organization Development Review. Sally partners with Wayfinding Partners and Brook Graham to deepen and broaden our work and team experience. She is also a certified Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator.
Services
Facilitated Strategy Sessions
We bring experience in business strategy, organization design, and virtual facilitation. Loftis Partners uses a collaborative online approach to maximize attendee participation and business resources. We also offer an Appreciative Inquiry facilitation approach, which builds on human strengths and creativity.
Black Women Stitch, Time Management Coaching
“Sally Loftis is a wonderful time management coach. She created a practice with me that reflected where I needed support, that worked with me in my state of overwhelm and pressure. Working with Sally helped me better organize and approach what felt like a seething mass of labor and demands for more. Though she is not Black, she took steps to make sure that our sessions were culturally competent which I appreciated. She helped me to reframe things, to practice curiosity, to give myself grace, to say “no” more often and to believe in the power of my “yes.””
Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation, Board Recruitment
“Sally listened deeply to their needs, explained everything in easy terms, and diligently moved the project along each week in a highly organized and professional manner. She reviewed all documents with a keen eye towards our goals and provided exactly the right amount of guidance to keep the project moving. She made our partners feel heard and understood, and in their words, she “spoke their language.” She created a timeline, kept everyone on track, and set the organization up for future success. I could not recommend Sally more, she is compassionate, understanding, focused, and driven, and really understands how to guide and grow a small organization.”
Articles
The New Age of OD Heretics – Organization Development Review
In my work as an OD practitioner, I have found organizations struggle to implement plans for anti-racist frameworks beyond building knowledge and awareness with employees. Yet equity and inclusion efforts at a systemic change level is more than awareness. An essential way to address and confront racism and other types of oppression lies in the way organizations design and implement structures, systems, and processes. This constant and non-linear work includes individual change, team conversations, and organization design.
Getting White People Unstuck: Moving from The Dominant Culture to An Alternative Future
So often, we get trapped in deficit-based thinking, which is rooted in colonialism. We focus on what’s wrong and get frozen by the overwhelming evidence of the problem. I call this the “white people frozen effect,” where white people learn about the wide and deep systems of inequities and don’t know how to move forward because they don’t want to make another mistake.
How to Start a Strategic Planning Process
The strategic planning process takes many forms, and a strong one is constructed through an inclusive process where all stakeholder voices are heard. Dominant culture values speed over depth. A way to break out of dominant culture practice is to slow down the process. An inclusive process takes time & energy, and it builds buy-in through co-creation. Below is a basic outline to get you started.
Testimonials
Harry Potter Alliance, Strategic Planning Project
“Sally brought exactly the kind of compassion, lovingly pointed questions, and strengths mindset that we needed during one of the most critical strategic planning processes in our organization’s history. She was able to step into a complex situation with a grace and skill that made her feel like part of the team almost immediately and allowed our staff to feel very comfortable working with her. A true gem!”
Black Women Stitch, Time Management Coaching
“Sally Loftis is a wonderful time management coach. She created a practice with me that reflected where I needed support, that worked with me in my state of overwhelm and pressure. Working with Sally helped me better organize and approach what felt like a seething mass of labor and demands for more. Though she is not Black, she took steps to make sure that our sessions were culturally competent which I appreciated. She helped me to reframe things, to practice curiosity, to give myself grace, to say “no” more often and to believe in the power of my “yes.””
Guadalupe Neighborhood Development Corporation, Board Recruitment
“Sally listened deeply to their needs, explained everything in easy terms, and diligently moved the project along each week in a highly organized and professional manner. She reviewed all documents with a keen eye towards our goals and provided exactly the right amount of guidance to keep the project moving. She made our partners feel heard and understood, and in their words, she “spoke their language.” She created a timeline, kept everyone on track, and set the organization up for future success. I could not recommend Sally more, she is compassionate, understanding, focused, and driven, and really understands how to guide and grow a small organization.”