Welcome to galarc.com 

This is the web site for Esther A. Heller, Independent Consultant & Trainer, Diversity Coach.
It is a blend of the professional and the personal, reflecting the fact that the many aspects of my life interweave into one complete person.
Feel free to chose which aspects are relevant for you.

Also hosted and maintained here are:

The National Jewish Committee on Girl Scouting
The Cadette/Senior/Ambassador Girl Scout Skills Camporee
To Kids From Kids, Girl Scout Holiday Service Project

Finally, it is pronounced GAL-ark with the accent on the first syllable.  If you want to know more, scroll on down.

                          EAH

Esther A. Heller, Independent Consultant & Trainer

Personal Vision:

We all live on one planet. In order to share its limited resources, we must understand and appreciate each others' differences. I believe that if we recognize diversity as the source of multiple viewpoints, we have a better chance at creative solutions to life's challenges.

EAH and Diversity Work.

I have gone from mathematician to hardware engineer to software engineer.  Over the years, I found myself being drawn into the diversity arena.  In 1995 I attended Equity Institute's "Training for Trainers" program and then left engineering to work on social change.  Research and observation have shown that two opposing philosophies affect people's interactions: scarcity and sufficiency. Believing that there really is or can be "enough" to go around, I look compassionately at other people's (or groups) needs and history. This in turn has made me realize that many of us have expended too much energy trying to fit and/or function in the dominant paradigm. Instead, we must work at shifting the paradigm to fit more of us.  This is pluralism and the foundation of the work that I am now doing.

I give talks and workshops such as:

If you're part of group that's interested in a lunchtime speaker or looking for an experiential workshop, please get in touch with me. I  have a hard copy brochure which I can send by surface mail to you.  Since every group is different, I fine tune each presentation based on your specific needs.  I'm particularly fond of non-profit groups and will negotiate accordingly.

I also offer both presentations and diversity coaching to individuals.  Again, I tailor my services to fit your needs.  If you have an important presentation coming up, I can help you polish your style.  If you work with a diverse group of individuals, I can teach you how to recognize and deal with culturally based differences that may be impeding teamwork.  Finally, I am available to review published materials for both inclusion and clarity.

Consider the following questions posed by Rabbi Hillel.  They are relevant to this work and could be the basis for a fascinating workshop.

If I am not for myself, who will be?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?
I look forward to beginning a discussion with you!

More on Diversity

The internet is a wonderful place, but books don't require external power.  For those of you interested in more ideas, here's a reading list that I've put together.

Even though I'm no longer working in engineering, I'm still a member of the Society of Women Engineers and give workshops to members. I now have a column, "Thoughts On..." in Connections, the newsletter for the Santa Clara Valley Section and in the Members-at-Large news. Contact me if you are interesting in reading some of them.


Paw prints

EAH and Life

Paw prints

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Esther A. Heller, Independent Consultant and Trainer <esther@galarc.com>
Menlo Park, California
Last updated March 26, 2010