About
Jessica Townsend Teague
Principal, Illustrate It! LLC, formerly Imagi-nation, LLC
I am a seasoned survivor of serious work, having spent many years within the fields of personal and organizational development, leadership education and civil society building.
ART and the POWER of PLAY have fascinated me for a long time.
As an educator - formerly on the faculties of George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management, Georgetown University’s TFAS Institute on Business and Government Affairs and interacting with teen participants in multi-national programs overseas - I was well known for adding the unlikely instruments of art, music, experiential learning and literature to enhance evolution of thought on difficult topics. Discovering that “play” lowered reactivity and revived the higher functioning of individuals in relationship systems was all it took to relinquish my reputation and relax into what I now consider my vital role as wise “jester” with co-learners of any age.
As the manager of bi-partisan advocacy initiatives - most notably during my two-year term at the Congressional Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program – I coordinated the efforts of many stakeholders. Itinerant staff appreciated the transparency of wall to wall task/progress charts. Oversized instructional graphics and use of sticky notes enhanced the quality and quantity of input by attendees of our coast to coast forums, designed to identify key components for legislation. Large scale visuals kept everyone engaged, efficient, valued and in the loop, even with - and in spite of - access to technology. A motto worth considering, every now and then: “Get off the devise and you’ll get into life!”
As a project director – I have teamed with education associations, non-governmental organizations and the U.S. Departments of State, Education, Commerce and Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the International Red Cross, by whom I was awarded a National Service Citation. CBS News correspondent, Dan Rather, featured my volunteer team’s pioneering work with adolescents and parents on his “48 Hours”, television program.
As an entrepreneur - After years of “doodling” action outlines and explanations of complex theories for my own purposes, I decided to receive training and add graphic recording, graphic facilitation and visual derivative production to my line of consulting services in 2010. Now, these services constitute the core of my work because I know they do the most to enhance my clients’ prospects for broad participation, innovation and right brain retention of important ideas and information.
An investment in the agency of art has made a difference for many of the people and systems for which I have worked, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service, The National Security Agency, Capital One, Alcon, US Pharma, Rare.Org, The Emmerich Group, The Center for Excellence in Public Leadership at George Washington University and a host of other non-profit agencies, small businesses and educational institutions.
My Educational Background includes - an M.S. in Organization Development from The American University, Washington, D.C., B.S. in Education, Poli Sci, History & French from The University of Kansas, Lawrence, 2e Degre, Diplome D’Etudes Francaises, L’Universite de Bordeaux III, Bordeaux, France. Georgetown University and the Fund for American Studies’ Institute on Comparative Political and Economic Systems. Certification in a range of psychometrically valid and reliable leadership instruments; post graduate program trainee in Society’s Emotional Process at the Georgetown Family Center. I serve on the International Affairs Board of Visitors, University of Kansas, and Advisory Board of The International Center for Leading Studies (TICLS) of the Greek Association of Atlantic and European Cooperation (GAAEC). I was trained in the art of strategic illustration by Kriss Wittman of www.wittmannstudios.com. I am a member of the International Forum of Visual Practitioners.
