Improv changed the way I move through the world.

Before improv, I often felt pressure to have the “right” answer before speaking, leading, or contributing. Improv taught me how to listen more deeply, respond in the moment, trust collaboration, and stay present even when things feel like they are going off the rails.

What started as a creative outlet became a practice that transformed the way I facilitate, lead, communicate, and build community.

Over time, I began intuitively integrating improv principles into professional and community spaces and saw the way folks were able to:

  • communicate more openly

  • build trust more quickly

  • navigate uncertainty

  • think more creatively together

  • reconnect with their own voice and agency

Today, that work shows up everywhere from retreats and strategic planning sessions to interactive workshops and community-based learning experiences.

  • "I felt safe and not judged.

    [Bernie's] way of explaining activities and letting us know from the start that we could do nothing wrong made me feel confident in my ability to participate.”

  • "Honestly I was apprehensive about "losing" the workday...

    …as I had a lot of projects that needed to get moving both in the workplace and in my professional and personal life, but within the first hour of our time together my resistance dissolved and I found it to be a great usage of limited time.”

  • "If everyone joined Collective Brilliance, I truly believe the world could change.”

    “…Bernie is such an incredible facilitator who knows how to bring out the best in everyone, creating a truly supportive and uplifting environment I’ve honestly never been part of before. I learned so much about emergent strategies that have deepened my understanding and inspired me to make a greater impact in my community.”

My Philosophy

My work is deeply shaped by:

  • curiosity

  • belonging

  • participation

  • play

  • emergent strategy

  • collaborative learning

  • liberatory and human-centered facilitation practices

I believe meaningful collaboration requires creating conditions where people feel invited into the process.

I’m especially interested in the spaces between structure and emergence: i.e. How do we create enough clarity for people to move forward while leaving room for discovery, adaptation, and collective wisdom?

That question continues to shape how I design experiences.

Meet Bernie

Facilitator | Improviser | Trainer | Speaker

Bernie’s background spans nonprofit leadership, facilitation, fundraising, project management, applied improv, and arts/community programming.

Professionally, Bernie spent five years Rural Community Assistance Corporation supporting rural and Indigenous communities through strategic fundraising and collaborative development work, helping secure more than $42 million in funding for community-centered initiatives.

Alongside that work, they continued developing as a facilitator, improviser, and community organizer, designing retreats, workshops, participatory learning experiences, and creative incubation spaces that help people move ideas into action together.

Bernie previously served as Board President and Artistic Community Director for Empire Arts Collective, where they developed collaborative arts and community programming focused on creativity, participation, and connection.

Bernie has facilitated for nonprofits, public agencies, creative organizations, leadership teams, and community groups, and regularly teach and perform improv throughout the Sacramento region. Thier work has included applied improv training and facilitation development through workshops, intensives, and national learning communities.

Bernie has presented interactive facilitation and applied improv sessions for organizations like the international Applied Improvisation Network Conference and Design Week Sacramento, with a focus on collaboration, participation, communication, and community-centered engagement.

They are also the creator of the Collective Brilliance Experience, a collaborative incubator designed to help artists, organizers, facilitators, and changemakers develop ideas through reflection, experimentation, and community support.