WORK WITH ME
I help organizations, communities and innovators make sense of complex challenges and turn insight into stories, conversations and action.
Tell me what you're working on →
COMICS & GRAPHIC JOURNALISM
Make complex ideas visible.
Turn research, conversations, projects and complex systems into visual narratives that people can understand, remember and share.
For research communication · engagement · knowledge sharing.
PERSONAL & TEAM STORY MAKING WORKSHOP
Create your hero story.
Use storytelling and creative exercises to explore identity, relationships, mindset and agency in times of change.
For personal development · team building · leadership & transformation.
ECOLOGICAL
STORY MAKING
WORKSHOP
Bring Planetary thinking into the picture.
Create stories that explore the relationships between people, places and the living world to open up new possibilities for action.
For sustainability · innovation · community engagement.
USER-CENTERED STORY MAKING WORKSHOP
Turn user insight into new ideas.
Explore people's experiences and possible futures through storytelling, visual methods and design co-creation to develop solutions with value and impact.
For strategy · innovation · interdisciplinary teams.
RESEARCH & PROJECT LEADERSHIP
Shape complex questions into stories that drive change.
Get support with research design, fieldwork, participation, systems thinking and storytelling — from early questions through to communicating what you've learned.
For research · engagement · change projects.
SPEAKING AND TEACHING
Bring new perspectives into your organization.
Talks, lectures and participatory sessions on storytelling, sustainability, systems thinking, comics and research.
For conferences · universities · teams & public events.
Who I work with
Philips · IKEA · Capgemini · Gemeente Amsterdam · Baltan Laboratories · Design Academy Eindhoven · ArtEZ University of the Arts · Delft University of Technology · University of Twente · University of Antwerp · Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences · Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
"Elise's expertise on ecological storytelling has big potential in the context of sustainability. With this method we reached a novel and profound engagement mindset amongst employees."
Helle Ullerup, Sustainability Lead at Philips
"When we launched the Adaptive Strategy for Circular Design, Elise presented the systemic design work she had developed. It's the best systemic design work applied to the corporate sector that I've ever seen for two reasons. First, the depth of the analysis, and second the visual and storytelling communication exercise around it makes it understandable to people with different backgrounds and ways of thinking."
Anna Queralt Fuentes, Strategic Design Manager at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
How we can work together
A focused session: a talk, lecture, workshop or comics session.
For a specific question, event or moment of exploration.
A collaborative process: a series of workshops, research activities, or a story to tell.
For projects that need time, participation and iteration.
A longer-term project: research, strategy, participatory storytelling and project leadership.
For complex challenges that need sustained collaboration from question to impact.