Atieno Bird, MA ’99
Washington DC
Atieno (known as Jennifer Atieno Fisher when at CTP) has led retreats and team coaching for the World Bank, NASA, the Small Business Association, Accenture, Adventist Health, police departments, public service agencies, hospitals, schools and non-profits. She has coached over 100 private clients, 30 young leaders from the Middle East, and 20 large teams of election campaign volunteers. She has provided experiential training for about 1,000 professionals.
Then, on June 30, 2010, Atieno and her husband Shawn had their first child, Samia Luisa. Two months later she posted this humorous item on her Facebook page: “Nurse, check, walk dogs, check, groceries, check, nurse, check, sweep, check, plants, check, laundry, check, nurse [and so on],” prompting one friend to reply, “LOL. I remember those days” and another to write, “Funny, you sound like a mother.”
Interviewed for Peacebuilder, Atieno explained that she continues to coach clients via telephone and is still able to lead team retreats and trainings for government agencies and occasional stress reduction workshops in the community. She leads a group coaching class for her non-agency clients and has recently added a weight-loss coaching business line. She noted she is certified as a psychodramatist, yoga instructor, executive coach, and practitioner of appreciative inquiry.
Atieno observed that her professional interests cross the lines of traditional disciplines – she was pleased with what she learned in her MA in conflict transformation program, but she also would have felt comfortable earning a master’s degree in counseling, social work or organizational development.