Kris Van Amber joined Management Analysis and Development in 2012 after working for over 20 years in state government and organization development. Prior to joining MAD, she worked at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) as an internal organization development consultant. While there she was a principal designer of the MPCA’s Leadership Academy, facilitator to multiple external and internal teams, and process improvement coach to various workgroups. She also worked in the MPCA technical programs as a compliance and assistance inspector, self-audit process coordinator, and training coordinator.
Kris focuses on meeting process design and facilitation. Most of her work is facilitating stakeholder advisory groups, stakeholder engagement processes, and improvement efforts. She advises leaders on effective participatory processes and helps group members see possibilities to resolve conflict.
Some of Kris’s projects include assessing the state of firefighter training and providing recommendations to shape the future of firefighter training in Minnesota, designing and facilitating meetings for the Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Committee (OERAC), coaching and facilitating the improvement of how transportation construction projects are let for bidding, and designing and facilitating groundwater management area meetings for a regional approach to ground water management. Her areas of interest include system thinking, polarity management, and group dynamics.
Since joining MAD, she has worked on projects with the Departments of Education, Public Safety, Human Services, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Health, and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Kris has a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences from St. Cloud State University. She is certified in the Organization Workshop, an exercise to illustrate the complexity and necessity of partnership within organization systems. She is also a graduate of the State of Minnesota’s Emerging Leaders Institute.
