About Pacifica

ABOUT PACIFICA

Values create behavior. Considered communications, supported by shared values put into action (especially when it’s hard to do so) generate engagement and encourage right behavior.

Our belief that aligned, embedded and integrated practices reduce barriers, improve outcomes, and create sustainable workplaces drives Pacifica Human Communications, LLC.

A global consulting firm, Pacifica’s mission is to improve Clients’ productivity, profitability, and peopleability© by providing customized coaching, consulting, training, and assessment services. Founded in 1990, we counsel and create the most effective ways to bring individuals, teams, and organizations into functional, valuable, communicative alignment.

Conflict Management, Intercultural Communications, and Organizational Effectiveness offerings are client centric, fully customized and achieve these key outcomes:

Developed attitudes
Expanded knowledge
Advanced systems
Improved skills
Increased experience
Created benefit

Approach

Pacifica Human Communications, LLC. designs and conducts custom interventions to energize organizational culture, address work place issues, and meet business goals.

For 25 years, Pacifica has helped Fortune 500, global and private companies, government agencies, higher education and non-profits manage the rate-limiting factors arising from: cultural differences, organizational ineffectiveness and under-addressed communications.

You know best the business needs of your organization. Pacifica knows how to best harness these, your culture, and organizational values to achieve sustainable results. We engage clients in their intervention design.

Client Engagement Options

To fit your project’s needs and to achieve your goals, Pacifica can work with you in the following ways.

Sounding Board	Objective Reviewer	Thought Partner	Collaborator	Designer + Project Manager
In this mode, Pacifica confers on Client generated ideas. This highly efficient and low cost approach means Client developed concepts, designs, and plans are considered by expert organizational ombuds program designers, implementers, and assessors. Pacifica's viewpoint, regarding underconsidered factors, provides valuable input before major investment of team, time, and expense.	This level offers the Client additional consultation to support or promote their initiative. Pacifica brings an external perspective to analyze models, presentation materials or other work products, created by the Client. The resulting critique and guidance targets the Client's intent and goals, as well as assures alignment with the IOA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.	Engaging Pacifica's creative abilities from the start affords the benefits of specialized knowledge, while the Client retains execution responsibility. In this arrangement, the Client more fully involves Pacifica in the development of the design, materials and plan. Pacifica's dedicated attention and feedback assures high flexibility and responsiveness to changes likely to occur, while providing a solid underpinning in essential expertise.	The most common mode of Pacifica's engagements, this leverages the internal and external capacities. The Client and Pacifica co-create the design, processes, and materials. Client involvement reinforces organizational specifics. Tasking Pacifica with essential activities preserves Client resources for other demands. From a low-visibility position, Pacifica supports and enables the Client's initiative.	In certain situations, a Client benefits most from Pacifica's design, management and execution of the project. Pacifica's subject matter expertise and management strengths overcome political impediments, shrink learning curves, and ensure on-time delivery. Pacifica's involvement creates additional value by safe-guarding an ombuds program's neutrality and independence.

For any given project or initiative’s phase the extent of the engagement level may change.

People

Co-Founder Andrea Schenck

Andrea Schenck designs opportunities for people to discover, innovate and communicate in purposeful ways. She is the Managing Principal of Pacifica Human Communications, LLC. Focusing on the areas of organizational effectiveness, intercultural communications and conflict management, she has designed interventions in dynamic and sustainable response to Clients’ communication needs.

Having come of age professionally while working for the Japanese government, Schenck appreciates the oft-overlooked import and value of collaborative processes to obtain optimum results.

Schenck creates customized: training interventions, design + build programs, and assessment plans. Working from an appreciative approach, she guides clients to focus on existing strengths to amplify their vision and desired results.

The article Prepared to be Valuable: Positioning Ombuds Program she co-authored with John Zinsser presents leading edge practices in the design + implementation of organizational ombuds programs, based upon Pacifica’s break through work in the field.

Schenck received her BA in East Asian Studies from Wittenberg University. In addition to making better work places, she also works to make better communities— most recently serving on the: Central Business District Revitalization Commission and the Steering Committee that launched and produced TEDxCharleston 2013, 2014, as well as the boards of Lowcountry Local First and Enough Pie.

Co-Founder John W. Zinsser

John W. Zinsser supports individuals, teams and organizations to assess, create, and utilize their capacity to communicate. Described by colleagues and clients alike as passionate, Zinsser is driven to address the elemental challenge of helping others overcome the impediments created by culture, conflict or organizational construct.

He has facilitated group events, trained teams, mediated between pairs of senior executives, and coached individuals with the same commitment— a quality outcome forged from clarity of purpose, careful preparation and authentic human interaction.

His international perspective built from years working outside the U.S. supports Pacifica efforts for clients originating from Japan to Romania and when he presents, whether it is in Zurich or Portland.

With a particular expertise and focus on organizational ombuds programs, Zinsser continuously raises his voice for the capacity and value of properly aligned, embedded and integrated ombuds programs, such as in this interview on Columbia’s radio program.

Zinsser designed and teaches both ombuds courses offered at Columbia University’s Master of Science in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution.

He holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from Antioch University and is a cum laude graduate of Kenyon College, where he majored in Sociology. Zinsser brings his supportive, positive communications to various volunteer activities and board roles including with the: ABA Ombuds Committee, Jazz Artists of Charleston, The Coastal Community Foundation, and PPHS.