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Weaving Change is a woman-owned organization focused on helping groups use systems thinking, creative design, and adaptive learning to problem solve the most pressing social issues facing our world today. We have experience supporting efforts to promote equitable systems change across multiple sectors and focus areas, including:
Early childhood development, early care and education, and school readiness
Kindergarten through post secondary education
Primary prevention of child abuse and neglect
Health equity
Youth mental and behavioral health, systems of care
Food justice
Substance use/recovery
Housing
Transportation
Employment and economic development
Guiding Principles
SYSTEMS THINKING - Understanding how social systems operate and change in order to improve problem solving for the social good.
EQUITY AND JUSTICE - Advancing equity and justice throughout all phases of the work.
RADICAL ENGAGEMENT - Engaging community partners - particularly youth and families experiencing the greatest inequities - as the drivers of learning and action.
ADAPTIVE LEARNING - Gathering ongoing feedback to learn and quickly adapt efforts to emerging needs and opportunities.
Erin Watson, Ph.D.
Owner/Principal Associate
Erin Watson, Ph.D., is the owner of Weaving Change and has extensive experience in the use of systems thinking and participatory action-learning to design, implement, and evaluate transformative change efforts aimed at promoting equitable outcomes for children and families.
She has consulted with hundreds of organizations, public sector agencies, community coalitions, and foundations around their efforts to promote place-based change, service delivery reform, primary prevention, strategic alignment, adaptive action, parent leadership, and collaborative capacity. Her systems change frameworks have been adopted by communities, coalitions, funders, and government agencies around the world.
She specializes in early childhood systems and has provided capacity building and technical assistance to government agencies and regional early childhood coalitions in the U.S. across Oregon, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Illinois, and North Carolina.
Selected Publications
Watson, E.R. & Collins, C. (2023). Putting the system into systemic racism: A systems thinking approach to advancing equity. American Journal of Community Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/ajcp.12628
Collins, C., & Watson, E.R. (2021). Subverting Whiteness: A systems theoretical approach to anti-racist praxis. Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, 12(3).
Foster-Fishman, P., & Watson, E. (2018). Creating habits for inclusive change. The Foundation Review, 10(4), 8.
Foster-Fishman, P.G., & Watson, E.R. (2017). Understanding and promoting systems change. In M.A. Bond, I. Serrano-Garcia, C. Keys, & M. Shinn (eds.) APA handbooks in psychology. APA handbook of community psychology: Methods for community research and action for diverse groups and issues, Vol. 2. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
Watson, E.R., & Foster-Fishman, P.G. (2013). The Exchange boundary framework: Understanding the evolution of power within collaborative community settings. American Journal of Community Psychology.
Foster-Fishman, P.G., & Watson, E.R. (2011). The ABLe change framework: A conceptual and methodological tool for promoting systems change. American Journal of Community Psychology. 49(3-4), 503-516.
Foster-Fishman, P.G., & Watson, E.R. (2010). Action research as systems change. In H.E. Fitzgerald, D.L. Zimmerman, C. Burack, & S. Seifer (eds.) Handbook of Engaged Scholarship: The Contemporary Landscape. Volume Two: Community-Campus Partnerships. East Lansing, Michigan State University Press.
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