Meet the Hive & House team
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Hive & House wants to spread the word about cohousing, connect curious people, and provide options on how to build community. We are a team of three partners with background knowledge and expertise ranging from group facilitation and community building, to urban planning and financial planning.
By working as a team, we match the facilitator's skills to the group's needs, depending on the meeting type, activity format, and specific content. Having another Hive & House partner on hand, whether to record information, answer questions, or co-facilitate as needed, improves the experience for group members. Hive & House strives to have all three of our partners attend key meetings or workshops for cohousing groups. From the group's perspective, group members get access to the widest breadth of knowledge, and are better able to understand the various threads that a cohousing group must weave together. From our team's perspective, when we are rooted in the group's discussions and decision-making processes, we are better able to serve the group and anticipate future needs, whether it's more information, undertaking community building, or a specific group process to support an upcoming decisions. |
Marta Carlucci
In her spare time When she is not working on her many community passions, you will find Marta hiking, cycling or kayaking with her family, or planning the next big outdoor adventure with her friends. |
Marta’s passion for community is the constant thread woven into both her personal and professional life. Marta is a facilitator, graphic recorder, planner and community engagement coordinator, and has experience working with vulnerable populations at risk of of being isolated from their greater community. Marta’s recent work with The Family Support Institute as a Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator provided a large platform from which to facilitate both small and large groups, and to work through important and difficult conversations with all stakeholders including families, professionals and community members.
Her lived experience as a parent of a child with a disability and continuous pursuit of knowledge lead Marta to complete a degree in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies at the University of Calgary. Marta has presented as a keynote speaker at BC Summer Institute: Partnerships for Inclusive Learning, and has created and presented workshops at several different conferences on the topic of community inclusion and engagement. Marta is also Vice President of the Board of Steps Forward, the BC Initiative for Inclusive Post Secondary Education. Journey to cohousing When introduced to the idea of cohousing, Marta knew it was the natural choice for her family. Her family wanted to be part of a community of neighbours who know and care about each other, make decisions that support the whole community, and know the importance of diversity. That led Marta and her family to join Driftwood Village Cohousing in 2015 and they have never looked back. Marta is an active member of Driftwood Village Cohousing and has embedded herself into many aspects of community building and facilitation. Marta is excited to use her current skills and experience in facilitation, inclusion, and community building to help new cohousing groups form and develop their unique community. |
Lysa Dixon
In her spare time Lysa can often be found chasing (or being chased by) her dogs in Pacific Spirit Park. She sits on the boards of Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House and Ruby Slipper Theatre. Lysa was also one of the volunteer organizers of the 2018 Canadian Cohousing Conference. And she knits…. A lot…. |
Lysa spent many years working in retail operations and Human Resources, where she trained, mentored and aligned management teams with the strategic objectives of the organization. Lysa has been recognized for her organizational skills and ability to handle multiple business functions at one time, as well as her strong observation, teaching and coaching skills. She created and executed financial workshops for management teams in a large international organization, and was Team Lead in several new store opening strategies, successfully taking teams from initial site feasibility and acquisition to year one operational analysis. Lysa held budgetary responsibility of over $30 million annually, and has corporate training in group facilitation, conflict resolution and change management.
In 2011, Lysa made a career change, and became licensed in the mortgage industry. She is known for being methodical and persistent, all while educating her clients in the ‘ins and outs’ of the mortgage industry. Past clients have recognized her “perseverance, creative thinking and calm nature in the face of numerous obstacles and looming deadlines”. Lysa has solid knowledge of the Strata Properties Act, building systems, and potential downfalls, and is not afraid to have the tough conversations with clients if it protects their best interest. She also continues to mentor small business owners in all aspects of their business operations, and takes great pleasure in watching their professional success. Journey to cohousing During childhood, Lysa moved a lot, but her dad’s career always created a community. As an adult, Lysa continued to seek community in Alberta, France, Australia and when she moved to Vancouver in 1998. At that time, she traveled a lot for work, so feeling connected in Vancouver was a challenge. She explored cohousing, but there were limited options. The two homes Lysa has owned in Vancouver both have cohousing-type features, from outdoor walkways and central courtyards, to the all-important social connections with her neighbours. No matter the season, Lysa’s front door is ALWAYS open, and she loves hearing the life and activity in the courtyard. Lysa heard of Little Mountain Cohousing in early 2015, and jumped in immediately. She is thrilled to be “stepping it up a notch” in her quest to live in community, and is happy to be bringing some of her existing neighbours with her! Since joining LMC, many of the group members have become like family, and Lysa plans to never move again. |
Mackenzie Stonehocker
In her spare time In the winter, you’ll find Mackenzie sewing and listening to podcasts. In the summer, her family hits the road, dipping into rivers, lakes and saltwater. Regardless of the season, you’ll see her family around town on a variety of bikes. |
By the end of a microscopic undergraduate degree in Biology, Mackenzie knew that cells and DNA were too tiny to keep her focus; she wanted to work with people, cities and building resilience within communities. She studied urban planning at the University of Calgary, with a semester abroad in Barcelona and a focus on streamlining municipal approvals for innovative development techniques.
Mackenzie worked in planning applications for the city of Halifax for five years, before returning home to British Columbia in 2012. Settling in Vancouver, she started off doing public consultation for rezoning applications, then worked at a private development company for a brief stint. She worked at the City of Vancouver in the planning department, first in the rezoning centre, and most recently on the Grandview-Woodland community plan. Since launching Driftwood Village Cohousing in 2015, Mackenzie has focused on the main threads that come together to form a cohousing community: building trust and decision-making skills; creating a legal and financial framework to support the transition from a group to a developer; finding an appropriate site; designing the tangible and intangible aspects of community; and working together as group to keep the project on track and on budget. Her goal is for cohousing to be an available housing choice for more people. To that end, she volunteered on an inter-community organizing committee to put on the 2018 Canadian Cohousing Conference. The idea for Hive & House Consulting eventually came out of Mackenzie and Lysa’s great experience working together on the conference. Journey to cohousing Mackenzie was aware of cohousing from Prairie Sky’s early days in Calgary, but it wasn’t until she read of Vancouver Cohousing breaking ground in 2014 that the light bulb came on: this was the solution her family was looking for! Mackenzie and her husband knew they wanted to raise their children in community, where their family would be connected to a wide range of neighbours at all ages and stages of life. They knew the type of housing they chose to live in would have far-reaching and long-term impacts on their day-to-day logistics and whether they would feel a sense of belonging. Cohousing seemed like the best way to build a community, both figuratively and literally. Rather than returning to processing rezoning applications for developers, her family decided to invest time in a cohousing group, to see where that took them. |
