MEET THE TEAM
We're a passionate group of visual thinkers dedicated to transforming your meetings and workshops into dynamic, collaborative experiences. With a blend of creativity, expertise, and a touch of agility, we help organizations like yours unlock their full potential.
We are a network of world-class facilitators, consultants, coaches, and trainers. We use our experience to design rich, creative experiences for our clients, including federal and local government, nonprofits, philanthropic associations, professional associations, and commercial clients in the technology, medical, construction, business services, and financial sectors.
We understand the unique challenges you face and tailor our approach to meet your specific needs. Want to learn more about how our team can help you achieve your goals? We'd love to chat!
MEET THE LIZARD BRAIN FACILITATORS AND CONSULTANTS
BRIAN TARALLO
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Brian Tarallo, Managing Director.
Photo by Kayla Mae Post
Brian Tarallo is the managing director of Lizard Brain. He is a certified professional facilitator who specializes in visual methods and virtual meetings. He works in the federal and state government, defense, engineering, and healthcare industries. Brian is also the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller, Surviving the Horror of Online Meetings. In 2023, Brian was awarded an IAF Facilitation Impact Award.
Brian has served as a business process improvement manager for a federal agency, an operations manager and later a senior consultant for a Washington, DC-based consulting firm, an associate and later an associate partner for a Washington, DC-based engineering firm, a project manager and an operations manager for a national development firm, and a development volunteer for the U.S. Peace Corps.
Awards and Certifications
20 years of experience in facilitation, strategic planning, leadership development and training, organizational development, team development, and visual consulting
MBA focusing in development and finance, Arizona State University
Master Certified Professional Facilitator (M|CPF), International Association of Facilitators (IAF)
Certified Virtual Facilitator (CVF), International Institute for Facilitation (INIFAC)
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Master Practitioner, one of 160 globally
Certified to deliver the FIRO-B Assessment and the Grove Team Performance Model (TPM)
Trainer and partner, the Grove Consultants International
Contributing author, “The World of Visual Facilitation”; Blijsie, Hamons, & Smith; 2019
Author, “Surviving the Horror of Online Meetings”; 2021
Founder, OGSystems Visioneering Team
Founder, NOVA Scribes
Member and presenter, International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP)
Member and presenter, Mid-Atlantic Facilitators' Network (MAFN)
Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management Institute (PMI)
TEDx speaker, TEDxLizardCreek 2014
Experienced in delivering Red Team Facilitation, Blue Ocean Strategy, the Grove Consultants’ Strategic Visioning, Generative Scribing, Kinesthetic Modeling, Crucial Conversations, the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, the Organizational Cultural Assessment Indicator, Social Styles, the Tuckman Model of Team Development, and Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team
CHRIS CUSHING
STUDIO MANAGER
Chris is a vibrant force driven by a passion for helping those who uplift others. With a solid foundation as a proud USAF veteran, Chris seamlessly blends decades of leadership, customer service finesse, and unwavering professionalism into everything she does. Chris champions a human-centered ethos that guides our every endeavor.
Armed with a diverse background spanning nursing and business operations, Chris embodies the perfect blend of compassion and strategic insight. Her dedication to continuous improvement shines through her completion of over 430 CEUs from MGE Management Experts, Inc. in St. Petersburg, FL, between 2018 and 2020. This intensive training encompassed many vital skills: communication mastery, critical thinking prowess, statistical analysis finesse, marketing magic, sales savvy, and executive leadership excellence.
At the core of Chris' essence lies an unwavering commitment to our clients and team. Her tireless efforts ensure we deliver nothing short of excellence, crafting unforgettable experiences at every turn.
LIZARD BRAIN ASSOCIATES
Rachel Thompson brings design thinking expertise to her graphic facilitation practice.
Rachel Thompson works at the intersection of strategy and design using human-centered and visual methods. Rachel has over a decade of professional experience with human-centered design and design thinking, strategic facilitation, graphic recording and graphic facilitation, experiential learning and teaching, and coaching. Rachel uses her range of experience to help people integrate sustainable changes into their work and life.
Currently based in Cary, NC, Rachel has a B.A. in Anthropology and French from Kansas State University. She is Design Thinking Facilitator at the Academy of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland and an Adjunct Instructor for the Design Leadership MA/MBA program at the Maryland Institute College of Art.
She has been a part of the leadership team of the Service Design DC Meetup, NOVA Scribes, the DC Graphic Facilitation Meetup, the Design Thinking: DC Meetup, and the DC Service Jam. She is a member of the International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP) and Mid-Atlantic Facilitators' Network (MAFN).
RACHEL THOMPSON
Among her many talents, Renatta is also a Neuland Ambassador: she stays current on the newest facilitation tools and materials.
Renatta makes meetings visual at both in-person and virtual events.
With her business and organizational development experience, she creates real-time visualizations that become roadmaps for participants to guide their current decisions and map the futures. Renatta uses her experience with global Fortune 500 companies to organize and illustrate complex functions and processes.
Fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, she is called upon to illustrate international and multicultural events in multiple languages.
Her diverse career includes roles as an entrepreneur, HR manager, and pioneer and leader in the emerging field of graphic recording. She is a co-founder and board member of the IFVP Institute, the non-profit arm of the global professional association for the field of visual practitioners. She also chairs the development of the first professional certification process for visual practitioners.
Renatta combines her business savvy, drawing ability, people skills, and communication acumen to create spaces for others to be successful.
Her top five CliftonStrengths themes are: Achiever • Empathy • Learner • Adaptability • Individualization
RENATTA ALGALARRONDO
Andrea Hancock graphic records in her own unique and striking style.
With her business and organizational development experience, she creates real-time visualizations that become roadmaps for participants to guide their current decisions and map the futures. Renatta uses her experience with global Fortune 500 companies to organize and illustrate complex functions and processes.
Fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, she is called upon to illustrate international and multicultural events in multiple languages.
Her diverse career includes roles as an entrepreneur, HR manager, and pioneer and leader in the emerging field of graphic recording. She is a co-founder and board member of the IFVP Institute, the non-profit arm of the global professional association for the field of visual practitioners. She also chairs the development of the first professional certification process for visual practitioners.
ANDREA HANCOCK
Paul specializes in creating captivating visuals across diverse mediums.
Paul Mackender is a rising star on the Lizard Brain team. With over eight years of experience in design and illustration, Paul specializes in creating captivating visuals across diverse mediums.
Paul draws storyboards and provides graphic recording, branding assets, and multimedia content design. Paul Mackender is a rising star on the Lizard brain team. A talented Illustrator and Designer based in the vibrant city of Charlottesville, VA. With a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration from the University of Missouri Kansas City, earned in 2016, Paul has honed his craft under the guidance of esteemed artists in the Kansas City community. His journey in design and illustration has been marked by a dynamic role at Overflow Companies, where he embraced the art of graphic recording and visual note-taking. These skills have become integral to his offerings, available both remotely and in-person.
Paul's illustration expertise spans a diverse array of media and products. From crafting compelling storyboards for film and TV to creating evocative concept art, branding assets, and book illustrations, his work is a testament to his ability to tell a visual story with depth and clarity. Driven by an unyielding passion for innovation, Paul continually explores the intersection of traditional techniques and cutting-edge digital tools, seeking new ways to push the boundaries of his art. His enthusiasm for developing technologies fuels his creative process, ensuring his work remains both timeless and contemporary.
PAUL MACKENDER
Erin Gordon blends fine art and business savvy with her graphic facilitation.
Erin is a strategy consultant and visual practitioner with experience across a broad range of topics such as supply chain, systems integration, data analytics, communications, change management, leadership and organizational development. She holds an MBA and MS in Strategic Management from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, and BS in Commerce and Spanish with minor in Studio Art from the University of Virginia. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and Yoga Instructor (RYT-200).
As a former muralist, Erin's work in strategic visualization combines her passion for art with background in business. Since 2012, Erin has explored integrating visual practices into her consulting work to include graphic facilitation, recording, virtual visualization, collaboration and experience design. In her spare time, you'll find Erin out on the trails or her yoga mat if not co-creating over a glass of wine!
ERIN GORDON
Trent Wakenight taking large scale visual notes at the annual International Forum of Visual Practitioners conference.
Photo credit: Steve Weinstock
Trent Wakenight uses visual meetings to help organizations with change management and strategic communication, turning cool concepts into even cooler pictures. Trent is an outcome-oriented strategic communication and strategy development professional. He has extensive experience in strategic visualization, graphic facilitation, project management, organizational change, and program assessment. He supports officials in government and academia with accomplishments in the intelligence community, defense, homeland security, STEM, online education, and public health.
Trent has been a practicing graphic facilitator and graphic recorder since 2011, with experience in the graphic recording field since 2002. He conducts graphic facilitation and graphic recording to support change management and strategic communication activities for U.S. government agencies. His work products include concept visuals, storyboards and video development, sketchnotes, corporate visions maps and strategic plans, and integrated marketing and communication plans. Trent is the founder of Marker Ninja, providing visualization support to think tanks, non-profit entities, government agencies, and the private sector in areas such as science and technology, government policy and national security, public health and safety, human rights and empowerment. Trent is also a professional writer and note taker. He is a former English teacher and aspires to be a race car driver.
TRENT WAKENIGHT