We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tina Belge. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tina below.

Tina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Catalyst Community Consulting’s mission is to spark positive change for our clients. Seemingly simple but hard work to do. It’s been my mission not just for this business but for my life. I’ve dedicated my career to the public sector, serving my country, state, and county at different levels of government. I think it comes from a deep sense of responsibility and a high value for justice. Growing up I’d watch the nightly news with my dad over a bowl of ice cream and I witnessed the immense need, the injustice. and the politics of it all. I came away wanting to be part of the movement to make the world a better place.

No doubt my specific area of focus on urban planning, community development, and housing stems from my childhood as well. As a child I experienced housing insecurity, lived in substandard housing, and even as a young adult experienced housing instability. These experience made a large impact on me, both the importance of safe stable housing but also on how I perceived community. In times of hardship our church community helped my family and I found community in unlikely spaces even when unsure where my head would hit the pillow at night.

Tina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Catalyst’s mission is to spark change. Change is a process and often takes knowledge of systems and networks. Understanding the problem at hand and predicting trends is what we excel in but it’s not just any kind of change and it’s not just for any kind of client. It is for positive impact- social, economic, environmental, and cultural. Our clients are non-profits, governments, and private businesses looking to make strides and ignite change in their respective lines of work. We lend the technical expertise so they can do that. As a the founder and principal of Catalyst I created this firm when I saw a great need in these spaces for experts in planning and certain issue areas of public policy to better work with the greater ecosystem systems change. I want to see action and movement, not just plans that sit on a shelf.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Being active in your community and building strong relationships and networks are key. Knowing people is the first hurtle, then do great work.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’ve always used my relationships to help others. Someone needs a favor I would use my relationships to assist. I learned that’s not so easy in business. I had a client who wanted me to use my political and social capital for an endeavor. I used it to get an influential speaker to an event and then the event ended up being cancelled. I think it’s important to know boundaries and keep work within the scope you’ve been hired to work on. Also preserving your relationships is important and your client often becomes a reflection of you. If you can help them cultivate relationships with others to deter this but also for the sustainability of their efforts. Ultimately they should be able to thrive without you in the picture. That is real success. And when your client is successful so are you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tinabelge.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tbelge/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christina.belge
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-belge-mpa-aicp-b536b567/

Image Credits

these are my work products