Her Story
About Josie
I founded Envision Consulting Group with the mindset of moving beyond the things that hinder equitable process in system design and engagement design. Our goal is to translate strategic vision that is rooted in community voice into reality, helping organizations move from insight to implementation, from engagement to practice. We work at the integration level, building the infrastructure that moves organizations from knowing what matters to operationalizing it in their daily work. The gap we fill is that organizations often know what matters and have the data showing community needs or strategic plans outlining priorities, but they struggle to operationalize that knowledge. The challenge isn't seeing the landscape, it's building the infrastructure to navigate and then transform it. We don't just identify problems, we help people build the infrastructure to solve them. We translate community insight into institutional practice, embed change into organizational workflows and decision-making structures, create belonging and civic muscle, and build systems that outlast the programs and funding cycles. We measure success by sustainability and organizational culture change, not just program completion. My work has included facilitating roadmap development between two major health systems in Georgia, working with communities across 7 different counties addressing social and structural determinants of health, designing executive search and leadership transitions for federally qualified health clinics, serving as the first national Build Health Challenge chair, and creating datasets on healthy housing for public sector platforms. Everything I do is grounded in my lived experience of being homeless for over a year, which taught me that equity is a design decision and that we must design with lived reality in mind.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Josie
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to grounding everything I do in lived experience and staying authentic to my values. My experience of being homeless for over a year, living in my car, and navigating systems that weren't designed for my reality taught me to see things differently and to design with lived reality in mind. I made a promise when I was going through homelessness that if I got out of it, I would serve and help others in similar situations, whether in housing, at risk of homelessness, or trying to stabilize within their own environment. That promise has guided everything I do. I also believe in the collective power of people that are one-minded, one vision, with a common goal - they can move a mountain. I don't move forward with anything that doesn't align with my values, and I've come through too much to not be authentic. Every opportunity that has come to me has been through word of mouth and people recognizing my work, not through me seeking it out. I stay humble, take time to be quiet and still, and make sure I'm moving in a way that aligns with my values and my spiritual values. My lived experience is my superpower, and that's what drives my passion and allows me to see the nuances where others may not see them.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The first thing I ask is an honest question: are you moving in a direction that is authentic and real to you, or are you moving in a direction that has been influenced by family or friends? Is this real to you? Because your experience is your superpower. Never, ever think that it's not, because that's the thing that your passion can move through. The things that you might have thought, oh, I don't think about that anymore, I put that down a long time ago, you might want to pick it back up if that's the thing that you get so passionate and real about. The very thing that you will fight somebody over, the advocate in you comes out because of that thing, you might want to take a look at it. In public health, that could look very varied because social work is an aspect of public health, housing advocacy is an aspect of public health. So look at it from a perspective, not from the traditional lens, but what is truly the thing that drives you, and hone in on that. Networking is real, but you don't want to do it to the point where you're chasing and you're still feeling like you're not being genuine. Don't just look at the traditional sense of what we know networking to be. Take internships seriously - my internship turned into 5 years of an executive director position. When you're showing up in these spaces, show up in your real, authentic self, and do your very best, and strive for excellence, not perfection, because excellence doesn't always equate to perfection.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Authenticity is everything to me. I've come through too much to not be authentic. If I feel something's not aligning with my values, I back off. I don't move. If I'm uncomfortable, if I feel it's going against my value set, I back off. I move very authentically, and only with what aligns with my values and what aligns with where I feel I'm going. I'm grounded in my spiritual values, and I take time to be quiet and still, making sure I'm moving in a way that aligns with my values. I don't judge people because I've been through a lot and God has brought me through so much. I meet people where they're at because you never know someone's story or background. That alone tells me I meet you where you're at, and I help people to understand you do the same back to someone else. And that's how my work is designed. Equity is not just a value statement, it's a design decision. Everything I do is grounded in the lived reality of community, of the voices, of the people that are impacted by the work. My work is about designing with lived reality in mind, and that comes from my calling and my blessing of having gone through homelessness.
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