(Re) Introducing Hannah Wohltjen
This month, we are excited to introduce Hannah Wohltjen! Hannah is a consultant and co-founder at Elevate, and is known by those close to her as an expert organizer. This perfectly aligns to her Enneagram 1, or “Reformer” personality. As it relates to her work, Hannah is comforted by structure and enjoys being guided by clear processes. It might surprise you, however, that her favorite part of evaluation consulting is that every project is different. She enjoys the opportunity to hone in on unique crafts, explore new skill sets and have various challenges to work through, as ambiguous as they sometimes may seem.
Hannah considers the most challenging part of the work, living up to the ideals we set for ourselves as a firm. We are committed to equitable and data-informed work, breaking down assumptions and seeking to include as many voices as possible in the decision-making process. While these lofty goals may sometimes feel out of reach, we continue to reflect and engage in difficult conversations, and Hannah would not trade this commitment to our values for anything. Reconciling our desire to make the most positive impact possible with real-world constraints is a struggle that Elevate shares with its partnering organizations and will continue to grapple with.
Hannah with her husband, Tyler, and daughter Willa.
One piece of advice Hannah would offer to clients concerning evaluation and data is that you don’t have to collect everything. While it’s tempting to cast a wide net, it’s most important to pinpoint what you actually need to know for a specific purpose, and what you intend on using from that evaluation. This means keeping in mind the time frame, financial constraints, external requirements and capacity for any given endeavor. Keeping this perspective also makes the process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data less daunting and more useful for the organization seeking information.
Hannah contributes greatly to the team as a boundary-setter, keeping us accountable to our project goals while constantly reminding us of our internal capacity. Elevate is extremely dedicated and passionate about the work, which can sometimes manifest itself in having little boundaries. She recognizes our tendency to bite off more than we can chew and keeps us on track. Hannah is keenly aware of her desire for structure, and in order to avoid staying stagnant, is working on exercising more flexibility as it relates to our everyday processes.
The ferocious Willa-saurus.
When searching for something to eat in the city, Hannah is often contemplating between Más Tacos and Tempered Cafe. Although they are completely different cuisines, she puts them at the same level and appreciates them both for different reasons. Her signature order at Más Tacos is the chicken tortilla soup and pulled pork taco, and what appeals to her most about Tempered Cafe is its calm, secluded feel and of course-- the amazing chocolate! Hannah’s guilty pleasure is anything sugary and platicky such as gummy bears, and during moments of down time, she can be found chuckling to Nathan W. Pyle’s Strange Planet comics on Instagram.
We asked Carlee Webb what inspires her the most about her colleague, Hannah. Carlee describes the confidence that Hannah maintains in stressful situations as one of her most awe-inspiring qualities. That confidence elicits trust from clients, allowing them to feel more comfortable with the process and assuring them of a high quality end product or service. In the future, Hannah is especially looking forward to seeing how we grow to meet the needs of our community and building even better relationships with her “friend colleagues” at Elevate.
To connect more with Hannah Wohltjen, link in with her on LinkedIn.
Post written by Damisi Fawole