Owl in a Tree is the design and communications studio of Rachelle Galloway-Popotas.

I have over 20 years of experience working as a communications strategist for mission-driven organizations. I am an accomplished writer* and editor, art director and graphic designer, and a curator of experiences and events. I am currently a senior consultant with the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, one of the US’s most innovative think and action tanks, where I have been the conference director since 2015 of its popular Othering & Belonging Conference.

I got my start at OBI as its inaugural communications director, where I was helped to craft and and define OBI’s public voice and identity and translate research, scholarship, and ideas that made the case for “othering and belonging” as a powerful and transformative framework for change.

Working closely with a cross-section of people, including researchers, artists, policymakers, movement leaders, storytellers, and brilliant OBI colleagues, we helped build a real global movement for belonging which is now utilized by many groups working in government, grassroots movements, racial justice and immigrant rights, democracy, the private sector, philanthropy, arts, and more.

As one of OBI’s first employees, I helped build the communications infrastructure from the ground up, from experimenting with new multimedia efforts such as animated storytelling and an online journal, to producing dozens of ground-breaking research reports, to collaborating with artists and culturemakers, to curating a wide range of cutting-edge events.

Some of OBI’s major projects I’m proud to have worked on include:

Serving as conference director for the Othering & Belonging Conferences since 2015. I oversaw the successful curation and production of these multi-day immersive learning spaces, bringing people to the stage such as bell hooks, Naomi Klein, Andrew Solomon, Rev. William Barber III, Viet Nguyen, Masha Gessen, Charles Blow, Jeffrey Sachs, Astra Taylor, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Toshi Reagon, Oscar-winner Tarrell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight), and hundreds more.
Co-leading OBI’s comprehensive rebrand in 2019 (it was formerly the Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society), including co-leading an intensive multi-stakeholder engagement process on the new name and identity, hiring and liaison with the creative services firm, and managing the complex launch and rollout.
Producing a series of animated explainer videos on frameworks including bridging and breaking, targeted universalism, and the circle of human concern. These videos have helped popularize these concepts for adoption by social movements, narrative strategists, educators, policy institutes, and many across the mission-driven ecosystem.
Serving on the editorial board, working as art director, and helping launching a new multimedia journal.
Seeding and helping to institutionalize an integrative arts and cultural strategy as a core program at OBI, in order to expand the boundaries of traditional social science knowledge production to include artists and culturemakers, including helping design and implement its Artist in Residence program.
Leading and executing the New Social Compact for America campaign following the 2016 election.
Producing the Seven Year Impact Report, including helping research, edit, and write about the impact of the first seven transformative years of OBI.
Editing, art direction, writing, and designing dozens of OBI publications, including the biennial print magazine (examples here and here) and many many research reports. A few examples include We Too Belong, Moving Targets, The US Farm Bill, and Targeted Universalism.
Helped to seed OBI’s expansion of its work outside the US, running a yearlong pilot program in Europe with partners at More in Common, Queen Mary University, and Sciences Po University in France.

Prior to my time at OBI, I led communications for several years at a large international development organization - then the East Meets West Foundation, now Thrive Networks.

I started my career in nonprofit communications in San Francisco at the Independent Press Association (IPA), managing its outreach and publications to support a member network of over 600 independent publishers and periodicals such as Harper’s, Mother Jones, The Nation, BOMB, Tin House, among hundreds more. Working at IPA to counter the corporate consolidation and takeover of media cut my teeth on doing fast-paced, highly collaborative work that supports progressive causes.

I have produced and run digital campaigns, worked on messaging, written op-eds, talking points, and blogs. I have designed and edited over 100 publications including magazines and annual reports, as well as sharable graphics to support campaigns, presentation decks, and enewsletters. I have designed event collateral, best-selling merchandise, and commissioned numerous illustrators and custom artwork. Name about anything in the nonprofit communications space and I’ve more than likely done it - and if I haven’t then I would be interested in trying!

I have a degree in political science and two years toward my second BA in graphic design.

I am a Native American tribal member of the Caddo Nation, born and raised in the deep South of the US, and now split my time between Athens, Greece and the US. I am open for consulting work with values-aligned organizations and projects. Get in touch!

Standard size book cover with light yellow background with the title in the center in a dark red font that says "The Power of Bridging". At the top is shown the authors' name "john a. powell, with Rachelle Galloway-Popotas

*I just helped write a book with john a. powell called The Power of Bridging releasing on Dec. 3, 2024 —Pre-orders at major booksellers are available now!

Bookshop / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Target

Owl in a Tree is the design and communications studio of Rachelle Galloway-Popotas.

I got my start at OBI as its inaugural communications director, where I was helped to craft and and define OBI’s public voice and identity and translate research, scholarship, and ideas that made the case for “othering and belonging” as a powerful and transformative framework for change.

Some of OBI’s major projects I’m proud to have worked on include:

Serving on the editorial board, working as art director, and helping launching a new multimedia journal.

Leading and executing the New Social Compact for America campaign following the 2016 election.

Producing the Seven Year Impact Report, including helping research, edit, and write about the impact of the first seven transformative years of OBI.

Editing, art direction, writing, and designing dozens of OBI publications, including the biennial print magazine (examples here and here) and many many research reports. A few examples include We Too Belong, Moving Targets, The US Farm Bill, and Targeted Universalism.

Helped to seed OBI’s expansion of its work outside the US, running a yearlong pilot program in Europe with partners at More in Common, Queen Mary University, and Sciences Po University in France.

Prior to my time at OBI, I led communications for several years at a large international development organization - then the East Meets West Foundation, now Thrive Networks.

I have a degree in political science and two years toward my second BA in graphic design.

I am a Native American tribal member of the Caddo Nation, born and raised in the deep South of the US, and now split my time between Athens, Greece and the US. I am open for consulting work with values-aligned organizations and projects. Get in touch!

*I just helped write a book with john a. powell called The Power of Bridging releasing on Dec. 3, 2024 —Pre-orders at major booksellers are available now!