Barbara Widhalm, Ph.D., teaches systems thinking at the Masters of Leadership and Doctorate of Educational Leadership program at St. Mary’s College of California. She also teaches a systems-informed curriculum at the Bachelors of Leadership Program at St. Mary's College, Peralta Community College District (Humanities and Philosophy Departments) and at Sonoma State University (Liberal Studies). Originally from Austria, Barbara holds a doctorate in Transformative Learning and Change from the California Institute or Integral Studies and a Masters in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico and has studied systems thinking globally. In her dissertation and subsequent research and practice, she developed a framework for designing learning experiences that mimic an ecological or “living system” in learning content, process, and environment, for both face-to-face and online formats, utilizing multiple ways of knowing and creative expression.

Barbara is also a facilitator of a systems-based creative movement modality called Biodanza that is practiced on five continents.