“Today is the preview of tomorrow…” madvillain

Talking Seeds is a consulting firm serving nonprofit, automotive, and cannabis learning communities. Founded by Elizabeth Nanas in 2012, the firm celebrates its tenth year by entering the emerging cannabis industry in Michigan. Elizabeth is an educator, designer, and organizational strategist specializing in collaborative learning, cross-cultural communication, multi-method evaluation, and social impact storytelling. She holds a Master of Education (M.Ed.) degree and has more than 20 years of professional experience in K-12, post-secondary, nonprofit, automotive, biomedical learning, and economically informal communities.

Elizabeth has taught and conducted research for the Wayne State University Department of Anthropology and College of Engineering Management Master’s Program. She has held a King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship at Wayne State University and a Dow Chemical Hong Kong Research Fellowship at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and has advanced study in medical and organizational anthropology with a focus on identity, collaboration, innovation, and scientific breakthrough acceleration. Her work has been published in Anthropology News, Anthropology of Work, SAGE Reference Series on Green Society, Society for Applied Anthropology, and United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women, and she has served as a grant reader for the Michigan Department of Education. 

Elizabeth currently serves as the Executive Director of All Saints Literacy Center in Detroit, MI. Elizabeth received a social impact storytelling certification from Georgetown University in 2020 and is using what she learned to help people harness the power of effective storytelling for the strategic benefit of organizations and society as a whole. Her recent volunteer work has been with Detroit’s Heidelberg Arts Leadership Academy to assist youth in the production of their own zines.

Education

Wayne State University

B.A., Psychology, 1997

M.Ed. Educational Psychology, 2003

Doctoral Study: Business Organizational Anthropology

Georgetown University

Social Impact Storytelling Certification, 2020

expertise

Collaborative Learning

Cross-Cultural Communication

Identity, Exchange, and Belonging

Leadership Counsel

Multi-Method Research

Social Impact Storytelling