Michele Braniff, LL.B, M.T.S. G.Dip
Artist, Community Activist and Graphic Facilitator
Michele has a law degree, a Master’s Degree in functional theology (ie: counselling and ethics) and a graduate diploma in social innovation. She has had an eclectic career: lawyer, mediator, self-employment coach, middle management in the non-profit sector; post-secondary teaching at Sheridan College and University of Waterloo; and self-employed graphic recorder. Michele is serious about exercising her democrative rights and responsiblities by voting, attending protests, signing petitions, writing letters and has run for office at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.
Michele is a Settler-Ally member of Indigenous Action Canada, an Indigenous-led advocacy organization seeking social and ecological justice on Turtle Island. She recently completed a Certificate program in Forest Church Leadership from the Wild Church Network and regularly leads outdoor worship at Sacred Circle Look-Around Forest Church near Hanover.
Michele integrates her artistic skills and practice as an artist with active listening skills acquired through her career as a mediator, mental health counsellor and group facilitator. Michele brings a bold use of colour, whimsical drawing skills and her career experience in law, mediation, mental health, business and social innovation. Michele began her Graphic Facilitation Career in 2012. Clients include regional government, non-profit organizations and educational institutions.
ARTIST: Visual Raconteur & Graphic Facilitator
Visual Raconteur
Michele’s paintings and sketches are whimsical, boldly colourful—slightly mischievous; not married to reality but quite divorced; living happily ever after. Her art tells a story. Flaunting the rigor of traditional technicalities, Michele plays with perspective, subject matter and emotional interpretation.
Graphic Recording Services
(Also described as: Visual Note-Taking, Sketch Notes, Visual Journaling, Live-Event Drawing, Graphic Facilitation)
Graphic Recording provides co-facilitation of meetings, conferences and events.
As a visual artist and trained mediator, Michele uses her active listening skills to translate the content, energy and emotion of spoken words into a drawing in real time.