Entia (noun)- Something real and tangible, as opposed to purely theoretical or ephemeral.
We are a small MN-based consulting group that partners with clients around issues of equity, education, healing, and trauma-informed best practices.
As educators and facilitators, we approach complex issues with grounded theory and emergent strategy to help organizations move from what is to what could be with direction, intention, and impact.
Who We Are
Christina Holmgren, Ed.D.
Dr. Christina Holmgren (she/her) is a Black, cis-gender woman, scholar, and educator with over a decade of experience working within higher education. Her leadership experience includes the recruitment and retention of historically excluded student populations, with a focus on justice led initiatives that dismantle structural inequities and white supremacist ideologies.
She is an adjunct faculty member in the Educational Leadership program at the University of St. Thomas, teaching Student Development Theory, Student Affairs, Trauma-Informed Education, and Social Justice in Higher Education. Additionally, she works as a consultant and coach on trauma-informed practice and healing justice.
Christina’s primary research interests focus on the trauma-informed and healing-centered institutional practice, radical healing and healing justice, Black identity development of college students, interracial feminist co-mentoring models, and culturally sustaining pedagogy.
Jayne K. Sommers, Ph.D.
Dr. Jayne K. Sommers (she/her) is a white, cisgender, queer woman-identified educator. Jayne began her career working with college students in community-building and crisis response roles. After a decade of professional work in this capacity, she transitioned to a faculty role and currently serves as the chair of the department of Educational Leadership at the University of St. Thomas. Jayne received an MA in Women’s Studies from the University of Sussex, an MA in Leadership in Student Affairs from the University of St. Thomas, and her PhD in Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development from the University of Minnesota.
Jayne’s teaching, research, consulting, and coaching work coalesce around the centrality of social identity in all contexts (focusing on the influences of white supremacy socialization), the facilitation of healing in relation to historical and contemporary traumas, and ongoing practices to sustain ourselves and mitigate burnout.
Laura Livalska, M.A.
Laura Livalska (she/her) is a white, straight, cisgender woman whose work explores the intersections of education, survivor advocacy, and public health.
With a teaching background and 120+ hours of training as a sexual assault crisis advocate, Laura has worked to improve trauma response systems and resources across a variety of contexts: on college campuses through Title IX and violence prevention, through policy work at the MN Office of Higher Education, and by standing up the Minnesota Institute for Trauma-Informed Education (MITIE) at the University of St. Thomas.
Laura is currently an adjunct faculty member at the University of St. Thomas and holds graduate degrees in both English and Leadership in Student Affairs.