Lisa Brochu has invested over 40 years in the protection of natural and cultural heritage with a primary focus on training others to be more skilled in their work and facilitating complex projects that require careful communication between partners. She is the author of Interpretive Planning: The 5-M Model for Successful Planning Projects and four other books on heritage interpretation.
In 2012, she returned to freelance consulting with her husband/business partner/co-author, doing business as Heartfelt Associates with Tim Merriman, her husband and business partner. Ms. Brochu began consulting in 1977, assisting agencies, communities and organizations in over 20 countries with capacity building, interpretive communications training and planning.
In 2002, she became the full-time Associate Director of National Association for Interpretation (NAI), responsible for planning and managing programs, products, and services to support NAI’s organizational members and clients who work intourism communities, world heritage sites, monuments, parks, zoos, aquariums, nature centers, museums and historicsites. She was responsible for creating NAI’s internationally recognized professional certification program.
In addition to completing over 200 projects as an interpretive planning, writing, and training consultant, Ms. Brochu facilitated the Definitions Project, which established a common vocabulary for the interpretation profession (http://www.definitionsproject.com) and facilitated a process that established Standards and Best Practices documents for academic programs, interpretive planning, interpretive site operations, and interpretive methods (http://www.interpnet.com/standards).
Ms. Brochu has authored a book on interpretive planning that is currently in use as the foremost text for the subject around the world. She has also co-authored five professional textbooks on natural and cultural interpretation, an award-winning book on sustainable community planning and an award-winning novel, The Leopard Tree, with her husband, Tim Merriman, about the plight of orphans in Kenya. She has three children’s books in print as well.
Ms. Brochu holds a B.S. in environmental interpretation from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Principal, Heartfelt Associates, Kealakekua, Hawaii
(May 2012 – Present). Responsible for marketing and project management. Serves as senior planning consultant and writer on contract work for communities, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, schools, and corporations, bringing interpretive communication theory to each of these settings to ensure clients’ success. Current project:
Interpretive Master Plan for National Tropical Botanical Garden – McBryde Garden Unit.
Associate Director, National Association for Interpretation (NAI), Fort Collins, Colorado
(May 2002–July 2012). Responsible for management and development of programs, products, and services for a professional association for natural and cultural heritage interpretation with 5,370 members in 50 states and 30 nations. Supervised program staff of three full-time individuals and worked with hundreds of volunteers annually.
Interpretive Planning/Writing/Training Consultant (1977-1980 and 1981-2002)
Included stints of freelance work; periods of time as principal owner, marketing specialist, and chief planner of interpretive planning and design firm (Inside Outside) employing a team of six planners, designers, and landscape architect; and publisher of full-color magazine “Be Resourceful” as a professional resource for interpretation.
Visitor Center Manager, McKinney Falls State Park, Austin Texas (1980-81)
Responsible for operations and management of visitor center at 680-acre state park near Austin, Texas. Developed temporary exhibits, oversaw seasonal staff, and conducted interpretive programs in the park.
interpretivetraining.com 