About

Avaki Consulting is inspired by the Finnish concept of Väki, which is the life force that flows in every single living creature and being. Avaki helps organizations create positive change through leveraging their unique power. 

​

Eryn Johnson, our Founder and Principal Consultant, is a creative, analytical and mission-driven nonprofit leader grounded in community engagement, and racial justice with a long history of deepening the impact of organizations. Eryn has 20+ years of program management experience in fast-paced, entrepreneurial organizations with responsibilities including board engagement, staff/team supervision, fundraising, budget oversight, and cultivation of complex relationships/innovative initiatives with partners, funders, and governmental entities. She has worked in consulting for13+ years, focusing on community-led impact evaluation, professional development in the out-of-school time sector, organizational development, and fundraising. She is an exceptional writer, facilitator and public speaker.

 

Eryn served as Executive Director of the Community Art Center in Cambridge, MA for 13+ years, as Director of Education at the Boch Center, and Program Coordinator at ZUMIX, Inc. Eryn has an MA in Performance Studies from New York University, and a BA in Theater from Oberlin College. Her professional training has included Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategies (Angela Park), Overturning the Immunity to Change in Leadership (Minds at Work), and Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management (Harvard Business School). She has served on numerous boards and community coalitions, including MassCreative (Board Member, 2014-17), Cambridge Nonprofit Coalition (Co-Founder & Member, 2013-20) and Jean Appolon Expressions (Board Treasurer 2024 to present).

​

​