Daisha Versaw is a storytelling and strategy consultant, creative writer, community cultivator, and bridge builder. She has worked in economic development in the public sector, been an investor and entrepreneur in the private sector, directed philanthropic programs in the nonprofit sector, and spent over a decade and a half learning from and contributing to a number of community-based organizations in various roles—staff, board member, consultant, donor, mentor, and volunteer.
Originally from the San Luis Valley, a high desert farming community in southern Colorado, Daisha has early lived experience in poverty and rural life. From there, she went on to live in various places around the Western United States and globally as her family migrated for work. She returned to Colorado to take part in her own love story—a move that yielded a partner, three sons, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Colorado over a few whirlwind years.
Daisha is also Jesuit educated, holding a graduate degree in management from Regis University where she first began thinking seriously about her role in building a more just and humane world. Over time, this has become her life’s work, growing her into a firm advocate for social and economic justice and building community trust and relationships. Now living in Olympia, WA with her family, she works to support her community through strategy and systems work, capacity building, and storytelling as the founder and principal consultant at Salmonberry Community Strategies.
When she is not fiddling with a system map, investing in local sauerkraut companies, or plotting a mutiny, you’ll find her teaching her three teen boys how to cook; wandering a rainforest, mountain, or beach on the lands of the Coast Salish people with her husband; writing science fiction; or around the fire with friends.