Social worker and entrepreneur Michele Fuller-Hallauer is the founder of Winged Wolf Innovations, a consulting firm that helps nonprofits, business, and government plan, strategize, and lead toward a better future. She also chairs the Technical Assistance Committee for the Nevada Interagency Council on Homelessness to Housing. During 21 years as a manager for Clark County Social Service, Michele helped strengthen and transform homeless and behavioral health services. During her tenure, resources for homeless services increased from to $2 million a year to over $95.6 million a year.
MIchele was a member of the National Alliance to End Homelessness Strategic CaseMaking™ cohort in 2023. We talked to her about using Strategic CaseMaking™ to move an audience to both tears and action, persuading her state legislators to set aside funding for housing, and channeling the power of all 10 Strategic CaseMaking™ principles.
What do you love about where you live?
I live in Henderson, Nevada, just south of Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Metropolitan area is big. We have almost 3 million people here. But it really feels like a small town. There is so much to love about living here!
I am originally from the rural Midwest, but here, within one to two hours, you have access to anything you want: mountains, the lake, snow, sun, shopping, hiking, red rocks, desert. Anything but green grass.
But what I like best is the people. In the 25 years I have been in Nevada, I have met so many people and created some of the best relationships in my life. I rarely go anywhere in town without running into someone I know. If I ever need anything, I truly have a village to call upon for help.
What’s your aspiration for your area?
I am hopeful and actively working to improve access to affordable housing and other social determinants of health for all Nevadans and people across the country.
What are some of the dominant narratives and other obstacles you’re navigating as you work toward bigger change?
I do a lot of work throughout Nevada, and the narrative that is most pervasive depends on the area. Things like “Homelessness is a choice,” individual responsibility, deservedness and choices, police and public health, “If we build it, they will come,” are the most prevalent.
Throughout the state, we hear a lot of “They just want to be homeless. They choose their lifestyle.” Or, “If they would just get off drugs, stop drinking, or get off their lazy butt and get a job, they wouldn’t be homeless.”
Some areas in rural Nevada are concerned that “If we start providing homeless services here, then the homeless are going to move here from all over the country.”
How are you making the case for your vision of a more just future?
Since I quit my job in local government two years ago to start my own technical assistance and consulting firm, I’m frequently invited to speak at conferences, events, and gatherings.
I start by asking the audience to think about a person or two in their life that they care about—like their mother, father, aunt, uncle, grandparent, mentor, friend—and write down their name. Then I say that my talk is full of data and statistics, and when they start feeling overwhelmed or getting lost in the numbers, I want them to remember that every number represents a person.
Then I share what the future could look like. In a simple visioning exercise for seniors, I asked, "What would you like the future to look like for the loved one whose name you wrote?" I took quick answers from the audience, asking clarifying questions, asking others to expound on some of the answers or adding some things myself. Then I said something like, "Yes, that would be a great future for our loved ones, wouldn’t it?"
After we talk about what the future might look like, I share the data, problem, or concern that I have been asked to discuss. I’ll say, “Remember when we were talking earlier about what we would want for the future for our loved ones? Don’t you think everyone would like that for their loved ones?”
I usually get emphatic head nods, and then I say, “Well, every one of the seniors that are experiencing this issue is someone's loved one. If my loved one were in a situation where they needed help, I sure hope that someone would make sure that he or she was able to receive it! How about you? Would you want that for your loved one? Then it is unconscionable that we are not doing something about this issue! What are we going to do about this?”
Then I discuss the steps we need to take to address the issue and reach a solution, emphasizing that it is solvable and cannot be deferred to others. I provide reasonable, realistic, and actionable suggestions or facilitate so the group can arrive at their own ideas.
Finally, I circle back to a rallying cry about how wonderful we collectively are, tying that into the personal connection from the opening and how we will see the ideal that was shared for the future.
Would you share your best Strategic CaseMaking™ moment with us?
I was asked to speak to a state legislative workgroup about homelessness among seniors. I focused on rapidly growing housing instability among Nevada’s aging population.
During the Q&A session, which lasted over four hours, I was met with many positive remarks, but also with a lot of the dominant narratives we know so well. I clearly remember sitting there, taking a deep breath, thinking about what I’d learned in my Strategic CaseMaking™ sessions with TheCaseMade, smiling, and responding by flipping the script with answers and examples of how we all benefit from providing housing stability for aging Nevadans.
What a nerve-racking and grueling day!
About two months later, I was asked to return for another session with this same group. They had decided to submit a bill request during the legislative session to provide a housing subsidy set-aside for seniors. Whoop! Whoop!
What’s your favorite Strategic CaseMaking™ tool or skill?
I love CaseMaking, and I think it resonates with me so much because it is rooted in storytelling. I am a reader and a writer, and even when presenting mundane information, I know as a teacher and trainer that the information needs to hold the learner’s attention. In my opinion, the best way to do that is through a story.
Integrating the 10 Strategic CaseMaking™ principles into my work, presentations, and conversations has translated, in my mind, to weaving them into the story. As I craft my story, the presentation, I think about how to frame the message, how to connect with the audience, how to get the data from the head to the heart, about the value proposition, what we lose and what we all gain, what action I want to move the audience toward, and how to remind them of past successes that they can build upon as they move forward.
Putting the principles all together is what I find most powerful about CaseMaking.
How has Strategic CaseMaking™ changed your approach to leadership?
I used to lead my talks and presentations with the problem, the doom and gloom. After reading Case Made! and working through the CaseMaking exercises, I have shifted my paradigm to lead with a vision of the future, focusing on what we collectively want to achieve. Whether I’m standing in front of an audience of legislators or my team at Winged Wolf, I aim to make a positive connection and gain buy-in for a solution.