Who is Trunk Branch Twig Bud,?

Hi! I'm Meg Bower, president and CEO of Trunk Branch Twig Bud, and I've spent more than 25 years conducting planning studies for clients with a focus on criminal justice and general government buildings. To me, naming is a sacred process, and the name of my firm evokes layers of who I am and who I want to be as a professional and an inhabitant of this amazing world.

Trees are woven through my family's history. My grandfather was a tree farmer and a forester who frequently reminded me one plants trees for future generations. My father was a hobbyist furniture maker who crafted solid wood into glowing, gleaming, and much-treasured gifts for his family. With such a legacy of tree-lore and a last name that evokes a peaceful glade deep in nature, it was natural that trees would form part of my firm's name.

My passion is combining a solid analytical foundation with lofty long-term visioning to produce planning solutions that are both inspirational but also realistic and fiscally sound. I employ a workshop-based approach to tap into the rich self-knowledge all agencies have, and to develop a collective knowledge base among client stakeholders that grows and develops organically throughout the project, culminating in consensus and a plan that everyone can own. This process grows slowly and naturally, like the trunk, branches, twigs, and buds on a tree, to produce a stable, long-lasting framework that will endure.

Meg holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from the Honor's College at Michigan State University, where she learned to parse the spoken word and what it means to truly listen. After college she spent two years living in South America teaching English to civil servants and high-level corporate executives. Meg returned to the States with a new commitment to the government process and completed a Master's in Public Administration at the prestigious Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. In 20xx she earned a graduate certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the graduate school of Education at UMBC.

As a planning consultant, Meg has worked with clients of all sizes and organizational types to define and solve problems that touch on space, and she has managed small studies to projects with budgets in the millions. Projects range from granular analyses of space drivers to a master plan for an 800-acre campus, with work completed alone or with a team of 20+ team-members. Stakeholder groups include just a few individuals or as many as 80 people.

Meg is an AICP (since 2007) and LEED AP BD+C certified (since 2009) planner.

Outside of work Meg is an enthusiastic problem-solver, loyal friend, mom to dogs and a human, an avid Aikidoist, and a pretty decent cook. She is constantly seeking new ideas and pockets of knowledge.

Call us and let's look at things in a new way!