# Bilen Mesfin Packwood

> Bilen Mesfin Packwood is the Oakland-based founder and CEO of Change Consulting, a communications agency serving racial and social justice leaders. A former journalist and spokesperson for then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, she brings media experience to strategy, implementation, and training. She also writes Collective Attention, a Substack about the attention economy and connection.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Change Consulting
- **Organizations:** Change Consulting, Collective Attention, San Francisco District Attorney’s Office
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BA in English, Vanderbilt University, Master’s in Journalism, University of California, Berkeley
- **Known for:** Built Change Consulting from a solo practice into a thirteen-person full-time team by August 2022., 2025 Silver Stevie Award, Best Female Entrepreneur - Business Services - 11 to 2,500 Employees., Anthem recognition recorded by Vanderbilt in spring 2026: gold in Community Voice and silver in Business Leader - Team & Internal Initiatives for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.

## Career timeline

- **Date not established** — First post-college job in viewer services at a public television station; later edited an arts and antiques magazine.
- **Before 2009** — Worked as a journalist and in communications for then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris.
- **2009** — Started Change Consulting in February, according to her August 2022 first-person account.
- **2015** — Hired Change Consulting’s first full-time employee.
- **2022** — Reported thirteen full-time staff in an August reflection on the agency.
- **2024** — Featured in Nasdaq’s Women to Watch in 2024 article.
- **2025** — Started Collective Attention on October 16; received a Silver Stevie Award for Best Female Entrepreneur in business services, 11 to 2,500 employees.

## Achievements

- Built Change Consulting from a solo practice into a thirteen-person full-time team by August 2022.
- 2025 Silver Stevie Award, Best Female Entrepreneur - Business Services - 11 to 2,500 Employees.
- Anthem recognition recorded by Vanderbilt in spring 2026: gold in Community Voice and silver in Business Leader - Team & Internal Initiatives for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.
- Her agency helped launch the California Black Freedom Fund; in 2023 she reported supporting more than $60 million raised for Black power building in California.

## Latest updates

- **2025-11** — Published “How the attention economy shaped my work - and the world” on November 10.
- **2025-10** — Launched Collective Attention with an introductory essay on October 16.

## Links

- Website: https://change-llc.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmesfin
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/bmesfin

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/bilen-mesfin-packwood
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22