Given the social, political, and cultural context, as facilitators, many of us hold the responsibility of attending to the collective distress that people are experiencing at this time. In addition to distress, as we are facilitating within communities and organizations, we are also tasked with generating hope and supporting a transformative process with the goal of dreaming our way into a future where we can all thrive. The task of holding distress and the practice of dreaming our way forward feels like a dynamic tension. This is precisely why we want to come together to offer a deeper dive into how we, as facilitators, can hold this dynamic tension while attending to our self-care and staying grounded.
The Alchemy of Facilitation will provide an opportunity for you to explore the following themes:
How to speak to the truth of what is occurring socially, politically, and culturally within the spaces you hold and groups you facilitate
How to be transparent as you facilitate and change course when needed
How to balance structure and spaciousness as a facilitator
How to attend to yourself and develop a consistent practice of care pre, during, and post facilitation
How to be accountable to yourself and others through a practice of self-care
How to vision a sustainable way to facilitate and engage in change work for the long haul
and more!
We will meet via Zoom each day. Sessions will be recorded for those who aren’t available to attend each live gathering. Because we are fostering a strong community of practice, we expect participants to make every effort to be present for and contribute to the live group dynamics.
This training will be led by Michelle Johnson, Stephanie Ghoston Paul, Tristan Katz, Rebby Kern, and May Nicholson. Each one of the facilitators is in constant inquiry about how to attend to ourselves as we hold space and facilitate from our different social locations and lived experiences. To learn more about each of them, read below.
Please note this opportunity is open to anyone! Please consider joining us. It is also a great opportunity for those of you who have attended the five-day Art of Skillful Facilitation, or the two-day Meeting the Moment Training, to join us for deeper practice and study.