Facilitators of all stripes can agree: we prep, we prep, and we prep, and then, sometimes, we throw those plans right out the window to respond to the situation in the room. When others would stubbornly stick to a plan, we’re ready to fly by the seat of our pants.
We love that.
Beyond that, we love…
- how utilizing facilitation not only improves our work, but works to improve our lives. How facilitation levels the playing field, creates connections across difference, and encourages healthy risk-taking, vulnerability, and growth.
- the look on someone’s face when they realize they’ve learned something from something they said. We care for the groups we’re charged with; we go where they go, high and low, fail and succeed, together.
- that click in our brain when we realize we’ve learned something from a question we asked. We’re here for our co-facilitators, our peers in our discipline. We share at conferences, trade resources, link to curriculum, grow and learn together.
But we so often work in silos. We don’t connect as facilitators across disciplines to hone and appreciate the art of facilitation.
We believe…
- facilitation is done best when you’re not alone, but we are so often on our own. As facilitators, we rarely have access to formal training. The best lessons in facilitation are learned from first-hand failure, and the second-best from trusted confidants, mentors, and Brené Brown.
- there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, but there are multiple solutions to every problem. That all facilitators, of all disciplines, can benefit from connecting around the facilitation process, avoiding redundant work by sharing resources, and highlighting creative approaches with new tools.
- that facilitation is the most equitable way to teach. That it helps us meet people wherever they are, to mitigate injustice, and to create spaces where everyone can contribute.
Above all, we believe facilitation can change the world.
We commit to…
- learning from our participants, from our co-facilitators, and from the world-at-large. To rise to the challenge of learning not only at the expense of our participants, but before we enter the room.
- creating resources for all facilitators — resources that will break down the walls of the silos and enable us all to improve our facilitation, create more dynamic engagement and outstanding outcomes for our participants.
- sharing what we learn with our participants, our co-facilitators, and the world-at-large. To step into the truth that we are not in competition, but bound together in a common cause.
Together — learning from one another, creating, sharing, finding community, and growing as a field — we’re all made better.
From now, together.