Meeting Facilitation

Online and In-Person facilitation with Drawing Change

There’s a sweet spot of working with what might emerge, and planning ahead so we can help the group unlock their best thinking.

Key meetings Sam facilitated in 2020 – 2023, ranging from online to work across US/Canada in person:

• 6-month Action Planning for a US-based environmental conservation organization (online plus 3-day summit)
• Co-facilitation in community for Indigenous education visioning (in-person, co-facilitation delivery)
• Facilitation design and graphic facilitation with the World Cafe Foundation (in-person)
• Journey mapping for librarians and archivists related to decolonizing and reconciliation (in-person)
• Team facilitation for provincial gathering of peer support programs for a health authority (team facilitation, 3 days in person)
• Provincial network of HIV/AIDS service providers developing trans inclusion strategy (online)
• University Business faculty department planning (online)
• Dialogue professionals for a two-day staff retreat (online)
• Librarians deciding on new ways of working collaboratively (online)
• Mission-vision-values-goals with a health non-profit with a new Board (in-person)
• Organizational strategic planning for a national health organization online, including pre-work (online)
• Bioscientists launching a new initiative, including graphic recording (online)
• Online meetings with 40+ university-community groups planning participatory research (online)
• Full day supporting senior health leaders to launch an internal change initiative (in-person)
• 950 youth with community/university partners for an onboarding event in the early days of COVID (online, not a webinar);
• 3-day retreat for national environmental organization’s science and climate department (in-person); and much more.

Here’s what you might expect

We’ll use processes that work with complexity. Tools for dialogue. There won’t be much powerpoint. We’ll balance outcomes with a good process.

First, we’ll determine the POP: the Purpose (big Why) of this meeting, the Outcomes we need to get to, and then I’ll help suggest Process with details and agendas.

My education and facilitation training includes:

• a Masters of Educational Studies (MEd, UBC, 2014)
• Certification in Human Systems Dynamics (2020)
• Certification in Integral Facilitation (2020)
• Training with Deep Democracy; Liberating Structures; Training for Change
• Dialogue Associate with the Simon Fraser University Centre for Dialogue

The agenda design will have concrete outcomes and I tend towards being action-oriented and highly participatory. I work with trauma-informed approaches and offer many choices. There might be a few new-to-you things to tap into creativity or delight. Visuals amplify what we’re doing. Together, we will create the environment that is needed for the context, it could include having opportunities to walk-and-talk outside, online meetings with music to use all our senses, or ensuring that participants are well supported in holistic ways. We’ll choose the right technology to support online or hybrid needs, especially for good notetaking. We want to ensure the process is culturally responsive, and inclusive. We’ll share the leadership and roles among participants. The focus is on creating the environment that enables the most people to participate fully, and then we’ll get to the outcomes we set out for.

How to work together

Most of our facilitation projects are about organizational change, especially in the public sector, health, education, non-profits and groups working for social or environmental impact. We can provide facilitation design (or just coaching if you have an idea, and want to boost your agenda to the next level!), zoom technical assistance, graphic recording, and co-facilitation support from our team. Get in touch so we can find out how we can support what you need.