Mycelium and PYE Global Present The Art of Facilitation Training May 17-23 & June 22-28, 2015 The Art of Facilitation (AOF) is a 14 day intensive training that equips facilitators with hands-on
experience, a well-tested and proven model to design and implement quality programs and a
plethora of arts-based tools to foster powerful and engaging meetings and learning environments.
AOF is a very practical training that helps facilitators with common issues they might otherwise take
many years to resolve in their work. There's lots of hands-on time to practice and role-play.
We are seeking individuals and organizations to invest in this high-caliber training. And we need your support. Contact [email protected] or [email protected] to get involved with this work
More details about the training: http://mycelium.is/pye-global-art-of-facilitation/
The Details: • The program costs $18,000 for 19 participants
• Participants have pledged to contribute: $12,000
• 17 people have expressed interest – 10 from the Asheville area, 2 from Georgia, 1 from
Canada, 3 from California, 1 from Ohio
Ways you can support this effort: • Become a Sponsor – Make a donation of any amount from $100 - $10,000. We will
acknowledge you as a sponsor on our website, social media and all materials related to this
event if you would like the publicity. Mycelium is a 501(c)3 so this will be a tax-deductable
contribution. Additional funds raised will be used to facilitate more Facilitation Trainings.
• Sponsor a Facilitator & Benefit Directly from What They Learn – Review the facilitators who
are attending this training (below). Some of them you might already know and work with.
Sponsor these leaders to participate in this professional development. In return you can
receive:
o Facilitation for 2-hour meetings – Sponsorship amount: $200 per meeting
o A 3-hour facilitation skills workshop for your staff or a group you put together –
Sponsorship amount: $500
o A full day workshop on facilitation skills – Sponsorship amount $1000
Workshops and facilitated meetings in the Asheville area will be supported by Mycelium staff
to further ensure quality programming.
• Loan this group of facilitators the remaining $6,000 tuition needed– We are seeking a Lender
to front the $6,000 at no or low-interest. These 17 individuals are committed to working
together to raise the necessary funds to bring this training to Asheville. We all know that our
work will be greatly impacted by the training and we are working together to individually and
collectively raise the funds to make it happen. Our aim is to pay this loan back. There is risk,
however, in this loan. We are seeking a lender who believes in this work and the impact of
quality facilitators.
1 Benefits of this Training:
The approaches learned in this training have been successfully applied to programs in conferences,
University classes, with government programming, in organizations focusing on organizational
psychology and change management, in anti-oppression trainings, at detention centers, after school
programs, and in K-12 classrooms.
Past participants who have taken this training return to their work with marked differences noted by
their employers and colleagues. People recognize that they are stronger in their capacities to design
engaging programs, work with resistance in practical, empowering ways and better able to handle
difficult conversations or broker agreements in a group. After this training colleagues note the poise,
self-possession, calm under pressure attitude, design skills and flexibility that facilitators now
embody.
Noted skills that facilitators learn (in addition to those mentioned in the invitation): • Techniques that help a facilitator balance who speaks and who has power in a group, bringing
a new perspective to issues of "behavior management" and providing ways to create a space
that is safe enough for participants to experiment and try new things.
• What to say and do (or not!) when complex issues arise in a group or for individual
participants
• The foundational art of asking questions. Asking the right questions at the right time is a top
priority for effective and dynamic group facilitation. Facilitators learn and practice using
different question types, question-based processes and conscious questioning skills. Asking
great questions affects every aspect of group leadership, from one-on-one redirection or
coaching to participatory group decisions to profound insight and transformation.
• The Creative Community Model provides facilitators with an intentional series of steps that
pre-empt some of the most common stumbling blocks group leaders encounter. They have a
framework for developing strong programs. This takes a lot of the trial-and-error out of
designing programs and meetings so that facilitators can go much further with program
content and/or depth of connections with participants.
• The facilitators dig deeply into their own vision and intention for themselves as leaders. This
personal development work helps guide and direct them in their work, and builds the vital
foundation of self-esteem that helps them be present for group participants in a sustainable
and consistent way. This work will include dealing with triggers and the "inner critic."
• Facilitators leave the program with a strong sense of how to use the arts (dance, theatre, music,
visual, "inner" arts like visualization, poetry etc) and how to create safe spaces for participants
to encounter their creative selves. They'll learn lots of activities that can be adapted into their
programming, too.
Note from the Trainer: Nadia Chaney As an "early-adopter" I know this work extremely well, and I believe in it from extensive experience
and testing over the last 13 years. I've facilitated, hosted or performed at over 2000 workshops and
events, participated in more than 40 Creative Community Model gatherings and camps, and
designed 6 full-scale curriculums/training processes using the model. I've also invented quite a
number of activities and processes that have been absorbed into the model in different ways. See
the list below of the diverse settings where I’ve applied this work.
One of the places I'm most useful is in helping people to adapt the Creative Community Model to
their own lives and environments. I've done it so much myself, but I've also helped others to adapt
2 the work in ALL KINDS of different environments, from rural South African teenagers developing
their own programming for orphaned children, to 3 year-long after-school programs for youth in
Bangalore slum communities, to Canadian province-wide policy developers, to professional artists
and corporate managers, to hardcore organizing activists.
I applied the Creative Community Model in:
• Youth detention centres (we had 8 years of contracts as life skills trainers)
• Lots of conferences (these techniques are amazing for hosts and emcees)
• Working in universities
• Working for government programming (for example consulting with a critical incident
response model to respond to incidents of racism)
• Anti-oppression trainings
• After school programming
• Organizational psychology and change management
• As the framework for an hour-long hip hop show for schools (I did over 350 shows...that group
is still going strong, kids love it, and we often hear that after the show they are inspired to start
their own groups and projects!)
• The list goes on!
I turned this model upside down and inside out, and it always stood strong.
Meet Local Participants: Chuck Thomson
Asheville, NC
I work with hundreds of youth each year through various summer camps that are focused on getting
youth outside and deeply connected with the natural world. I also help organize several large
regional Earthskills gatherings each year like Florida Earthskills, the Firefly Gathering and the
Earthskills Rendezvous. I am working to develop an adult nature connection program with Forest Floor
Wilderness Programs and an annual summit in Asheville for leaders in nature connection and
earthskills in Western North Carolina. What I learn at the Art of Facilitation will get passed on to
dozens of colleagues that I co-create programs and events with, and the ripples will reach countless
youth and adults.
I would facilitate 1-2 hour meetings. I would offer a workshop with some of the skills I learn or
already have to share. I'd be happy to create overnight camping experiences combining some of
the facilitation tools I learn at AoF with my existing skills in nature connection.
Ekua Adisa Asheville, NC
I am a writer, a healing artist, and an intersectional cultural organizer. I am committed to creating
healing safe spaces …to address the wounds left by systems of oppression. My work looks like
integrating healing, various art forms, authentic cultural practices, and an awareness of Spirit into
grassroots liberation work…and the use of story to facilitate healing and evolution in folks who have
been marginalized.
In collaboration with the Center for Participatory Change, I will co-host a gathering that will serve
Western North Carolina and be a space for cultural workers…working in community to learn how
to integrate healing, arts, and culture into their work in authentic and fluid ways.
3 I will also use what I gather at these trainings to design and co-host retreat spaces in collaboration
with Mycelium for their Learning Journey participants. Additionally, I will be continuing to
collaboratively design and host many workshops, retreat spaces, and a conference in the next two
years that center healing, address internalized oppression and internalized superiority, and allow
folks to bring their whole selves to grassroots liberation movement work.
I would facilitate 1-2 hour meetings. I would offer a 3 hour workshop with some of the skills I learn
or already have to share. I have other ideas of what I can offer.
NikiAnne Feinberg Black Mountain, NC
I am woman full of passion, creativity and dedication. I am in service to inspiring and empowering
people to be in right relationship and deep connection with themselves, others, and the natural
world.
I am the director of the School of Integrated Living, which offers experiential education programs in
internal and external sustainability and a member and the education coordinator of a 20-year old
ecovillage and intentional community. For the past 15 years I have worked with youth and adults
supporting their journey of knowing themselves and the world more intimately. More recently, I
have become the lead staff holding space for unity and diversity at the Southeast Wise Women's
Herbal Conference. I will be applying what I learn in this training to all the above endeavors I am
involved in and to my organizational and hosting role of a Grief Ritual with Sobonfu Somé in
November.
I would facilitate 1-2 hour meetings. I would offer a workshop with some of the skills I learn or
already have to share. I have other ideas of what I can offer.
Doug Blessington Asheville, NC
Doug is passionate about healing, conflict resolution, creating meaningful connections, and
community building. He lived in South Africa for two years, where he studied traditional medicine.
He has also studied process-oriented psychology, nonviolent communication, circling, and
mediation. Doug has given workshops internationally about indigenous medicine, facilitated a
variety of group processes, and worked in the mental health and substance abuse field for 9 years.
Doug is also a coach who facilitates transformation for individuals, couples, and groups.
I will utilize these facilitation skills in team settings working with people who have been declared
incompetent by the court and their family, friends, and service providers. I will network with
community partners to find ways to bring these facilitation skills to serve Asheville's larger
community in the spirit of fostering growth and connection. I will use this training in community
building efforts in the Asheville area.
I would facilitate 1-2 hour meetings or would offer a workshop with some of the skills I learn or
already have to share. I have other ideas of what I can offer
Sarah Southerland Asheville, NC
For the last ten years Sarah has immersed herself in the Asheville holistic arts community, and many
transformational trainings- massage school, yoga teacher certification, coaching program, energy
healing and Reiki trainings… she offers transformational retreat and workshop adventures to families
travelling to our region…that celebrate adventure, play, magic and mystery- sharing powerful nature
4 spots, ancient lore, law of attraction and manifestation techniques, and improv games to activate the
Imagination, which has proven to her to be the most powerful spiritual tool of all.
I will be part of the leading edge in redefining spiritual education and transformation to include
children and families... I will be part of the leading edge of bringing play and adventure, nature,
magic and the imagination back to the spirituality, transformation and retreat industry… I will create
systems for collaborations and economic development with all of the awesome holistic practitioners
in our community by confidently creating fun and marketable experiences for a tourism based
audience.
I would facilitate 1-2 hour meetings or offer a workshop with some of the skills I learn or already
have to offer. I could facilitate imagination activation sessions for individuals or groups- utilizing
leading edge techniques to "imagine from" our desired outcome, bringing in the senses, etc to really
place ourselves in our, or our organizations', new desired reality.
Clint Corley
Asheville, NC
I offer Nature-Connection Mentoring workshops and programs for children, youth, adults, and
families in the greater Asheville area.
I will apply this learning in my current programs in Asheville. I will also apply what I learn to my
other professional roles as Coordinator at the Earthskills Rendezvous, as well as presenter/facilitator
at the Art of Mentoring workshops in the USA and abroad.
I would offer a 3 hour workshop with some of the skills I learn or already have to share.
Meet Non-local Participants: Mattice Haynes
Decatur, GA
My passions are community and full inclusion which led me to create The Art of Community, a
facilitation and community engagement social enterprise where I serve as the Lead Facilitator and
Chief Inclusion Officer... I create opportunities for storytelling, deep listening, dialogue, learning,
creativity, shared decision-making and action. Cultivating trust through participatory engagement
with residents, organizations, governments, and communities serves as a catalyst for enduring,
equitable community development and social innovation.
I will continue to host creative, inclusive meetings and community conversations in a variety of
settings on a number of issues such as education, transportation, equitable development, and
community-police relations. Much of my current work centers on hosting dialogues about race,
power, privilege, equity and working together across differences. I will also apply this training in a
shared arts based space where I will be a new collaborator, and towards a new workshop based on
the concept of Radical Welcome.
I would facilitate 1-2 hour meetings or offer a 3 hour workshop with some of the skills I learn or
already have to share.
5 Natasha Duchene Yellowknife, NWT, Canada
I’m a filmmaker, musician and facilitator who tells stories that connect us to the earth, our deep
selves, and to each other. An adventurer at heart, I am drawn to those projects which take me
deeper into the world and the wilderness…To this end I lead vocal improvisation workshops, as
well as collaborative projects in film and music…I hope to inspire a love of this planet .. I believe
that as we become more aware of what we truly yearn for, our world will naturally become more
expressive, more sustainable, and kinder.
I will be facilitating two community filmmaking projects in the upcoming year with Northern
indigenous youth. I feel very strongly that PYE are on the leading edge of building creative
communities, and that in particular they can help me build tools for when I am working with people
of a different culture than my own. I will integrate this training into everything I do.
I would offer a workshop with some of the skills I learn or already have to share. I've been planning
a Creative Tune-Up workshop for some time, by donation.
Dana Pearlman
Sacramento, California
Dana Pearlman designs and facilitates action learning experiences that incorporate whole-person
development, mission-driven ventures with systems thinking for social change. Her academic
background is in clinical psychology and strategic leadership towards sustainability.
She uses participatory facilitation processes and powerful questions to enable deeper wisdom at the
individual, team, organizational and community levels. Her intent is to steward a world that is more
whole, interconnected and in alignment with our true selves for wiser and conscious impact. Her
sweet spot is at the intersection of authentic leadership, tapping into other ways of knowing (beyond
cognition) the world, collective healing and cultivating communities of practice in order to
accelerate the profound transformation that is needed in our world.
She would support in the development of Mycelium learning facilitators, would facilitate 1-2 hour
meetings, and a 3 hour workshop with some of the skills learned or that she already has to share.
Mery Miguez
San Francisco, California
I believe that our bodies hold in themselves incalculable wisdom and information that we can
access if only we can get in touch with them. Using Social Presencing Theater, and clowning
techniques, I help individuals and groups get in touch with the wisdom in their bodies, creating new
pathways to access collective creativity and innovation.
I am very passionate about people doing meaningful work, because of this, I will host and facilitate
arts-based workshops for low income, latino women in San Francisco who are looking to start their
own businesses. Through these workshops, they will be able to find their passions and gifts, which
in turn will allow them to choose a business that is more suitable to them, in that way doing work
that they love and loving what they do. I would also, host similar workshops online with women in
Latin America.
I would facilitate 1-2 hour meetings. I would offer a 3 hour workshop with some of the skills I learn
or already have to share.
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