When planning adult learning and collaboration, it’s essential to design an experience that moves beyond a series of tasks or items to address. This is particularly true when guiding a group through conversations focused on issues of equity and other emotionally-charged challenges. Designing and Facilitating Meetings for Equity offers essential knowledge and skills for setting the conditions necessary for effective discussion and collaboration focused on equity work, as well as facilitation skills to support you to respond to the particular dynamics of the group you are working with.

Designing agendas and planning activities is a crucial foundation for productive collaboration – but even the best plans can be sidelined by participant anxieties or volatile emotions that create unproductive group dynamics. Facilitating the particular dynamics of any group is complex, challenging work – especially when guiding people through discussions and work focused on equity issues.

This institute will provide an opportunity to learn about and practice applying strategies and structures that support productive meetings that encourage full participation and engagement amongst your team. We will also help you to understand what’s underneath the challenges your group is facing and learn facilitation skills that can create a team with greater agency and effectiveness. In addition, we will model and provide strategies for deepening connections and engagement in meetings and learning sessions.

“At this pivotal moment in our nation and communities, NEP will equip leaders with the tools and frameworks to drive the equity conversation and create a new normal for us all!”

— Jeff