We build capacity among communities and individuals to facilitate their engagements.
For a number of years, we have been engaging many cultural communities and their individual members and others regarding a number of needs and challenges which they face. The Winnipeg Foundation has been very supportive of this community facilitation role that we have taken on to bring multiple cultural communities to be involved in these processes, whether face-to-face or online.
Over the past year and a half, we began to test the idea of training, mentoring, and testing a number of cultural community individuals to become involved as designers, and facilitators/conveners of community engagements.
We have developed trust and respect for the diversity of experience of those who have joined us, fostering and strengthening both their listening and speaking skills within this peer-to-peer learning circle, exploring the skills of reflection, detachment, discernment, judgment, courage and shared vision, passion, and a sense of common purpose.
Our hope and belief is that this future-oriented collaboration to train and mentor members of cultural communities will strengthen their skills, knowledge and practice in multiple ways, ensuring that they will be able to support our engagements as well as volunteer their expertise in their own communities and others who need these unique and highly prized facilitation skills.
We are extremely lucky to have connected with the internationally renowned author and thought leader Peter Block, his organization Designed Learning, and his North American network of community facilitators, as we strive to address this community need. Peter Block has been recognized for his forward thinking, comprehensive and effective approach to community engagement and belonging and we are excited by his willingness to lend his expertise to the work that we do. We are continuing to discuss with him and his network how we can collaborate to grow cultural community facilitators here and other places where this need is strong.
