You’re invited to a three-day training in the Art of Participatory Leadership

Thursday, April 18 - Saturday, April 20, 2024 • Guelph, Ontario
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Are you leading a team through complexity and disruption in these challenging times?

Are you seeking new strategies to foster collaboration? Are you looking to add new practices to your facilitation toolkit to take your career to the next level? Are you working in the business, social enterprise or the non-profit space to change systems and create resilient communities? 

Participatory leadership is an opportunity to lean into the HOW rather than the what and the where. Join this training to strengthen our collective capacity to create change, where we will engage, connect and deepen our learning together.

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We will be exploring this question, through participatory methodologies:

How can we grow our individual and collective capacity as changemakers to co-create spaces of transformation in these times of complexity and disruption?

This training is for you if are…

  • engaged in collaborative and cross-sectoral initiatives or systemic change in private, public and social enterprise or nonprofit ecosystems
  • holding the seed of a new idea/initiative
  • ready to bring new life to a project, initiative or vision to create new forms of living, working and relating
  • asking how to deepen, scale or make emerging movements sustainable
  • asking HOW to move your vision forward and set your values in action as a new or emerging leader”
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Your Hosts

Our international and Canadian hosting team brings decades of experience working with groups, communities, and organizations, training, coaching and living with the Art of Participatory Leadership practices.

We are ready to support you in your learning journey and share practical insights to help you immediately put what you’ve learned into practice.

Steward

Mary Alice Arthur
Steward

Quanita Roberson
Steward

Paul Messer

Steward

Mary Alice Arthur

Mary Alice Arthur is a Story Activist working with story in service of positive systemic shift and for focusing collective intelligence on critical issues. She guides people to find and activate the story that will take them into a larger and more authentic future. With story as an ally, people become the visionary leaders, changemakers and paradigm shifters they want to be. They learn to trust themselves and that makes them shine. They know story is our lens on the world and determines our agency. They have the knowledge and tools to change it for the better.

She is an internationally recognised process host, building capacity for people to bring their stories to life and create change together with more than 25 years in practice. She loves to work with large and small systemic stories holding keys for a more generative future. She is a steward of Art of Hosting, teaching participatory practice around the world and a co-creator of the Collective Story Harvest methodology.

Mary Alice is the author of 365 ALIVE! Find your voice. Claim your story. Live your brilliant life. and hosts THE STORY DOJO, an online community focused on the power and practice of story. She works with individuals, communities and organizations around the world. www.getsoaring.com

Steward

Quanita Roberson

I am a facilitator dedicated to addressing embedded trauma. I am a spiritual teacher, speaker, author, life coach, and a storyteller. My work over the past 20 years has been focused in the areas of healing, initiation, grief, leadership, diversity, and inclusion.

I have a background in Organizational Management and Development with a concentration in Integral Theory which has supported me in looking at the world in a more holistic way. I also have had the privilege of studying with some amazing elders. Including Sobonfu Some and Jojopah Maria Nsoroma, keepers of ancient indigenous wisdom from the Dagara Tribe of Burkina Faso, Fanchon Shur in Embodying Creative Leadership through Growth in Motion, Peter Block, and Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea of The Circle Way.

I live in Cincinnati, OH with my two children. I am inspired by the Ohio River and the stories of freedom that are born from here.

Steward

Paul Messer

Paul is a Creative Director and co-founder of Percolab Coop. A cooperative that collaborates with courageous organisations engaged with the socio-ecological transition, to embody their values and vision and amplify their collaboration.

Founded in 2007 in Montréal, Canada, Percolab is a growing international network of horizontal employee owned cooperatives functioning as an applied research lab.

In his work, Paul uses design thinking to work with complexity. Tapping into his background as an industrial designer, Paul uses design and thinking methodologies and hosting techniques to support group innovation and co-design processes. Engaged in the ArtHive, FabLab and FabCity movements, Paul understands how creative processes can affect social change. Creator of the Visual Thinking Lab and active member of the international visual practitioner community. Paul has been working with Art of hosting practices since 2011.

Local Team - Caller

Diana M Smith
Local Team

Kate Webster
Local Team

Christine Robinson
Local Team

Heather Watt-Kapitain

Local Team - Caller

Diana M Smith

Leaders and changemakers in many community and organizational contexts recognize the need for heightened consciousness and a values-based orientation to systems change in these complex times, Now, in her ‘third act’, Diana plays, shares and humbly engages with individual and collaborative initiatives that shift perspectives in service to systemic transformation. She participates actively with the global Art of Hosting and the Warrior for the Human Spirit community and is active locally in Guelph as an engaged citizen.

As a scholar/practitioner, an ‘animateur’, and consultant working in academic, community, workplace, team and cross-sectoral settings across Canada, Diana has training and lived experience in action research, engagement, participatory processes, collaboration, and experiential learning. She has a lifelong commitment to embed and embody practices that increase capacity for transformation, linking individual/collective wisdom in community and organizational settings scaling from the interpersonal to the global.

Local Team

Kate Webster

Kate is an independent consultant, focused on the people side of change, leadership and learning. Her passion lies in helping organizations navigate complexity, understand themselves better, and find pragmatic solutions to team and organizational issues, while building leadership and adaptive capacity.

A long-time connector of dots and finder of possibility, Kate has been applying human systems dynamics and complexity theory to her client work (and her own life!) since 2015. She believes deeply in the power of community to shift patterns and find solutions, and has established a thriving local circle of practitioners focused on change, leadership and learning. She loves being part of the magic that happens when people come together around an issue or a practice.

Kate has worked with clients in the public, private and not for profit sectors, and volunteers with both community and professional groups.

Local Team

Christine Robinson

Christine Robinson is a leadership consultant, innovation catalyst, breathwork practitioner and non-profit board member who is committed to co-creating vibrant, inclusion-conscious and emotionally-intelligent organizational cultures that bring out the best in everyone.

As a former talent and HR executive, Christine led global teams with a deep commitment to humanizing work and transforming leadership and learning. She has sponsored the creation of communities of practice with a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, innovation, and adapting to the future of work.
She currently leads a boutique leadership development consultancy that partners closely with organizational practitioners to enhance their own, and their leaders’ clarity of purpose and adaptive capacities. When facilitating, she brings discussions alive by connecting people with each other, and with the ideas that can help them discern what is most needed now. As an executive coach, she helps leaders be present to their most important work; helping their people navigate the adaptations required to meet this transformational time in which we are living.

Local Team

Heather Watt-Kapitain

Throughout her career, Heather has intentionally placed herself in spaces – employment, volunteer positions, coaching, facilitation, spaces of learning – where the conversations and learning that emerged were deeply centered around her passion for community, transformational change, climate and social finance.

As co-founder of KAP Design, an information design studio specializing in the visual communication of sustainability information, Heather applies design and systems thinking practices to facilitation. She has facilitated meetings and events to develop strategy, systems, theory of change, social enterprise and circular economy.

Most recently, Heather began working with Tapestry Community Capital where she is thrilled to guide organizations across Canada in unlocking the power of their community and social capital through effective community bond campaigns.

Participatory Methodologies

The Art of Participatory Leadership works with these participatory methodologies: World Café, Circle practice, Open Space Technology, Appreciative Inquiry, Storytelling and more. Participants will both experience and learn to host these methods. You will also have the opportunity to learn about how Harvesting can help to make your meetings and events more tangible, productive and impactful.

The Action Learning focus of the Art of Participatory Leadership supports participants to extend and deepen their capacities in hosting groups that stay together to create wiser action. Even if you are an experienced facilitator, you will enhance and extend your group process work.

What is the Art of Participatory Leadership?

Building the capacity to collaborate well with a diversity of others lies in being able to meet the moment in such a way that people stay together to create transformation.

The Art of Participatory Leadership is an open-source social technology that has been co-created over time. Much of the art and power of this approach comes not from any individual method but learning to blend and tailor a combination of methods.

In this way a practitioner serves the need and purpose of the unique context using an understanding of underlying patterns of process design.

What will you take away?

It’s time to discover new ideas and solutions for working generatively with complexity, conflict, and emergence. Together we will explore new perspectives, tools, and practical ways of engaging a diverse group of people.

The Art of Participatory Leadership focuses on action learning. That means we will not only explore the theory behind this innovative approach, but we’ll also step into hands-on practice.

Participants will be encouraged to step up and lead parts of training, coached by the Hosting Team, to gain practical, embodied experience. In this way, we aim to create a community of practice that can support itself long after the training.

Join a community of practice

With the amount of complexity and challenge out there, all of us need to up our ability to host brave and transformative spaces. We also need more “mates” – fellow practitioners working across a variety of disciplines, modalities, communities, cultures, and focuses.

The more we can support each other, the more resilience we’ll have to meet the challenges, and the more we can in turn challenge each other both to be innovative and to stay the course. the more the changemakers can collaborate, the more we offer an example to the people we’re trying to support.

Curious about the Art of Participatory Leadership training coming to Guelph April 18-20?

We are offering a series of information calls with a twofold intention:

  • We believe Participatory Leadership practices can help make change in the world, and we want to give you a chance to experience them, even if you are unable to join us in Guelph from April 18 – 20.
  • We want to answer any questions you may have about this learning opportunity.

Letting go to become

March 5th
This session introduces a unique framework for focusing on the letting go process that is necessary before new possibilities can emerge .

 

Collective Agreement

March 20th
The conversation will continue on March 20th, and will give you an approach to come to a collective agreement and decision-making that sets the stage for enabling real action.

Traveling to Guelph, Ontario…details of the setting

Guelph is home to 145,000 residents. It’s 1.5 hours west of Toronto, easily accessible whether traveling by air, bus, train, or car. Here’s all the information you need for getting to and around Guelph, including downloadable maps at https://visitguelphwellington.ca/travel-resources/.

We are meeting at 10C Shared Space in the vibrant urban core of Guelph, Ontario. 10C is a hub for community activators and changemakers. 10C uses placemaking, social enterprise, social finance, social innovation – and food – to create new ways to connect, collaborate and share resources. 10C works to deepen relationships between people and across organizations and geographies, catalyzing creativity and innovation through collective action, research and community engagement.

10C stewards 25,000 s.f. of social purpose real estate located at 42 Carden Street. In addition to the beautiful humans that use this space every day, 10C is made up of community coworking and event space, the Nourish shared community commercial kitchen, an art gallery and flexible shared meeting and work spaces. Learn more about 10C at 10carden.ca.

Art of Participatory Leadership Training

Location

Guelph, Ontario

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Registration

We are committed to finding a way for all who are interested to attend.

We have added to our pricing structure to reflect this commitment and hope to see you in Guelph, April 18-20.

  • Organizational Rate (For-profit business or Institution): $1,400 + HST*
  • Non-profit Rate (Community Group or Social Enterprise) $1200 + HST*
  • Community Supported Sliding Scale Fee: $725 – $1199 + HST

If a sliding scale still isn’t feasible, please be in touch. We are committed to removing barriers for those who really wish to be there.
**$50 discount to 10C members

Full registration fees cover honorariums to stewards, space for the three-day training, lunches, and a celebratory dinner on the Friday evening. Travel and accommodations are not included.

Cancellation Policy

At this time, tuition is non-refundable, unless there are extenuating circumstances. You can choose to transfer your registration to another person until April 15. Please be in touch as soon as possible.

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