The Internet Was My First Gathering Place

I found the internet in the ‘90s, before most of my friends had even heard of it. Back then, mIRC was my portal out of a small town in New Brunswick, Canada, and into late-night chats with people across the United States, Europe, Australia, and South America.

The internet felt particularly experimental and generous at that time. A university professor once helped me with a high school physics problem simply because I asked. A stranger even sent me a free plane ticket to meet someone I’d connected with online. That person is now my partner of 27 years.

It wasn’t seamless or fast, but these early experiences with online connections reshaped how I understood geography and relationships. It sparked a quiet knowing that technology could shrink distance and make space for something deeply human.

Experimenting My Way into Strategy

Once I entered the workforce, no one really knew what to do with the internet, so I became the unofficial digital explorer. “Here’s the corporate website. Figure it out,” someone would say. And I did. That era gave me room to try, mess up, and try again. I moved between agency, government, and nonprofit projects before landing in travel.

That’s where the threads started to weave tighter. I managed digital programs, built intranets, maintained web forums, and designed marketing campaigns and virtual trainings long before those were common terms. I even created the first virtual social media marketing course for travel pros. But the tech was never the point. What lit me up was the way it nudged people closer. Across silos. Across time zones. Across the awkward starts.

Whether I helped older professionals learn digital skills or crafted pathways for quiet contributors to speak up, I was quietly engineering moments of momentum and ease. I just didn’t have a label for it yet.

Finding Language for the Work

My background was in communications and PR. Once tech entered the mix, I started looking through a different lens. What kind of experience am I shaping here? How does this interaction feel in someone’s body? What is this allowing that wasn’t possible before?

When I started my own business in 2011, clients would say, “I’ve made connections I never expected, and our approach feels so much more powerful than what others are telling me to do.” The pattern repeated so often, it became hard to ignore.

Most people think of facilitation as something formal or tied to events, like a brainstorm session, a retreat, or a post-it-filled workshop. But I realized I had already been facilitating in smaller, more integrated ways: noticing group dynamics, helping people move from uncertainty to alignment, designing conversations that made it easier to show up and contribute. Facilitation, to me, became less about a single role and more about how I create momentum and meaning in a space, especially inside organizations and communities navigating complexity.

But I didn’t call it facilitation. It simply felt like creating good conditions: shaping interactions, softening the hard edges of tech so people could show up more fully, and gently guiding participation to make people feel seen. It wasn’t until I found Voltage Control and its certification program that I realized this thing I’d been doing for years had a name. And even better, it had tools, people, and the language I’d been craving without realizing it.

At the time, I was feeling untethered. My partner had been laid off. I was recovering from a long illness. I wasn’t working much. But this opportunity landed in my periphery, and my gut kept nudging me to it. I applied, received a scholarship, and followed the quiet pull.

Recognizing My Place in the Room

The certification wasn’t just a course. It was a mirror. I walked in feeling like an outsider, scanning the Zoom grid and wondering if I belonged. Everyone seemed so confident, so sharp. I was nervous, but I wanted to learn. So I stayed.

One of the most meaningful parts was meeting Laura Pasternak from MarketPoint, my partner in month one. We clicked immediately and still speak regularly. She saw what I was working toward before I could name it and gently reflected it. She helped me recognize things I hadn’t fully seen in myself and reminded me I didn’t have to figure it all out alone.

And then came the portfolio. I wasn’t sure I had enough to show. But once I started going through my past work, I saw how much I’d done and who it had reached. I looked back at the communities I’d supported: social workers advocating for better mental health access, seniors using art for wellbeing, women building confidence around money, women navigating grief, and entrepreneurs funding innovation for good. I realized this work had been building for years. The portfolio didn’t just document that. It helped me finally see it.

Turning Intuition Into Practice

What the program gave me, more than anything, was vocabulary and structure. I finally understood the difference between divergent and convergent thinking. I saw that I was strong in the divergent phase, especially when it came to exploring and generating ideas. But convergence was where I needed tools.

Once I had that language, I started to see what was and wasn’t working in my client engagements. I started experimenting. I tried new exercises, frameworks, and ways of structuring sessions. It felt like picking up a new set of paintbrushes. The first few tries were rough, but I could feel things starting to take shape.

Then the right work started to land. Within a few weeks, I signed several new clients, including two large member-based organizations. This was exactly the kind of work I’d been hoping for. I made half my annual income in just two weeks. More importantly, I got to apply everything I’d just learned in real time, with people who were ready to dig in.

Halfway through a recent session, a participant paused and said, “It’s been such a valuable experience to be shepherded through this conversation. It helped me see things differently and recognize where we can make different choices to create a more meaningful impact.” I learned later she’d been one of the most hesitant to attend.

That moment made it clear I wasn’t just leading sessions. I was helping people feel safe enough to show up fully. It was a reminder that small shifts in how we gather can open the door to real change.

Getting Clear on Where I Belong

Working on my portfolio and with Laura helped me see what was already in front of me. Member-based organizations had been part of my client mix for a while, but I hadn’t named them as a focus. They gave me the strongest feedback, the clearest outcomes, and the kind of challenges I wanted to solve.

That realization helped me shift my focus. I still work with small teams, but more of my energy now goes toward facilitation-rich engagements with member organizations.

That might look like co-designing a member experience roadmap, facilitating discovery workshops to understand what people want, or supporting internal teams as they define what engagement and belonging should look like moving forward. In many cases, I’m helping member-based organizations move from assumptions to insights, and from insight to action. It’s not just about creating one good gathering or platform. It’s about designing a whole system that encourages trust, relevance, and participation.

And I’ve started naming the thing I do correctly. I’m a facilitator. It’s not just how I work. It’s how I think.

How I Talk About My Work Has Changed

Lately, I’ve been getting more specific about how I talk about my work. I’m building on what I’ve always done, now with language and tools that help me do it more effectively. After each session, I pause to reflect on what worked and what could shift for next time.

I’m learning how to design sessions that feel grounded and collaborative, not performative. The clients I’m working with now are often mission-driven and values-aligned, and the conversations we’re having feel more relevant and focused. Best of all, I get to help them reconnect with their communities in new, genuine, and valuable ways.

I help these organizations step back and see the full picture, from the member experience to the internal processes that support it. Sometimes that means mapping the journey a member takes, clarifying what belonging looks like, or facilitating cross-functional sessions to align the team around shared priorities. Other times, it’s about identifying simple, strategic shifts that make the community feel more alive and intentional. At the core of it all, I help them design a human-first experience that feels more meaningful, but also drives stronger engagement and sustainable membership growth.

Helping Teams Design More Human Experiences

Much of my work centers around three key areas. I support membership experience and engagement by helping teams develop new ways to activate participation and increase member satisfaction. I focus on membership value by shaping offers that feel relevant and worth showing up for. And I design and lead listening efforts like focus groups, interviews, and co-creation sessions to uncover member needs, test ideas, and guide smarter decisions.

This work isn’t just about improving programs or running online forums. It’s about helping organizations reconnect with the people they serve, realign around what matters, and create experiences that feel thoughtful, relevant, and genuinely worth being part of. When teams take the time to listen, reflect, and realign, engagement feels more natural, decisions come with more confidence, and members begin to recognize themselves in the experience. 

This clarity didn’t come from starting over. It came from finally seeing the shape of the work I’d been doing all along.

An Invitation to See Your Work Differently

If you’re considering the facilitation certification, let yourself follow the nudge. It might stretch parts of you that you didn’t expect. But stretch is where evolution lives. The program isn’t just a toolkit. It’s a mirror and a reset. A reintroduction to work that may already feel familiar.

And if you’re wondering whether you’re already a facilitator, you probably are. You don’t need to start from scratch. You just need to recognize what’s already there and keep building from it.

Sophie Bujold is a facilitator and community strategist who helps membership-based organizations design more human, connected experiences. She works with teams to uncover what their members truly need, rethink how participation happens, and design programs that spark connection and momentum. You can learn more at cliqueworthy.com.

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Finding my calling

My mom was my first facilitator, though I didn’t realize it at the time. Growing up in Thornhill, a suburb of Toronto, I watched her lead community meetings, organize fundraisers, and champion local causes like getting our neighborhood school built. I vividly recall being 8 years old and volunteering at our local Terry Fox Run, which she organized. I was always inspired by how she effortlessly brought people together around a common cause. Those early experiences taught me that you need to put yourself out there to make change happen,a lesson that has stayed with me.

Early Steps into Leadership

In high school, I gravitated toward student leadership roles and experiences, including bringing together students from different schools to build skills and connect. At the time, I didn’t use the term “facilitation,” but that’s precisely what I was doing: guiding conversations, building community, and fostering engagement among peers. These experiences gave me a profound sense of agency and confidence, setting the stage for my path ahead.

When I reflect back, I realize the seeds of facilitation were planted deeply by my family’s culture of coaching and curiosity. Interestingly, both my parents chose to pursue coaching certifications in their early 50s, training at CTI in California before anyone I knew was trained as a coach. Watching them embrace these career shifts inspired my own confidence in continuous learning. I also got exposed to a lot of “powerful questions” in our house!

My passion for collaboration and leadership continued to grow during my university years at UNC Chapel Hill, where I pursued a double major in political science and communication studies. This academic path was deliberate, reflecting my deep interest in understanding how communication shapes leadership and organizational dynamics. Throughout my time there, I actively sought opportunities to practice facilitation, even without consciously labeling it as such.

Shaping a Career in Facilitation

After graduation, my journey took me to Goldman Sachs in New York City, where my role in coordinating training programs allowed me to observe and engage with professional facilitators firsthand. Watching these seasoned experts bring rooms alive with powerful, impactful conversations was mesmerizing. I clearly remember thinking, “This is it—this is what I want to do.” 

Though my role at the bank didn’t initially include facilitation, the exposure I had was transformative. My responsibility involved hiring facilitators for various initiatives, including women’s leadership events and diversity training programs. Through observing these sessions, I began to understand facilitation as not just managing group dynamics, but as a deeply strategic tool capable of driving organizational change. The facilitators I admired most were those who balanced structure with flexibility, confidently steering difficult discussions with empathy and insight.

Following four enriching years at Goldman Sachs, I sought to blend my passion for training and organizational development with a desire to make a social impact. This pursuit led me to Harvard Business School(HBS) where I earned my MBA while taking as many electives as I could on non-profit management and social enterprise. This academic journey broadened my understanding of strategic leadership and further clarified my ambition to combine my facilitation skills with meaningful, social impact work.

My time at HBS was particularly challenging but immensely rewarding. I hadn’t previously taken business classes, so initially, it felt like drinking from a firehose. However, as I started to connect the dots between what I was learning and ways I could apply it in the non-profit sector, I became more engaged and curious. Throughout the cases we read, leaders that understood people dynamics and effective communication strategies always fared better.  Participating in and facilitating group projects during that period taught me important lessons about collaboration, influence, and how to facilitate diverse groups.

Upon returning to Canada, I was hired to help get the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Canada Foundation off the ground.  As a part of that role, I developed a network of what we called “Foundation Champions” that helped to choose grant recipients, assemble volunteer teams and encourage non profit board engagement.  My role included facilitating regular meetings of this group and keeping them motivated and excited about the work of the Foundation.  I was always proud that our main granting program was funds for non profit leaders to engage in professional development (money that is hard to get in the social impact world!).  This also gave me a good window into the development needs of leaders.  This experience inspired me to venture out independently as a facilitator and leadership coach, determined to leverage these skills to support nonprofit leaders in their individual and organizational development journeys.

Stepping Into a New World of Possibilities

After a dozen years of doing this exciting and stimulating work, I decided that I wanted to hone my facilitation skills. While I had relied heavily on a structured methodology for strategy development, I was being called to facilitate increasingly complex conversations, often with challenging group dynamics.  I also wanted to position myself to engage in the facilitation of collective work in the sector, which is needed now more than ever. This realization coincided perfectly with my colleague and friend Rebecca Sutherns’ recommendation of Voltage Control. Rebecca, a facilitator I deeply respect, described Voltage Control simply as “the best,” and trusting her judgment, I decided to not only sign up, but to recruit a close friend and talented facilitator, Tammy Shubat, to join me.  Having a partner on the journey, who also understood the non profit sector landscape and needs in Canada certainly enriched the experience.  

Participating in the Voltage Control program was like stepping into a vibrant new world full of possibilities. Immediately, I appreciated the seamless integration and innovative use of digital tools like Mural, which helped take my virtual facilitation skills to the next level. Observing Eric and Douglas expertly guide us through sessions was profoundly instructive. Their calm yet authoritative approach, combined with genuine curiosity and openness, was a true masterclass in the art of facilitation and holding space.

Purpose Changed Everything

One of the program’s greatest impacts came from exploring Priya Parker’s “The Art of Gathering.” This exploration shifted my facilitation approach by embedding the critical importance of defining clear purpose into every interaction. Instead of allowing my clients to settle for vague objectives like “board retreat” or “leadership meeting,” I now actively guide them to articulate a specific, powerful purpose of the meeting,  increasing the quality and depth of the conversations I facilitate. Another highlight was revisiting and rediscovering Liberating Structures. Exercises such as “15% Solutions,” “1,2,4,8” and “Ecocycle Planning” quickly became essential components of my toolkit. These methodologies help energize discussions, inspire creativity, and unlock fresh perspectives among teams. Particularly impactful was the concept of the “groan zone,” a framework emphasizing the value of divergence in group discussions. This encouraged me to create intentional space for bold, unconventional ideas, greatly enriching the collaborative process.

Bringing Facilitation into Strategic Leadership

Voltage Control did not just equip me with new tools—it empowered me to step more confidently into a leadership posture in my facilitation. Previously, I leaned into what I saw as the integrity of the neutral role of facilitator. However, this certification invited me to see facilitation itself as a powerful form of leadership, enabling me to guide organizations effectively through complexity towards significant, lasting impact.

Since completing the program, I’ve confidently undertaken more ambitious facilitation projects, including with boards and leadership teams at several national organizations. I have also been called on to train leaders in strategy and strategic facilitation and have drawn on Voltage Control exercises like the “Deflection Point” to help them navigate strategic crossroads and imagine bigger, bolder futures. 

Charting a New Path Forward

Today, I am deliberately shifting my practice toward addressing larger, collective challenges within the nonprofit sector. Rounding out my work as a strategic coach and consultant on organizational strategy, I’m increasingly drawn to projects involving multiple stakeholders. My goal is to foster collaboration across sectors, bringing together funders, nonprofits, academics and communities to tackle critical social issues collaboratively. By creating meaningful, inclusive spaces for dialogue and innovation, I aim to drive deeper, systemic change.

Though this path presents unique challenges, requiring intensive focus, deep commitment, and intentional relationship-building, the potential rewards are immense. Being recognized as a facilitation expert allows me to significantly influence important social outcomes, transcending traditional organizational boundaries and creating a broader, deeper impact.

Looking ahead, I’m excited about the continued evolution of my practice, deeply informed by purpose and supported by the vibrant Voltage Control community and its wealth of resources.

For anyone considering Voltage Control’s Facilitation Certification, my message is clear: Do it. This program will significantly expand your perspectives, enhance your facilitation capabilities, and connect you with an incredible community dedicated to continual learning and improvement. It truly is the gift that keeps giving.

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