Facilitation Lab
Facilitation Lab Austin
Practice Playground
Austin, TX
Station Austin (previously Capital Factory)
701 Brazos Street
Austin, TX 78701
Get Directions
With Douglas Ferguson, Gillian Salerno-Rebic, and Maria Burke
Bring your real challenges. Leave with new insights, confidence, and skills.
Whether you’re a seasoned facilitator or just getting started, Facilitation Lab is your sandbox for solving real problems with facilitation. This isn’t theory—it’s live, collaborative practice.
Each session follows Practice Playground, a dynamic format where participants take turns facilitating and role-playing through real-world challenges. It’s a low-stakes, high-support space designed to help you grow fast.
Got a workshop you’re designing? A team dynamic you’re navigating? A tricky moment you want to handle better next time? Use the structured activity to explore those challenges, get feedback, and discover what works.
Here’s how to make the most of your session:
The best part? You’ll be learning with others who are passionate about creating better collaboration, just like you.
Whether you’re a seasoned facilitator or just getting started, Facilitation Lab is your sandbox for solving real problems with facilitation. This isn’t theory—it’s live, collaborative practice.
Each session follows Practice Playground, a dynamic format where participants take turns facilitating and role-playing through real-world challenges. It’s a low-stakes, high-support space designed to help you grow fast.
Got a workshop you’re designing? A team dynamic you’re navigating? A tricky moment you want to handle better next time? Use the structured activity to explore those challenges, get feedback, and discover what works.
Here’s how to make the most of your session:
- Come with a real facilitation challenge you’re working through.
- Step into the facilitator role, or play along and offer thoughtful feedback.
- Leave with not just ideas—but actual progress on something that matters.
The best part? You’ll be learning with others who are passionate about creating better collaboration, just like you.
Austin, TX
Station Austin (previously Capital Factory)
701 Brazos Street
Austin, TX 78701
Get Directions
Interested in a private cohort for your team?
Let us know
Featured in the Lab
Life design as a training ground for better facilitation
This interactive workshop uses life-design practices to build better facilitators. We'll collaborate in small groups by working with real personal constraints as low-risk training material to practice reframing, evidence-based sensemaking, micro-prototyping, and commitment design. The result is a highly embodied, memorable experience that strengthens facilitation confidence and equips participants with concrete methods they can apply in workshops, strategy sessions, and collaborative work.
About Facilitation Lab Austin
Facilitation Lab Austin is a monthly in-person meetup for changemakers, collaborative leaders, and facilitators across Austin. Our purpose is to foster learning by doing in a psychologically safe environment, building a strong and supportive community of peers across the region.
As Regional Leads, Douglas and Erin cultivate a space for experimentation and collaborative leadership development, with a focus on people-powered organizational change.
Facilitation Lab Austin is a global network of regions, including other virtual meetups organized by continent and in-person meetups organized by cities. See the region list for a full list of all active meetups.
You can also join us in the Facilitation Lab Community Hub to stay connected with the facilitation community and get reminders of all upcoming events.
Agenda
Opener
An attendee will lead us through an engaging opener
Practice & Role Play
Attendees take turns role-playing as facilitators and participants as we practices different methods
Debrief
After some quiet reflection we’ll debrief the role-play and key learnings
Closer
An attendee will lead us through a purposeful closer
Who Should Attend
Experienced & New Facilitators
Who want to level up their facilitation skills and enhance their ability to effectively engage participants
Chiefs of Staff
Who want to align initiatives across departments and ensure strategic projects are implemented successfully
Product & Project Managers
Who want to steer stakeholders to the best outcomes and learn best practices in stakeholder management
Teachers & Trainers
Who want to design the most impactful learning and create engaging learning experiences
Key Takeaways
Gain hands-on experience with a spectrum of facilitation techniques, from classic to cutting-edge.
Receive immediate, constructive feedback in a nurturing environment to refine your facilitation skills.
Explore the depths of your existing facilitation knowledge and boost your confidence through low-stakes practice sessions.
Realize the potential to learn from anyone, appreciating the value of diverse experiences and perspectives.
Featured Facilitators
Douglas Ferguson
Douglas Ferguson is an entrepreneur, educator, and human-centered technologist. He is the founder and president of Voltage Control, a facilitation academy that develops leaders through certifications, workshops, and organizational coaching focused on facilitation mastery, innovation, and play. He has helped transform leaders, innovators, and creatives from Nike, U.S. SOCOM, Google, the Air Force, Gap, Tesla, MSU, Church & Dwight, Apple, Adobe, Dropbox, Fidelity, Vrbo, Liberty Mutual, Humana, and SAIC. Douglas is a thought leader and author of four books: Magical Meetings, Beyond the Prototype, How to Remix Anything, and Start Within.
Gillian Salerno-Rebic
Gillian Salerno-Rebic is a UX strategist, facilitator, and Co-Founder of North & Form, a consultancy helping organizations navigate complex decisions through human-centered design, research, and innovation. She works at the intersection of UX, AI-powered insights, and inclusive design, guiding teams from ambiguity to action through workshops, research, and strategic roadmapping. Gillian is known for translating deep human insight into clear, actionable outcomes.
Maria Burke
Maria Burke is a product designer, facilitator, and co-founder of North & Form. For 10+ years she has led enterprise UX in complex spaces like fintech, cloud platforms, and healthcare. She is an IBM Enterprise Design Thinking Co-Creator, AJ&Smart Workshopper Master, and Design Sprint facilitator trained by Jake Knapp. Maria also mentors designers worldwide, helping them turn messy problems into clear, human-centered decisions.
What People Are Saying
"The community’s warmth and generosity in tending to me and the issue made me feel cared for and supported. Beyond the suggestions, which were immediately useful, the culture of the community makes leaning into that growth edge easier, and more delightful."
Katrina Mitchell
Senior Technical Advisor, JHPiego
“I just wanted to say thanks for the great session last night. Your feedback and suggestions were fantastic. I left very energized!"
Dan Corbin
Instructor at Pragmatic Institute
Photo Disclaimer
Please note that photographs, video & audio recordings will be taken throughout this event. These will be used by Voltage Control for marketing and publicity in our publications, on our website and in social media, or in any third party publication. Please contact our events manager if you have any concerns or if you wish to be exempted from this activity.