Facilitation Lab
Facilitation Lab Portsmouth
Practice Playground
With Devon Skerritt and Steve Brown
In Partnership With RHL Strategies, GoodWork, and Social Design Strategies
May 28, 2024
5pm - 7pm EDT
Foster a vibrant community where facilitators can connect, pose questions, and share stories; all about facilitation.
This Meetup Practice Playground brings together facilitators or those interested in facilitation from diverse backgrounds and levels of experience.
This meetup is dedicated to nurturing meaningful exchanges and fostering deep connections among participants.
Whether you are a seasoned expert or just beginning your facilitation journey, the Practice Playground offers an inclusive environment to engage with peers, exchange ideas, and build professional networks.
This Meetup Practice Playground brings together facilitators or those interested in facilitation from diverse backgrounds and levels of experience.
This meetup is dedicated to nurturing meaningful exchanges and fostering deep connections among participants.
Whether you are a seasoned expert or just beginning your facilitation journey, the Practice Playground offers an inclusive environment to engage with peers, exchange ideas, and build professional networks.
May 28, 2024
5pm - 7pm EDT
- This event has ended
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About Facilitation Lab Portsmouth
Facilitation Lab Portsmouth is a monthly in-person meetup for changemakers, collaborative leaders, and facilitators across Portsmouth. 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 Lead, Devon cultivates a space for experimentation and collaborative leadership development, with a focus on people-powered organizational change.
Facilitation Lab Portsmouth 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
Impromptu Networking
We’ll open with some connections to give you an opportunity to meet other community members
Idea Marketplace & Voting
Everyone shares their practice areas and opportunities for growth edges and we vote on the top ones.
Futures thinking facilitation prototype
Participants participate with Steve Brown in a real-life facilitation exercise to experiment with futures thinking/strategic foresight facilitation methods
Reflect, Debrief, & Commit
We’ll end with an opportunity for some quiet reflection, group debriefing, and solo commitments
Who Should Attend
Experienced & New Facilitators
Who want to level up their facilitation skills and enhance their ability to effecivelty engage participants
Nonprofit and Program professionals
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
Devon Skerritt
Devon Skerritt, Ed.D., is an independent design researcher, facilitator, and strategist growing people’s capacity to navigate change and imagine possibilities by design. Driven by curiosity, Devon works at the intersections of learning, inquiry, and civic engagement focused on communities’ participation in initiatives impacting them. Over eight years of human-centered design practice, Devon drove design thinking through facilitation, coaching, and qualitative research across innovation teams at Southern New Hampshire University and organized Design and Innovation programs at Southern Methodist University through academic experiences and corporate partnerships. Devon has served as an adjunct lecturer teaching about Life Design and Liberatory design thinking, and brings more than 15 added years of experience in education administration roles serving students as an advisor and counselor at organizations from K12 to higher education. Devon received his Ed.D. from SMU and master’s degree in higher education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where was also a 2015 Social Impact Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.A. in
history from Colgate University.
history from Colgate University.
Steve Brown
Steve Brown leads The Futures Collaborative, a collective of futurists, strategists, designers, facilitators, and coaches committed to helping organizations and individuals understand, embrace, and work with the uncertainties of a rapidly changing world. Our goal is to build our collective capacity to create a future in which all can thrive. We have had the privilege of working with a variety of organizations, including the Successful Practices Network, Stonington Public Schools, Southern New Hampshire University, the Institute for the Future, New Hampshire Listens, and the Keene Public Library among others. Our collaborations have consistently resulted in forward-thinking strategies, innovative approaches, and increased capacity to navigate change.
In Partnership With
RHL Strategies
Applying a unique approach to addressing challenges, RHL Strategies positions itself as a collaborative partner for small nonprofits, municipalities, and other organizations to assist them in achieving transformational change. Whether starting a new project or initiative, forming a new committee, or otherwise addressing a situation, we get people onto a good, solid path forward.
RHL Strategies has developed a methodology (which can be adapted to your own project) that will take you and your team through a process that is meant to go beyond the traditional notion of setting goals and objectives. From initial team formations to identifying the “problem” being addressed, to discovering what is possible, RHL Strategies will guide you in exploring yourselves and your work in deep and significant ways that just might lead to your own new approaches to doing your work and achieving your goals.
RHL Strategies has developed a methodology (which can be adapted to your own project) that will take you and your team through a process that is meant to go beyond the traditional notion of setting goals and objectives. From initial team formations to identifying the “problem” being addressed, to discovering what is possible, RHL Strategies will guide you in exploring yourselves and your work in deep and significant ways that just might lead to your own new approaches to doing your work and achieving your goals.
GoodWork
GoodWork’s mission is to strengthen Greater Seacoast nonprofits by maximizing their capacity to meet community needs. We do this by providing customized strategic support, knowledge and networking opportunities, and affordable live, work and meeting space.
Social Design Strategies
Social Design Strategies is an independent consultancy founded on collaboration and curiosity- helping clients understand people, context, and possibilities with research, facilitation, and innovation/change strategy – by design.
What People are Saying
"In a world where we tend to connect digitally, it's so important to still come together, especially in a shared community where we're learning from each other and we're also affirming each other. So, coming here is worth the travel. It's worth being in the presence of others. You can't replicate that in a digital forum."
Susan Wilson-Golab
Bloomfield Hills Schools
"I always enjoy the opportunity to network with other facilitators in the Facilitation Lab. I've gained so much knowledge from other attendees' insights & experiences each and every week in our community."
Anonymous
Facilitation Lab Attendee
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.
