3 December 2018

Its Wildcard Night! Monday December 10, 2018 | 5.30pm

Do you have a new idea to try out with a receptive audience?
Do you have a short process that you want to practice before you do it live with a client?
Have you been considering taking a guest facilitator spot but want to get some experience with the group first?
Do you have a short process that is energizing and fun?

All these and more are what wildcard is for. You can be guest facilitator on the night for between 5 and 20 minutes.
Typically there is time for around 6 short sessions.

 
Wildcards are for everyone no matter what the experience level. They are unpredictable, engaging and always fun.
Wildcards are a great way to experience a range of ideas and tools from a variety of different experiences.

Wildcard sessions are organized dynamically on the night. Just turn up with your idea.

Everyone else just turn up to learn from the experience and have fun.


Xmas Social
Please join us for networking, conversation and laughter afterwards at the nearby, very economical Pho Mumum Vietnamese Restaurant, No 16 Broadway, Chippendale (opposite the Big UTS Tower). Average meal cost only$10. 


Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact 
Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com
 

5 November 2018

Facilitating DOORS to Deep Learning with Dr Eugene Fernandez | Monday November 12, 2018 | 5.30pm


As problems we deal with become more complex and critical, we need leaders who are able to transcend those limitations by evolving solutions, which are at least one step above the thinking that created those problems.

Drawing on frameworks and applied research within organisations my aim is to facilitate understandings and conversations about how we could open Doors to Deep learning within organizations that shift and address sticky problems.

I expect that we will journey through a process, sometimes didactic, and propositional and at others experiential and if the journey and time permit we will co-creatively explore what I have termed ‘4 Frames of learning’, which encourages Facilitators and Leaders to adopt a more holistic, context bound and qualitative frame to their interventions.


About Dr Eugene Fernandez
Eugene has over 25 years experience as a consultant, facilitator, coach and senior manager spanning various industries and sectors globally. He has held senior roles as a Company Director and Program Director for Australia’s leading Business Schools, MBS, AGSM, MGSM and AIM. In many of his projects he works as a partner embedded within the business to impact on and resolve more complex and sticky problems.

Over 10000 managers have participated in his interventions and programs. Eugene has consulted to prominent organizations such as: AMP, AbbVie, Americold, BHPBilliton, Bunnings, Mars, Pfizer, Roche, Rabo Bank, Reserve Bank, Sun Microsystems, Thomas Cook, Transgrid, Guild Group and many government and community organisations.

Recent Projects include:
  • Worked with the MD to improve the Leadership, decision making and strategic capacity/capability building of the Executive team for an electrical utility for 2.5 years, culminating in a privatisation of 10.2 billion dollars over a 99 year lease to an international consortium.
  • Designed and implemented leadership strategies and leadership development for over 40 organisations.
  • Enabled, advised and facilitated over 200 Strategic Business improvement projects within a range of industries with direct KPI and business impact.
  • Facilitated Executive/ Senior teams /Boards with visioning/futures strategic/operational planning and  relationship building.
  • Facilitator, Centre for Creative Leadership for their senior programs in Australia for the last 10 years.

Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact 
Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

2 October 2018

Facilitating Wellness: Success in the System with Ingrid Messner | Monday October 08, 2018 | 5.30pm

October is Mental Health Month

Health is at the core of leadership. However, health is a term that is often misunderstood and seen too narrowly. Mental health is more than “mental”. People are wasting time, money and energy looking in the wrong spots for solutions to create healthy results and wellbeing – for people and planet.

Currently, we are transitioning from a knowledge-based to a wisdom-based economy. The best leaders know the value of making time to understand the whole picture—the detail and crucial broader context. I will be sharing a holistic perspective that is critical to success. Without it, you sacrifice productivity, performance and – most importantly - wellbeing.

The session will be highly experiential. Together as a group, we will be going on a journey and explore the different aspects of wellbeing.

Outcome for participants
  • Increased awareness on how to leverage fresh perspective for
    complex challenges.
  • Practical applications of ancient wisdom for today’s most pressing
    health challenges.

About Ingrid Messner
Ingrid is a leadership expert with over 25 years experience working with clients from diverse countries, cultures and industries.

An authority in her field, her portfolio includes roles in corporate and management consultancy, accreditation as an executive coach, running leadership programs and wilderness retreats, and an MBA.

Ingrid leverages ancient wisdom* to optimise performance and wellbeing, enabling you to develop greater influence, impact, a clearer purpose, robust vision, and increased happiness.

Her business acumen, deep connection to nature and firsthand insight into over 50 cultures worldwide, provide an innovative approach to success.


Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact 
Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

3 September 2018

Facilitating Collaboration with Greg Jenkins - Monday, 10 September 2018, 5:30PM

Early in my career as a facilitator I was confronted with a burning question. A senior leader in a large organisation pointed to a group of 20 project managers in the distance and said “You see those people. They each manage multi-million-
dollar infrastructure projects. Each of them comes to a meeting with hand on heart and commits to do something. They leave the meeting and then don’t do it. What can you do about that?”

This brief conversation was a turning point for me. From that day forward in every facilitation project I set about finding an answer to the question.

Fast forward to this year (2018) where I was facilitating a collaboration workshop process in a complex project. 6 weeks after the workshop all 25 key stakeholders reconvened. After the meeting several senior people commented with surprise that it was the first time in their experience that everyone attending had actually done what they said they would do.

For me it was normal. I have experienced this in workplaces, classrooms and communities and across corporations, government, education, small business, NGOs and NFPs.
Was it skill? Or was it the ‘system’? Could anyone do it?

Bringing all this experiential learning together is the purpose of the ‘Collaboration Project’.
Get an update at the next Facilitators Network meeting.

  • 5 x Core skills required to facilitate collaboration; 5 x core Values; 5 x Energising principles; 3 x Process stages; 3 x Practice toolsets
  • Vertical development. How do you know you are ready to facilitate collaboration?

About Greg Jenkins
Greg has been a long-term active member of the Sydney Facilitators Network. Greg is a highly experienced facilitator, coach and program developer. He works in complex collaboration-based situations across business, government,
education and community specialising.

This session will be highly experiential and practical.




Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact 
Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

6 August 2018

Three-Room Dialogue: Applying the OBREAU Tripod with Don Dunoon | Monday August 13, 2018 | 5.30pm

A dialogue, as framed here, is an exploratory conversation to tease out differing perspectives on a ‘tough’ (thorny, sticky) issue, to help those involved gain an expanded, more complex and nuanced appreciation of the topic.  While dialogue can support subsequent decision-making and action, detailed planning requires a separate conversation.

Though potentially very powerful, productive dialogue tends to be hard to achieve. People can be trapped in default behaviour patterns of reacting, judging and ‘dancing around’. One challenge is participants being ‘certain’ their own views reflect an objective truth.

This session introduces an approach to dialogue designed to minimise the negative impact of default patterns such as those mentioned. ‘Three-room’ dialogue utilises the OBREAU Tripod structure with ‘OBREAU’ reflecting the first two letters of each of the pivotal words, Observation, Reasonableness and Authenticity.

Such a dialogue is bookended by an Introduction (e.g. description of the topic and outline of the process) and a Synthesis segment (e.g. distilling themes emerging, and where to next). The metaphorical ‘three rooms’ form the bulk of the conversation.

Just as the rooms of a house imply different intentions, activities – with the kitchen, for instance, associated with food preparation; the living room with entertaining and relaxing – the three dialogue rooms also imply different orientations:
  • Room 1            Grounding the Dialogue – identifying and exploring relevant data, evidence and other observables
  • Room 2            Shifting perspectives – imagining the standpoints of stakeholders, including those not in the conversation, allowing they can be reasonable at this time
  • Room 3            Our voices – opportunity for participants to speak with authenticity in raising questions and sharing what matters to them.
In the session, participants will practise being in, and facilitating in, the dialogue ‘rooms’. Topics reflecting currently controversial issues will be used to illustrate aspects of the dialogue process and the facilitation work involved.

Facilitators will gain insights and methods they can apply both in enabling dialogue and contributing in a range of other settings.


About Don Dunoon
As an independent leadership and organisational development specialist, Don has over 20 years consulting experience. Based in Sydney, he has worked with clients and colleagues internationally. He is the author of In the Leadership Mode, a book that frames leadership and management as different forms of action in dealing with tough challenges. His writings and materials have been used in leadership-related courses at several leading US universities. A workshop on Don’s OBREAU Tripod structure, for supporting conversations that matter, was awarded "Outstanding Educator Workshop" at the 2016 conference of the Association of Leadership Educators in Sacramento, California. Don presented at the AFN 2015 and 2017 conferences, and at the 2018 World Conference on Quality and Improvement in Seattle.



Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

2 July 2018

Facilitating for Cooperation & True Sharing in Individualistic & Competitive World with Johanna de Ruyter & Tirrania Suhood | Monday July 09, 2018 | 5.30pm

Individualism and competition have been central to our society’s way of operating. While it’s hard to deny they have an important place these forces have contributed to the current challenges of climate change, growing inequality and concentrations of wealth, increasing homelessness, inadequate affordable housing and disruptive technologies leading to employment uncertainty.

Even the term sharing economy has regularly been used to describe activities that progress the concentration of wealth.  Companies like Uber enable everyday car owners to earn income by providing a taxi service. At the same time pay rates and conditions have been downgraded with the bulk of the profits going to a few.

There is a resurgence of interest and activity in cooperatives, organisations owned by communities or workers. Though coops aren’t everyone’s preferred way forward. We do however need to take action to cooperate more broadly towards a true sharing  and ecologically healthy economy, with fairer distribution of wealth and if we are to effectively address the challenges we are facing. At same time cooperation isn’t always easy to do. Individual motivations, different cultures and approaches can be challenges for this. 

While there have been important innovations from social enterprises the sector is challenged with its winner takes all approach, despite contributions from many others to the success of a single social enterprise. While acknowledging this broader context and our perspectives we recognise how we move forward is a big question and cannot be covered in a short session. However we are keen to begin this dialogue with the SFN community. 

We will allow for some big picture exploration though particularly aim to draw out our personal motivations and challenges in relation to cooperation and competition.  

About Johanna de Ruyter
Johanna de Ruyter is passionate about getting people moving and utilizing movement and action for expanding and strengthening communication. For over twenty years now she has been exploring the complementary relationship of communication and the performing arts. She has worked as an actor and collaborator on various award-winning theater projects both nationally and internationally. She is a long-term improviser, facilitator and trainer with Playback Theatre Sydney. For over 30 years Playback has been commissioned to facilitate their unique improvised and story - based communication forums for a range of organizations all over Sydney. As a theatre company Playback functions within a cooperative leadership model and practices consensus decision making. Johanna also facilitates training in Leadership Presence throughout the Asia Pacific region with The Ariel Group, a leading US and Australian Executive Training Company. Through her own company, Moving Communication, she designs and delivers her own experiential and movement - based Training, Coaching and Presentations for a range of clients.

About Tirrania Suhood
is co-founder and director of InCollaboration which is a social change agency and consultancy that operates at multiple levels with a focus on collective impact to address social, economic and ecological challenges.  She engages with big picture issues while staying connected at the local level. She works with organisational ecosystems, movements and leaders catalysing action in communities.

Prior to InCollaboration Tirrania was the Executive Officer of a community-based organisation for many years and led the development and implementation of a systems and network approach to achieve collective impact for tackling social issues. This work involved collaborations across a range of sectors and engaged community, government and business. She also led a collaborative initiative that raised the profile and value of small community organisations and network approaches. The initiative, that many called a movement, was known as Voice for SONG (small organisations – non-government).

Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

12 June 2018

Animals Facilitators of Trance State with Grazyna Witkowska | Monday June 18, 2018 | 5.30pm

You probably already know how hard it can be to describe what you experienced in a dream or meditative state… not to mention under the influence of a psychedelic drug! This is because the language of dreams is different from our ‘waking state’ perception of the world.  And it prompts us to widen the channel of our perception.

Nowadays, many people are interested in developing their meditation skills, being mindful, or exploring various shamanic ways of relating to life. This fascination is often propelled by the search for a relief from stress, and the desire to explore new ways of being in one’s life and on our planet.

The impatient ones reach for the express path into an alternative way of perceiving – the psychedelic substances.  But if you've ever had a dear pet you will already know that animals are great facilitators of calm and relaxation.  Moreover, as will be demonstrated in the next SFN session, they can be your personal guides into trance states – drug free, safe, and inexpensive!

Trance states are powerful states of wholeness. Thanks to extensive research into altered states of consciousness (ASC) done by Stanislav Grof in the 1960s, there is a considerable body of scientific evidence that in an ASC there is an opportunity to discover new ways to perceive the world, heal emotional wounds, restore wellbeing, and boost creativity.

How would you like to have access to such healing realms while relaxing with your pet… and use them not just for personal development but also to refresh social and group dynamics.
In our next SFN session we will use imaginary animals, but we will also talk about how you can do the same process at home with your non-human family member.

We will also explore the potential uses of this powerful process in building new group understanding of an existing issue and generating cooperation.


About Grazyna Witkowska
Grażyna Witkowska is a practicing kinesiologist, hypnotherapist and trainer.

She started her professional life with a pragmatic choice of that time: Information Management, Process Review and Automation, and Organisational Change.  During that time she became fascinated with the degree the human dynamic was influencing project outcomes.   And she decided to learn more about that subject....   As she started her Master of Education in Social Ecology, she realised that however fascinating human-human relationships were, the human-animal relationships were even more generative.  That was the trigger that moved her into her current career.

Encapsulated in the expression ‘Best Versions of Us’ her work is dedicated to supporting humans and non-humans in their evolution to better and better versions of self.  Grażyna believes that better versions of humans will effect better versions of animals and vice versa.  Thus she supports human clients to expressed themselves authentically, achieve their personal and professional goals, be supportive members of the community and an inspiration for beauty and excellence in our world.

Her support for animals is centred around supporting their physical and emotional wellbeing and raising awareness of animals as valuable world citizens and co-creators of our future.  And above all, she is interested in developing human-animal partnerships based on respect, love, and fairness where each party is supported to be the most they can be as an individual of the particular specie.
The idea of animals as catalysts into Altered States of Consciousness was first presented by Grażyna in the Third Minding Animals Conference (MAC3) in 2015.



Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

7 May 2018

Facilitation for Diversity & Inclusion with Carli Leimbach & Vivien Sung from Diversity, Amplify! | Monday May 14, 2018 | 5.30pm

NOTE: venue change!!
VENUE: UTS Hatchery

(Entrance via Mary Ann St)
Level 1, 622 - 632 Harris St
Ultimo NSW, 2007



Using Design Thinking tools to better understand diversity (gender, race, culture & thought) so that we might disrupt the tribalistic mindset and become more inclusive facilitators.
Most of us believe we are ethical and unbiased. We imagine we’re good decision makers, able to objectively assess job candidates, venture capital or reach a rational conclusion in our organization’s best interests. (Banaji et al 2003). However, more than two decades of Harvard research confirms that we have hidden biases that we carry from a lifetime of experience with social groups (gender, race, age, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, social class, religion, status or nationality). We are blind to our blind spots!
Studying the unconscious decisions we make can be critical when it comes to designing the products, software, experiences or services people use, or when trying to uncover precisely what's wrong with our workplace today.
How might we as facilitators infuse diversity and inclusion into everything that we do?

Participants are invited to be part of this process to foster social inclusion, dialogue and explore how by working alongside people of different experiences and backgrounds we can create a more innovative atmosphere that open the door for creativity, productivity and improved team performance.

As people experience a seemingly ceaseless merging of old and new, familiar and foreign, they tend to retreat into physical, digital and psychological communities where they feel safe and comfortable. They revert to tribes.” – World Economic Forum, 2018

Co-Founded by Vivien Sung and Carli Leimbach​, Diversity, Amplify! is focused on developing inclusive and self-aware entrepreneurs and future leaders who harness diversity (gender, race, culture, thought) to build a better, more equitable world. This workshop equips participants with the awareness, tools and techniques to test their biases, change how they show up, how they lead, and the impact they can have in their everyday lives and careers. 
Pre-work
In preparation for the workshop we would like to invite you to complete the Project Implicit Test. Please go to the website, register your details, complete the race and gender bias tests and bring your results with you to the workshop.

Take the Project Implicit Test Online
Go to https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/ to register and take the test on race bias.
The Project Implicit test is a method for measuring implicit or automatic attitudes toward race, gender, disability, age developed by Harvard scientists. The research produces new ways of understanding attitudes, stereotypes and other hidden biases that influence perception, judgment, and action.
About Vivien Sung & Carli Leimbach
Vivien Sung is a design strategist, educator and facilitator with a speciality in human-centred design and research, cross-cultural collaboration, inclusive design and facilitating design innovation to solve complex societal problems. She has over 20 years in design, education and startups in Sydney, San Francisco and New York developing award-winning communications and programs and developing the capacity of young designers and leaders. Vivien established and leads the FutureAging Lab, an interdisciplinary and intercultural design program between the University of Technology, Sydney and Tsinghua University, Beijing focused on developing interventions to issues of health and wellbeing of growing aging populations.







Carli Leimbach is a creative entrepreneur coach, experience designer and Feminine Power facilitator. She brings extensive experience in the field of collaboration, tackling complex problems and open innovation. Carli has designed, facilitated and mentored on Innovation Labs, R&D Incubators, Hackathons and creativity workshops across South Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. She regularly teaches Creative Intelligence, Human-Centred Design, Entrepreneurship and Leadership at University - including being a resident facilitator at the UTS Hatchery -  creating the entrepreneurs of the future. Carli recently established WE [Women Empowerment] Circle, designed to bring together a community of SHE-movers, shakers and change-makers to activate and amplify their visions and is a Founding Board Member of The Global Foundation for Emerging Women Leaders, dedicated to facilitating individual, group and organizational transformation. "Carli is like a power outlet. When you plug into her she will amplify your impact, creativity, reach and vision 1000 fold."
  
Venue: [We will be at UTS Hatchery]
(Entrance via Mary Ann St)
Level 1, 622 - 632 Harris St
Ultimo NSW, 2007
.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

2 April 2018

SFN April is cancelled

Unfortunately we were unable to secure a guest facilitator for the April SFN.  Most SFN guest facilitators come from withing the network so if yo are curious about offering a session in the future then please reach out the contact details below.

There will be an SFN in May.


Call for Guest Facilitators:


If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

4 March 2018

System Dynamics and Organisational Constellations with Sarah Cornally | Monday March 12, 2018 | 5.30pm

Have you ever found patterns repeating themselves despite your best efforts, or situations resistant to intervention, or good interventions that then relapse? Often this is because there is something at play at a systemic level, which is active, yet hidden. Working with and understanding systemic effects is an important adjunct to our repertoire as facilitators, especially where there is complexity and ambiguity.

In this interactive session we will explore mini systemic structural constellations for organisational issues. If you’re interested in how systemic work is applied in organisations, this practical session will give you the opportunity to see how mini constellations – that take 15-30 minutes only – can help uncover hidden dynamics and obstacles that are impeding organisational outcomes, as well as insights into how to respond and move forward.

You’ll have the chance to participate in demonstrations during the session, working through real-life scenarios, as a way of understanding and tapping into systemic intelligence to discover new options. The beauty of mini constellations is that the power of harnessing a systemic lens can be experienced even with just a short investment of time. This form of the work can be easily woven into existing approaches.

About Sarah Cornally
Sarah Cornally has been studying system dynamics and organisational constellation work in Europe for the past ten years and has found this a particularly powerful way to access new insights and innovative solutions in the face of complex, resistant and challenging dilemmas.

Sarah’s work focuses on enabling leaders to collectively create successful businesses and organisations where people thrive whilst achieving the organisation’s purpose. She has a special interest in developing greater capacity to respond insightfully and effectively to uncertainty, ambiguity and complexity by exploring adaptive responses.

sarahcornally.com 

Praise for Sarah
“I’ve had the privilege of experiencing the powerful impact of Sarah’s work in a number of settings, and each time have been deeply impressed at the insight her approach brings to problems that previously seemed intractable. Her ability to reveal the full spectrum of elements in any system – including what may be agitating the system, and what it takes to calm it – go far beyond the ‘normal’ organisational development approach of considering situations through an interpersonal lens. Sarah’s methodology offers executives an invaluable approach to realising profound organisational outcomes.”
People and Development Director, professional services organisation


Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:

If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com

5 February 2018

Towards an indigenous-informed facilitation practice with Charlie Trindall & Regan Jensen | Monday February 12, 2018 | 5.30pm

Last year's annual conference of the Australasian Facilitators Network had a powerful focus on indigenous-informed facilitation.

Many of those who attended found the conference both powerful and moving.  So much so that we though it would be valuable to review some of the lessons for an SFN session.  Even those of us who don't work directly with Aboriginal communities, discovered precious insights that are relevant to our own practices.

The conference also launched "Towards an indigenous-informed facilitation practice: Questions we can ask ourselves as facilitators with and between cultures.  The questions were an AFN inspired project, three years in the making, and will be used, as part of this session, to explore cross-cultural facilitation.

The session will be led by Charlie Trindall and Regan Jensen, indigenous facilitators who are Sydney based.  The are uspported by a small group of conference attendees - Ian Colley, Kingsley Nowell, Kate Scholl, Hedy Bryant and Donna Bevan.




About the Facilitators
Charlie is a Gamilaroi man from north western NSW and works in Healing and Reparations Directorate in the NSW Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

As NSW is the only state in Australia to have healing as part of their Aboriginal Affairs strategy, Charlie's role is to work with the Healing Foundation to coordinate facilitated discussion forums on healing between Government, NGO's and Aboriginal communities.

Charlie has a long interest in the area of facilitation since learning ToP methods with members of the Institute of Cultural Affairs.

He has continued to broaden his facilitation training, interest and skills over the years in a diverse ranges of area including government meetings, community discussions, song writing workshops, cultural awareness workshops and martial arts training.

Regan is a Larrakian woman who grew up in the Inner West and Western suburbs of NSW.  Larrakia Nation is based in Darwin, Northern Territory.  Regan is currently with the Department of Industry, working to increase Aboriginal participation in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Regan is very passionate about facilitating specifically focusing on increasing mental health literacy of communities through the delivery of Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid.


INDIGENOUS-INFORMED PRACTICE
 
“How can the AFN develop an indigenous-informed practice?” 

 
This was the challenge laid down by Carol Vale, an Indigenous facilitator, at the AFN conference in 2014 in Alice Springs.
 
It began a series of discussions out of which a set of questions was developed.  These questions were introduced at the 2016 AFN conference held at Whaingaroa, New Zealand, and published in time for the 2017 AFN conference held on the traditional lands of the Dharawal people at Stanwell Tops in New South Wales, Australia.

 
They are provided here for the benefit of all facilitators working with and between cultures in Australia and New Zealand.
 

Towards an indigenous-informed facilitation practice:
Questions we can ask ourselves as facilitators working with and between cultures.
 
Download PDF A5backed Brochure format 
Download PDFA1 Poster format


Venue: [We will be at UTS]
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Jones Street, Ultimo corner Thomas Street. Room 5.580 Level 5, Building 10, Take the lift to level 5, cross the atrium footbridge, walk straight ahead to room 580.

Time:
From 5:30pm to 7:30pm sharp | No RSVP - Just turn up | Donation $5
Enquiries | Eoin Higgins  eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com ; 0407 411 684

Call for Guest Facilitators:


If you have an idea or know someone who has an idea for a session at a Facilitators Network meeting in please contact Eoin Higgins 0407 411 684 eoin.p.higgins@gmail.com