Facilitate Change: Program on Nonviolent Communication for Organization Development and Social Change

Vision
The 9-month Facilitate Change program supports the development of social change leaders and their organizations to create the change they wish to see in the world. By applying the consciousness and skills of compassionate, Nonviolent Communication to social change projects, Facilitate Change fosters “compassion in action” at a personal, group, and international level, taking tangible steps towards creating a world where human needs are peacefully met.

Dreaming Big: Eyes on the Prize
Through sharing an NVC-based approach to social change with an ever-widening circle of activists, our goal is to transform societal beliefs, institutions and practices so as to create a partnership/power-sharing society where basic human needs are met, all needs held with care, and human beings can live together free of violence. Inspired by NVC principles, we seek to create a social activism that is holistic, sustainable, inspiring, powerful, and joyful—transforming hearts, minds, individuals and the world.

Mission
We offer a project-based leadership program, including three residential intensives and an on-line learning community, to foster and support NVC-based social change projects and initiatives. By expanding the number of people who can apply NVC practices to organizations and social change work, the Facilitate Change program contributes to creating a world where all human needs (and the needs of all life) matter and are held with care.

How Nonviolent Communication Supports Social Change
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) offers practical skills to support a consciousness where individuals, groups and communities can fully hear each other, restore care and connection, and discover new strategies that work for everyone. NVC training offers integrated practices (such as deep/empathic listening, group facilitation skills, needs-based decision making) that can support organizations in doing their work and achieving their mission with flow, effectiveness, integrity and ease.

On a larger scale, Nonviolent Communication offers an integrated practice to support the transformation of society and culture towards a “partnership” or collaborative paradigm where all human needs and the needs of all life can be held with care.

Questions to Explore to Facilitate Change:
• What does a “partnership” or “shared-power” culture and society look like, both in our “own” culture/society/neighborhood/home and around the world?
• How do we go about creating such a society in a way that’s already “creating the change” (in integrity with our goal and vision)?
• How does the practice of Nonviolent Communication inform such social change (both in terms of vision and activism)?
• How, in exploring these questions, will the form and practice of our organizations and activism itself transform?

Building a Learning Community—a Live Lab for Social Action
Facilitating Change will address the interests and needs of new and experienced activists, those who work full time in non-profits and NGOs, as well as “grass roots” activists and those wanting support in social entrepreneurship; it will also support CNVC Certified Trainers and candidates for certification wishing to integrate social change in their NVC work and apply NVC skills to organizational planning and development.

In Facilitate Change, we will create a learning community of those who have social change experience and passion with those who are fluent in NVC. We seek to create a “live lab” where, as a community, we address social issues (such as race, class, sexuality, and gender, money and public space ) and our differences, pain, and incompletion in relation to these societal beliefs and practices. While exploring such issues (and how they impact us as a group/community, individually and as a society) we will also learn organizing and organizational skills informed by NVC practice, taking these “resources” back into the community through our social change projects and activist work.

Learning Objectives:
Participants will have an opportunity to develop internal resources and practical skills to:
• Transform enemy images
• Foster self-connection and choice
• Make powerful requests
• Address issues/structures related to diversity
• Shift how you relate to resources of time and money
• Facilitate meetings in NVC consciousness
• Build leadership capacity in others
• Stay grounded and in your own power in the face of authority/power-over
• Give life-serving, needs-based feedback
• Lead mediation and restorative justice circles
• Lead NVC-based strategic planning
• Write and design value-based media
• Design, implement, and effectively manage projects
• Integrate NVC in everyday organizational operations
• Foster community and mutual support
• Work effectively with allied organizations/coalitions
• Create opportunities for social entrepreneurism

Facilitators
The lead facilitators are Dian Killian, Martha Lasley, Gina Cenciose, and Henry Wai. We bring NVC skills and experience in social change and leadership development. For information about each trainer go to http://facilitatechange.org/?q=node/7 During the year, guest trainers from the NVC network will offer special topics via TeleClasses.

We expect to attract many people who want to be part of this program and for the program team to reflect the broad skills, talents, and experiences of the NVC network. Wanting to support diversity, inclusion and the development of leadership within the network, we plan to include both “seasoned” NVC trainers and those relatively “new” as trainers who also bring key experience in organizing and social change.

Participants- Who will this program interest and support?
You don't have to come into the program with a project! You can develop your project during the program or support other participant's projects in whatever way you wish. Projects can be big or small - no pressure!

The NVC Social Change Program is designed to support:
• Those working in not-for-profit and social change organizations who want to maximize the impact of their organization’s vision and work
• Community organizers and grass roots activists who desire “partnership”-based skills to enhance the impact and effectiveness of projects and outcomes
• Activists wanting to create change around particular issues/concerns and desiring resources, skills, companionship, community and support in initiating, designing and implementing a social change project
• “Seasoned” activists and organizers who want to re-invigorate and inspire their organization/mission/work with a community of those practicing a “consciousness-based” form of social change, and the skills to sustain it
• Those interested in learning NVC at depth who are drawn to social change as a way of bringing their NVC skills into the world
• NVC trainers and candidates for CNVC Certification who want to learn about applying NVC to social change and creating NVC-based social change projects
• Those wanting to create social-change enterprises and/or initiatives and desiring community, companionship, support and the integration of NVC principles in their “business” and/or organization’s ventures

Led by a team of CNVC Certified Trainers, completing the FC program also counts towards Certification hours with the Center for Nonviolent Communication.
Retreat Dates
The dates for the 2009 retreats are:
April 1st-5th
August 19th-23rd
October 21st-25th

Each retreat will begin at 5pm on Wednesdays and close at 3pm on Sundays.

For more information please visit http://www.facilitatechange.org/?q=node/6