Your group

conflict

has something

to teach you

  • Working in service of humanity?

  • Working for systemic change?

  • Experiencing emotional overwhelm?

  • Frustrated and losing morale?

  • Experiencing health issues and calling out sick?

  • Showing signs of burnout?

  • Resistant to change?

  • Anxious and on edge?

  • Dropping out of the cause?

Are you

or your

colleagues…

Activism, systemic change, and working in service of others can be emotionally and mentally draining. We set out as leaders to see improvements in our communities, schools, and organizations but large forces are working against us. Prioritizing self-care, knowing how to manage stress, and using group meeting time effectively are keys to sustainability.

To accomplish the bold, transformational change so many of us long for and are working towards, we must create a healthy team culture

Transform

your group culture today

Olga’s Approach

to Facilitation

I have been working with groups and organizations to bring educational experiences to life for nearly 15 years. My facilitation work is grounded in love, co-creation, transformation, and curiosity. My agendas mix adult learning modalities to maximize engagement, retention, and long-term impact.

I am experienced in conducting organizational and learning assessments; designing and facilitating workshops, retreats, strategic planning sessions, and group-culture strengthening processes; and working with content experts to improve the impact and retention of content delivery.

Scroll further to see my three foundational workshops and examples of past trainings.

“We need to ask ourselves which matters more: that the participants conclude that the instructor is brilliant, or conclude that they themselves are brilliant?”

- Education for Changing Unions

3 Foundational Workshops:

  • 1) Hello Old Friend: Getting to Know Your Nervous System

    From the moment we are born, all humans begin a journey longing for safety: in our bodies, our relationships, our organizations. However, many of us learn quickly that the world is not an inherently safe place and that’s where our autonomic nervous system comes in; its job is to assess the safety of our environment and give us the energy we need to survive.

    In this interactive session, you’ll have a chance to explore the three nervous system states available to all humans: social + engaged mode; fight/flight mode; and freeze mode. Using research in Polyvagal Theory, you’ll be invited to explore your unique responses and learn about the responses of your colleagues. When we get to know our nervous system and work with it, we harness our collaborative power with one another.

  • 2) Restorative Feedback: Moving from Critique to Connection

    Our full potential as a team is only accessible when there’s enough psychological safety developed that feedback can be honestly given without causing unnecessary stress or harm. When feedback is overly harsh, team morale plummets and people lose the drive to do their best. On the other hand, when important feedback isn’t being shared for fear of hurting each other’s feelings, the team stagnates and stops growing.

    In this session, you’ll have a chance to learn how to give genuine feedback stated truthfully and tactfully. You’ll be invited to work through a real piece of feedback you need to give and learn how to use nonviolent communication to differentiate between your own emotions and needs and the emotions and needs of the other person.

  • 3) Unloading Triggers: Resolving Conflict with Others

    Many of us begin the work of systemic change because of real harm we experience first-hand in our society. To change these unfair systems, we band together in organizations, only to find the same patterns we want to change in our broader society repeated in our collectives leaving us emotionally drained, in conflict with colleagues, and even burned out.

    Understanding the root of strong emotions and feelings is critical to sustainability and positive change. In this session, you’ll learn what’s happening to our bodies when we’re getting “triggered.” Working through a real-life triggering situation, you’ll be invited to find its root and learn how to use nonviolent communication to address the issue directly.

Foundational workshops can be facilitated on their own or bunched together for a full-day session. In addition, I can develop personalized learning experiences to fit the needs of your group. Examples of past trainings include:

  • Examples of past sessions:

    —> The Basics of Nonviolent Communication: Observation, Feelings, Needs, Requests

    —> Is That a Demand or Request? Using NVC to Transform Relationships

    —> Changing Our Language: The Practice of Observation

    —> Resolving Conflict at Work

    —> Your Nervous System + its Role in Resolving Conflict

  • Examples of past sessions:

    —> Unpacking Rural Deep Canvassing: A 4-Part Series

    —> Using Deep Canvassing to Fight Disinformation

    —> Happy Members, Productive Groups: Sustaining Engagement Through Celebration and Community

    —> Sustaining Your Group: How to Attract and Onboard New Members

    —> Mastering the 1:1 Organizing Conversation

    —> Planning Collective Actions

  • Examples of past sessions:

    —> Addressing Emboldened White Supremacy

    —> Communicating Across Lines of Difference

    —> The Pitfalls of Allyship

    —> Beyond Bias: Building Inclusive Groups

    **All JEDI sessions are co-facilitated

  • Strategic planning sessions are always made to order depending on the needs of your group. They can be as short as a few hours or as long as multiple days, depending on factors such as the number of participants, the depth of focus, and intended outcomes.

  • Open space or emergent facilitation is a process that allows the participants of a meeting to collectively set the agenda in real time. Emergent facilitation is based on the principle that the knowledge we need is already present in the room, and the work of the facilitator is to help participants develop a process by which that knowledge can be unearthed.

Reviews

  • Andy

    Olga was fantastic. She was engaged throughout the session, asked very thought-provoking questions, and had solid suggestions for small changes we could begin to make to achieve better communication right now as well as suggestion for “homework.”

  • Anonymous

    Kind, grace-full communicator. Very excellent at establishing rapport and keeping things moving! Thank you!!

  • Jane

    I was really impressed. Most professionally done presentation I have ever seen.

  • Anonymous

    Everything about it was helpful - Olga’s clarity, the relevance to our overall visioning and planning, keeping it real without letting the “white tears” take over.

  • LaShawn

    All the material was excellent. Olga was truly engaging and made difficult conversations much easier.

  • Anonymous

    It is a joy to witness how Olga interacts with the world. Thank you for all the work and love you put into this. Such a bank of knowledge!!

Ready to explore further?