Facilitation
Kate Duva O’Rourke
Member, IAF - International Association of Facilitators
Peer Learning and Leadership Programs
Collaborative Learning Toolkit Design
Restorative Justice Circles
Popular Education
We don’t want to be
stars but parts
of constellations.
Gloria Anzaldúa
Collaborative learning works.
What we practice is what we become. Research proves that active learning can double performance gains while activating more areas of the brain than passive learning.
Constructing knowledge together in community increases motivation, ownership, communication and real-world problem-solving skills - boosting ROI as people share their talents and grow their leadership capacities.
In 10 years of facilitating learning, leadership development, and community building, I have seen extraordinary growth, transformation, accountability, and aha moments when I make space for people to connect with one another.
I find joy in striking that just-right balance of structure and flexibility, bringing in relevant information while making plenty of space for people to leverage their own wisdom and experience.
Learners are the experts.
My job is to make space for people to organize their thoughts; remember their “why;” build relationships; practice integrating new tools and resources into their workflow; and strategize towards their visions and goals.
I strive to decenter myself, foster horizontal leadership, and cultivate inclusive, safe, brave, and accessible environments and toolkits that ensure everyone is seen, heard, respected, and encouraged to take risks and challenge the status quo.
Your most precious resources are your people.
Let’s work together to listen deeply to them,
surface their strengths and needs,
ensure that every stakeholder has voice, agency, and ownership,
and build communities that are more connected, competent, motivated, inclusive, ethical, and leaderful.
I have a passion for supporting communities to facilitate themselves.
There is immense value in an “expert” facilitator: we have years of experience and study in the art of facilitation, and hold ourselves accountable to a code of ethics, such as the one that we commit to when we join the International Association of Facilitators. But we are living in tumultuous times. More than ever, we need leaderful communities. We need people who are willing to practice horizontal leadership, self-governance, and community conflict resolution.
I’m in the process of developing more toolkits to help teams lead themselves and challenge themselves to practice new skills. For a sample of my approach to collaborative learning, check out Action Mapping Strategy Sessions. To learn more about my holistic, participatory approach to anti-oppression education and community organizing, check out Soul Circles. More toolkits are coming in summer and fall of 2024!
Facilitation highlights
⬥ Action Mapping Strategy Sessions. Designed a toolkit and facilitated collaborative sessions for professional skills practice with colleagues at GLDC - Global learning and Development Community (2023).
⬥ Power to the People Who Care. Designed and facilitated networking and advocacy workshops for over 200 people in Chicago, New York, and via international webinars with Center for Partnership Studies and The New Economy Coalition (2016-2017).
⬥ Soul Circles. Co-design and facilitate actionable anti-oppression education guides and toolkits emphasizing antiracism, disability justice, and decolonial and 2SLGBTQIA+ movements (2020-present).
⬥ Bilingual Coalition Building. Community organizing to connect Spanish-speaking and English-speaking neighbors for listening sessions, community building events, grassroots fundraising, and conversational bilingual and ESL classes (2015-2017).
⬥ Participatory Program Development. Built community partnerships with local nonprofits and university interns to recruit 40+ members for a multilingual, disability forward popular education program (2013-2015).
⬥ Grassroots facilitation. Countless hours of co-designing and co-facilitating support groups, peace circles, meditation circles, creative coworking sessions, and contributing to committee work for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (2013-present).
Training highlights
⬥ Popular education training with The Highlander Center in Tennessee, Chicago Freedom School, and Abriendo Puertas at Chicago’s Palenque LSNA
⬥ Certified peace circle facilitator, CJYI (Community Justice for Youth Institute - Chicago).
⬥ Racial Healing Circle facilitator, TRHT (Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation).
⬥ Trained in restorative justice facilitation by Amplify RJ.
⬥ Certified Caring Economy Advocate, Center for Partnership Systems.
⬥ Experience with The Work That Reconnects, Theatre of the Oppressed, popular education, consensus-based decision-making, and motivational interviewing.
“No one educates anyone else, nor do we educate ourselves. We educate one another
in communion, in the context of living
in this world.”
Paulo Freire
