Mary King and Sarah Ross
We first met as neighbors when we moved into Great Oak Cohousing in Ann Arbor, MI in 2003. Since then, we've been learning from, and building on, each others' strengths, as both community members and as professional collaborators.
We have a passion for sharing the skills and tools we've learned both through training and trial-and-error, with other groups tackling the challenges and joys of cooperative living. As a bonus we have found that the tools we've learned from working with intentional communities have greatly enhanced our effectiveness when working with professional and non-profit organizations.
In all settings, our focus is on empowering groups to have effective meetings, recognize and leverage both individual and collective strengths and develop meaningful, concrete, implementable outcomes.
We first met as neighbors when we moved into Great Oak Cohousing in Ann Arbor, MI in 2003. Since then, we've been learning from, and building on, each others' strengths, as both community members and as professional collaborators.
We have a passion for sharing the skills and tools we've learned both through training and trial-and-error, with other groups tackling the challenges and joys of cooperative living. As a bonus we have found that the tools we've learned from working with intentional communities have greatly enhanced our effectiveness when working with professional and non-profit organizations.
In all settings, our focus is on empowering groups to have effective meetings, recognize and leverage both individual and collective strengths and develop meaningful, concrete, implementable outcomes.
Sarah Ross, Facilitator
I first recognized that I had a natural feel for guiding large group discussions in 1983 while studying at the College of Atlantic, in Bar Harbor, ME. One afternoon, I found myself spontaneously facilitating a large group meeting of fellow students organizing a response to a contentious campus issue. It was after that meeting that I first heard the word "facilitation" and got immediate feedback that the role I had played had helped the group's discussion stay focused and constructive.
Living and participating in community life at Great Oak Cohousing in Ann Arbor, MI has continued to shape and inform my understanding of group processes and needs. In 2005-2007, along with a handful of neighbors, I participated in a 2-year Dynamic Facilitation course led by Laird Schaub of CANBRIDGE. This training honed my skills and expanded my facilitator's toolbox, especially for working with conflict "on the floor." Working with Laird also helped me tease out and recognize the role of clear, transparent decision-making processes in reducing and managing conflict in large groups.
My strengths are my flexibility as a facilitator on the floor, my understanding of the role of governance structures and processes in supporting functional group dynamics, and my open non-judgemental demeanor when working with sensitive and challenging issues.
I first recognized that I had a natural feel for guiding large group discussions in 1983 while studying at the College of Atlantic, in Bar Harbor, ME. One afternoon, I found myself spontaneously facilitating a large group meeting of fellow students organizing a response to a contentious campus issue. It was after that meeting that I first heard the word "facilitation" and got immediate feedback that the role I had played had helped the group's discussion stay focused and constructive.
Living and participating in community life at Great Oak Cohousing in Ann Arbor, MI has continued to shape and inform my understanding of group processes and needs. In 2005-2007, along with a handful of neighbors, I participated in a 2-year Dynamic Facilitation course led by Laird Schaub of CANBRIDGE. This training honed my skills and expanded my facilitator's toolbox, especially for working with conflict "on the floor." Working with Laird also helped me tease out and recognize the role of clear, transparent decision-making processes in reducing and managing conflict in large groups.
My strengths are my flexibility as a facilitator on the floor, my understanding of the role of governance structures and processes in supporting functional group dynamics, and my open non-judgemental demeanor when working with sensitive and challenging issues.
Mary King, Facilitator
I have worked with nonprofit and government agencies for my entire career, bringing my facilitation and group process skills to assist a variety of groups and workplaces in effective decision-making.
In 2003, I moved into Cohousing, an intentional-living community, and that’s when the fun really began! I quickly realized that my professional group facilitation skills, while useful, were not enough to help navigate the tricky waters of living in a consensus-based community. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn new and valuable skills in the two-year course in Dynamic Facilitation taught by Laird Schaub of CANBRIDGE.
As a result of what I learned through Laird's training, my career took off! I found that the new tools for working with intentional communities added to my effectiveness when working with other organizations and workplaces. I also found that people are starved for well-facilitated, effective meetings! I have helped professional groups, non-profit organizations and government agencies, including groups whose members reflect a diversity of cultural backgrounds, perspectives and life experiences, find agreement and move forward together. In addition to promoting effective meetings, I have experience helping groups craft vision and mission statements and develop strategic plans, even when there are adversarial stakeholders within the group.
My strengths are my high-energy, engagement skills, clarity of purpose, relentless problem-solving, and a laser-beam focus on outcomes.
I have worked with nonprofit and government agencies for my entire career, bringing my facilitation and group process skills to assist a variety of groups and workplaces in effective decision-making.
In 2003, I moved into Cohousing, an intentional-living community, and that’s when the fun really began! I quickly realized that my professional group facilitation skills, while useful, were not enough to help navigate the tricky waters of living in a consensus-based community. I was grateful for the opportunity to learn new and valuable skills in the two-year course in Dynamic Facilitation taught by Laird Schaub of CANBRIDGE.
As a result of what I learned through Laird's training, my career took off! I found that the new tools for working with intentional communities added to my effectiveness when working with other organizations and workplaces. I also found that people are starved for well-facilitated, effective meetings! I have helped professional groups, non-profit organizations and government agencies, including groups whose members reflect a diversity of cultural backgrounds, perspectives and life experiences, find agreement and move forward together. In addition to promoting effective meetings, I have experience helping groups craft vision and mission statements and develop strategic plans, even when there are adversarial stakeholders within the group.
My strengths are my high-energy, engagement skills, clarity of purpose, relentless problem-solving, and a laser-beam focus on outcomes.