Karen Gimnig
Professional Facilitator
“We are like islands in the sea,
separate on the surface
but connected in the deep.”
Upcoming
Courses and Events
Courses
Courses are 8 hours, usually divided into four 2-hour sessions. Please plan to attend all sessions when you sign up for a course.
Fee: Free for Community or Individual Subscribers OR $80 per course.
Click here to join Connect Collaborate Grow and view all courses on the platform.
COURSE SERIES - Each Course series will be offered one more time in 2022. See below for details.
The Facilitator Series is a beginner primer for facilitation of community meetings. This series consists of 3 Parts. Each part is made up of four 2-hour sessions.
Facilitation Part 1 - Oct 6, 13, 20, 27, Thurs, 4 - 6pm PT
Facilitation Part 2 - Nov 3, 17, Dec 1, 8, Thur, 4-6pm PT
Facilitation Part 3 - Dec 4, 11, Sun. 2 - 6:30pm PT
The Conflict Series a three-part series designed to help community members work productively with their own conflict and potentially support others in doing the same.
Conflict Part 1 - Sept 7, 14, 21, 28, FULL
Conflict Part 2 - Oct 5, 12, 19, 26, Wed, 5:00 -7:00pm PT
Conflict Part 3 - Nov 2, 16, 30, Dec 7, Wed, 5-7pm PT
Culture as Foundation for Consensus & Sociocracy
Creating a culture of trust and mutual care is an essential foundation for any egalitarian decision- making approach.
The course is made up of three parts (A, B, and C) which can be taken in any order.
Culture Part A - Sept 7, 14, 21, 28 - FULL
Culture Part C - Oct 6, 13, 20, 27, Thurs,10am-12pm PT
Culture Part B - Nov 18, Dec 2, 9, 16, Fri, 1:30 - 3:30pm PT, .
Inst: Teri Grunthaner
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER Courses:
Conflict Part 3 - Nov 2, 16, 30, Dec 7, Wed, 5-7pm PT
This is Part 3 of a three-part conflict series designed to help community members work productively with their own conflict and potentially support others in doing the same.
Part 3 - Helping pairs with conflict - applies the structures we learned in Parts 1 & 2 to supporting pairs in conflict. This course is about holding a structure and offering listening support for a pair who wishes that kind of support. The goal is to help them them in talking to each other.
Prerequisites - Conflict - Parts 1 and 2.
Facilitation Part 2 - Nov 3, 17, Dec 1, 8, Thur, 4-6pm PT
The Facilitator Series is a beginner primer for facilitation of community meetings.
This course, Part 2 covers the mechanics of facilitation and a selection of facilitation strategies. Each part consists of four 2-hour sessions.
Facilitation Part 1 is a prerequisite for this course.
Culture Part B - Nov 18, Dec 2, 9, 16, Fri, 2-4pm PT
Inst: Teri Grunthaner
Culture as Foundation for Consensus & Sociocracy
Creating a culture of trust and mutual care is an essential foundation for any egalitarian decision- making approach.
The course is made up of three parts (A, B, and C) which can be taken in any order. Each part is 8 hours of instruction divided into four 2-hour lessons. The parts are offered either as a weekly series for four weeks, or as two 4-hour sessions on weekend days.
Part B covers Vulnerability, Seeking understanding, Emotional AND Cognitive intelligence, and Giving and Receiving.
Facilitation Part 3 - Dec 4, 11, Sun. 2 - 6:30pm PT
(Note that this course is two Sunday afternoons)
The Facilitator Series is a beginner primer for facilitation of community meetings.
This course, Part 3, covers facilitation of a process for reaching decision in community. The focus is the role of a facilitator in helping other members of a community explore ideas, needs, beliefs and values within the structures of agreed community process to reach a decision. Parts 1 and 2 are prerequisites for Part 3.
Video Lessons
&
SELF GUIDED VIDEO COURSES:
Mirroring Basics:
The material in this course is included in the first workshop I do with my community clients. It is offered here as a refresher and an opportunity for new community members to catch up.
Practice is essential for this lesson. Take it together as a pair or small group or ask your fellow community members who are familiar with the skill to practice with you.
Fee: There is no charge for this course.
Policy Pitfalls:
Policies, agreements, guidelines, rules . . . whatever your community calls them, they become a tangible representation of your shared values and and a powerful driver of your community culture. The challenge is figuring out how to talk in depth about those values before you start drafting policies. In this course we will work through the sticky places where common community values are different than the mainstream culture of our past experience. You'll be talking about fairness, enforcement, safety and more.
Fee: Course is available at no charge for Karen's client communities. Others are asked to pay $20 per person OR $100 for community use. Paypal to gimnig@gmail.com.
Decision Bingo:
A playful way to explore the complexity of decision making in community.
Use the Decision Bingo card and one hour youtube video to explore your thoughts about who and how decisions are made in your community. Then gather your community to play together and see what others are thinking.
Fee: Video lessons are free for Karen's client communities. Others are asked to pay $10 to Karen via check or PayPal to gimnig@gmail.com.
Bridging Circle Demo:
Bridging Circles were developed by the Peace Project and originally known as Communilogue. They are a group application of mirroring that allows groups to hear and be heard while deeply exploring a topic. A complete description can be found in The Cooperative Culture Handbook by Yana Ludwig and Karen Gimnig
Fee: Video lessons are free for Karen's client communities. Others are asked to pay $10 to Karen via check or PayPal to gimnig@gmail.com.
Events
Events are generally one hour and can be attended a la carte. Feel free to attend one event or many.
Fee: Free for Community or Individual Subscribers OR $10 per event.
Click here to join Connect Collaborate Grow and view all events on the platform.
Upcoming Events:
Ask Me Anything - Ask Me Anything is a time to bring your questions about anything, and especially about community relationships. We'll talk about whatever matters most to you. This particular "AMA" event will also cover the basics of using this platform and help folks get signed up for courses of interest to them.
Mon, Dec 5, 11:00am - 12:00pm
RSVP for event here