Page 36 - BigConversationsDismantlingRacism

Facilitators

In the planning committee’s preparation for the potentially contentious community
conversations about race, they studied the book Let’s Talk by Catherine Meeks. They took
note of the following advice: “It is important to have facilitators for these conversations.
The most successful facilitators are persons who do not function as the group’s expert on
race but rather are passionate about having conversation, open to new ideas, careful
listeners, attentive to nonverbal communication, and comfortable with the complexity and
tensions that surface when discussing race. While having one facilitator is adequate, having
two group facilitators is ideal. Co-facilitators often feel more confident and are able to
accent one another’s leadership.”

Steps Action(s)
Bring Facilitators Committee members were aware of the work being done in the
onto Planning Northern and Central part of the County. Two of the committee
Committee members knew the lead facilitators from the Community
Mediation Center. These mediator/facilitators happily accepted
the invitation to join the planning committee.
Explaining the Not all mediation or facilitation is the same. In this case, it was
Orientation of important for the lead mediator/facilitators to explain the
Facilitation orientation of their practice to the committee. Transformative
practice is based on the relational worldview—the belief that
people have the desire and the capacity to resolve their own
issues if they wish. When supported, they will be able to
transform their interaction from one that is negative and
destructive to one that is more positive and constructive. The
mediator/facilitators don’t try to lead the participants to any
particular outcome. Instead, they follow the conversation,
holding up opportunities to reach clarity, feel empowered, and
relate in a more authentic way to others. The planning
committee recognized this as a perfect fit for their programs.
Identify and Schedule It was necessary to reach out to others in a timely manner. Our
a Team of Facilitators coordinators had trained a number of the local community
to Support Program mediators in facilitation. They sent out messages describing the
events. upcoming events and their importance. They sent Save the
Date emails well in advance, because dedicating several hours on
a Sunday afternoon is a considerable request. They confirmed
availability during the week before the event. They provided a
Facilitator Guide to fill everyone in on the schedule and their
expectations, Attachment (8).

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