Nov 28: Building Trust and Engaging Conflict

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitators: Hillary Blecker & Amadee Braxton

Location: Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, 237 S. Broad, 3rd floor (ARIA A), Philadelphia, PA
Presented in conjunction with the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME) conference: http://nameorg.org/

Please RSVP here

Often in our work as educators and facilitators, we try and avoid topics that could create conflict. Perhaps this means not discussing our social identities – such as our race, gender, class – or our political opinions. But without having conflict, we are never pushed to question our own assumptions or fully express our opinions. This often has the effect of leaving people feeling less trusting of others. During this gathering, we will explore ways to introduce yourself as a facilitator that will build trust and engage differing opinions and potential conflict.

Amadee Braxton is a trainer and facilitator with over 20 years experience in social change work specializing in organizational development, conflict resolution, and fundraising. Amadee’s work in conflict resolution began with her training as a student and family mediator in high school and deepened with her training as a facilitator in Temple University’s Transformational Social Therapy program. She has been Director of Development for Iraq Veterans Against the War since 2004 and is the President of the Leeway Foundation, which funds social change through art.

Hillary Blecker has a decade of experience designing and facilitating health trainings in a variety of community and workplace settings. Hillary is currently the training coordinator at the Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health (PhilaPOSH) and previously worked with unions and day labor centers on safety and health education. Last year, she was trained in Temple's Transformational Social Therapy program, which teaches skills to engage conflict. Hillary is a very proud co-founder of PTC!

Note: There will be no public PTC gathering in December. Look for us again in the new year!

Oct. 24: Perception Trumps Intention: Communication and Presence Skills to Engage and Connect

6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Bobbi Block

Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

Please RSVP here

Participants will heighten their awareness of body language, vocal variety, facial expression and mental focus (being 'present') in order to authentically connect with audiences of one or one hundred. Participants will discover how trusting relationships are built by learning how to match the content of the training with the delivery. Participants will explore ways to emote signals of confidence and credibility during a training.  A highly experiential session, participants will learn and apply skills, and receive peer feedback.

Bobbi Block is an experiential Coach and Facilitator with a unique background in both training and the performing arts (specifically Improvisational Theater). She specializes in Leadership, Collaboration, Listening, Creativity, and Presentation Skills development. Bobbi teaches and performs Improvisational Theatre in Philadelphia and is an Adjunct Professor in the Theatre Department at Drexel University and Temple University. Through interactive, creative learning approaches, Bobbi fosters personal and professional transformation in her participants.

The next gathering in November will follow up on some of the themes from this October gathering.

Building Trust and Engaging Conflict

Wednesday, November 28th, 6:30-8:30pm
Facilitators: Amadee Braxton and Hillary Blecker

First Gathering of 2012-2013: Icebreaker Potluck

We are excited to announce our first fall gathering of 2012!  See all the way below for information about other trainings happening around town too.

Date &Time:  Wednesday, October 3^th, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Location: PhilaPOSH, AFSCME DC 33 Building, 3001 Walnut Street, 5th floor

Like a food potluck, this is a time to bring and share icebreakers with others.  Not to worry, we have the actual refreshments covered! 

Do you want to learn creative ways for people to get to know each other or to start off a meeting or workshop?  Would you like to have a variety of icebreakers or short activities for different audiences or subject matters?  Join us for our annual icebreaker potluck to learn some new icebreakers, share your favorites, and discuss ways to use them in different settings. 

We encourage you to bring your favorite icebreaker to the potluck. To help us prepare, please e-mail us if you would like to share an icebreaker.

To RSVP, please click here:

http://tinyurl.com/Oct3-Ice

Monthly gatherings are open to the public. Light refreshments are provided. Cost (for non-members):  $5-10 sliding scale.  No one will be turned away for inability to pay.

Building Towards Role Plays and Drama-Based Learning

Wednesday, June 27th
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Jessica Levy
Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

Please RSVP here: http://tinyurl.com/PTCjun27

Love it or hate it, role plays seem to pop up all over the place as an educational tool. What can they achieve? What is the potential for using theater- and drama-based activities in educational settings? And how do you prepare people who might resist such techniques (lots of us, right?) for giving them a shot? In this gathering, we’ll experiment with a progression of activities that build toward doing drama-based work, and then discuss objectives and strategies for using drama-based techniques in training settings. Whether you’ve facilitated role plays, played person A or person B, or are looking for strategies for designing interactive sessions, your experiences and ideas will be welcome!

Jessica Levy comes to the meeting place of theater, education, and civic engagement from a background as a community educator, organizer, facilitator, and event coordinator. She has designed and implemented civic participation initiatives for younger adults, arts-based cultural awareness programs for teens, and a variety of education, service, and advocacy events. She holds an M.A. in Applied Theater from CUNY and an M.A. in Adult Education and Community Development from the University of Toronto.

Incorporating Restorative Principles Into Our Work With Youth

Wednesday, May 23rd
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Facilitator: Wanda Moore
Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

Follow this link to RSVP: http://tinyurl.com/May23PTC
Restorative principles are not only relevant to the justice system; they are the underpinning of any fair and just cultural climate. Youth often have their own cultural norms which can have destructive elements, and the adult response is more often than not punitive. This has led to harsh consequences for youth which have the potential to foster their disconnection and cause more destruction in their future. Creating youth serving environments that offer care and compassion along with rules and expectations have shown promising results. This workshop will share some basic principles and tools of restorative justice and give participants time to reflect on how to work restoratively with youth in their setting.

Wanda R. Moore, MSS/MLSP, currently provides clinical intervention and research coordination for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia on their violence prevention interventions in Philadelphia elementary schools and community centers. For several years she directed youth programs in peace leadership and life skills for truant and disconnected youth. She has trained on popular education methods with United for a Fair Economy in Boston, Training for Change and the Alternatives to Violence Project in Philadelphia and holds a dual Masters in Social Service and Law and Social Policy from the Bryn Mawr Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research.

Gatherings are open to the public and cost $5-10 (sliding scale). No one will be turned away for inability to pay. Light refreshments are provided.

PTC Winter Line-Up 2012

Gatherings are open to the public and cost only $5-10 (sliding scale). Light refreshments are provided.
All gatherings are held from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
To RSVP, please email: phillycollaborative@gmail.com

Interactive Curriculum Design
Wednesday, January 25th
Facilitator: Sara Narva
Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

A lab within a lab! Sara Narva will facilitate an interactive process for collaborative curriculum design around the topic of socio-economic class and classism to generate creative ideas for teaching this subject. Participants will simultaneously learn about collaborative design as well as offer suggestions for Sara's curriculum. Sara will provide goals, parameters and guiding questions. In small groups, participants will design interactive, creative lessons for young people to explore issues of growing up with different amounts of resource and privilege. Through this experience, you will discover ways to do this kind of collaborative design for yourself on other topics.

Designing and Evaluating Effective Trainings
Wednesday, February 22nd
Facilitator: Jill Feldstein
Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

Building off of our January gathering on collaborative curriculum design, in February we will explore three phases of developing trainings and workshops: planning, executing and evaluating. In February's gathering we will pick apart these pieces, playing with interactive activities to explore ways to:

1). Help you get clear on what you want your trainings to achieve;
2). Creatively design trainings that help you meet your goals; and
3). Evaluate if/how you achieved your goals, utilizing feedback from training participants and the planning team.

Stories for Change
Wednesday, March 28th
Facilitator: Mark Lyons
Location: PhilaPosh, 3001 Walnut St., 5th Floor (AFSCME DC 33 building)

Mark Lyons will lead a workshop on using stories to organize for social change. Sharing stories within a community helps people begin to trust each other, to reflect on their common experiences and honor their dreams and risks they have taken. When a community takes their stories to the streets or City Hall or the media, they have a voice; their stories give them power. We will learn how to frame a story about a specific issue, how to ask questions and do active listening that encourage people to tell vivid stories about their experience, and discuss the possibilities of doing storytelling in our own work. We will also review some basic tools for creating audio stories.