Over the last 25 years I have facilitated group sessions and events, ranging from seven to 300 participants. My services include team building, strategic planning, visioning exercises, and a unique approach to exploring community and organizational challenges through theatre.
My approach combines popular theatre, popular education, and storytelling to create a playful and reflective environment in which groups can explore their challenges. Through movement, image making, games and discussion, participants share their experiences, build collective knowledge, design solutions to the issues at hand, and practice/rehearse creative ideas on how to address their challenges. The process is profound and engaging, yet practical and full of laughter.
I have worked nationally and internationally with NGO’s, government and the private sector, with immigrants, refugees, First Nations, and with multi-barriered and marginalized communities.
I provide facilitation for staff retreats, team building, visioning, and strategic planning. In these sessions we explore issues affecting a community group or organization, and design and rehearse avenues and strategies to address those issues through popular theatre activities. I also provide design and facilitation of training through popular education approaches.
My approach is founded on the belief that people are experts in their own lives and that my role is to provide avenues to reflect upon their challenges and experiences from a new and critical perspective. A fresh analysis of circumstances, and a platform to rehearse solutions provides the groups I work with the opportunity to grow and improve outcomes in a profound, creative and playful manner. Sessions are challenging and demanding, yet full of joy and laughter.
I can provide facilitation services in both English and Spanish. I have also conducted a variety of successful projects through the assistance of interpreters in Cantonese, Korean, and Vietnamese.
My clients have included:
- Stronger Children, Stronger Families Conference
- Vietnamese Youth Forum
- Multicultural Seniors Network Conference
- XI International Conference on AIDS
- Leadership Vancouver, Diversity and Community Issues Day (1997, 1998, 1999, 2000)
- Asian Youth Symposium
- Latin American Youth Symposium
- National Conference on Family Violence
- Community Development Institute (1996, 1998)
- YOUTHCO AIDS Society
- Hospital Employees Union
- Canadian Union of Public Employees
- UBC School of Social Work
- Facilitators training for leaders and community workers within the Vietnamese, Somali, Korean and Latin American communities
- Headlines Theatre Society, National Training Tour
- Inter-cultural Association Victoria and Saanich Police Department
- Intercultural Association of Victoria and Victoria Police Department
- Windows of Opportunity Project
- Willingdon Youth Detention Centre
- Canadian Council for Refugees
- BC Nurses Union
- South Asian Women Community Center, Montreal
- Catholic Organization for Peace and Development, Toronto
- YMCA, Hong Kong
- Caritas, Hong Kong
- Langara College, Summer School on Community Development 2003, 2004 and 2005
- UBC Institute for Health Promotion, 2007
- NYPRO, Hainan Island, China 2007
- Frog Hollow Neighborhood House