By Janice Simsohn Shaw, Exponent Philanthropy

I’ll admit it, I’m a facilitation geek. I love facilitating. I love learning about facilitating (as I have been lucky enough to do in multiple trainings with the Interaction Institute for Social Change). I love observing other facilitators and learning from their multitude of styles and approaches. And I love helping others gain and refine facilitation skills, as I have been fortunate to do at various Exponent Philanthropy programs.

What, you may be asking, does facilitation have to do with philanthropy? Well, giving thoughtfully and strategically involves engaging with others around decision making, complex power dynamics, and social change, right? The stakes are often high, and skilled facilitation can help ease the way to more efficient and satisfying board meetings, more open and efficient collaborations and grantee convenings, better focus groups, and more successful community meetings.

I can tell you why I love facilitating: It’s a remarkable opportunity to help a group of individuals come together around ideas, to turn them into realities, to take ownership and leadership, to spurn on excitement, and to change organizations and communities for the better.

Yes, I really believe strong facilitation can do all that.

Tune in on Tuesday when I’ll share 5 facilitation tips that can help any foundation leader – whether staff, trustee, next generation member, or founder.

Senior Program Director Janice Simsohn Shaw is our networking maven, always happy to connect members and others for learning and growth. Over her near-decade at the organization, she has played a number of roles. She now oversees the Master Juggler Executive Institute and the Next Gen Fellows Program, as well as other work engaging young people in philanthropy. Janice is a popular facilitator at conferences, and she loves designing interactive learning experiences.