Fundamentals of Facilitation for Racial Justice Work

Facilitate conversations that spark breakthrough thinking and lasting agreements

Who Should Attend?

This workshop is for anyone who is or would like to be facilitating conversations about race and racial justice, and who wants to sharpen their skills. We look forward to having you join us!

Why This Matters Now

Conversations about race, racism, and racial justice are essential – but they’re not always easy. In today’s polarized climate, leaders need the skills to navigate these discussions with confidence, empathy, and effectiveness.

This workshop offers you the skills and practical tools to foster meaningful dialogue, address challenges in real time, and create a supportive space where people of diverse identities can work together more constructively. Whether you’re leading discussions in your workplace, community, or movement, this training will help you build the internal capacity to hold space, respond skillfully in difficult moments, and guide conversations toward deeper understanding and collective action.

By the end of this workshop series, participants will have:

  • An exploration of the internal conditions (e.g. mind, body, spirit, heart) needed to build self-awareness to effectively facilitate racial justice conversations.
  • Practical skills for facilitating productive conversations and building shared understanding about race, racism, and racial justice, in both virtual and in-person environments.
  • A deeper understanding of the development of racial identity, the system of racialization in the U.S., and one’s own story within this context.
  • Practice addressing challenges and aspirations as a racial justice facilitator.
  • An experience of a caring and collaborative approach to racial justice facilitation and a well-resourced community of racial justice facilitators.

Session Descriptions

1. Foundations of Systemic Racism

  • Explore ways to build shared language and develop a shared understanding of racial justice concepts.

2. The Power of Storytelling

  • Understand stories of race in the US and how our own racialized identities impact our facilitation.
  • Explore how to create and use racial affinity spaces.

3. Preparing Yourself and the Container

  • Create the context for effective facilitation.
  • Learn strategies for managing when we’re activated as facilitators.
  • Reflect on how to sustain ourselves over time.

4. Facilitation Fundamentals

  • Explore the different roles facilitators are called on to play.
  • Learn intervention strategies for unexpected challenging moments.

5. Coaching & Practice

  • Apply these learnings to our own scenarios and exchange feedback while doing so.

This workshop is for anyone who is or would like to be facilitating conversations about race and racial justice, and who wants to sharpen their skills. We look forward to having you join us! 

Pricing

  • $375/person (Grassroots)
  • $750/person (Nonprofit)
  • $950/person (Foundation)
  • $1,125/person (For-Profit/Social Venture)

REGISTER HERE →

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Fundamentals of Facilitation for Racial Justice Work is also available as an offering for participants from one organization or network – either as an online offering as described above or as a two-day in-person learning experience. Details and pricing can be found here.

  • The workshop gave me some incredibly useful frameworks and vocabulary for questions I have been asking intuitively and practices I have been clumsily feeling my way into. The opportunity to be in a room of so many skilled facilitators from such diverse backgrounds and to learn together was unmatched in my previous experience. Deep learning.

    FFRJW Participant

  • This workshop gave me the tools to effectively engage with groups on topics of racial justice. We were able to practice new skills and dig deeper in a supportive space with phenomenal facilitators.

    FFRJW Participant

  • This was the best facilitation training for racial justice I have attended. It balanced facilitation growth with individual growth and awareness. Thank you!

    FFRJW Participant

  • I believe what I learned from IISC in two trainings (Facilitative Leadership for Social Change and Fundamentals of Facilitation for Racial Justice Work) transformed my work as a university adjunct assistant professor and consultant. In addition, I won a teaching award last year and if I had had to give an acceptance speech, I would have given credit to IISC for making the single most important difference in my ability to connect with and teach students.

    FL4SC & FFRJW Participant