Learn How to Facilitate Community Conversations

On April 12 and 13, 2023 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in The People’s Building, 9995 E Colfax Ave, Aurora, CO 80010, we will host our third Facilitator Training for Reflective Conversations. This free training prepares people to plan and facilitate conversations about vital issues and questions across different beliefs and backgrounds. Coloradans who complete the training will be certified to facilitate community conversations with our organization throughout the state and be paid for those services. Although current programs focus on the topics of race, ethnicity, dying and grief, war and veteran experience, and change in rural Colorado, Colorado Humanities invites conversations with trained facilitators on any topic.

Training participants will learn about conversation facilitation, have an opportunity to practice new skills and techniques, reflect on and share their own beliefs and assumptions, and listen to beliefs, backgrounds, and experiences differing from their own. Upon completion of the training, participants will leave feeling more confident and better equipped to observe and respond to group dynamics as well as design and facilitate a conversation that allows people to learn more about themselves and each other. Participants will then use the framework and tools to facilitate conversations in their workplace or community.

Potential participants should complete an application by April 5, 2023.

Trainers

Writer, painter, and musician Jason McNeal Graham is a multiethnic, multimedia artist. He was recently selected for the group exhibition “Black Matter,” curated by Tammy Jo Wilson. His work in music and writing has been featured on TEDx, NPR, the NBA, and other platforms. Graham (who often presents as MOsley WOtta) was an invited resident scholar at Goddard College, a skittish alum of Diverse Intelligences Summer institute, and the Slam Poetry Champion for the State of Oregon. Graham is finishing his tenure as Bend, Oregon’s first Creative Laureate, the third such position in the nation.

As the Colorado Humanities Conversations Coordinator, LaNaya Butler supports engagement programs within communities to explore pressing topics in the state including race and ethnicity, change in rural Colorado, death and dying, and war and veteran experience. LaNaya holds a dual Bachelor’s of Arts in Africana Studies and Political Science from Rutgers University and a Masters of Arts in Conflict Resolution from the University of Denver Josef Korbel School of International Studies. She is currently a PhD student in the Curriculum and Instruction program at the University of Denver Morgridge College of Education. Her educational background, experiences, and respect for the transformational power of community dialogue have guided her work.