A Specialized Skill Set

What G.J. does:

• facilitate everything, from iterative analytic processes to story circles, peer support groups to relationship workshops.

• train Social Workers, Nurses, Counselors, Speech Pathologists, and everyday workers on caregiving, identity, history, and communication.

• plot, strategize, and deepen connections between like-minded individuals and organizations.

• produce, moderate, and expand the capacity of digital spaces and events.

• consult community surveys and health research.

• collect, organize, and preserve institutional knowledge and oral histories.

• coordinate access, travel, and engagement for Disability Justice/C0VlD-cautious practitioners whose friends and family have moved on.

• share skills bidirectionally (there's always more to learn!).

What to expect:

Facilitation varies widely, depending on the size and familiarity of the group and the space set for conversation. It is feasible to facilitate one person's introspection/relationship with themself or to attempt to build consensus in a room of hundreds.
G.J's approach often bridges academic and lived perspectives, in particular looking for underdeveloped "meso" signals between the "big picture" and one-on-one level of interactions. How do practices align with stated values? Are expectations or body language disrupting otherwise clear intentions? Is everyone feeling heard?
Perhaps most important is that facilitation is a skill set, comprising planning, listening, sensitivity, flexibility, instinct, and excellent follow-through. In this spirit, an agenda may deviate from previously stated goals in the interest of building long-term cohesion and clarity. Teams that attempt to facilitate internally without a dedicated facilitator risk losing objectivity or overshadowing others' ideas in the room.

In potentially discouraging times, a facilitator steps up to help teams develop goals and negotiate the process of attaining them. My job is not to lead you anywhere, but to help you lead yourselves through vision, values, and hard - but carefully cultivated - conversations.

A Unique & Self-Aware Background

Who G.J. is:

• a once and future caregiver and care recipient.

• a social scientist & peer reviewer.

• a licensed Community Health Worker.

• a guest speaker, guest lecturer, chat hype-r, and podcast guest.

• a giver and receiver of intergenerational mentorship and coaching.

• a writer of nonfiction, fiction, and grants (in some order).

• a white, middle-aged, neuroqueer storyteller and lifelong antiracist with working class instincts and metaphysical devotion to building the world we want to see for ourselves.

Rooted in Values

"G.J.'s Five Senses"

1. A Sense of Humanity

2. A Sense of Trajectory

3. A Sense of Association

4. A Sense of Temporality (or Time)

5. A Sense of Innovation

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