between studios
FACILITATION
I'm interested in how people who come together in groups can instigate, nurture, lovingly challenge, and inspire each other’s cool ideas and personal and social insights.Â
​I work with individuals, collaborators, and groups, trying to be useful in ways they need or want. I promise no easy answers, but if you think you might like to open up some lines of inquiry, I can probably help with that. I have experience leading groups through decision making and strategic planning processes. More often, though, I work with groups who are looking to develop skills and habits that support communication within the group, and build individual skills for facilitation and working with diversity. I also consult with educators looking to increase engagement and creativity in their classrooms, and organizations in need of specific diversity, equity and inclusion trainings.​

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO WORK WITH ME
As a facilitator, I strive to create space for people to come together for a time and dwell in each other’s company, in the complexity of the world and their group.
As a difficultator, it’s my job to coax those complexities to peek out into the open a bit more, to give people the chance to face things together that they might want to face, but also feel some fear about.
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When I work with your group, I will draw on my training and experience to create an experience tailored to you. I plan carefully beforehand, but I also adjust and direct conversations and activities in response to what actually happens with your group, when we are together.
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I also work with individuals and collaborators. I am available for one or a-few-time sessions, or for a more ongoing commitment. Ongoing commitments serve your commitment to change best, but starting somewhere is a start, and starts matter.

OK, BUT WHAT EXACTLY DOES TIMOTHY DO?
AND HOW?
I trade in questions. They are my main tool and offering. I notice questions, and I ask them. I train people to find the questions they can ask, and to explore where asking them might take them. We play games to help open up our bodies and minds to new or somewhat forgotten modes of inquiry. We work on asking, and we work on listening—to each other and to ourselves.
I never assume there is one right question to ask. When working together, we will never stop at, or only follow, the first one we come up with.
As an inquiry-based facilitator, it is my job to facilitate—to ease your way around and through—and also sometimes to difficultate—to help you find and face the harder questions, the things that need to be said. This process looks different for every group, each time you gather.
Facilitation is a full body practice. This can mean that it does well to incorporate physical activity, moving people in space, working with dynamics of a room and a group. But whether or not any of that is happening, facilitating well involves noticing and working with the feelings in your body as well as the ideas in your mind. There are ideas in your body! Truth doesn’t live only in your head. In fact, sometimes it stays away from there, hanging out in your heart, your belly, way down in your knees. I offer activities and observations to help you access and work with all these kinds of knowing. I always seek to not just provide an experience while we're together, but to help equip your group with new skills and ideas to move forward together in ways you want to.


WHY INVITE ME TO WORK WITH YOU
Well, do you want to? If you’re a little intrigued by what you see here, or what you’ve heard, I’m happy to chat by phone or email so we can discuss what working together might be like. If you want a little more information first, take a look at the kinds of workshops I’ve offered in the past, read about my approach.
If you’re a facilitator interested in co-facilitating something, hit me up. Though I often fly solo, I really believe co-facilitation is ideal in many situations. I’m open to one-time co-facilitation gigs and to developing longer-term collaborations.

YOU MIGHT WANT TO WORK WITH ME IF . . .
. . . your organization has committed to diversity and inclusion, and you feel like there’s more you could and maybe should be doing on this front.
. . .you're hearing more and more about gender fluidity and realizing your staff needs more information to understand and work competently with gender-nonconforming and transgender individuals.
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. . . you're an educator or trainer looking for new ideas or skills to make your classroom more interactive, more engaged, more attentive to working with the diversity and experience of all your students.
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. . . you are an individual facing challenges . . .
My work focuses on facilitating conversations that connect and reconnect people to individual and collective healing and liberation. Let's talk about what that might look like for you and yours.

“This course made me address my own privileged and oppressed identities in ways I have not done before. It also gave me a better sense of how social identities can impact social interactions and ways of living, including both in a larger sense and within social work contexts.”
“I really liked how much Timothy challenged us to be honest with ourselves and each other. I think it took a while until we were able to have more of those difficult conversations, but once we did, it was really engaging."
"It was both fun and controversial. He handled these touchy topics with ease, made everyone feel heard, and emphasized on respect and empathy.”
“It was such a privilege to have an environment that made me think deeper about diversity and the stories that I had not yet heard.”
“Timothy is the best instructor I've had in my life. He could teach a class about boogers and I would still show up excited to learn every day. His classes are challenging and it isn't easy to get an A on every assignment, but I am still always happy with all of the valuable information and skills I am gaining. Timothy is amazing at engaging students and sharing his passion for social justice. Being in his class is one of the things I will miss the most about college.”

WORKSHOPS
Click for descriptions of some workshops I've offered in the past. These are just to give a taste . . . I tailor workshops, trainings and retreats to the needs of each group, each time we meet.