Here are ten facilitation skills you already have mastered for in-person sessions. As a leader-facilitator, you gotta be flexible! This post offers ways you can adapt for your virtual meeting spaces. 🙌 🙌

Many leaders of capacity building work bring this puzzle to us: “What would make our capacity building and professional learning efforts “more engaging” for our learners?” Here are the least motivational reasons.

Our role as leader-facilitators is to be open to what’s possible, recognize it and help others find it within themselves. Review these words of possibility—what comes up for you?

Our team at DEVELOPMENT WITHOUT LIMITS is proud to be very highly rated on our proposal for the U.S. Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers National Technical Assistance Center.

We rocked this. We offered our heartfelt, authentic response to the RFP. Our ideas were just like us--human-centered, non-traditional, innovative. We offered kick-ass partnerships and trusting relationships toward the greater mission of positive outcomes for young people.

If you know DWL, you know that our deep belief is that adults cannot fuel trust, power and leadership with young people until the adults themselves, at all levels, experience trust, empowerment and leadership.

As leader-facilitators of change, we persevere not because of saviorism or even altruism, but because of sanity, logic, relationship and reciprocity. This article highlights the core practices we build and grow within ourselves to help us keep going.

In the spirit of transformation and with a touch of humor, we, the bold proponents of transformational capacity building, hereby declare our independence from deficit-based approaches. We embark on a journey of innovation, where we focus on building and strengthening the systems, structures, cultures, skills, resources, and power that individuals and organizations need to truly serve their communities.

In the realm of youth-focused organizational growth and development, it's critical to understand the unique roles played by research and evaluation firms vs. capacity-building orgs. They both have tremendous value and work well together—research sets up the launch pad and capacity-builders help you reach your destination!

Hear from smart nonprofit leader, Wendy Copeland from Goodwill Industries International.

In honor of those who have gone before us and in recognition of AfterSchool Professionals Appreciation Week, I wrote this poem.

This is a personal story highlighting how a make-do and muscle through culture harms young people’s perceptions of their own value. We are each charged to pause and recognize that we are worth the investment of money, time, love, attention, safety, support and each other.

Here are three simple innovations that youth-serving organizations can implement to save time and money and keep your staff happy.

Embrace various versions of yourself to be the whole leader you are. That’s how to start a new year.