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Harness An Age-Old Practice For Catalyzing Change

Join us in this special Open Circle training for organizational and community leaders.

Learn an ancient tool for cultivating communities, teams, and cultures that prioritize safety and trust, driving team synergy, ingenuity, and overall well-being.

This training will immerse you in the core principles and practical skills required to lead and facilitate Open Circles.

Open Circles are a systematic approach to enhancing active listening and encouraging empathetic group communication.

It creates a safe space where individuals can freely share their thoughts, feelings, and lived experiences.

Open Circles are a practice that can be used in any setting–from corporate boardrooms to school classrooms, retreat settings and remote workplaces, scientific working groups to intentional living communities, prisons, and the halls of political power.

It is a powerful, non-clinical tool proven to:

  • Develop cognitive, somatic, and emotional empathy
  • Strengthen individual and group efficacy
  • Foster inclusivity and understanding
  • Promote individual and group self-regulation
  • Cultivate growth and learning mindsets
  • Sustain complex collaboration


By the end of this training, you will be able to:

  • Welcome different viewpoints to promote an inclusive feedback process that strengthens collaboration.
  • Listen beyond your limiting assumptions, allowing for a more open and nuanced understanding of diverse viewpoints.
  • Gain valuable insight into your colleagues and the dynamics of the work environment, enabling strategic and well-informed decision-making.
  • Value a growth mindset and commit to cultivating a culture that values continuous development and forward-thinking approaches.


This unique online training includes self-paced learning plus four live online practicum sessions with two coaches in a limited group of 12.

ONLINE 2025 PRACTICUM SESSION DATES AND TIMES
(All Live Practicum sessions will be held on  Zoom)

  • Jan 8th: 8am - 11am (Pacific USA)
  • Jan 9th: 8am - 11am (Pacific USA)
  • Jan 16th: 8am - 11am (Pacific USA)
  • Jan 17th: 8am - 11am (Pacific USA)

This Training Is for Professionals Who Want To...

  • Integrate various perspectives and feedback to drive impactful change in the workplace and their communities.

  • Break free from conventional thinking patterns and listen beyond the confines of preconceived notions and limiting assumptions.

  • Empower their teams and communities with the tools and insights to adapt, innovate, and thrive within an ever-evolving landscape.

Course Curriculum

    1. Course Prep and Logistics

    2. Participant Agreement

    3. Quick Preparation Exercise

    1. Video Welcome

    2. Resource: Types of Listening Diagram

    3. Resource: Worldwide Cultural Circle Practices and References

    1. Video: The Five Elements and Four Intentions

    2. Resource: Slides to Accompany Video

    3. Quiz: The Listening Circle

    1. Video: Collective Wisdom and The Principles of Facilitative Leadership

    2. Reflection Exercise

    1. Video: The Form of The Listening Circle

    2. Resource: Guiding Principles for The Listening Circle Practice

    3. Resource: An Invitation to Brave Space

    4. Video: Opening and Closing the Circle

    5. Quiz: The Guiding Principles of a Listening Circle

    1. Video: Prompt Forming

    2. Resource: Slides to Accompany Video

    3. Resource: Notes on Prompt Forming

    4. Exercise: Prompt Forming

About this course

  • 12 hours of small group online Practicum with 1:1 Coaching
  • 7 Exciting Online Self Paced Modules for Pre & Post Training
  • Invaluable Tools and Skills for Immediate Application Within Your Organization

What Do People Say About Open Circle Facilitator Training?

“As a leadership consultant and master coach with over 30 years of experience, working all over the world and facilitating groups, teams, and circles, I had some trepidation about going into this unknown training as a participant. Would the workshop challenge me? Would it hone my understanding of power relations in facilitation? Would I learn something about myself? Would I develop new and useful skills? Would it embody a truly experiential, dialogical, improvisational and exploratory ethos? Would I find the workshop leaders mature, stimulating and inspiring? The answer to each of these questions was a resounding 'YES!'”

Sara 'Zora' Boas, MCC, MA, RDMP, Founding Director, Boas Partners

“I would recommend Open Circle Foundations training because one can learn a creative way of providing a space with care to enter a dialogue that connects participants/trainers in personal ways of finding human commonalities that form conscious ways of challenging beliefs”

Carolynne Abdullah, Racial Equity and Inclusion Consultant

“Excellent pioneering work. The Listening Circle Practice has transformed how I work as a leader and facilitator. Rather than standing in front and leading, this Practice has allowed me to sit with people in Circle, and walk with others as we share our stories and discover together the possibilities beyond what we could imagine on our own.”

Brett Robin Wood, Founder, Creative Wisdom

“The highly skilled team members at Open Circle have a range of listening and facilitation skills that span from formal to informal, inviting to challenging, easy to highly advanced. They are clearly on a mission to humanize the workplace.”

Don Lubach, UC Santa Barbara Ombudsman

Meet Your Instructors

Gala Narezo

Facilitator

Gala Narezo is a facilitator, educator, activist and mindfulness instructor who is committed to mindful change-making. In her groups she uses storytelling, mindfulness, art and circle practice as guiding principles. She has collaborated with a variety of amazing partners on transformational education through awareness campaigns, public art, curricula and transformational media. She has degrees from Yale University and Art Center College of Design. She recently completed an M.A. in Art Education at City College of New York CUNY. She has done extensive training and practice in circle based facilitation running weekly groups online and live retreats in the USA and Mexico.

Chris Arlen

Facilitator

Christopher Arlen is a consultant and certified facilitator in the WOC methodology. He unapologetically optimistic — he believes in people and what we can accomplish when we come together in good faith around a shared vision or goal. For nearly 30 years, he has worked in the nonprofit and government sectors to push the boundaries of possibility, creating innovative programs and novel approaches that advance health promoting behaviors. Christopher is principal consultant for The Soft Skills Company, fostering positive relational dynamics in increasingly diverse workplaces.

Included in Your Registration Fee

  • 8 hours of online training prior to in-person training, complete with videos, exercises, checklists, and resources

  • 12 hours of guided practicum and 1:1 coaching (2 coaches with a group of 12)

  • $50 off your next training when you enroll within 30 days of completing this course.

Pricing options

Discounts are available for groups of 5 or more.

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