looking for OS practitioner in Philadelphia area

[Lisa Heft]

John and others -
Thank you so much for opening us to this important conversation.

Something I think we all share - as facilitators experienced in  
working with groups (comprised of individuals) - is that we cannot  
know what another's personal life experience is.

We can be well intentioned, and kind, and loving, and appreciative,  
and welcoming.
But we cannot know what someone's life experience has been with the  
complex dynamics of race and power, class and access, 'isms' and  
'___phobias', survivorship and identity...

Even if we are the same (seemingly) as another person (such as both  
women, or both looking like the same color) we cannot know or assume  
that other person's experience - we can only listen well, stay humble,  
and learn from what we hear, see and bump into (when we make mistakes).

And especially in terms of being able to know or expect or assume ...  
when one is of a majority culture and that other person is not of  
majority culture.

So many hidden complexities and histories that inform one's sense of  
inclusion or exclusion.

To add to that, for anyone who feels they have been marginalized (dis- 
included in many ways over time) - it seems quite natural that they  
would yearn for visible leadership from someone who looks and sounds  
like them.

The amazing thing about Open Space is that the facilitator soon  
becomes invisible as the group jumps off into space.
So if one cannot find a facilitator that looks like / is of the  
culture of the group being facilitated, this is one of those tools for  
which the participants can claim their own space rather immediately  
after the opening.

However I think it behooves us to honor a group's interest and request  
for someone of their culture as a facilitator, in any culture, if we  
can find someone of that culture who is also capable and skilled.  I  
would hate to put someone in the facilitator role who was not able to  
do the job, so sometimes this either means taking extra time and  
resources to train someone(s) or a candid discussion with the client  
about this process and how it upends the usual power dynamics as the  
participants self-organize.

My two any-color cents, dear colleagues,

Lisa

Lisa Heft
Consultant, Facilitator, Educator
Opening Space
lisaheft at openingspace.net
www.openingspace.net



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