Trainings and Workshops

We offer the following workshops to organizations, coalitions, and networks that are committed to social change, solidarity, and movement building, and are looking for language, resources, tools, and frameworks to strengthen their practices. Our workshops are designed and facilitated by Deepa Iyer, Adaku Utah, and UyenThi Tran Myhre, who curate Solidarity Is at the Building Movement Project (BMP).

Below are descriptions of four workshops we provide. They can be individually tailored to meet your organization’s goals and can be designed for virtual or in-person formats. To learn more or to schedule a training, please send us a message using this contact form.

Mapping Our Social Change Ecosystem Roles

In our lives and as part of organizations, many of us play different roles in pursuit of equity, shared liberation, inclusion, and justice. Sometimes, we feel overwhelmed, confused, or ineffective as we reach for our goals. This session is for individuals and groups at any stage of their social change efforts with an interest in deepening their roles, clarifying shared values, and sustaining their ecosystems. Using the Social Change Ecosystem, developed by Deepa Iyer (Building Movement Project), participants will identify guiding values, map their roles, assess their ecosystems, and develop sustainability goals.

Over the years, we have facilitated this session with various sectors including nonprofit and movement groups and networks, university DEI and anti-racism task forces, philanthropic institutions, corporate affinity groups, and more

Sustainability and Social Change

During a time of unprecedented and overlapping crises, many of us are experiencing overwhelm, fatigue, burnout, and uncertainty. As individuals, how can we anchor our vital work to advance equity and justice? As organizational staff and leaders, how can we create the scaffolding to meet the moment? During this session, we will have the opportunity to identify challenges, to identify individual commitments and organizational systems, and to learn about tools and resources that can sustain our social change practices.

Transformative Solidarity Framework

Solidarity is a buzzword and hashtag but what does it actually mean in practice? We offer workshops on transformative solidarity values and practices, including a Solidarity Practice 101 session for those newer to solidarity practice and a Solidarity Step Up session for those who are already engaging in meaningful solidarity efforts. In our sessions, participants will discuss how to respond to “movement moments,” how to craft solidarity-based narratives, and how to address common dilemmas and challenges.

The Solidarity Practice 101 session introduces participants to six principles of transformative solidarity practice and provides examples of how organizations and movements utilize them. The Solidarity Step Up session goes further to engage participants with scenarios and hypotheticals that are specifically tailored to dilemmas and challenges that they face.

Planning for Crisis Response: An Ecosystem Approach

These days, it’s no longer a question of if, but when, community crises emerge. And yet, most organizations are not prepared because of the lack of resources, partnerships, and infrastructure. In this workshop, participants will have an opportunity to learn about and utilize a framework to shape rapid response infrastructure to address community crises; develop an understanding of both the opportunities and challenges of engaging in rapid response work; discuss essential roles and their impact as well as potential scenarios and next steps. This workshop, offered on a case-by-case basis, would be beneficial for organizational staff or regional networks that are responsible for leading, implementing, or preparing to undertake emergency response in their communities.

What Our Partners Say

  • Thank you so much for joining us and bringing such generous gifts. Our Network members really appreciated the Principles of Transformative Solidarity. Your questions helped our members reflect on their commitment to one another. This is hard work, thank you for creating a space where our members can be vulnerable and share their fears and doubts.

  • There were so many aha moments throughout the day… I appreciated your scaffolding, which invited all of us to learn and stretch step by step into the complexity of this work, and the shared ideas and sparks for application – big and small – to inspire each attendee to consider ways to apply what they learned personally, within their organizations, and larger ecosystem.

  • We are in the process of developing rapid response protocols, and the Lab provided tools that will definitely help us in the process. Before, we didn't have much guidance and it wasn't going anywhere. Now with this plethora of information, I am confident we can get it done by November.

  • Every tool introduced to build a rapid response infrastructure was helpful, but more than that, the community is the reason this lab was so effective and impactful. Being able to learn, question, experience, and build with like-minded movement folks was the affirmation and space I needed to do this work long-term. I just want to thank BMP for gathering this crew so intentionally, and I look forward to keeping in touch to see how our comrades are cultivating and building their orgs and missions coming out of the lab. The care was EVIDENT! And it is so appreciated.