Headwaters
Facilitation Training Program
We believe that facilitation has a deep impact on groups in our movements. With more highly skilled anti-oppression facilitators inside organizations and movements, the ground is more fertile for skilled, principled, and courageous action. Headwaters trains, mentors, and coordinates movement facilitators in AORTA’s core facilitation principles. We develop facilitators who are committed to moving groups towards:
Deep democratization and collective governance
Developing many leaders
Building resiliency and healing
The practice of principled struggle
Headwaters Programs
Facilitate for Freedom Fundamentals Training
Our flagship 3-hour online Facilitate for Freedom Fundamentals Training lays the groundwork for anyone interested in anti-oppression facilitation. Through group discussion and hands-on exercises, this workshop introduces AORTA’s facilitation pedagogy, and is a deep dive into two of our key principles: removing barriers to full participation and yes to Principled Struggle. Attending the Fundamentals training also gives you access to our Skill Up! Trainings. All registered participants receive training materials and a recording of the training.
Stay tuned for our 2025 training calendar!
Skill Up! Advanced
Facilitation Intensive
Designed for facilitators who have already gone through our Fundamentals training, the Intensive is a unique opportunity to experience our advanced Skill Up! Trainings inside a cohort of fellow movement facilitators. The intensive is jam packed with tools and strategic approaches for facilitators guiding groups through decisions, conversations, and processes of collaboration in social justice work. On the last day, the cohort also meets in a practice lab, which is a session for integration, exploring tricky meeting scenarios, and some seriously fun nerding out with other facilitators. All registered participants receive training materials and recordings of each session.
Headwaters Facilitation Apprenticeship
Headwaters Apprenticeship is an application-based, three-month long, structured, hands-on learning experience for emerging facilitators that blends observation, roleplays, 1-on-1 mentorship, and opportunities to shadow experienced facilitators.
The Headwaters Apprenticeship is currently on hiatus while we re-imagine our offerings.
Skill-Up Intensive Trailer
Curious about what to expect during the Skill-Up Intensive? Check out the short video below for an inside look with the intensive facilitators, Bex and Jenna.
Meet our 2021-22 Headwaters Apprentices!
What Participants are Saying
“A powerful and engaging training, just right for this critical and historic moment in our collective struggle. I learned concrete facilitation tools rooted in our shared values of principled struggle and transformative practice, that I can apply immediately to my own context. Thank you!”
“AORTA facilitators strike the perfect balance in laying out the whys and the hows of facilitation. The training incorporates opportunities for accessible group participation while simultaneously offering incredible facilitation tools and recommendations. An incredibly fun, engaging, informative, and impactful training. I recommend it to anyone trying to support the disruption of structural power and move groups towards deeper, liberatory work.”
“I never thought I would attend a training where my values as a black, queer, feminist are the vehicle for evolving our approach to facilitation. We've been working with AORTA for years but this training took their programming to the next level. The switch to an approach that speaks to Black queer femmes like myself is clear and resonant.”
“This has been unlike any other training I have participated in. I appreciated the nuance and intention. I have facilitated a lot and been in many facilitation trainings, and I feel like this training provided tools and techniques that I haven't seen anywhere else. ”
“I loved this training so much! I often have trouble focusing in virtual learning spaces, but Bex and Jenna made this workshop so dynamic, lively, and fun that I was able to stay engaged throughout. I learned something new from literally the first five minutes and continued to feel like I was getting something useful out it all the way to the end. Thank you!”
“AORTA facilitators are always the BEST. They blend an analysis of power with practical skills in a way that I have not experienced with other trainings. I am walking away with a dozen new ideas for how to make meetings I facilitate more engaging, more powerful, and more playful while also navigating through disagreement. GET IN HERE.”
Headwaters FAQs
Does Headwaters train facilitators to run workshops or trainings?
Our focus at Headwaters is on facilitating group processes and meetings. Even though the skill sets often overlap, our curriculum doesn’t explore the specific needs of a trainer.
I’m a brand new facilitator. Will your trainings be too advanced for me?
Our trainings don’t have an experience requirement! We welcome you to start with our Fundamentals Training, which is designed to meet everyone, however experienced they are, where they are at. It will give you a foundational understanding of how we approach facilitation.
I attended an AORTA facilitation training a few years ago. Can I skip the Fundamentals and just attend a Skill Up! Training?
Our facilitation pedagogy has evolved and sharpened over the years, so the Fundamentals training will likely hold new learning for you! We think of it like an re-introduction to us-- it will give you a big picture of our approach to facilitation, and if you’d like to dive in deeper with us in our Skill Up! Trainings.
I’m a seasoned facilitator. Is the Apprenticeship right for me?
The apprenticeship may or may not be a good fit for you, depending on where you are in your facilitation journey. We’re looking for emerging facilitators who are still developing their style and approach. Check out our handy Self Assessment tool on our Apprenticeship page that might help you discern if you should apply!
Do I have to attend the Fundamentals to apply for the Apprenticeship?
It’s not a requirement to apply! However, if you are accepted as an Apprentice, we will ask you to register for a Fundamentals training before the Apprenticeship begins so the cohort is entering with that level set.
I didn’t receive a confirmation email when I registered for a training. Did my registration go through?
Unfortunately, if you did not receive a confirmation email, your registration most likely did not go through. If you hit “register” at the moment that the spots ran out, the system doesn’t record it. Yikes! Send us an email at programs[at]aorta.coop and we’ll see what we can do.