1. Course Organizer Training
Presented by:
Lacy Cagle & Liz Zavodsky
February 11, 2016

2. Meet the Facilitators:
Liz Zavodsky: Director of Membership & Engagement
Deb McNamara: Director of Organizational and
Higher Education Partnerships

4. Maximizing Our Time Together
We will do our best to make this interactive and help you envision your discussion courses, but there may be a lot of time spent listening. We’ll have time for Q&A.
Please keep your phone on mute to avoid unexpected background noises.
When you speak, please state your name and where you are calling from first so we know who is talking.
We recommend having a pen and paper to take notes and plan your discussion course.
Thank you for signing up to participate!
We look forward to working with you.

5. Getting to know you Number of folks on call – about 45
Number of folks who have participated in a NWEI course before - 24
Where folks on this call are considering
offering their course – workplace, city,
community, friends, college, library,
coffee shop, faith center, house, retreat center

6. Introduction NWEI inspires people to take responsibility for Earth.
Founded in 1993 in Portland, OR.
Over 170,000 people have participated in discussions and the annual EcoChallenge.
30 partners throughout the US and Canada.

7. Business
Higher Education
Faith Communities
Neighborhoods

8. Connect
Act
Reflect

9. What is an NWEI Course organizer?
Initiates a discussion group and serves as primary group contact.
Helps others commit to sustainability action.
Connects people interested in sustainability action to one another.
Rob: include inspiring stories of success (Judy Alexander, Josh Arnold, Mike Shriberg, Beth at BofA…) Use blog:

10. Success Stories: Rebecca Selove
Rebecca is a clinical/eco-psychologist and public health researcher, a facilitator of Joanna Macy's Work That Reconnects, and co-owner of a certified organic farm outside of Nashville.
She enjoyed her earliest connections with the natural world on a dairy farm in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. She first learned about NWEI courses as a member of the St. Louis Ethical Society in the 1990's, and has been organizing courses in Nashville since 2011.

11. Your Story: Whiteboard
What has motivated you to become a course organizer?

12. Steps to Organizing a Discussion Course
Step 1. Choose the right course
Step 2. Advertise & recruit participants
Step 3. Schedule your first meeting
Step 4. Purchase books
(Optional) Step 5. Use NWEI’s online course platform
Step 6. Facilitate the first session
Step 7. Celebration and Call to Action
Step 8. Evaluate
Go through slides as if it were a narrative.

13. Step 1. Choose the right course
Consider familiarity level of audience.
Consider audience’s interests.
Consider how many sessions are in a course, and how much time your group has.
Ask them to put themselves into each of these steps – make your plan as you go.

14. Polling Question
Which topic are you most interested in organizing a course around?

15. Step 2. Advertise and recruit participants
Plan in advance.
Offer all necessary logistical information.
Make it personal.
Be inspiring!
Have people type in questions as they have them, Lacy will filter, come back to them when it works for the flow of the session. Liz will open up for discussion at key times. Could put questions on the slide as they come up.
Mike: the more personal, the better! Individual , phone call, reach out directly

16. Step 2. Advertise and recruit participants
Have people type in questions as they have them, Lacy will filter, come back to them when it works for the flow of the session. Liz will open up for discussion at key times. Could put questions on the slide as they come up.
Mike: the more personal, the better! Individual , phone call, reach out directly

17. Step 3. Schedule your first meeting
Give participants plenty of advance notice.
Decide ahead of time vs. using a scheduling poll.
Make sure everyone has their book and knows to read the first session.

18. Step 4. Purchase books Hard copies and ebooks at www.nwei.org/store
Call us at
Please make sure to order far enough in advance. We use USPS to ship books. They are processed on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week and shipped out within 24 hours.

19. Contact liz@nwei.org for one-on-one help.
Optional Step 5.
Use NWEI’s Online Platform
Brief overview of platform and who it might be useful for. Contact for one-on-one help.
Contact for one-on-one help.

20. Step 6. Facilitate the first session
Roles: Facilitator, Opener, Note Taker
Introduction
Registration:
Session role sign up

21. Step 6. Facilitate the first session
Opening
Circle Question
Discussion questions
Action items and Note Taker
Closing

22. Step 7. Celebration & Call to Action
Reflect on and celebrate your time together.
Plan your next steps.
Individual action
Group action
Suggestions for next steps: meet monthly, do another course, organize an EcoChallenge team, support each other on individual actions, organize a field trip or event.

23. Step 8. Evaluate A paper copy of the evaluation form is in each book.
Electronic evaluation form can be found and submitted online at www/nwei.org/evaluations.
Why it’s important :
We all need people who will give us feedback.
That's how we improve. – Bill Gates

24. Other Resources www.nwei.org Online resource pages :
Partners:
Facebook group for course organizers:
Resources in your own community
NWEI staff

25. Questions? Thank you! www.nwei.org