Summer 2026 - Three Day In-Person Facilitation Workshops with Michael Rohd
Co-hosted by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and MUSE Winston-Salem, North Carolina; FringeArts, Philadelphia; College of Fine Arts/The University of Utah, Department of Theatre & Spy Hop, Salt Lake City; American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco; JustME for JustUS & Viles Arboretum, Augusta, Maine
For people who facilitate, teach, lead, direct, guide or host in classroom, arts, public engagement, community meeting, organizational, municipal or team contexts.
If you do the work of facilitating groups and projects, of imagining possibility, you are making opportunities for connection, and you are stewarding hope. You are doing the hard work of building trust. And America in 2025 is dangerously low on trust. Harmful policies abound; public narratives don’t match and talking with strangers has never felt so fraught. This course invites you to strengthen your capacity to hold space for trust, dialogue and change.
Whether you are starting out as a facilitator or have been leading conversations and group process for years, this course equips you with tools to design and shape experience, help groups productively accomplish goals, and move through difficult moments when they arise. The course is structured as six sequential three-hour workshops that focus on curiosity, deep listening, boundary setting, the transformative power of understanding context and purpose, and specific strategies for navigating the challenges your participants will encounter within themselves, and with each other.
Day 1: You as Facilitator
Session 1 - Three Hours
Examining your own relationship to disagreement, persuasion and conflict
Session 2 - Three Hours
Exploring and building your capacity as a curious listener
Day 2: You as Process Designer
Session 3 - Three Hours
Setting and Holding space
Session 4 - Three Hours
Strategies for Difficult Dialogues
Day 3: You in the Moment
Session 5 - Three Hours
Closing Space and Setting Futures
Session 6 - Three Hours
A Circle of Practice: Feedback and Growth
Fee: $200 (bring your own lunch/snacks)
*Michael is a theater-maker who has spent 35 years leading process and facilitating conversation around complex public issues across the nation, as well as supporting and training municipal and non-profit staff in designing effective public engagement work.
Winston Salem, NC
Co-hosted by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and MUSE Winston-Salem, NC
May 27-29
10am - 5pm
(One hour lunch break)
Philadelphia, PA
Co-hosted by FringeArts
June 4-6
10am - 5pm
(One hour lunch break)
Salt Lake City
Co-hosted by College of Fine Arts/The University of Utah, Dept. of Theatre & Spy Hop
June 11-13
10am - 5pm
(One hour lunch break)
San Francisco
Co-hosted by American Conservatory Theater
June 29-July 1
10am - 5pm
(One hour lunch break)
Augusta, Maine
Co-hosted by JustME for JustUS & Viles Arboretum
July 16-18
10am - 5pm
(One hour lunch break)
From 2025 Summer Workshop participants:
"A thought provoking, story sharing, multi-modal experience that serves to spark the intellect, the funny bone, and the inner child as we strive to figure out how best to do things together. Whether you work with kids, an arts organization, or CEOs, this workshop will likely be a refuge and an inspiration." - an educator
"Michael's facilitation workshop showed me how the theater tools that have been a part of my DNA for so long can be used for positive engagement to talk about tough public policy subjects, finding a common language to look for solutions together." - a development director in public health
"I learned so much just by watching you facilitate, and in particular, how you handled some challenging moments. I deeply appreciated the opportunity to be with people across different sectors and hear about how they were thinking about coalition-building in this precarious moment- all of it made me feel inspired for my future projects, and for new collaborations."- an arts organization leader
"You did such an excellent job modeling how to lead an intersectional group while also decentering yourself and making space for other stories and perspectives. I made so many new contacts and potential friends, and this workshop also gave all of us the time and space to think and process." - an artist/facilitator