Project: Contributing Facilitator for the Virginia Progressive Leadership Program (VAPLP) Weekend/s ___

*Thursday evening is the preference, but Friday morning is workable, too. 

Compensation: $1,500/weekend + travel compensated up to $500; meals & lodging provided as part of VAPLP for Th – Sun. Additional $500 available for collaboration on curriculum design. 

Legal Definitions

This agreement (“Agreement”) defines the roles and deliverables between __________________ (“Contractor”, or “Freelancer”, or “You”) and the Virginia Civic Engagement Table (“Client”, or “VCET”, or “We”, or “Us”) relating to the facilitation of the Virginia Progressive Leadership Program Weekend/s ____. The stated goals and description of phases can be found in this document.

Project Summary

Our facilitators are responsible for facilitating and delivering key components of our flagship leadership development program – The Virginia Progressive Leadership Program. The program is delivered to a small pod of leaders (12 – 18 people) who are Black, Indigenous or others of the global majority or with diverse lived experiences over a four month period meeting one weekend a month. Each program has its own area of focus: positionality + community, storytelling + narrative, grassroots organizing, and community-centric fundraising. The Contributing Facilitator/s will work alongside the Leadership Development Manager and Executive Director as co-facilitators and curriculum designers for each program weekend (meet us here). We are looking for one additional co-facilitator for each weekend. You would be a full member of the team weighing in on curriculum decisions, group dynamics, peer support & growth, and more. There is potential for this contractor role to be renewed on an annual basis upon and be expanded into other opportunities throughout the year. 

The project will consist of three phases: 

Phase 1 will be pre–weekend, which includes three virtual community-building and training sessions with all facilitators in March & April, a workshop outline walkthrough meeting, and any curriculum edits and workshop design on your own. 

Phase 2 will be during the program weekend, which is the Thursday evening (or Friday morning) to Sunday late afternoon of the program weekend/s you’ll be facilitating at. It includes daily team meetings, set-up, materials prep, workshop co-facilitation, groupbuilders, community-building activities, peer feedback, and supporting the team as needed. 

Phase 3 will be post-weekend, which includes a virtual debrief the week after the program weekend, a full program virtual reflection meeting in September, and optional attendance at the Graduation on Sunday, August 27th in Richmond, VA. 

Who You Are

You’re coming in with practical experience and/or knowledge related to the weekend/s you’re interested in (see program weekend information below). Although prior facilitation experience is not required, you are comfortable guiding a group, being playful, navigating diverse spaces, and shifting power dynamics in a learning environment. Most of all, you align with our facilitation philosophy – that doesn’t mean you reached a level of excellence in all those areas, just that you have capacity and commitment to those principles. Some characteristics: 

• Relationship-builder – You love people, and the mosaic that makes up communities of people. You lean in to conversations; that doesn’t mean you’re an extrovert but you’re curious and care about people. You listen to understand and are comfortable leading with vulnerability. 

• Racial Equity + Justice Lens – Reflecting on window + mirror work is part of your everyday. You are aware and conscientious of the ways race and other identities intersect in the work. Your north star is systems and culture change that operationalizes equity. 

• Process as Product – You know “how we do” is just as important as “what we do.” You believe that the fruits of our labor will grow tomorrow from the seeds of today and are okay with that. You challenge existing ways of doing to realize our dreams today. 

Program Weekend Topics

Positionality + Community – This weekend is focused on building the container of the pod and diving deep into window & mirror work while placing ourselves in the broader ecosystem of social justice work. You get down with the prioritization of positionality rather than identity in understanding how we show up in the world and this work. Most of all the weekends, it’s important facilitators have a skilled anti-oppression lens and healing-centered ethic. Talking about identity, systems, and culture is something you’re effective in communicating. 

Storytelling + Narrative – This weekend is focused on crafting our personal stories, public speaking skill-building, and issue-based narrative strategy. Because of three focus areas, facilitators should be able to hold space for vulnerability and emotion, have a theoretical & practical understanding of narrative theory (from a BIPOC perspective; shoutout to the Butterfly Lab and others), and offer feedback to public speaking tactics. 

Grassroots Organizing – This weekend is a broad brush on community organizing that touches on understanding power, power mapping, campaign development (strategy to tactics), and more. You have been a community organizer, ideally issue-based here. You have experience building campaigns and getting wins. You can pull on examples from current and historic social movement work to color the lines of theory. 

Community-Centric Fundraising – This weekend anchors in community-centric fundraising theory that came about in 2016. This is another broad stroke that covers grassroots fundraising, fundraising tactics for organizations and political campaigns (and the key distinctions), and acquiring funding. You have experience as a funder or as a fundraiser. You get down with community-centric fundraising and are working diligently to reimagine fundraising & philanthropy today. You are comfortable holding space for the wide gamut this covers. Bonus points if you love strategic planning, goal refinement, and organization development. 

Who We Are

VCET Overview

Since 2008, VCET has been committed to building progressive power in Virginia that prioritizes economic, social, environmental, gender, and especially racial justice. We envision a multi-racial democracy in Virginia where the full diversity of the commonwealth is actively participating, representing, and transforming our democracy; where white supremacy is being actively dismantled, people of color, working families, and impacted communities are thriving in a just economy and leading healthy lives. 

VCET is guided by a key organizational strategy: fostering collective action around a common agenda. This creates the directional north star to build the large, sustained coalition needed to tackle challenges such as the 2020 Census, dismantling systemic white supremacy through strategic policy reform, and ensuring every voter has fair and free access to the ballot box. VCET is a statewide organization that serves a broad network of 46 partners across the Commonwealth with a concentration in Northern Virginia, greater Richmond, and the tidewater region (which includes Newport News, Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach). The work includes cultivating a diverse and progressive leadership pipeline in Virginia, driving collaboration through equitable and inclusive relationships, and growing shared capacity and resources for the progressive movement infrastructure in the Commonwealth.

Our Approach

Our way of working is highly collaborative. You will work especially close with the Leadership Development Manager, Executive Director, Operations Manager, and Program and Operations Associate. If you find it difficult to openly and constantly explore and improve upon your areas of growth and reflect on equity & social justice (as a concept) and the manifestations of white supremacy (as a practice), this is not a good fit for you. Positional hierarchy and the “I have more experience doing X” argument hold no water here. Rooted in liberatory praxis, experiential learning, and critical reflection & dialogue, we aim to live out our values. Most importantly, we deeply care about the people we serve and work with. Relationships are the core of what we do, how we do, and who we are. From that, we believe that we are at our best when we can express our authentic selves. 

Our Facilitation Philosophy

The core of our facilitation philosophy is rooted in popular education or education as a practice (praxis) of freedom (Freire). This means we go against the narrative that trainers (or “people at the front of the room”) are experts while participants are receptacles to receive the information. Rather, we practice that facilitators and participants are all peers, exploring together, cultivating learning with each other, and making meaning of the space together. 

Statement of Work

Overview

• [pre] Facilitator Training Sessions 
• [pre] Curriculum Design
• [during] staffing + schedule  
• [during] co-facilitation
• [during] peer feedback 
• [post] debriefs

1. [pre] Facilitator Training Sessions 

Contractor will attend and engage in three virtual facilitator training sessions to be scheduled in March & April. The topics include community-building, facilitation philosophy, facilitation styles & moves, program walkthrough, and more.  

2. [pre] Curriculum Design 

Workshop outlines can be fully prepared by the Leadership Development Manager, but there is an invitation to collaborate on workshop slate and co-write any individual workshops. Contractor will be asked to express interest in application form, and would be compensated an additional $500 for curriculum design work. Contractor will attend a workshop outline walkthrough virtual meeting a few weeks prior to the program weekend and recommend any edits. Contractor will meet with co-facilitators to personalize workshop outlines with examples, touch-ups, and determine how to split & share parts. 

3. [during] Staffing + Schedule  

Contractor will be part of a five-person team on-site during program weekends. This team is split by roles: program facilitation and program logistics. On the program facilitation side, are the Leadership Development Manager, Executive Director, and Contributing Facilitator. On the program logistics side, are the Operations Manager and Program & Operations Associate. These roles are flexible in the sense that we’re all hands on deck, supporting each other as needed. A sample of the participant & staff schedule can be found here. You’ll find that there’s a team meeting every day and you’ll have a rest period as well as a peer feedback period each day. 

4. [during] Co-Facilitation 

VAPLP operates with a co-facilitator model. For all workshops, you will be paired with a co-facilitator. Facilitation isn’t limited to workshops, but also includes groupbuilders at the beginning of workshops and community-building activities. We practice full participation, so even when you’re not facilitating, you’re part of what’s happening unless you’re taking some time for rest. 

5. [during] Peer Feedback 

We are committed to our own continuous learning and each other’s growth. To that end, Contractor will give and receive feedback with other co-facilitators through peer feedback periods. At the beginning of each program weekend, team members set goals for the weekend. During a peer feedback period, a team member is observing co-facilitators and offering feedback rooted around our facilitation philosophy, skills, & moves and each person’s goals for the given weekend. 

6. [post] debriefs 

Contractor will participate in virtual debrief meeting the week after the program weekend and a full program virtual debrief & reflection following conclusion of VAPLP Pod 9 in September. Contractor will prepare thoughts & recommendations for improvement. 

Disclaimer: Although the intent of this SOW is to be comprehensive, it’s not guaranteed to be an exhaustive list. Other tasks may arise, especially when on-site, to be agreed upon by both parties. 

Next Steps

If at any time, should you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please feel free to reach out to Nico Climaco, Leadership Development Manager, at nico@engageva.org.