Sample Workshops

The Blue Zones Challenge:
Intentional Relationships for Longevity

Blue Zones are "areas of the world where people live the longest lives, consistently reaching age 100." In studying these long-lived people, researcher Dan Buettner identified nine lifestyle habits that contributed to healthy living. Three of these revolved around community-building: find a sense of BELONGing, put LOVED ONES FIRST, and find your RIGHT TRIBE. Developed in collaboration with the Urban Life Center for their January Blue Zones Challenge, this workshop helped participants reflect on a community they wanted to develop deeper relationships with. 

Where do we come from?
Storytelling as an Entry Point to Community Partnerships

This workshop was designed for Towson University Social Action Collaboratory Fellows, a yearlong program where students "learn about social justice issues, work with local community organizations, and develop the tools to support peers in community-based learning." Students developed a personal story about food sovereignty (their “tastes of home”) as an entry-point into dialogue with community partners about food apartheid. Then, they practiced weaving their individual stories together and reflected on the meaning they can generate from the connections between their stories.  

Community Is...

A 4-part exploratory workshop series looking to define “community” and our relationship to it, guided by stories of our communities and local farmers market produce. In collaboration with local farmers, I developed dinners around these themes. To read more, hover over the photos in the gallery. After the workshop, participants filled out a feedback survey. Five of the six participants reflected that they thought about community more often after this workshop series.

Story Seeds: Leadership as an Emergent Practice

Presented to the Johns Hopkins University ODK Beta Circle, a student leadership honor society, this workshop explored the Story Seeds project as an example of emergent leadership. Click here to view the recording.