Tag Archives: participatory learning

Christopher Szecsey

Christopher Szecsey

Christopher Szecsey (pronounced “say-chay”) has over 38 years of worldwide experience across more than 48 countries in capacity-building of individuals, teams, community groups, organizations, & projects. For the past 15 years, he has worked as consultant, trainer, & facilitator with international nonprofits & local nonprofits (NGOs) as well as with government & multilateral agencies in the USA & around the world.

His international clients include: the Center for Disease Control in Ethiopia, Carter Center, World Wildlife Fund, American Red Cross, Save the Children, CARE, PACT, PATH, Family Health International, Pathfinder, Counterpart International, The Asia Foundation, FAO/UN, UNDP, & UNICEF as well as international consulting firms, foundations, & government agencies. Prior to consulting, he served nine years as a Country Representative/Field Office Director for Save the Children/US on three international assignments in Asia & the Pacific Islands; two years as a Project Director for UNDP in Nepal; & three years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador.

His USA clients, mostly in the Northern California, include: the Volunteer Center & its Nonprofit Resource Center, Community Action Partnerships, West County Community Services, Santa Rosa Symphony, Habitat for Humanity, RECOURSE, Restorative Resources, Sonoma County Repertory Theater, Next Generation, Lifeschool, Osmosis, Southwest Community Health Center, La Luz, foundations such as Levi Strauss & West County Healthcare, school districts, & local city & county government agencies.

Key areas of Christopher’s consulting experience include building the capacity of the nonprofit sector around the world including in the USA; providing technical assistance, training & facilitation in collaboration/partnerships; organizational assessment & development, leadership & team strengthening;  program assessment, design, planning, & management; & board & staff development as well as work with local government agencies.

Christopher has significant experience & skills in training & facilitation with boards, senior staff, & diverse stakeholder groups, using learner center participatory, interactive, & collaborative learning processes to ensure client & stakeholder involvement, engagement & ownership for positive change efforts.

He has served on the board of three nonprofits as well as the chair of one, and as a nonprofit executive director. He graduated from the University of the Pacific/Callison College, and successfully completed the Executive Certificate Program in Global Change & Social Innovation/Appreciative Inquiry, Global Excellence in Management (GEM) Initiative, Case Western Reserve University. His three languages are: English, Spanish, and Indonesian.

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Specialties:

  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Board Training & Development
  • Community Development/ Mobilization & Community Partnerships
  • Consulting
  • Facilitating
  • Facilitator Training
  • High-Impact Strategic Planning
  • Leadership Training & Development
  • Management Training & Development
  • Organizational Assessment
  • Organizational Development
  • Participatory Learning
  • Participatory Management
  • Partnership Building & Strengthening
  • Program/Project Development & Management
  • Staff Training & Development
  • Team Building
  • Visioning & Futuring

Jeanie Cockell

Jeanie Cockell Profile Picture

Dr. Jeanie Cockell, is president of a consulting company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Jeanie is a dynamic facilitator who is known for her creativity, sense of humour, sensitivity, and ability to get diverse groups to work collaboratively together. She is a leader in Appreciative Inquiry as an organizational and community development process, a research methodology and foundation for fostering collaboration in groups. Jeanie has been certified by Company of Experts.net as both an Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator and an appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Training (AIFT) Trainer.

Since 1999 Jeanie has worked as an educational and organizational consultant with organizations in the private, public and social-profit sectors. She has extensive experience in facilitating, presenting, training, coaching, conflict resolution, leading and collaboratively designing strategies for individuals, groups, organizations and communities to build positive futures and to respond effectively to change.

Her background includes teaching, presenting and delivering workshops in a variety of areas: appreciative inquiry; team building; leadership; diversity; mathematics; adult learning; instructional skills, planning and design; instructor and program evaluation; and facilitator training. As well Jeanie has had formal leadership roles at Vancouver Community College as Mathematics Department Head, Associate Dean; at the Institute of Indigenous Government where she consulted as Dean in the senior executive team; and at the British Columbia Ministry of Advanced Education as Project Officer leading a large provincial project.

Her consulting work is based on the expertise that she developed and continues to enhance as an educator and leader, as well as the theoretical/research background she developed in doing her Masters research on “Power and Leadership: A Perspective from College Women” (1993) and her Doctoral  research on “Making Magic: Facilitating Collaborative Processes (2005).

Jeanie has a BA in Mathematics, an MA in Higher Education and an EdD in Educational Leadership and Policy all from the University of British Columbia. She is also an Instructional Skills Facilitator Trainer, Gender and Diversity Facilitator Trainer, Sociocultural Competency Trainer, and Appreciative Inquiry Facilitator Trainer.

Publishing includes:

  • Cockell, J. (1999). Power and leadership: A perspective from college women. In Gender and Diversity: Facilitator Guide, 115 – 120. Victoria, BC: Ministry of Advanced Education and Centre for Curriculum Transfer and Technology.
  • Cockell, J. (2006). Making magic: Facilitating collaborative processes. In Research in Action, Proceedings of the Canadian Association for the Study of Adult Education (Atlantic Region) conference.
  • Cockell, J. contributor to Reed, J. (2007). Appreciative Inquiry: Research for Change (p. 143, 144, 145). Sage Publishers.
  • Cockell, J. (2007). Making Magic Doing Research. In AI Practitioner: The International Journal of AI Best Practice, 47 – 48, November 2007.
  • Cockell, J. (2008). Appreciative Inquiry. In Four Arrows Don Trent Jacobs (Ed.), The Authentic Dissertation: Alternative Ways of Knowing, Research, and Representation (pp.201 – 205). NY,NY: Routledge.
  • Cockell, J. (2010). The AI Circle. In AI Practitioner: The International Journal of AI Best Practice, 43 – 46, February 2010.

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Specialties:

  • Appreciative Inquiry
  • Building Teams
  • Change Management
  • Collaborative Learning
  • Communication
  • Conflict Resolution
  • Developing cultural inclusion in teaching and training
  • Diversity in the Workplace
  • Facilitating
  • Great Teaching or Great Teachers Seminars
  • Instructional Skills Workshops
  • Leadership Training and Development
  • Organizational Development
  • Participatory Learning
  • Presentation Skills Workshops (PSW)
  • Spirit in the Workplace
  • Strategic Planning
  • Teacher or Trainer training and development
  • Visioning and Futuring
  • Women in Leadership