YW Boston is seeking an experienced facilitation team to lead a one-day, on-site, all-staff advance on Monday, October 20, 2025, that fosters staff capacity for generative conflict and feedback, builds skills for engaging in transformative practices, and cultivates deeper psychological safety and trust throughout ongoing organizational change.
This advance will focus on building stronger foundations for how we work together by deepening our collective capacity to engage in conflict constructively, repair relational harm through restorative practices, build accountability, and care for and communicate with one another through sustained organizational change.
We invite proposals from facilitators with demonstrated experience holding space for diverse teams to engage in dialogue across differences in power, positionality, and lived experience, leading restorative and transformative practices, and navigating organizational change. Proposals should demonstrate the ability to partner with organizations to co-create and facilitate inclusive, future-focused sessions that allow for reflection, cross-team relationship building, and active skill-building.
Requirements:
- Advance scheduled for Monday, October 20, 2025, 10 AM- 4 PM
- In-Person facilitation only
- Two-facilitator team preferred
- Maximum award: $5000.
Advance Objectives (what YW Boston wants to move toward)
- Healing & Repair: Facilitate conversations that allow participants to address past harms and unresolved conflicts while developing the accountability and restorative practices needed to move forward and navigate future instances of harm together. Participants will have the opportunity to acknowledge the organizational impact of unresolved tensions and past harms by exploring pathways for collective healing, cross-team relationships, and increased trust and psychological safety.
- Building Generative Conflict and Communication Skills: Practice using tools and approaches to navigate difficult conversations and share/receive feedback across power imbalances, allowing us to transform tension into opportunities for deeper understanding and stronger relationships.
Achieving Objectives 1 and 2 should prepare participants for the second day of our Advance, which will be self-facilitated with a focus on building cross-organizational relationships and strengthening communication and care practices that will be essential for navigating future change.
Proposal Submission
Deadline: Friday, August 22, 5 PM
Send proposals to: Equity Steering Committee Co-Chairs: Samantha Isabel Calero, VP People and Culture, scalero@ywboston.org and Jay Boss, Director of FYRE, jboss@ywboston.org
Please respond to the following questions in no more than two pages:
- What is the relevant experience of facilitator(s) for this engagement?
- How would you approach balancing the development of shared language and frameworks with the application of those skills through critical dialogue needed to continue building trust and organizational resilience?
- How do you envision balancing a thoughtful reconciliation of the past with a future focus across staff with differing needs, experiences, and tenures?
- What key information would you need in order to be successful in this engagement?
- Please outline your fee structure and confirm your availability for Monday, October 20, 2025, 10 AM- 4 PM.
