ToP Image Shift

2013
May 1-3

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ToP Facilitation Graphics

2013
February 8
April 5
October 18
December 6

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Virtual ToP Facilitation Method

2012
November 27-29

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Mastering the Technology of Participation

2013
Intensive I: April 17-19
Intensive II: July 24-26
Intensive III: October 23-25
Intensive IV: January 29-31

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MNToP Trainers

The 7 members of the Minnesota ToP Training team are all Certified ToP Facilitators® and   bring to their training years of experience in public, private and non-profit facilitation, with the added dimension of extensive work experience globally.  All are active participants in  the ToP Trainers Network, an association of professional facilitation trainers who use ICA's ToP methods throughout their work. Each member of this network completes extensive, practical training in ICA's methods in order to develop expertise in our participatory facilitation methods.

The ToP Trainers Network is designed to promote and transfer ToP methods by:

Integrating participation in organizations and communities.

Linking ToP facilitators/trainers for expansion and deepening of skills and continuous learning.

Building business through partnering and collaborating in facilitation, training and consultation services using ICA ToP methods.

Delivering quality ToP training.

Engaging in research and development for leading edge participatory technologies.

Inviting an ever-increasing, diverse and inclusive membership.

Since 2001, the ToP Trainers nationally have trained over 16,000 persons in ToP Facilitation Methods. 

The Minnesota ToP Trainers deliver 15 to 20 public courses a year, always working in teams to assure quality and diverse perspectives.  As well, we customize, design and deliver in-house courses and facilitation.

 

MENTOR TRAINERS

Linda Alton, CTF- READ BIO

Linda Alton linda@mntop.us Linda is a Certified ToP® Facilitator specializing in participatory strategic planning, community building and facilitative leadership development. She designs and develops collaborative processes and training to enable groups to transform input and facilitated conversation into shared decisions, working agreements and focused action. Linda has 35 years of extensive experience with national and international projects with The Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA), and invested ten years in the initial development of the Technology of Participation programs in Western Europe.

Cheryl Kartes, CTF- READ BIO

Cheryl Kartes, CTF cheryl@mntop.us PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Kartes & Associates (1987 - present). Provides consulting, training, facilitation, graphic facilitation and recording, mediation and coaching services. Specializing in strategic planning, program design, focus groups, collaborative projects, board and policy development, and the human side of teamwork, using creative, participatory and experiential methods. Clients include nonprofit, government and business sectors, locally and nationally. Executive Director, Artspace Projects, Inc. (12/81 - 2/87) Co-founder and Associate Director (1/79-11/81). Non-profit developer. Created outreach, educational and service programs, built public/private partnerships and developed housing cooperatives and other collaborative projects for multiple organizations. Also facilitated workshops, cooperative training, marketing studies, focus groups, and community-wide meetings. Consultant (3/87-8/94). TRAINING MNToP: Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA)—MN Field Office (1994-present). Provides training on ToP® Facilitation Methods, Participatory Strategic Planning, Power of Image Shift: Tools for Creative Facilitation, Facilitation Graphics, Facilitating Conciliation, Philosophy of Participation, Mastering the Technology of Participation, Approaches to Environmental Scanning and other Technology of Participation® (ToP) courses developed by the Institute of Cultural Affairs as a "Mentor" Trainer. Also served as a Guide Team member (1993-1998) for the 16 day Leadership Options program of the ICA Chicago and This Moment in Time Retreat. Kartes has designation as a Certified ToP Facilitator and a mentor for the ToP Community of Practice. Kartes & Associates also provides training in a wide range of subject matter, based on client need. PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS / AFFILIATIONS Member: Minnesota Facilitators Network (MFN) — Co-founder (1993), Steering Committee member (1993-1997), Co-Chair (1995, 2003), Diversified Learning Committee member (1995-2004). Awarded “Life-time Membership” in 2005. Member: ODNET MN Organizational Development Network (1996-present). Member: International Association of Facilitators (1997-present), Association Coordinating Team Member, Co-chair, IAF Conf 2001 MN (1999-2001) Member: Global Facilitator Service Corps (2001- present) Member: International Forum of Visual Practitioners (IFVP) (2005-present). Program Associate: The Reflective Leadership Center at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, several project areas 1988-1994, including assistant director of the Intuitive Leadership Project and Arts Leadership program. Board Member: Has served on several public commissions, community advisory boards and nonprofit boards. Other: Kartes was selected for the "Urban Guerrilla Award" in 1984 and was named an "Outstanding Young Woman of America for 1987". She is also the author of Creating Space. PARTIAL CLIENT LIST: Government ♣ Bloomington Public Health, MN ♣ City of Cedar Rapids, IA ♣ City of Faribault, Nat’l Historic Preservation ♣ Cook County Arts Council ♣ Dakota County Healthy Families ♣ GWDC – Governor’s Workforce Dvlpmnt Cncl ♣ Hennepin County Adult Services ♣ Jefferson Center – MN Dept of PCA ♣ League of Minnesota Cities ♣ Mille Lacs County Public Health Community Connections Council ♣ MN Department of Corrections, MCCVS-SA and Battered Women’s Constituency ♣ MN Department of Health-Sexual Violence Prevention ♣ MN Department of Human Services-Foster Care, QID and PAID Depts. ♣ MN Dept of Natural Resources ♣ MN Dept of Public Health ♣ MN Dept of Transportation ♣ Participatory Strategic Planning for: • Brooklyn Center • Brooklyn Park • Vadnais Heights ♣ St. Louis County Commissioners ♣ St. Paul Public Housing Agency ♣ Washington County Public Health, HELM and Community Services Departments Education ♣ Governor’s Summit on School Readiness ♣ Headstart ♣ MN Center for Arts and Education ♣ MN Department of Education ♣ MN Department of Education-Special Ed ♣ St. Paul Schools/Como High School ♣ U of M Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) Pandemic Influenza Business Summit/MTJohnson ♣ U of M Reflective Leadership Center ♣ Uof M Center for Spirituality and Healing /Ways of Knowing Symposiums ♣ Vadnais Heights Elementary Business ♣ 3M / BEST Team ♣ Andersen Windows Corporation ♣ Brooklyn Community Chamber of Commerce ♣ Carlson Hospitality Group Worldwide ♣ Heartland Institute ♣ International Imports/Builders and Remodelers ♣ Medtronic ♣ MTS Systems ♣ Salon Marquee ♣ Target ♣ TREND enterprises ♣ U-Tech Building ♣ Vistar NonProfit ♣ AICPA Am Institute of CPA’s ♣ Arrowhead Center for the Arts ♣ American Museum of Art ♣ CAFCA ♣ Center for the Media Arts ♣ Education Minnesota (teachers union) ♣ Eureka! Recycling ♣ Great River Arts Association ♣ Kairos Dance Theatre ♣ Kobe College/Japan Education Exchange ♣ Learning Disabilities of Minnesota ♣ Management 21/ Goodwill Industries Intl ♣ Minneapolis Beacons Network ♣ Minnesota Council of Nonprofits/PIP ♣ National Nonprofit Facilities Fund, Inc./Ford Foundation ♣ Northcountry Cooperative Development Fund ♣ Northern Warehouse Artists Cooperative ♣ North Country Food Cooperative ♣ One River Mississippi / Center for Enviro Edu ♣ Sabathani Community Center ♣ TC HEAL/CIRA ♣ Textile Center of Minnesota ♣ ToP Trainers Network ♣ Upward Journeys ♣ Vital Aging Network ♣ Women of Nations Battered Women’s Shelter ♣ World Population Balance

SueLaxdal, CTF - READ BIO

SueLaxdal, CTF sue@mntop.us Sue Laxdal's expertise is in organization change, including strategic and operational planning, transition management, management development and organization analysis. She facilitates planning, organization design, conflict management, negotiations, problem-solving and learning opportunities. She has designed curriculum for team-building, managing conflict, effective leadership and project management. Sue was with an internal consulting group in Minnesota State Government, Management Analysis Division, from 1987 until January 1999. Before that she was with an international consulting organization, where she performed a variety of training and executive functions for 17 years. She has a B.A. in business administration from Metropolitan State University and also studied at the Academy of the Institute of Cultural Affairs. She was a 1996 Bush Leadership Fellow and has completed her master of science in organization development at Pepperdine University in the George L. Graziadio School of Business, Culver City, California. Her thesis research was on Success Factors in the Implementation of Strategic Plans.

Jennifer Obinna, CTF- READ BIO

Jennifer Obinna, CTF www.worldbridgeresearch.com jobinna@worldbridgeresearch.com World Bridge Research Jennifer Obinna has been using ToP® Group Facilitation Methods since 2003 and has seen how these approaches can transform communities and organizations. There are also many applications to the research and evaluation context. Dr. Obinna currently serves as the Principal/Owner of World Bridge Research, LLC and holds a Ph.D. and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research and evaluation efforts have focused on violence against women, sexual assault in the Deaf community, the effectiveness of mental health interventions in community contexts and organizational development. In addition to evaluation and research experience, Dr. Obinna has a social work background and worked in non-profits for over 10 years as a policy development specialist, community organizer and counselor.   Dr. Obinna started World Bridge Research in 2005 through a combined effort of bringing culturally competent research approaches together with efforts to promote social justice. World Bridge Research provides community-based agencies and government entities with evaluation services for the purposes of learning how to be more effective.  World Bridge Research custom designs research and evaluation projects to inform policy development efforts, often involving group facilitation and group facilitation methods training as a part of the process.

QUALIFIED TRAINERS

KathyMcGrane, CTF - READ BIO

KathyMcGrane, CTF kmcgraane@comcast.net Consultant, Facilitator, Outdoor Experiential Team Development & Qualified ToPTrainer; Leading effective meetings, Consensus Building, Strategic Planning, Action Planning& FUN. Kathy as Facilitator and Trainer uses Technology of Participation methods tested and used on seven continents, in small villages, boardrooms and everywhere in between to bring out the individuals and groups multi-dimensional thinking of yes and, accepting each ones individual truth; to generate the snap shots as well as the BIG picture. The many perspectives are gathered through dialogue, shared learning, reflection and key action development. Uncovering the group’s interdependencies allows them to expand their creative ability, bringing ownership to produce the risk taking necessary for the group to determine Key Actions and Implementation.   Kathy confidently provides the process to make it easy (facilitates) for the group to provide the content only they can. She provides quality training so you may facilitate your own groups. She has been facilitating using the ToP methods since 1995.

Sheila LeGeros, CTF - READ BIO

Sheila LeGeros, CTF Sheila LeGeros is founder of LeGeros International, a consultancy focused on aligning partners for sustainable growth. Sheila designs and facilitates processes that enable teams to draw upon their internal wisdom in fashioning strategies for growth and change. Sheila has more than 20 years experience working in international business: she spent 5 years as general manager of an industrial operation in Japan, several years as an I.T. project manager, several years managing customer service, and most of her career doing marketing. She has rich experience working with manufacturers and foreign distributor partners to grow their mutual business. Sheila has facilitated a variety of cross-functional and multilingual teams. Here are a few examples of teams she facilitated: • Business-planning sessions to drive accelerated growth for a manufacturer in Japan, China, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, and Central America. • Uncover $11 billion in revenue opportunities in environmental cleaning solutions. • Uncover core competencies to identify adjacent white spaces for growth. • Align global needs for a new corporate web site. • Align a committee?s specifications to rebuild a historic Japanese church in Yokohama that had been destroyed in WWII. • Develop a new vision and strategy, and mobilize change for dramatic growth in a newly created international business unit. • Strategic planning nonprofit board retreat to drive dramatic growth. • Action planning to create a sustainability roadmap for a manufacturer. PUBLIC SPEAKING Multilingual Facilitation Workshop to be presented at 2008 International Association of Facilitators Conference in Atlanta Minnesota Trade Center?s Japan Symposium, Lessons Learned in Japan, 2004 & 2006 Minnesota World Trade Week, Lessons Learned in China, 2005 Keynote: Bloomington Izumi Sister City Banquet 2004 Advanced Toastmaster (ATM) PROFESSIONAL Certified ToP® (Technology of Participation) Facilitator, Institute of Cultural Affairs Certified by Prosci® in the change management process Technology of Participation® Champion Award 2007 Member, International Association of Facilitators Member, Minnesota Facilitators Network COMMUNITY Japan America Society of Minnesota, Board of Directors, Vice President Fundraising for Carleton College Level 2 volunteer facilitator for the YWCA on racism and white privilege EDUCATION MBA, Monterey Institute of International Studies; Monterey, California BA, Carleton College; Northfield, Minnesota; Sociology/Anthropology

Rachel Hefte, CTF - READ BIO

Rachel Hefte, CTF Rachel.hefte@co.hennepin.mn.us Rachel Heft is a long time activist and organizer and has worked as an educator for over 20 years in mental health, public health, secondary education, and now as trainer and facilitator for the University of Minnesota Extension in the area of Leadership and Civic Engagement. After graduating from Luther College in 1983, Rachel served in the Lutheran Volunteer Corps in the inner City of Baltimore.  While obtaining a teaching certificate at the University of Minnesota, Rachel worked for peace and environmental non-profits doing organizing and educational outreach for social justice. Rachel began taking ICA ToP courses while serving as the Violence Prevention Coordinator for Anoka County Community Health Department. She worked on engagement campaigns in Anoka County, including a community-youth development project to train youth and adults for their tobacco prevention campaigns, and  expanded the TFM to a week long course and taught ToP methods to teachers at Hamline University during the summers of 2003 and 2004.  Rachel completed the year- long MTOP intensive in 2003.  In 2008, Rachel was awarded the international certification in facilitation as a Certified ToP Facilitator (CTF).