For more than 10 years, Storywalkers has designed, convened and facilitated honest, innovative and transformative communities of practice (COP). These efforts have brought together leaders and thinkers ranging from front line service providers, directors and executives, program managers, professors, students and community partners. Participants have established thoughtful new plans to respond to the need for collective leadership, cultural responsiveness, meaningful diversity and equity practices, and increasingly inclusive service delivery strategies.

How Storywalkers Approaches Communities of Practice

We identify a community of practice as a group of individuals who share a common focus or purpose to their work and who commit to learn together and (often) design solutions together. The common focus may be at the center of everyone’s work or it may be an area that is difficult to change and often does not get sufficient attention. All members commit to participate in a series of structured and facilitated meetings with a specific aim. The group size can range from less than ten to several dozen.

COPs often explore topics that are complicated, sensitive, challenging or even controversial. As a result, the tenor of the COP is critical. The facilitation must be strong and trustworthy. Participants need to participate from a place of curiosity, able to ask questions and not know the answers, or to be challenged on their assumptions.

The goal of the COP can be simply to learn from one another or it might be to find a solution to a problem, develop recommendations, or design and carryout out collaborative projects. The COP may engage participants in teams, each of which have specific assignments and responsibilities during and outside of the COP. Often the COP has a concluding event during which participants and/or teams present their final achievements and/or recommendations.