We are on a mission to transform the public sector to a space where collaboration and innovation can thrive. Join the dynamic shift towards collaboration and positive-sum theory and practice. We work with public agencies from the local to federal level, and any value aligned organization dedicated to social impact work. Whether you need a crash course in collaborative leadership, an inclusive systems overhaul, or specialized negotiations facilitation, we’ve got your back.
The public sector has done a good job in diversifying its workforce. Notably, gender, ethnic, and racial diversity within this sector surpasses that found in the broader workforce, making it a better Read More reflection of the communities these agencies serve. Moreover, there are significant opportunities to further enhance collaborative cultures both within these agencies and in their interactions with the communities they serve. These opportunities represent fertile ground for innovation to flourish and for employees and the communities they engage with to experience a greater sense of value. Effective and ethical collaboration is also crucial for ensuring equity in resource allocation and achieving cost and time savings. Read Less
Even small-scale collaboration can be a fractal of change. Change can happen from the ground up and from the inside out. As policy continues to evolve and catch up, Read More we work with change-agents inside bureaucracies to reshape and refine systems to be ethical, accountable and innovative. In communities from the hyper local to the global scale, we share big problems that need solving soon. Climate change, pandemics and conflict affect us all. We convene the spaces where the folks who are the experts via their lived experiences and their knowledge can get together to discover the solutions. Read Less
Our small, boutique firm is BIPOC and queer-led. We infuse creativity, authenticity, and active listening into everything we do. Read More We seamlessly coordinate services and foster collaborations with like-minded firms that share our values and offer complementary expertise. This collaborative approach allows us to deliver exceptional services to both our clients and the broader community. Our offerings encompass tailored training and facilitation, peer coaching, as well as supportive communities of learning and care. Read Less
Our facilitation services create space for everyone to be a participant and alleviates team leaders from having to straddle both roles. This encourages engagement and creativity, builds trust, and fortifies communication. Facilitation safely surfaces tension and provides tools and practices to transform conflict when it does arise. Improved team and individual decision-making emerge by sharing perspectives. This leads to clarity of objectives and deepening investment in the work and one another. Facillitation can guide:
Emily has the ability to not only train and facilitate, however, to be able to read the room and flex work when interests and needs have a degree of teams not quite being on the same page so to speak. Her ability to assist in teams building trust, valuing each other, and listening to story is exceptional!
Emily is great at what she does. She keeps things moving and doesn't waste our time. We were able to get through hard topics and she is super organized so it is easy to go back and remember where we were.
Emily is a phenomenal facilitator. I have worked with her numerous times and I always walk away with something new. She is willing to adjust her training on the spot depending on what her attendees need/want. She has trained our negotiations team, district level administration and board of trustees. I would highly recommend Emily as a trainer.
I really enjoyed the tone of this training. It was inspirational, informative and transformational. The responsiveness of the trainers to our needs (sometimes on the fly) was top-notch. The humor that was interwoven allowed for a space of genuineness and growth. "Growth edges" is new vocabulary that I have integrated into my life. Thank you, thank you!
This training was very helpful with generating crucial conversations among our team and building mutual understanding between members.
Working with the Swell crew was a tremendous experience, both as a participant and as a fellow facilitator period. [They] took the time to understand our context and what we were hoping to achieve at the end of our time together. [Their] facilitation brought in new methods that were truly appreciated by our attendees.
I would give the service and training provided us by Emily and the Collective Consultancy 10 out of 10 stars. I have been a part of the classified negotiating team since before interest based bargaining (IBB) was introduced to Los Alamitos Unified School District, to be honest I hope we never stop using this creative way of negotiating. It has given us the ability to work together as one team to come up with solutions for contract and budget issues. By working together it takes the us against them mentally out of the process. Also our relationship outside the negotiating table never been better...
Emily was a great IBB facilitator for our negotiation session. She was able to help the teams navigate several contentious topics always steering the room back to the basic tenets of the IBB process.
Emily and Nina emphasized vulnerability and holding space for transformation. My individual growth was held in the trust that I could show up as my full self, warts and all! Our team benefited from the efficient and focused, yet open and adaptive way they guided us through our work.
I can't thank Swell enough for the support! They helped us do what we needed to do, but often with small organizations it is hard to find the capacity to fill the need. Swell made that a lot easier. Having an outside organization to help facilitate our conversations was amazingly beneficial, as my company is organized into various tired groups with different levels of hierarchy. I found that having the 2 facilitators from Swell was particularly efficient in staying on track and keeping us all organized, as one could lead the conversation in an organic way and the other could focus on note-taking so we could all reference those pieces of information later.
TSC is run by women of color who believe in creating spaces to foster the growth of others. I am all about women of color in leadership and in collective spaces for healing, growth, training, and action.
I really enjoyed the tone of this training. It was inspirational, informative and transformational. The responsiveness of the trainers to our needs (sometimes on the fly) was top-notch. The humor that was interwoven allowed for a space of genuineness and growth. "Growth edges" is new vocabulary that I have integrated into my life. Thank you, thank you!
Working with the Swell crew was a tremendous experience, both as a participant and as a fellow facilitator period. [They] took the time to understand our context and what we were hoping to achieve at the end of our time together. [Their] facilitation brought in new methods that were truly appreciated by our attendees.
The Facilitator's Academy was a very invigorating experience and helped reorient my life when I needed it. I appreciate the manner that Emily as well as the team for facilitating such a wonderful space. It encouraged me to come out of my shell and roar as a lion
I learned so much form the Facilitators Academy - it wasn't only about facilitation tools (although we learned a lot about those!) - it was really about holding a gentle space for people to bring forward their most authentic selves (even in these awkward zoom spaces). In these days when the world gives us so much reason to feel rage, despair, and grief, holding gentle space is a critical skill. People can feel all those challenging feelings *and* get in touch with sources of joy and hope. Being in the "room" with the main facilitator, Emily Gonzales was a revelation. I felt as if a more communitarian future were being manifested before my eyes.
I can't thank Swell enough for the support! They helped us do what we needed to do, but often with small organizations it is hard to find the capacity to fill the need. Swell made that a lot easier. Having an outside organization to help facilitate our conversations was amazingly beneficial, as my company is organized into various tired groups with different levels of hierarchy. I found that having the 2 facilitators from Swell was particularly efficient in staying on track and keeping us all organized, as one could lead the conversation in an organic way and the other could focus on note-taking so we could all reference those pieces of information later.
