Consulting SERVICES
Meeting and group Facilitation
Do you want Cynara to facilitate your next workshop? Fill out our facilitation intake form now!
At Cynara, we work with our clients and partners to design and facilitate meetings, workshops and planning sessions – both in-person and virtually. We help teams use their time together effectively through processes that enable outcomes and decisions to emerge from the group.
Feminist facilitation
Our feminist facilitation approach strives to create a convening space that values participants’ time, energy, skills, and lived experiences while encouraging self- and group- awareness of power and hierarchies -- both internally and externally. Inspired by philosophies like Emergent Strategy, we believe facilitation is not only a tool for helping groups brainstorm and make decisions, but also for building community and fostering trust, both of which are essential for creating a collective movement toward whatever it is your group is trying to achieve.
Watch Lindsey’s presentation about consent and care as core principles of feminist facilitation below (also here) or read the mini-zine here.
methods
We use multi-modal and interactive methods, drawing on techniques like Liberating Structures. We know meetings and workshops can be motivating, fun, and inclusive of individuals’ various needs and engagement styles.
Gender and social equity analysis
We gather, analyze, synthesize, and present information so that your team can design and implement effective strategies to achieve your goals, influence policies, and improve institutional practices. We specialize in gender and social equity analyses about how political, economic, and environmental conditions, trends, policies, and institutional practices affect gender and other social groups similarly, differently and (in)equitably.
methods
We use multiple research methods including literature reviews, surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Our approach builds on the gender analysis and gender audit techniques that are common in the international aid and development space, such as the InterAction Gender Audit Handbook.
Highlight: Policy Brief for asia pacific economic cooperation (APEC)
The policy brief, Women, COVID-19, and the Future of Work in APEC, developed through a contract with The Asia Foundation for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Policy Center about the impact of COVID-19 on women in APEC economies and the gender implications for 4th Industrial Revolution.
TRAININGS
Gender Training platform
The Gender Training Platform hosts interactive, live online courses about gender equality and social justice topics for people and organizations working in international and community development, humanitarian, human rights, and philanthropic sectors. All trainings are designed, delivered, and owned by independent trainers who are experts in their field and passionate about creating original, nuanced, and interactive learning experiences.
We’ve trained professionals from a range of international organizations including Mercy Corps, Global Communities, DAI, The Malala Fund, GIZ, Chemonics, Save the Children, and War Child Holland.
We offer a tiered payment structure so that well-resourced institutions pay more than individuals and organizations with fewer resources. Learn more a bout our training fees and scholarships here.
“I had the absolute privilege of undertaking Cynara’s Gender Specialist Foundations with a group of inspiring and open-hearted women from around the world. The course introduced me to new frameworks and lenses to ensure gender equality and social inclusion approaches can become more integral to my work. ”
Strategy development and planning processes
We guide teams through strategic planning, work planning, and implementation processes to help you turn visions into clear goals and actionable plans with indicators for measuring results and processes for holding yourselves and your partners accountable. We draw on technology, analysis, and consultations to validate your team’s plans and help you implement them.
Approach
Cynara’s approach to strategy development and planning processes is an extension of our facilitation approach, drawing on practices such as Emergent Strategy and principles of Mutual Aid. We aim to create spaces where ideas and decisions can emerge from the group and in doing so, the group guides the development of the strategy, vision, focus, and actions. We use a general process to guide the development of a strategy, while also recognizing that these processes are iterative and non-linear.
The best plans allow time and space to move among the various phases as new information, ideas, and realities emerge.
Read more about our approach to facilitation here.
Accolades: Strategic Planning for the DC Abortion Fund
We led the DC Abortion Fund through an eight-month strategic planning process. We designed and facilitated a strategic planning workshop with the 13-member Board of Directors and guided them in development of strategic priorities, implementation plans, and indicators for monitoring success. We also conducted interviews and focus groups with stakeholders to get their feedback and created an online, collaborative work plan for Board members to hold each other accountable in implementing the plan.
“Lindsey did an incredible job managing an eight-month strategic planning process for our all-volunteer organization. She kept us on track, helped us hone in on our values and priorities, and made sure we left with the tools and documents we needed to meet our goals over the next three years. Our team particularly appreciated her flexibility, expertise in different facilitation and information-gathering techniques, and quick turn-around with different pieces of the project.”