Welcome to Unpack your inheritance Facilitator Training
Inheritance Project’s Facilitator Training empowers you to step into the role of facilitator and culture-maker. In this program, you will join a select cohort of leaders to learn the tools you need to facilitate the Unpack Your Inheritance workshop and play a pivotal role in cultivating a culture of inclusion and belonging in your work community.
If you are reading this it's because you...
are a leader or an aspiring leader within your organization
care deeply about the people in your work community and want to help grow a healthy culture
wish to leave a legacy of inclusion and belonging where you work
desire to level up your facilitation and leadership skills
understand the power of dialogue to create change
Take the Journey
When you say “yes” to this 10-week program, you are beginning a journey of lifelong learning and growth. By facilitating dialogue about inheritance and identity, and practicing inclusive leadership, you have the opportunity to plant the seeds of change in your organization. You will become a leader in a new kind of ecosystem; one in which every individual can grow and thrive together.
Join Your Cohort Today!
Objectives & Impact
This Unpack Your Inheritance (UYI) Facilitator training will certify you to facilitate UYI workshops within your organization and level up your inclusive leadership skills.
In this course, you will learn how to...
Speak and present with confidence and presence
Employ the secrets to effective facilitation (hint: it’s unique to you)
Use Inheritance Project’s unique methodology to lead powerful conversations about identity and belonging
Hold space for difficult conversations and conflict, as well as breakthroughs and discoveries
Engage workshop participants productively, even in challenging situations
Be a “generous authority” to keep a group on track
Transform your limiting beliefs about leadership and facilitation
Guide mindfulness and somatic practices
Organize and lead virtual sessions smoothly
Celebrate and cherish your participants to create a felt experience of inclusion
Inside the Journey
What’s Included?
Dynamic Workshops
four 2-hour virtual workshops and one full-day in-person practicum
Self Reflection
dive deep into unpacking your own inheritance through guided journaling reflections to uncover and express your story
Somatic Practices
weekly guided practices like meditation, breath-work, movement, guided visualization, and more
Triads
small accountability groups to collaborate on assignments, practice skills, and exchange feedback
Self-Led Workshop
one 90-minute UYI facilitation for a small group of your choice with the support of your triad
Weekly Readings
from The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity by Kwame Appiah and other sources
Resource Library
full access to a content library of resources, exercises, and supporting materials including articles, books, podcasts, and videos from thought leaders in the fields of facilitation, leadership, identity, and storytelling
Mobile App
full access to the Inheritance Project App to navigate the course, share reflections, and stay connected to the Inheritance Project community after your program is completed
Course Overview
Session 1:
Who, What, How & Why? (Virtual)
Explore the philosophy and methodology behind creating authentic spaces of belonging and transformation.
Session 2:
Workshop Anatomy, Methodology & Logistics (Virtual)
Learn the anatomy of the UYI workshop and how to create a seamless participant experience in a virtual space.
Session 3:
Privilege & Power (Virtual)
Explore what it means to hold space for others and be a bridge e.g., How do I take care of the whole? How do I respond to power and privilege dynamics in a workshop, at work, and in the world?
Session 4:
Full-Day Practicum (In-Person)
Immerse yourself in each aspect of the UYI workshop, practice facilitating, and receive live coaching on voice, speech, and presence.
Session 5:
INTEGRATION & Graduation
Reflect on your journey as a group, integrate facilitation feedback, and celebrate the completion of your training.
What Does it Mean to be a Facilitator?
Being the Bridge
Facilitation, like leadership, is a deeply misunderstood skill. There are just as many inherited beliefs and misconceptions about what it means to be a good facilitator as there are about being a good leader.
A great facilitator is a bridge that guides and balances the needs of the group with the needs of individuals. This bridge connects people to a common ground, a space where people can reach an objective or new way of thinking, being, or feeling.
A facilitator is a leader who takes on the responsibility to care for the people they are guiding through...
a workshop
an experience
a project
a meeting
a conversation
an event
Effective facilitation is often invisible, and yet it greatly affects the outcome of any event, conversation, or conflict.
When an event is well facilitated, we are fully present in their own experience. We are engaged and focused on the task at hand rather than the facilitator. Poor facilitation takes us out of the moment and into our minds, which often become restless, disengaged, annoyed, or even downright triggered or enraged. A poor facilitator can even cause unintentional harm.
Facilitation and leadership are interconnected.
An effective leader is a skilled facilitator.
To become a skilled facilitator, you must learn how to lead yourself and those in your care.
Goals for our Facilitators
Learn how to deliver the Unpack Your Inheritance workshop experience, as both lead facilitator and tech support
Understand how to use all the materials and software e.g., Zoom, Session Lab, and Spotify to create a seamless experience
Feel confident handling any situation or conversation that may arise in a group
Transform inherited limiting beliefs, biases, or behaviors and cultivate deeper self-awareness
What Skills and Tools Will I Learn?
Delivery
Public speaking skills: tone, clarity, and breath support
Body language and physical presence
Content
The concept and function of inheritance in our lives and personal narratives
5Cs of Identity (Country, Culture, Creed, Color, Class) and the paradoxes of identity
The power of storytelling
The philosophy and impact of inclusive leadership
Privilege and power dynamics in the workplace
Inheritance Project’s Facilitator Manifesto
Logistics & Production
Participant communications
How to manage workshop tech support and how it affects the participant experience
Self-Awareness
Awareness of your own identity and how you may be perceived
Being the bridge: how to maintain the role of facilitator while acknowledging personal bias
Understanding the human nervous system and how it may impact your facilitation and leadership
Holding Space
How to manage time and conversations effectively
How to guide the energy of the group
How to be a generous authority whose priority is to take care of the whole
How to respond to challenging or controversial shares
How to listen actively and help people feel seen
The art of asking questions to inspire deep dialogue
Meet Your Facilitators
Ariel Figueroa (Lead Facilitator)
is an educator, facilitator, and health and wellness practitioner, who creates spaces for self-inquiry, healing and transformation. Ariel received his Masters of Education from Hunter College. After years as a teacher in public and private schools, Ariel began integrating his training in education with yoga, meditation, massage therapy and other healing arts to create AHA, a organization offering nature-based retreats and programming for individual and team development.
A native New Yorker of Puerto Rican and Jewish descent, Ariel is guided by an inquiry into the architecture of identity and transformation. His mission is to create transformational spaces for learning, healing, and growth by integrating self-discovery with embodiment practices.
Mallory Combemale (Supporting Facilitator)
is a consultant, designer, and facilitator of transformative experiences. Her 10+ years of facilitation experience ranges from working through race relations on college campuses to creating highly customized executive workshops on strategy, innovation, and team effectiveness at the Deloitte Greenhouse.
A Singaporean-French-American citizen raised in London, Mallory has always been fascinated with identity and facilitating cross-cultural understanding. She is passionate about empowering leaders with the skills and self-awareness to lead in a diverse, global, and uncertain future.
Katya Stepanov (Supporting Facilitator)
is a facilitator, speaker, writer, artist, and immersive experience designer who trains and works with leaders, individuals, and organizations to build understanding across cultural divides and guide authentic social change. A Jewish-Ukrainian-Russian refugee from Belarus, she was inspired to create the Inheritance Project through dialogue about her own complex identity.
Educated at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama, she translates advanced techniques in storytelling and communication for diverse audiences. Katya is a 200hr RYT Yoga Instructor, a former immersive game designer, and a professional film actor. She has facilitated team events for over 100 companies across sectors including Deloitte, Lockheed Martin, and HBO. Her mission is to connect people across divides through storytelling and creating containers for transformation and belonging.
Join the Inheritance Project Family
Workplaces around the world are going through major transformations
People want to be valued, seen, and heard.
Leaders in every industry are recognizing the need to create human-centered work environments where people can thrive.
Our mission is to change the way people all over the world understand themselves and connect with one another. By unpacking, investigating, and exchanging stories about our inheritances in intentionally facilitated settings, we gain greater self-awareness and the capacity to connect with those who are different from us. This creates the foundation for teams and communities to bridge divides, build trust, collaborate across differences and create genuine cultures of belonging.
We are thrilled to welcome you to the Inheritance Project Family and support you to bring this movement to your community.
In gratitude,
Ariel, Mallory and Katya
Unpack Your Inheritance
Facilitator Training
Creating the Ecosystem for Change
