Let’s shift ideas into action…
Develop skills…
Graphic Facilitation Workshop
May 1-2, 2025, Winnipeg, Canada
Design your own
What clients are saying…
Building Networks
Michelle was responsible for building a network of research institutions in South Asia under an ADB supported project, and building their capacity to have influence with their work and ideas in urban sustainability. This included skill development in strategic communications, engagement and relationship building. This happened at the municipal as well as regional scale via networking, training and other forums to connect, learn and share together. Michelle supported the teams from India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as a mentor, capacity builder, and trainer to keep people connected and to learn from each other on their efforts and contributions to evidence-based policy making and in support of ADB’s agenda to promote innovation. Michelle is very skilled in her field.
Vivian Castro-Wooldridge
Senior Urban Development Specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Passion and Enthusiasm
Michelle worked with the District of Elkford through the Columbia Basin Trust on a Climate Change adaptation Project. Michelle was completely committed to the project, and ensured it was on time and produced the intended results. Michelle brings passion and enthusiasm to work. It was a pleasure to work with Michelle.
Corien Speaker
Former Chief Administrative Officer, District of Elkford
Generously shared knowledge
I was looking for some hands on learning in graphic facilitation and was lucky to find Michelle Laurie’s annual Rosviz workshop in Rossland, B.C. She skillfully and generously shared her knowledge and experience in a fun and practical way. I was looking to increase my skills in harvesting and sense making in real time in my workshops and dialogue sessions. Laurie’s workshop helped me up my game (as a facilitator and process designer) and my practice in graphic facilitation has taken off like a rocket. I apply graphic facilitation to almost everything when I have the opportunity. It’s like Frank’s Hot Sauce commercial. I put that s— on everything! and wow what a difference it makes for my clients who are bogged down or overwhelmed by complexity. The feedback I get from my clients say it all. Thanks Michelle for helping me take my work to a new level.
Jules Leboeuf
Department of Environment and Parks, Government of Alberta (2018)
Expert Advice and Support
Michelle has provided expert advice and support to assist the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) to be a leader on challenging and innovative projects/processes for more than a dozen years. In the early 2000’s when climate change was starting to be understood by governments and the scientific community Michelle designed multi-year strategic initiatives with more than twenty local governments and communities to help these communities understand what climate change is, how it may impact local communities and what type of actions these communities should consider to be more resilient or adapt to a range of future climate scenarios. Related to international water policy, Michelle helped develop cutting edge processes to help develop the capacity of community leaders, elected officials and staff to both understand the range of issues they were facing, how these impacted their various areas of authority and what tangible actions they could take.
Michelle has worked collaboratively with CBT and others and is willing and generous in sharing her skills. She has been supportive of CBT staff and the many partners our organization works with. She demonstrated great skill and knowledge in working with a variety of partners groups (including NGO’s, local governments, provincial governments, first nations and federal governments). She creatively designed and facilitated hundreds of meetings to strategize, learn together and engage people on tough topics. Additional highlights include facilitating the kick off meeting of government, utilities and First Nations where they agreed (for the first time ever) to work on reintroducing salmon to the Columbia River, assisting CBT staff to design a new organizational department for the Trust, and assessing long standing initiatives for learning and their evolution. She brings a broad wealth of skills and experience adding value to any team. Michelle is especially skilled helping to think through very complex multi layered issues and lay out very practical and useful frameworks for addressing this complexity. If you need help solving interesting complex problems Michelle Laurie is the person for your job!
Kindy Gosal
Executive Director, Special Initiatives, Columbia Basin Trust
Careful Preparation
The graphic facilitation workshop that Michelle and Nancy provided for Alberta Agriculture staff in fall 2011 was fantastic! They began by setting the stage through careful preparation with the intention of the participants knowing it would be a safe place to learn, stretch their abilities and try new things. And it worked. Participants found the workshop to be energizing, fun, and interesting, but most of all useful. Everyone walked away with ways they planned to incorporate the concepts into their daily work to better engage co-workers, partners and clients. From using it in everything from agendas, minutes, flipcharts and handouts; to ice breakers, meetings, and team building; to note-taking, brainstorming and other planning processes; the graphic facilitation techniques are here to stay. A huge thank you to Michelle and Nancy for lighting the fire!
Sharon Stollery
Ag Industry Extension Branch, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development
Lasting memory
Loved the workshop with Nancy and Michelle…it really was practical and applicable to my work as a facilitator. I still love creating harvest walls and seeing the ripples for others who want to try it out! And also it is such a lasting memory for participants.
Lee Crevier
Facilitator, Interior Health (2018)
Learning along the way…
Reflective practice is a part of our DNA.