Curious about peer-led organizing and expanding your understanding of what facilitation means? Join us for 3 interactive virtual workshops in June. No prior experience is required; however, participants will benefit from registering in the full series!

Our facilitation is grounded in anti-oppression values, and we use this approach in all our work. If you are new to PeerNet BC workshops, we strongly suggest registering in the Planting the Seeds of Anti-Oppression workshop to understand the value of using this framework. We consider this workshop to be foundational!

Offerings

• Planting the Seeds of Anti-Oppression : June 1, 6pm - 8:30pm
• Principles of Peer Support: June 9, 1-3:30pm
• Nuts and Bolts of Facilitation: June 18, 10:00am-12:30pm

About This Workshop: Planting the Seeds of Anti-Oppression

Systemic imbalances of power exist in our society. Recognizing how these imbalances influence group dynamics is an important skill for facilitators, group members, and community members at large. In this 2.5 hour workshop utilizing discussion and experiential learning, participants will reflect on their personal relationship to power and have an opportunity to broaden their perspectives on accessibility, allyship, inclusion, power, privilege, and how to move forward together.

Accessibility

• These sessions will be offered using the Zoom platform. Please make sure you have the app or web-browser compatibility to use Zoom on your device.
• These sessions will be 2.5 hours long with a short break. You are welcome to keep your camera on or off, however some activities might be more visual.
• We encourage you to attend to your access needs (eg. eating, bathroom breaks, etc) during the event. You are also welcome to use the chat box at any time instead of audio.
• We will provide Zoom automated closed captioning.
• ASL interpretation is available for our workshops. Please let us know if you will need interpreters for your sessions. We require minimum 3 “business” days notice prior to the workshop to confirm with ASL interpreters’ canceling policies.
• For more information and /or accessibility requests, please e-mail the super awesome Mari, at mari@peernetbc.com. We also welcome any feedback on our registration system!

Registration & Membership

A non-refundable $5 reservation fee is required for all registrants, per workshop, to secure your seat. The price for our workshops is an additional suggested donation of $15 to $75 dollars. Please identify a price that suits your financial situation.

No one will be turned away due to lack of funds! Please contact alexa@peernetbc.com for support if you cannot afford the reservation fee or if you have technical barriers in the registration process. We want to see you there, so please reach out. Please let us know if you will need an invoice for your registration.

Membership

PeerNetBC is seeking to expand our membership relations. To address this, we are now requiring membership in order to attend a PeerNetBC standard workshop. When you become a member at PeerNetBC, you will be invited to participate in our annual general meeting and have the opportunity to support us in other ways. This is incredibly valuable to us, and we definitely appreciate your membership. We also acknowledge that membership is a construct in which we must comply with in the non-profit sector.

In addition, your membership supports PeerNetBC to continue to:

• Provide capacity-building workshops and consultations to peer-led initiatives across the province
• Engage with community to inform our organization’s work
• Provide low-cost or free programming for multi-marginalized individuals and communities
• Partner with and support grassroots groups, especially prioritizing those led by BIPOC and multi marginalized folks

Your Facilitators for Planting the Seeds of Anti-Oppression

Athena is a fat, Afro-Caribbean/Black, bi, cisgender femme living on the ancestral and unceded homelands of the hən̓ q ̓əmin̓ əm ̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh speaking peoples (recently known as Burnaby, BC). For over a decade she worked in anti-violence organizations providing crisis and long-term support to women survivors of trauma. During this time, she began training volunteers and providing capacity building workshops to community groups regarding various anti-oppression and social justice topics. Her full-time job is being the proud parent to a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old, and in her spare time, she is the Chair of the Burnaby Pride Working Group who coordinate the city’s Pride event in July.

Lydia and their family have roots in colonized lands of Hong Kong and were raised and nurtured on the unceded Coast Salish Homelands of Musqueam, Tseil-Watuth, and Squamish Nations. And is still un/learning what it means to be a settler and as a person of diaspora. Through navigating between worlds and almost never fitting in, Lydia has had amazing opportunities to learn how communities and identity can intersect. Lydia has been involved with community organizing and peer lead education for over 15 years working with youth, seniors, people with disabilities, newcomers, refugees, sexually and gender diverse folks across BC. As a person who lives in intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and class, Lydia brings their enthusiasm for intersectional community development and experience in community mobilization, engagement with social justice.