Anita Chikkatur and Adriana Estill, who trained me to lead my first intergroup dialogue facilitations
Noor Ali and Michele Lakemeyer, Northwestern University’s former Assistant Directors for Social Justice Education, who trained the first cohort of SEED student facilitators I led at Carleton College
Devika Ghai, an early collaborator whose grounded style has shaped the way I show up with clients
Dendros Group, the ecosystem where I began honing my professional facilitation practice
Resmaa Menakem, Rachel Martin, and fellow staff leaders from the City of Minneapolis Embodied Anti-Racism Community of Practice
Lisa Kohn, whose belief in the human capacity for change has shaped my personal and professional life
AORTA, where I was trained in decision-making processes and anti-oppressive facilitation practices
Spring Up, whose Transformative Justice and Mediation trainings have influenced my interpersonal and large-group work
Beth Zemsky, whose Intercultural Development Continuum framework shapes my understanding of the path to collective change
Resource Generation, the political home from which I’ve been able to build both 1) political analysis, and 2) practical facilitation and organizing skills
Current and former SEED board members, both those I learned alongside during my service there, as well as those who brought board alumni back to campus so we could train new student facilitators
I fell in love with organizing and facilitation as a young adult. An overinvolved college student, I was frustrated with the ways our organizations and teams were perpetuating oppressive dynamics, pushing aside under-the-surface conflict, and talking in circles without getting anywhere. Towards the end of my college career, I had the deep honor of helping start Students Engaging in Essential Dialogues (SEED) alongside a group of peers. SEED got Carleton students training to facilitate conversations about identity and oppression with campus groups. I cut my teeth as an organizer as we worked to get institutional funding, then as a facilitator and organizational leader.
I’ve been finding opportunities to facilitate in every role I’ve held since - co-leading trainings, fundraisers, retreats, and ongoing political education cohorts. I owe gratitude, and trace my values, to a lineage far more extensive than I can name here. Nonetheless, a few people and organizations from whom I have personally learned, and to whom I feel indebted, include:
lineage and Training
“I was skeptical about the presence of an external facilitator, but then we had our first meeting with Milo. Milo is an attentive, thoughtful, and skilled facilitator. Truthfully, I cannot imagine our meetings functioning so well without Milo! Our group has generated so much content, and Milo's organization tools/detailed notes have absolutely saved us.”
- Alissa Matus, Fullerton College