This workshop is sliding scale, $100-$1,000. The true cost is $1,000 per participant. Our sliding scale honors different abilities to pay while helping us compensate trainers, staff, and accessibility providers fairly. We ask organizations and individuals with large budgets to pay at the higher rates to support the sustainability of this program and help us accept folks who pledge lower amounts. We acknowledge the different costs and considerations around your attendance, including childcare/caregiving, time away from paid work, and more, and we offer lower fee options for participants who are not able to pay at a higher rate.

The fee includes meals during the workshop and simple lodging for those who request it.

We prioritize applicants from organizations and groups actively building social justice movements and political power in their communities. We accept applications from diverse movement roles – volunteer activists, rank and file leaders, staff organizers, cultural workers, spiritual leaders, artists – and invite applications from both new facilitators and experienced trainers. Generally, we have limited spots for folks doing social service providing, working for government agencies, based in higher education, or folks not affiliated with an organization, campaign, or coalition.

This workshop is highly sought after, and we often have long wait lists. Many strong applicants apply multiple times before getting a spot to attend. If you’re not sure if this workshop is right for you, feel free to be in touch before you submit an application!

Times vary by workshop. Please refer to the application for exact workshop hours, but generally, the hours are:

• Day One – 5:30-9:30PM (dinner provided)
• Day Two – 9:00AM – 9:00PM (breakfast offered before session, lunch and dinner provided)
• Day Three – 9:00AM – 5:00PM (breakfast offered before session, lunch provided)

The workshop is designed as an experiential package with each session building on the previous one. To create the best learning environment possible, WE DO NOT ALLOW PARTIAL ATTENDANCE – you must commit to take the entire workshop.

This is a participatory, practice-based workshop. Central components include the role of a trainer (or facilitator), creating group safety and cohesion, using experiential activities to elicit the wisdom of the group, working with diversity, and principles of workshop design. There are multiple opportunities to ask questions, explore challenges, and practice facilitation. This is a fun and rigorous workshop – as participants stretch themselves, strong emotions can surface.

Though the hours can be long, we’ve found that our training style helps keep people engaged and energized. We provide short and extended breaks within our agenda, including breaks during meal times, and encourage participants to take care of themselves so that they can stay fully present. Please contact us in advance if you have questions about the hours or format of this workshop.

We aim to confirm participants at least a month before the training, when possible. We’re mindful that folks coming from out of town need time to book travel, and we’ll follow up as soon as possible about your application status. Please don’t book travel or accommodations until we confirm registration. We’re committed to accepting a diverse group for each training and to supporting folks with less access to resources to attend. Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, working class folks, and folks from less-resourced organizations are encouraged to apply. We prioritize applicants with clear groups, projects, or organizations back home to apply what they learn.

If you’d prefer to apply by phone instead of online, there is a phone number included in the application.

Some workshops are offered as part of regional training projects where majority of participants are from the designated region. Specific workshop applications will indicate if it’s a regional workshop; workshops without a regional designation are national. Applicants from anywhere in the U.S. and Canada are encouraged to apply to regional workshops, but spots are more limited.

Central Appalachia: Majority participants accepted from the mountains and foothills of PA, OH, WV, VA, KY, and TN.

North Carolina: Majority participants from the state of NC.

Pennsylvania: Majority participants from the state of PA.

BIPOC Graduates of Training for Trainers are eligible for our Judith C. Jones Fellowship for Trainers of Color. Learn more about the Fellowship, here.

The workshop can include days as long as 12 hours, with short and long breaks throughout. 

The format is highly participatory, including movement-based activities which may involve jumping, walking, stretching, or lifting your arms over your head. We aim to adjust activities as needed to meet the needs of the participants, and encourage you to note in your application if you have mobility-related access needs.

Our workshops typically take place at retreat centers where participants may have to walk between different buildings on campus. For workshops where buildings may be more than a 5 minute walk apart, we will include a note in the application. Seating is typically standard conference-center style chairs, and lighting is typically bright overhead lighting. We often can’t control the types of seating, but please let us know in your application if you have seating accessibility requests. We typically do not use projectors or screens.

We aim to work with wheelchair accessible venues, but the specifics vary workshop by workshop. Details for specific workshops can be found in the application.

We don’t share full agendas before the workshop but if you have questions about the workshop format that will help you maximize your learning please let us know.

We set transparent health protocol for each workshop for everyone’s safety. Our protocol includes requests and requirements around covid vaccination, masking, testing, and what to do in the event of exposure. Please check the application for the specific protocol for a particular workshop.