I’ve worked in the UK voluntary sector since 2003. I’ve been a volunteer and involved in activism since childhood. I have experienced both the joys of this work, and its burnout-inducing challenges.
Witnessing the levels of exhaustion and overwhelm of my colleagues over the past two decades, and my own burnout phase, led me to seek another way, and eventually, to set up Movement for Change. I hope to share my most useful discoveries in the service of greater wellbeing in the sector, more resilient organisations and changemakers, and thereby more effective social change. You can find out more about my personal story in this post.
I also support charities who want to spend less time collecting better data, so that they can focus more on helping people and changing the world. If you’re interested in this side of my work (monitoring and evaluation), head on over to millagregor.co.uk.
Coaching, facilitation and training
I’m an accredited coach, and have included coaching support in consultancy work informally for the past decade. I’ve completed coaching training with three different coaching training organisations:
* Three month Relational Dynamics Coaching Training (accredited) (2021)
* Co-active Training Institute Fundamentals Coach Training (2020)
* Nine-month Embodied Facilitator training (strong coaching component) from Integration Training (2020)
I’ve facilitated groups and delivered training my whole career. I’m an expert in enabling creative spaces where people feel heard, seen, and able to transform.
My non-violence work includes six years as a facilitator (and lead facilitator) for the Alternatives to Violence Project, running weekend-long workshops in the community and in prisons, and two years as a neighbourhood mediator with Common Ground. I’ve also taken a diploma in Group Facilitation, Counselling Skills and Conflict Resolution with NAOS – a course originally developed for Forgiveness Project prison volunteers. My facilitation, non-violence and related training includes:
* Year-long diploma in facilitation counselling skills and conflict resolution, from NAOS (developed for Forgiveness Project facilitators) (2015)
* Alternatives to Violence Project Lead Facilitator training (2014)
* Alternatives to Violence Project Facilitator Training and apprenticeship (2012-14)
* Restorative Justice Facilitation training with Common Ground (2012)
* Narrative Mediation training with Common Ground (2011)
Meditation and Buddhist practice
I have had a regular committed meditation practice since 2005, including both the Vietnamese Zen and Insight traditions. My main teacher is Martin Aylward, with other influences being Martine Batchelor, Yanai Postelnik, Lama Rod Owens, Leigh Brasington and Thich Nhat Hanh. My teachers’ influences include Vietnamese and Korean Zen Buddhism, and Thai Forest and Sri Lankan Therevadan Buddhism.