What You'll Learn
This introductory course that helps you understand how and why to engage communities in ways that build trust, equity, and lasting impact. Grounded in the Community Learning Model, the course explores how inclusive engagement leads to better decisions, stronger buy-in, and more effective outcomes—especially when working on complex social issues.
You’ll learn how to choose the right level of engagement using the IAP2 Spectrum, explore different tools for involving community members, and navigate collaboration challenges with other organizations. Through real-world examples and accessible frameworks, this course equips you to design engagement processes that are honest, appropriate to your goals, and meaningful for the people most affected by the decisions you’re making.
How to choose the right level of community engagement
You’ll leave with a clear IAP2 framework for deciding whether a decision is happening to, for, with, or by the community, and how to communicate that honestly to build trust.
How to design engagement that supports equity and buy-in
Explore different methods of engagement, including Participatory Budgeting, the Art of Hosting, and gamification, to diversify the ways you engage with your community.
How to navigate ups and downs in collaborations
Using the Coalition Ecocycle, you’ll gain insight into how collaborations actually grow and change over time, including common stages, roles, and traps that groups encounter.
What's Included in the Course
This course allows you to access the material at your own pace, online. Each module will provide you with an instructional video and tell you how long that module will take you to complete. Some modules include tasks or toolkits that encourage you to pause and apply your learning to a scenario you are currently working on. At the end of the modules, you’ll get access to the slides from the course. Then, we’ll ask you to submit your feedback on the course.
Workshop Modules
Meet Your Instructor
Kale McMonagle
Collaboration Director
Kale manages Canopy projects that provide capacity building for individuals, organizations and coalitions. This includes providing training, facilitation, coaching, and project management for collaborative initiatives across the state. Throughout her work, she ensures alignment with the Canopy’s Community Learning Model by championing the Canopy’s evaluation tools. Kale brings extensive ample experience in cultivating regional relationships, designing innovative public processes, recruiting diverse stakeholders, and crafting powerful stories about collaboration. Kale received her BA and MA in Communication Studies, Deliberative Studies Specialization from Colorado State University.
