Teaching, Training, and Consulting Experience

Return to Michael’s home page

Sample of Consulting and Facilitation Experience

Strategic Plan Facilitation
Guided a 6-month strategic planning process for the Council on Crime and Justice that included board, staff, program participants, partners, and funders. A 3-year strategic plan was developed.
Fall 2006

Group Facilitation: Decision Making about Organizational Leadership
Facilitated a membership meeting at a Zen Center, where they selected their new guiding teacher.
October 2006

Grant Proposal Reviewer
I read and wrote evaluations of grant proposals for this federal grant offered by the Office for Victims of Crime. The purpose of the grant was to increase public awareness of crime victim rights and resources in underserved communities.
March 2006, March 2007, and May 2008

Surrogate Victim Offender Dialogue Facilitator
I co-facilitated 12 sessions of the Citizen's, Victims, and Offenders Restoring Justice project at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes. 
Spring-Summer 2005

Focus Group Facilitation, Access to Education for Offenders and Ex-Offenders
I recruited and facilitated a focus group of representatives from education, corrections, ex-offender, and community groups to assess gaps and opportunities in access to education for offenders and ex-offenders.  Recommendations for programming at the Council on Crime and Justice came out of the focus group.
February 2005

Organizational Evaluation and Strategic Planning
I coordinated an organizational assessment with the South St. Paul Restorative Justice Council. The assessment used Appreciative Inquiry and Action Research methods to prepare for strategic planning.
Summer 2004

Project Coordinator, Meeting Victims’ Needs Post-Conviction
I coordinated this project sponsored by the Minnesota Department of Corrections and the Minnesota Center for Crime Victim Services, Meeting Victims’ Needs Post-Conviction Study Group.  I facilitated a group of 30 people from corrections and victim services as they evaluated how crime victims’ needs could be more fully met after the offender’s conviction.  The group made recommendations to state and community agencies for ways these needs could be more fully addressed.  See the report from this project.
January 2003 - May 2004

Organizational Conflict Resolution / Meeting Facilitation Consultant. Provided mediation and coaching in meeting facilitation to the 5^th Congressional District Green Party of Minnesota.
December 2003

Organizational Conflict Consultant
Facilitated a meeting for Friends General Conference, a national Quaker organization, about an internal conflict within the organization.  As part of this project, I also conducted interviews with key stakeholders and provided recommendations for next steps, using the conflict as an opportunity to strengthen the mission of the organization.
November 2003

Literature Scan Research
Wrote reports about the state of the field in Youth Organizing and Community Organizing for School Improvement for Rainbow Research, as part of their evaluation and strategic planning with the Hazen Foundation.
Spring 2003 [Read comments by David Scheie, from Rainbow Research, about Michael's contributions to this project]

Qualitative Research Design and Facilitation
Worked on team that studied the effects of growth on the region through a series of focus groups and interviews, culminating in a written report and presentation at a community summit.
Healthy Community Council ( Harrisonburg , VA )
Spring 2002

Cross-Cultural Service Project Development, El Salvador
Sent as representative of Northern Yearly Meeting (Quakers) to develop proposals for joint service projects with El Salvador Yearly Meeting.  Met with Salvadorans to assist in the development of peace training and violence reduction initiatives.
December 2001 - January 2002

Volunteer Restorative Justice Advisor, Northern Ireland & Ireland
Met with staff from Restorative Justice Ireland Network to evaluate strategies for networking Restorative Justice activities in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland .  Met with members of the Alternatives to Violence Project in Dublin to help them develop a youth nonviolence training program in juvenile prisons.
November 2001

Program Evaluation Coordinator
Designed and supervised interviews done with students and alumni for an evaluation of experiences in the graduate program and their visions for its future.  Wrote a report summarizing the findings.
Conflict Transformation Program, Eastern Mennonite University
Fall 2001

Prison Restorative Justice Program Development
Wrote proposal for prison-based Restorative Justice Program that is being used as the basis for inmates, victim services, and prisoner advocacy groups jointly developing a similar program.  Met with group to initiate the project.
Graterford State Prison, Pennsylvania
Fall 2001

Church Conflict Consultant/Facilitator
Assisted Ron Kraybill in designing and facilitating a decision-making and reconciliation process in serious congregational conflict regarding a pastor’s tenure.
Done through the Institute for Justice and Peacebuilding (Harrisonburg, VA)
Spring-Summer 2001

Church Conflict Facilitator
Facilitated meetings in a congregational conflict about building reconstruction.
Valley Friends Meeting (Harrisonburg, VA)
Spring 2001

Facilitator of Dialogue about Sexual Orientation and the Church
Facilitated a panel discussion about experiences with homosexuality in Christian churches.
Eastern Mennonite University
November 2000

Campus Mediation Center Program Development
Team member of University Accord, a group that provides mediation and facilitation services at Eastern Mennonite.  Our team started the program on the campus, carried out facilitations and mediations, and evaluated the direction of the program.
September 2000 – April 2002


Sample of Trainings and Presentations I’ve Led:

"What We Can Do Now to Make Minnesota Safer 50 Years from Now."

Presentation to Minneapolis Downtown Rotary Club (December 2007), Uptown Minneapolis Rotary Club (February 2008), Golden Valley Rotary Club (February 2008)

"Prisoner Reentry in Minnesota"

Presentation (with Hillary Freeman from the Greater Minneapolis Council of Churches) at the Minnnesota Americorps*VISTA Conference (May 2008).

"Public Safety and the Teachings of Jesus"

Presentation at the People of Faith Peacemakers (April 2008)

"Quaker Perspectives on Peace and Violence"
Presentation as a part of the Sacred Season of Peacemaking Interfaith Series (November 2007)

“Building Bridges between Limited English Proficiency Communities and Criminal Justice Systems”
Presentation at the Inter-Agency Federal Conference on Limited English Proficiency Access (March 2007)

“Incarcerated Families”
Presentations about the impact of incarceration on families, with recommendations for how agencies can effectively engage these families (January 2007, July 2007, January 2008).

"Fathers Transitioning from Corrections"
Presentations at the Minnesota Jail Programmers Association Annual Conference (April 2006), Minnesota Fathers and Families Network Annual Conference (January 2006), Minnesota Fathers and Families Transitions Roundtable (June 2005)

“Integrating the Needs of Crime Victims into Offender Reentry”
Presentation at the Growing the Connections (Restorative Justice) Conference, Mankato, MN
October 2005

“Meeting Crime Victims’ Needs Post-Conviction”
Presentation at the Growing the Connections (Restorative Justice) Conference, St. Paul, MN, October 2003

"What About Hitler?" (What could've nonviolence have done to stop Hitler?)
At an Every Church a Peace Church conference, Minneapolis, MN
April 2004

"Claiming the Power of Nonviolence, Personally and Politically"
Adult Education class, St. Luke Presbyterian Church, Minnetonka, MN.
January 2004

“Justice, Violence, and Prayer”
Facilitated a retreat for Christos Retreat Center as part of their Spiritual Formation for Congregational Leaders program.
May 2003

“Praying at the Roots of Violence”
Facilitated a weekend retreat for the Northern Yearly Meeting (Quaker) Spiritual Nurture Program (January 2003) and facilitated a series of adult education sessions at Prospect Park United Methodist Church, Minneapolis on the same topic (September-October, 2003) and St. Joan of Arc Church, Minneapolis (Feb. 2004)

Alternatives to Violence Project workshops
Led approximately 30 3-day workshops in prisons, churches, and schools in Minnesota and Virginia.
1995- 2002

Help Increase the Peace Project workshops
Juvenile Detention Centers, Winchester, VA, and Cumberland, MD
Led 3 three-day weekend workshops for youth in the centers.
March – July 2001

“Class, Race, and Protest”; “Strategy of Nonviolent Action”
For protestors at the mobilization against the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue, Cincinnati, OH
Co-led workshops with George Lakey, Betsy Raasch-Gilman, and Daniel Hunter
November 2000

“Conflict Resolution in the Workplace”
Pilot City Health Clinic, Minneapolis, MN (Spring 1999), Twin Cities Americorps (Fall 1999 and March 2000)
Co-led with Abdul-Hakim As-Siddiq

“Spreading the Technology of Interpersonal Nonviolence”
Peace Prize Forum seminar, Augsburg College
February 1999

“Simple Living”
Catholic Charities Volunteer Corps, St. Paul, MN
Two-hour workshops in Fall 1998 and Fall 1999

“Welcoming Diversity in Friends Meetings”
Workshop at Northern Yearly Meeting Annual Conference
May 1999

“Martin Luther King and Nonviolence”
Seminar at Maple Plain Library
Co-led with Janne Flisrand
January 1998

“Conflict Resolution Skills Needed for Mediation”
Citizen’s Council of Minnesota
June and July 1997

“Creating Dialogue for Positive Change among Progressive Student Organizations”
St. Cloud State University
Co-led with David Miller
February 1996


 Academic Teaching:

“From Gandhi to Serbia: Passion and Power in Nonviolent Revolutions,” University of Minnesota, Compleat Scholar Program
See the syllabus for this class at: http://www.clarityfacilitation.com/passion/index.htm
Fall 2005

“Conflict Resolution,” University of St. Thomas
Co-coordinated a section of this class based on Minneapolis police/community conflict resolution; Arranged for service learning with this topic.  Student reports from this project at http://www.clarityfacilitation.com/police.
Spring 2004

“History and Strategy of Nonviolent Alternatives to War,” University of Minnesota, Compleat Scholar Program
See the syllabus for this class at: http://www.clarityfacilitation.com/compleat
Fall 2003

“Conflict Mediation,” James Madison University
Taught a total of 6 sections of this 4-week class, which were part of the 6-credit  “Individuals in the Human Community” General Education Package.  I was the sole instructor for the Conflict Mediation sections of this package.  During the rest of the semester, this General Education package had other subjects taught by other professors.
Spring 2001, Fall 2001, Spring 2002

“Transformative Approaches to Justice and Peacemaking,” Eastern Mennonite University, 3 credits
A survey of approaches to organizational and community-level change.  Students worked in conjunction with the campus mediation center to do interviews, systemic analysis, and facilitation within the university.  I designed and facilitated the majority of the class, with supervision from Ron Kraybill, who was the instructor of record.
Fall 2001

“Voices from the Inside,” Eastern Mennonite University, 2 credits
Students participated in a 3-day nonviolence workshop inside of a maximum-security prison and studied writings of prisoners.  I led the vast majority of class and coordinated all of the details, with supervision from Howard Zehr, who was the instructor of record. [Read comments from Howard Zehr about Michael's teaching]
Spring 2002 

“Criminal Justice and Peacemaking,” Eastern Mennonite University, 3 credits
I assisted in the facilitation and design of this class, with the majority of the teaching being done by Howard Zehr .
Spring 2002 


Read comments about Michael's previous work | Return to Michael’s home page

Michael Bischoff | Phone: 612-521-1889 | Email: michael@clarityfacilitation.com