Community Event Leadership Program: A 3-Month Training Guide

1. Program Introduction & Benefits

This program is a 3-month, experiential training designed to equip community members with the practical skills and confidence to organize and moderate effective community events. Based on proven participatory learning models, it emphasizes hands-on practice, peer feedback, and real-world application over theoretical lecture.

Strategic Benefits for Community Members:

• Increased Capacity & Ownership: Members gain the practical skills to independently initiate, plan, and run community events, reducing dependency on external organizers and fostering a sense of ownership.
• Improved Event Quality & Engagement: Trained moderators can create more structured, inclusive, and participatory events, leading to higher satisfaction, better outcomes, and stronger community bonds.
• Enhanced Personal & Leadership Skills: Participants develop core competencies in communication, public speaking, active listening, time management, and conflict resolution, valuable in both community and professional contexts.
• Sustainable Community Infrastructure: The program builds a distributed network of skilled event leaders within the community, ensuring resilience and continuity of activities beyond the training period.
• Increased Confidence & Agency: By mastering a clear set of tools and through supportive practice, members overcome the apprehension of public roles and see themselves as capable facilitators for their community.

2. Program Expansion Strategy

Evaluation: The primary program is a Training Program, not a Mentorship or Coaching program. Its goal is to provide event organization and moderation skills. While the experiential design (70-20-10 model) incorporates peer learning, a supplemental Structured Peer Coaching Layer would significantly enhance outcomes by providing sustained, personalized support and accountability as participants apply skills in real, often unpredictable, community settings.

Proposed Addition: Structured Peer Coaching Circles

• Value Added: This layer moves beyond one-time feedback to ongoing development. It provides a safe space for problem-solving real challenges encountered in live events, deepens reflective practice using models like GROW, and reinforces the learning community, increasing program retention and long-term skill application.
• Implementation Note: After the foundational skills module (Week 3), form small, stable Peer Coaching Circles of 3-4 participants. These circles meet bi-weekly for 60-90 minutes, following a simple structured format: each member shares a current challenge or success from their event organizing work, and the group acts as coaches, using guiding questions to explore options and define next actions. A program facilitator joins the first session to model the coaching process.

3. Implementation Roadmap

Launch Phase Checklist

1. Define & Recruit: Finalize program description, benefits, and commitment expectations. Open applications to community members.
2. Select Participants: Use a simple application to gauge motivation and current experience level. Aim for a cohort of 12-20.
3. Onboard Cohort: Host a kick-off session to build group rapport, review the program journey, milestones, and establish community norms for supportive feedback.
4. Prepare Practice Infrastructure: Set up a central calendar for simulated and real events. Create shared folders for templates, scripts, and feedback forms. Secure basic recording equipment for practice sessions.
5. Schedule Core Sessions: Lock in dates for all core training workshops, ensuring they are spaced to allow for practice cycles.

Tracking & Operations

• Central Hub: Use a dedicated channel/group on the Internal Social Network (see Tools) for all announcements, resource sharing, and general Q&A.
• Progress Tracking: Utilize the LMS to track attendance at live sessions, submission of assignments (e.g., event plans), and completion of feedback duties for peers.
• Practice Logistics: Maintain a public cohort calendar where participants can sign up to observe or participate in each other's practice and real events.
• Coaching Circle Support: Provide a simple meeting guide and timekeeping template for Peer Coaching Circles. A facilitator checks in with each circle lead periodically.

Success Measurement

• Quantitative KPIs:
  • Completion Rate: >80% of participants complete the capstone event.
  • Skill Demonstration: Average score on a standardized moderation rubric increases by ≥1.2 points between first and final observed session.
  • Event Satisfaction: Events led by trainees achieve an average participant satisfaction score of ≥4.0/5.0 on moderation quality.
  • Practice Volume: Each participant logs a minimum of 4 peer practice sessions and 1 real community event.
• Qualitative Feedback Mechanisms:
  • Mid-point and Final Retrospective: Structured group discussions using "Start, Stop, Continue" format.
  • Capstone Presentation & Facilitation Profile: Qualitative assessment of personal growth and future plans.
  • Community Attendee Feedback: Analysis of open-ended responses from feedback forms for trainee-led events.
  • Success Stories: Document and share 3-5 narratives of participants who initiated new community events post-program.

4. Approved Tools List

• Learning Management System (LMS): Primary Justification: Essential for delivering structured content (video tutorials, checklists, reading), tracking participant progress through modules, hosting quizzes on core concepts, and collecting formal assignments like event plans and reflection journals.
• Internal Social Network: Primary Justification: Critical for fostering the community-of-practice aspect. Serves as the main hub for asynchronous communication, peer support, sharing resources and event recordings, organizing practice sessions, and celebrating successes. It enables the "20%" (peer learning) of the 70-20-10 model.
• Personality Test: Secondary Justification: Optional tool to be used in Module 1. A simple, non-clinical assessment can increase self-awareness regarding communication styles and natural strengths/weaknesses in group settings, enriching discussions on the "Being of Facilitation" and team dynamics.

5. Resource & Content Library

General Program Content

• Video Library:
  • "The Facilitation Mindset: Being vs. Doing"
  • "Micro-skills in Action: Effective Openings and Closings"
  • "Designing an Event Flow: The Dramaturgy of Engagement"
  • "Handling Difficult Participants: Role-play Scenarios"
  • "Basic Visual Facilitation: Using Flipcharts and Whiteboards"
• Guides & Templates:
  • Event Canvas Template (One-page event planner)
  • Moderation Script & Run-of-Show Template
  • Pre-Event Briefing Checklist for Speakers/Volunteers
  • Logistics Checklist (In-person & Virtual)
  • Participant Feedback Form Template
  • Post-Event Reflection Guide
• Readings & Frameworks:
  • One-pager on Kolb's Experiential Learning Cycle
  • Guide to the GROW Model for Self-Reflection
  • Glossary of Common Moderation Methods (Brainstorming, Card Clustering, Fishbowl, etc.)
  • Energy Curve and Agenda Design Principles

Supplemental Mentoring Content Table

To support the Peer Coaching Circles and general skill development.

Topic	Format	Purpose
Active Listening for Coaches	Short Guide & Video	Equip peers to listen deeply without immediately problem-solving, creating a supportive coaching environment.
Giving Constructive Feedback	Checklist & Role-play Scenario	Provide a simple framework (e.g., Situation-Behavior-Impact) for giving specific, actionable, and kind feedback.
Asking Powerful Questions	Cheat Sheet	Move beyond "yes/no" to open-ended questions that provoke insight (e.g., "What's one small step you could try?").
Coaching Conversation Guide	Structured Template	A simple agenda for Peer Coaching Circle meetings (Check-in, Present Challenge, Group Coaching, Action Steps).
Navigating Group Dynamics	Article	Basic models for understanding team roles and energies to better advise peers on participant management.