Discover and practice how to lead efficient and connecting group experiences. 

Wednesdays with Roni and Leslie at 18:00 CET | 9am PT (check your time zone)

Coming soon: Mondays with Roni at 7:00 CET | 17:00 AEDT | 19:00 NZDT (check your time zone)

Opportunities to join: Wednesdays Cycle 2 is starting Jan 8, 2025. Registration is open.
We also plan to start another lab with Roni on Mondays in AUS/NZ-friendly time in Feb 2025.

Not ready to register? Please take a moment to share with us what would support you to join.

This workshop is offered as a gift. You are whole-heatedly welcome even if you can’t contribute any money. We choose to trust that together we will find a way to keep our work sustainable. 

Send us a gift
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Top-down decisions or endless discussions. Is anything else possible?

Join our collaborative leadership lab to learn by doing with “real-plays” and guided practice in a supportive community. Get yourself and others unstuck. Invite creative solutions. Bring energy and hope into difficult conversations. 

No formal leadership or facilitation experience is needed.

Network offering: This lab includes providers who are not members of the Integration Station collective. We are delighted to build bridges between diverse frameworks and perspectives!

Grow your skills in how to:

Facilitate in ways that support togetherness and efficiency

  • Build an agenda that invites focus and full participation
  • Create group agreements that everyone understands and remembers
  • Support effective decision-making that builds trust

Respond in ways that care for everyone, including yourself

  • Interrupt and redirect people without creating resentment
  • Attend to conflict, tension, and power differences
  • Give and receive feedback while staying present and connected

Create and nurture supportive group spaces

  • Guide a group’s energy and attention with framing 
  • Invite shared responsibility for addressing barriers to participation 
  • Transform your own unsupportive stories and ask for help

We will also explore how to participate in ways that care for the group, even when you are not the leader or facilitator. 

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What are the sessions like?

We gather weekly to deeply engage with and practice principles for collaborative leadership and nonviolent facilitation. We work with actual challenges people bring or practices they want to try. Everyone is also invited to learn by observing or role-playing in scenarios brought by others.

As we grow our community, we plan to co-create the learning experience by shaping the space and choosing what to do together. 

A typical session includes:

  • Short (15-20 minute) teaching of practical models and techniques with examples
  • Participant-led practice on real-life examples with support and coaching (some people may observe or witness)
  • Small group reflection and harvesting relevant learning
  • Optional after-party for debrief, deeper engagement, additional practice, and informal connections

2-month themed cycles:

We will offer learning and practice in 2-month cycles where we focus on a particular theme. The first session in each cycle will introduce the theme and the structures we plan to use, followed by several practice sessions focused on the theme. We will end each cycle with a co-creation process to reflect together on the current cycle and shape the next cycle, as a live opportunity to engage in collaborative leadership.

We recommend attending the sessions consistently and watching the recordings of any sessions you miss. If you take a break, we recommend re-joining at the beginning of a cycle. This supports everyone’s learning as we create shared understanding and build the trust needed to try new things together and engage with feedback. 

How is a learning lab different from a workshop?

Workshops and courses usually present a lot of content within a fixed structure. 

Instead, you will be invited to:

  • Bring and practice with real life challenges and opportunities 
  • Self-organize and co-create activities
  • Re-do situations to experience alternatives
  • Re-shape the lab space itself as an experiment with collaborative leadership  
  • Receive live feedback about how people experience your actions

Is a learning lab a good fit for me?

You are more likely to benefit from and enjoy this practice community if you are:

  • familiar with Nonviolent Communication (NVC), nonviolence, or other alternatives to right/wrong thinking
  • willing to practice unfamiliar things and risk making mistakes (with support)
  • able to experience some discomfort and stay present
  • open to coaching and feedback
  • motivated to take action that cares for everyone when your needs are not met

Current schedule

  • Cycle 1: Oct 16 to Dec 18
    • followed by a winter holiday break before next cycle starts
  • Cycle 2: Jan 8 to Feb 26
  • Cycle 3: Mar 5 to April 30
  • Cycle 4: May 7 to June 25
  • Ongoing cycles will follow the above pattern

How much does it cost?

The organizing team offers this lab as a gift, meaning no one is required to pay to participate. We ask people to gift us money to help cover our costs and some of our living expenses. We are taking on the risk of not receiving enough money because we really want to move away from capitalism. This is a small step towards our dream of a world where resources flow freely to where they are needed, also called the gift economy. 

We invite you to choose an amount to gift us that considers both your needs and ours, including any funding you can use from an organization or program. You can gift us money even if you don’t participate, and you are more than welcome to participate even if you are not able to gift us any money. You can also support us by inviting more people, taking notes, or helping build our community. 

Can I get a standard price?

We realize that gifting can be a big leap for some people when most of us live in capitalist societies that value profit and competition. Social norms and habits like “I should get a good deal” or “it’s not ok to pay less” often disconnect people from their needs, sense of choice, and the joy of giving and receiving. 

We want to welcome everyone regardless of their willingness or ability to engage with gifting. If you just want an average number to gift, please select between 500 and 1200 USD (450 and 1100 euros) for a two-month cycle. You can still choose a much smaller or bigger amount; we only offer this simple guidance to support you. We also offer an option for paid registration if needed to get access to training funds or financial support from your organization.

How can I send you gifts?

These money transfer options are only for gifts. Thank you for joining us in moving toward a gift economy!

For gifts in USD
Use Zelle or PayPal
Zelle: direct transfer from your bank (available through most US banks. You can access Zelle directly from your banking app, Zelle app, or use this link: https://www.zellepay.com to find your bank)
Send to: LeslieBecknellMarx@gmail.com 
Fees: None

PayPal: Use this link: https://paypal.me/LBecknellMarx-USD-Gifts-Collab-Lead-Lab
Fees: None when you please select “For Friends and Family” on the second screen

For gifts in EUR or other currencies

Use Wise: https://wise.com/invite/u/roniw8
Send to: consultingroni@gmail.com in Euros (preferred) or another currency if it reduces fees for you
Fees: Same currency free, otherwise less than $5 (free first time if you use my link) 

How much money is needed?

We need a total of $1400 per session to care for the full needs of all organizers (currently 5 people). We need a minimum of $300 per weekly session to just cover our costs and basic expenses. Receiving less may lead to us pausing or stopping the lab. Receiving more will allow us to care for the needs of other people in this offering’s community, for example gifting money to people who would not be able to participate without support. We provide regular updates about money we receive and how we use it.   

So far we have received $1063 (updated 2024-11-03).

If you need proof of a paid registration or a listed price to get access to funds, please use these guidelines and process instead of gifting (for example if you are using a training budget, expense reimbursement, or grant money).

Prices for paid registration:

  • Registration for one cycle (2 months): $800
  • Registration for a full year: $3800

Process for paid registration:

  • We will send you an invoice or contact you for additional information
  • Complete the registration form and mention that you need a paid registration
  • Include your organization’s or program’s invoice details and payment process

Who are the organizing facilitators and coaches?

Roni Wiener (they/them)

I help people discover how to get things done efficiently by caring for each other. I enjoy guiding groups to integrative solutions that everyone can support. Together we transform collaboration habits to bring in more trust, focus, and joy. 

I’m currently most passionate about supporting organizations and communities  with collaborative decisions and sustainable change. I offer consulting, workshops, coaching, and meeting facilitation.

I use gift economy principles to keep my work sustainable and prioritize the needs of people with less access to resources. I am also co-leading the Integration Station collective, where we organize events for making more collaborative decisions. I love co-creating spaces and communities where everyone’s needs matter.

I draw on diverse sources of wisdom, including Nonviolent Communication, Convergent Facilitation, Sociocracy, Theory U, and my academic education in Psychology, Sociology, and Gender Studies.  

With each decision that truly cares for everyone, no matter how small, we help build a future with more participatory government, interdependent communities, restorative responses to conflict, and sustainable economies with needs-based distribution of resources.

Leslie Becknell Marx (she/her)

I help people develop authentic leadership, bringing their unique gifts and perspectives to serve meaningful purposes and care for others. I work primarily with leaders in large organizations to understand their impact and lead intentionally from their vision and values. I design and lead interactive training programs, implement leadership simulations, provide personal coaching, and facilitate meetings and workshops.

I love creative expression, believing it energizes us to contribute to our communities and organizations. My creative outlets include writing, Playback Theater, various dance forms, and storytelling.

I believe learning is more effective when it is active and embodied. To move from head (intellectual understanding) to heart (meaningful integration) and hand (active practice and application), we need to engage and experiment.

I draw on diverse wisdom sources, including Nonviolent Communication, Convergent Facilitation, Creative Problem Solving, and my academic background in International Affairs and Theology. Key influences are Miki Kashtan, Sarah Peyton, Roxy Manning, and Arnina Kashtan.

My purpose is to foster interconnection through expansive conversations and experiences, deepening mutual understanding and opening possibilities for thriving communities of belonging. My hope is that the Collaborative Leadership Lab will be such a community.