We are beyon honoured to welcome:
- Michael Wilkinson
- Aftab Erfan
- Adam Kahane
Michael Wilkinson: The architect of modern facilitation
If you’ve ever designed a strategy session, navigated consensus with a thought group, or tried to move a room from debate to decision, there’s a good chance Michael Wilkinson’s work shaped how you did it.
Michael is:
- A Certified Professional Facilitator Master (CPF M)
- A Hall of Fame inductee
- Founder of Leadership Strategies
- and the author of the globally influential book “The Secrets of Facilitation”
For decades, Michael has been quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) shaping how leaders and facilitators design meetings that actually work, the kind that move from talk to alignment to real action. His methods are used by Fortune 500 companies, governments, and complex systems across the world.
What makes Michael extraordinary isn’t just his framework, it’s his rare ability to blend rigor with humanity, structure with intuition, clarity with care.
At Monterrey 2026, Michael brings:
- Deep mastery of group decision-making
- Precision tools for high-stakes facilitation
- and a calm, grounded presence that changes rooms
You don’t just learn from Michael, you practice at a higher level because of him.
Foundational leader in facilitation and a true pioneer of the practice!
Aftab Erfan: Executive Director for the Centre of Dialogue at SFU
If facilitation had a pulse… Aftab Erfan would be touching it.
Aftab is a global leader in Deep Democracy, systems change, and participatory practice. Her work lives at the intersection of:
- Conflict transformation
- Power and voice
- Emotional truth and collective belonging
She teaches and works across continents with communities, movements, governments, and facilitators who are navigating the most tender and charged human dynamics.
Aftab’s brilliance is this: She can hold a room through grief, resistance, silence, discomfort, and emergence, without rushing it or flattening it.
At Monterrey 2026, Aftab brings:
- A depth of emotional intelligence rarely seen on global stages
- Tools for working with conflict that are both fierce and compassionate
- A reminder that facilitation is not neutral, it’s relational, ethical, and alive
Aftab doesn’t manage conflict, she walks with it, until something new becomes possible.
Adam Kahane: The global voice of courageous collaboration
Adam Kahane is the person people call when:
- Systems are stuck
- Conflict feels immovable
- and the future depends on people who deeply disagree finding a way forward
He is the author of “Collaborating with the Enemy” and “Facilitating Breakthrough”, two books that reshaped how the world understands power, dialogue, and change.
Adam has worked at the heart of:
- Peace processes
- Large-scale social transformation
- Corporate, governmental, and civic systems across more than 50 countries
What makes Adam’s work legendary is his insistence that you don’t have to agree to move forward together.
His approach centers on stretch collaboration, working with difference, tension, and competing truths without trying to control or collapse them.
At Monterrey 2026, Adam brings:
- Deep wisdom from the world’s hardest tables
- A lens on power, participation, and paradox
- A way of working that invites courage without coercion
Adam doesn’t just teach collaboration, he re-writes what’s possible when we stop trying to win and start trying to relate.