International Facilitation Week: Welcome to the IAF Hall of Fame!

17 October 2016

To kick off International Facilitation Week, we’re pleased to announce the induction of the following people into the International Facilitators’ Hall of Fame:

  • Nel Mostert (Europe, Middle East & North Africa)
  • Carol Sherriff (Europe, Middle East & North Africa)
  • Dorothy Strachan (Canada)
  • Michael Wilkinson (USA)

The Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who: have contributed to our field of practice; have made ‘significant contributions’ to the field of facilitation through publication, promotion, etc.; and who have shown a high level of dedication and service to the international professional association. The individuals named above have been nominated and received approval from the IAF Board of Directors as being worthy of our association’s highest distinction.

More information about this year’s inductees:

Nel Mostert is a Certified Professional Facilitator, an IAF Certification Assessor and Process Manager (in both Dutch and English) and has been an integral part of the IAF Chapter in the Netherlands. Nel has been a member of the association for over 10 years. Nel Mostert has been part of IAF conference planning teams, has mentored facilitators from across Europe and has been a driving force in IAF Netherlands. Nel is tireless in promoting the power of facilitation through her writing and training and in marrying facilitation with both creativity and project management.

Carol Sherriff is a Certified Professional Facilitator and has been a member of the association for over 14 years. Carol is also a Certification Assessor and served on the IAF Board of Directors for 6 years in the role of Conferences Director where she played a major role in developing a coordinated and consistent approach to IAF conferences as part of the globalization of IAF. Carol also coordinated the first ever International Facilitation Week, an annual event celebrating the power of facilitation worldwide, and initiated and hosted the Riders on the Storm international summit for facilitators, consultants and coaches. Carol has had a significant influence on the development of the facilitation profession in particular through her work on integrating insights from Neuro Linguistic Programming and different communication styles in facilitation practice, and on how groups can use metaphors to solve problems. Carol is a Teaching Fellow at the UK’s Open University and a Fellow of the UK’s Higher Education Academy and is author of numerous books and publications.

Dorothy Strachan has been a member of IAF for 14 years and is one of Canada’s pre-eminent professional facilitators, respected internationally for her client service, training, and publications. Dorothy has been a consistent contributor to the work of IAF through her frequent and popular workshop presentations and speaking engagements at IAF conferences in almost every Region of the world, and her volunteerism within the Canada Region and the Ottawa Chapter. Dorothy has authored three books on facilitation on the topics of conscious questioning, process design and workshop management.

Michael Wilkinson is a Certified Professional Facilitator and has been a member of IAF for over 17 years. Michael was the driving force behind the IAF Facilitation Impact Awards and has been the Team Leader of the FIA Committee since its inception. Michael has presented at over 25 IAF conferences worldwide, co-founded two regional facilitation networks, played a leadership role on numerous North American conference committees and has been involved on IAF Working Groups and Committees over the years. Michael has authored four books on group facilitation and published and blogged over 100 articles on the topic. He has acted as mentor to many new to the field and has been a tireless supporter and promoter of the power of facilitation worldwide.

wiebke@onsubject.eu