Workshops & Talks
We have wide ranging experience in hosting standalone workshops for organizations and conferences, delivering keynote talks, meeting with students, and speaking on panels. Our approach to our workshops is participatory and interactive while providing practical and relevant strategies for action.
The following are a sampling of our workshop themes and speaker topics. We’re also happy to tailor a presentation or workshop to meet the needs of your unique audience – please reach out and let us know what you are looking for and we can create a custom program to fit your needs.
Sample Workshop Topics
Making Change Happen
In this interactive workshop, participants focus on identifying meaningful changes they can make within their organizations, learning to navigate common barriers to that change, and developing practical strategies to enact right away to become agents of change in their work.
Led by consultant and author Mike Murawski, this workshop includes individual reflections, small group exercises, large group discussions, and a work booklet. This workshop can be customized to as online or in person.
Becoming a More Community-Centered Institution
Led by consultant and author Mike Murawski, this workshop guides participants through the process of defining ‘community’ and identifying strategies to break down barriers and build relevance through co-creation, collaborations, and meaningful partnerships. Participants in the workshop:
learn about the difference between an asset-based approach and a needs-based approach to community involvement and participation
examine models of community involvement, audience participation, and co-creation, understanding how these models can help guide a community-centered practice
engage in group working sessions geared to applying community-centered strategies to your organization
develop strategies and actions that can be implemented as part of your institution’s ongoing planning and programming
Developing Effective Community Partnerships
Led by Mike Murawski, this workshop focuses on key strategies (short-term & long-term) to build stronger community relationships and thriving sustainable partnerships based in trust, equity, and collective action. This workshop is designed to be especially useful for those seeking help with audience development planning and strategy work, especially education and visitors services staff as well as those working in marketing, development, and curatorial departments.
The Value Blueprint: Mapping Your Path to Meaningful Work
This workshop is designed for educational, cultural, environmental, and parks & recreational professionals to help uncover and articulate personal core values, learn tools to leverage those values, and to strategically plan ahead. Led by consultant and author Mike Murawski, “The Value Blueprint” workshop includes individual reflections, small group exercises large group discussions, and asynchronous support designed to help professionals:
Create a strategic blueprint aligned with their values
Gain strategies for integrating your core values into daily work
Learn to prevent workplace burnout that often comes with values misalignment
Connect with others, share insights, and build a supportive community committed to growth
At the end of each Values workshop, participants come away with an action plan.
Team Building Workshops
Nature As Self Care: A Restorative Hands-On Workshop
Immersing ourselves in the natural environment can be one of the most powerful and effective strategies for care and healing. Through these experiences, we build a deeper connection between ourselves and the natural world.
When we connect in slow and intimate ways, engage our senses, and get in touch with our creative side, we are restoring connections that have been interrupted though the culture of stress and overwork.
In this hands-on workshop, we will guide you through a series of exercises designed to help you slow down and connect to nature in ways that can help create calm, reduce stress, and combat burnout. You’ll learn more about how and why these exercises can be effective, and be introduced to some basic philosophies and research behind nature and self-care.
This workshop can be led online, in person, or outdoors (onsite at your organization or at a public park).
Nature Journaling Workshop
Nature Journaling is a process of observation, drawing, and creative that invites you to slow down, get curious, ask questions, and reflect on the natural world. This process does not require any skills as an artist, nor does one need scientific knowledge of what they are observing. The process of slow looking can lead to both introspective and extrospective insights, and a deeper sense of connection to the broader world.
This hands-on workshop guides you through the process, providing tools to develop your own nature journaling practice in ways that help reduce stress and increase focus and connectivity.
Sample Keynote Talk Topics
Museums as Agents of Change
Museums everywhere have the potential to serve as agents of change—bringing people together, contributing to local communities, and changing people’s lives. So how can we expand the work of museums to live up to this potential?
Building on his 2021 book Museums as Agents of Change, Mike Murawski outlines the foundations for meaningful positive change grounded in the idea of the human-centered museum, providing real strategies and hope for a better future for all.
Building a More Human-Centered Future
The future is often seen as something to fear, but what if we embrace the future with optimism and love? And in that process, what if we embrace our role in shaping its outcome?
In this keynote talk, author Mike Murawski highlights the imperative shift towards a human-centered approach, advocating for leadership based in empathy and vulnerability, a reevaluation of traditional power structures, and a commitment to fostering human connection and care within museum and heritage settings.
Museums, Politics, and Bridging Divides
Amidst growing political and social divides, what role can – or should – museums play in grappling with complex contemporary issues? Do museums have a responsibility to engage with the most pressing social and political issues of our time? How do museums even decide which issues to get involved with? And what is the value, if any, of remaining silent? Join consultant and author Mike Murawski for this conversation exploring how museums navigate sensitive political landscapes, foster productive dialogue, and work toward bridging social and political divides.
“If you are someone that is actively (or passively) working towards change in the museum field, Mike’s change consulting work is where you will find your people… Mike brilliantly balances theory with action and creating time for connection. This is one of the best experiences that I have participated in.”
— Rebekkah Harding, founder of The Museum Mentor Network
“ The Changemakers Institute Workshop was a great place to connect with other folks seeking to be Change Agents in the spaces they occupy. Exploring my relationship to change and ways to engender support from those around me toward change was great to practice in the Institute!”
— Levon Williams, leader at Rooted in Equity
“The Changemaker workshop is a great conduit for resources, connections, and guidance that make institutional and personal change possible."
— Michael Dickins, Director of The New Gallery at Austin Peay State University
Learn more about our Other Services
We are consultants and creatives who work with a variety of non-profits, schools, and government agencies to support learning and meaningful connections, facilitate community partnerships, and help institutions focus on human-centered practices that can further meaningful, purpose-driven work in this world.