We are happy to announce the call for applications for our Online Course on Leadership for Civil Society Organisations, developed and delivered with our partners Office for European Expertise and Communications. Apply by September 1, 2020: application form.
Who is the course for?
- Civil society leaders / project leaders / programme managers / board members of CSOs’ associations working in civil society organisations from the Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine);
- Civil society activists from the Eastern Partnership countries who can demonstrate they have taken on a leadership role in their communities or groups;
- Social start-up leaders and social entrepreneurs from the Eastern Partnership countries.
What will you achieve by taking the course?
- You will have a better understanding of your leadership style, the people you lead and how you could adapt your leadership style;
- You will be able to improve your leadership skills and more effectively manage and motivate others so as to reach better results;
- You will strengthen your negotiation skills and reflect on how to collaborate more effectively with others, from your own team to external stakeholders;
- You will be able to better understand the challenges faced by women leaders and, if relevant for you, will gain the ability to overcome those challenges.
Our course will help you reach these goals by giving you access to:
- Professional leadership style assessment tools
- Engaging online modules
- Regular webinars with trainers and peers
- Individual coaching sessions
- Networking opportunities across the Eastern Partnership countries.
You will work with real case studies and be able to put together your own development plan, making your organisation more effective, sustainable and powerful!
What will you learn about?
The course is divided into four different compulsory modules and one optional module, taking you step by step from having a better understanding of your individual leadership style to developing your negotiation skills and building trust:
- Starting point: more self-awareness and better understanding of your leadership style. As a participant you will have the opportunity to access the DISC profile assessment tool https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc/overview/. The DiSC assessment is a non-judgmental tool used for discussion of people’s behavioural differences. You will be asked to complete a series of questions that produce a detailed report about your personality and behaviour. You’ll also receive tips related to working with people of other styles.
- Module 1 will help you understand the people you lead and how you can adapt your leadership style. You will learn about leader typology, the weaknesses and strengths of different types of leaders – all adapted to the context of civil society organisations.
- Module 2 will help you better manage and motivate virtual and in-person teams by covering topics such as the triggers of individual motivation in the context of civil society work and how to develop motivation and commitment in CSO teams.
- Module 3 will support you in strengthening your negotiation skills by exposing you to the main theories on negotiation, practical strategies for negotiation and helping you apply different strategies to various stakeholders relevant for civil society organisations.
- Module 4 will focus on conflict resolution and building trust (including leader accountability in a civil society context).
- An optional module on female leadership will be looking at the particular challenges faced by women leaders.
Who are the lecturers and tutors?
Our course brings together different experienced professionals from the region to share their knowledge and skills with you.
Maryna Korzh (Belarus / Georgia) is an experienced facilitator, trainer, and coach.
Maryna is leading the campaign “March, babe!” advocating for the law on counteracting domestic violence in Belarus, runs empowerment and leadership courses for young women from civil society organisations, political parties, grassroot movements and underrepresented groups. Maryna co-created the learning playlists “Self-leadership” and “Leader of Local Community” integrated into the online Women’s Playlists launched on the Cityoflearning.eu platform.
Yuliya Stankevich (Belarus) is a non-formal education trainer, facilitator and consultant.
Yuliya has been active in civil society from 2000 (NGO “Youth Education Center “Fialta”), working with Belarusian CSOs and in international projects.
Yuliya has been involved in online courses for civil society since 2018.
Laimonas Ragauskas (Lithuania) lives in Vilnius.
Lithuania and works as a facilitator, supervisor and coach mainly in the area of non-formal learning and training for various youth work organisations as well as local and European institutions.
Laimonas is recently working a lot with various online solutions for the youth work field as well as building and facilitating online courses.
Ekaterina Sherer (Spain) is a trainer, facilitator, and designer of non-formal education programmes (offline, online and blended courses), with a long experience of coordinating local, national and international projects in the fields of leadership, volunteering, human rights education, conflict transformation, intercultural dialogue, anti-discrimination and global education. Ekaterina has been active in civil society since 1998, first as a trainer and programme coordinator of leadership programmes in Russia, and also as head of the Interregional NGO “Association of young leaders”. Since then she delivered more than 40 training courses in the region.
In 2011 Ekaterina moved to Spain where she continued her work as trainer and projects coordinator.
When is the course planned?
The course is planned to start on the 14th of September 2020 and will last until the 19th of November 2020 (when final assignments will be due). The estimated weekly study time is 6 hours for the core materials.
- A 3-days online training will be organised from the 14th to the 16th of September, bringing together three of the main trainers.
- From the 17th of September to the 28th of October participants will be expected to access the four main modules of the course. Please note a live interactive workshop in ZOOM (2 hours max.) will be organised each Thursday!
- A second online training is planned to be organised on the 29th and 30th of October.
- The virtual tours to different CSOs will be organised from the 19th of October to the 15th of November. One virtual tour per country should be organised collaboratively by participants to present best practices in CSO management.
- The optional module on female leadership will be held from the 2nd to the 12th of November.
- The final online session and the deadline for submission of final assignments will be on the 19th of November.
Please make sure that you are available for all these activities! Please note that the indicated dates may slightly change.
How can you apply?
To apply please fill in this registration form before the 1st of September 2020. Participants will be selected based on their experience and motivation to participate in the course.
What else do you need to know?
Format
100% online:
- video lectures +
- webinars +
- virtual study tours +
- tutors support +
- practical case studies +
- forum discussions.
Language
- Online modules will be available in both Russian and English.
- Coaching sessions will be provided in both Russian and English.
- Webinars will be provided in English with Russian interpretation, if requested by participants.
- Final assignments will be accepted in both languages.
- The DISC assessment is only available in English. Participants will need to have a working level of English.
Key dates & Duration
- Duration: 10 weeks.
- The estimated weekly study time: 6 hours for the core materials.
- Start of the course: 14 September 2020.
- First online training: 14-16 September 2020.
- Access to the four main modules of the course: 17 September – 28 October. Please note a live interactive workshop in ZOOM (2 hours max.) will be organised each Thursday!
- Second online training: 29-30 October.
- Virtual tours to CSOs: 19 October – 15 November.
- Optional module on female leadership: 2-12 November.
- Final online session and deadline for submission of final assignments: 19 November.
Please note that the indicated dates may slightly change.
Number of selected participants
Maximum 45 participants will be selected for this course.
Extra benefit
- Access to paid DISC profile assessment
- Real case studies
- Individual professional coaching sessions
- Your own development plan
- Networking opportunities
- Completion certificate
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