Leading with Care: The Story of Lindsay Humber

Facilitation has been at the center of my work for over a decade – supporting communities and organizations to navigate complexity, listen across difference, and make decisions together.

This year, that journey led to becoming a Certified ToP® Facilitator (CTF), a methodology that has shaped much of how I approach this work.

I took my first ToP course in 2011 through ICA Associates. I can’t remember who taught it, but I do remember how it made me feel. Like maybe this thing I was drawn to (facilitation) wasn’t just a method, but a way of being. A set of values. A way of working with groups that could actually create positive social change.

The following year, I attended a five-day intensive on the Art and Science of Participation with Jo Nelson. That week sealed the deal.

It also showed me that participation, when structured well, can be a powerful way for groups and communities to think together and shape decisions that affect them. And that the process we use to reach decisions matters.

Many years later, after months of compiling a portfolio of project work, reflections, and facilitation design, I completed the certification process to become a Certified ToP® Facilitator. I also had the immense privilege of being mentored through that process by Jo Nelson herself.

Jo’s mentorship, wisdom, and perspective helped me see my own work with fresh eyes. The process reminded me that the way I design and facilitate isn’t random or accidental; it’s grounded in values, intention, years of practice, and a lineage of facilitators who’ve shaped these methods.

Facilitation is an interesting profession. When it’s working well, the facilitator often fades into the background – like a chameleon, shifting in and out of focus depending on what the group needs. Much of the labour happens before anyone enters the room: designing thoughtful questions, sequencing activities, anticipating where conversations may stretch or stall, and helping groups stay present with complexity – especially in those messy middle moments where clarity hasn’t quite arrived yet.

There’s a lot of care, attention, and intention embedded in that work. Like many caring professions, when it’s done well much of the effort remains largely unseen.

I’ve had people ask why I bother with certifications. Partly, it’s for my clients – offering them clarity and confidence around what I bring to the work. In a field where much of what facilitators do can feel intangible, external frameworks and standards can help name the practice more clearly.

If I’m honest, though, I mostly did it for myself.

As a solo consultant, it can be easy to second-guess yourself. The voice of my inner critic is often… loud. Building the portfolio required me to revisit years of projects, articulate my design choices, and reflect on what I’ve learned along the way. It gave me a structure to put language to instincts shaped through years of practice – and to recognize the depth of learning that accumulates through working with groups.

Today, through my consulting practice, I design and facilitate participatory processes that support public and community engagement, organizational transformation, staff engagement, and community development. One of the things I appreciate most about ToP is how naturally it complements other approaches I use in my work, including the principles and practices of public participation through IAP2. The methodologies work beautifully together, offering different lenses and tools that can be adapted depending on the group and the context.

What the certification process ultimately reminded me is that facilitation is not simply a collection of tools or techniques. It’s a practice grounded in values, care, curiosity, and the belief that groups can do meaningful work together when the right conditions are created.

I’m deeply grateful to Jo Nelson for her mentorship through the certification process, as well as to the many facilitators and colleagues who have shaped my practice along the way.

Becoming a Certified ToP® Facilitator doesn’t feel like the end of a journey. If anything, it feels like the beginning of the next chapter – continuing to learn from the practice, from the lineage of practitioners who steward it, and from the groups I have the privilege of working with every day.