Consulting Services
Ag Innovations Network offers its skilled team of facilitators, organizational and social change experts, and food system leaders to organizations, businesses, and communities that would like to tackle tough issues or take advantage of upcoming trends. We offer:
- Design and facilitation of meetings, retreats, and multi-stakholder collaborations
- Strategic planning, visioning, and business planning
- Training in food systems, systems thinking, and facilitation
- Conference moderation, keynote speaking, and panel participation
Our Approach
“I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again. Simple, honest, human conversation. Not mediation, negotiation, problem solving, debate, or public meetings. Simple truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we each listen well.” Meg Wheatley, Turning To One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future
Ag Innovations Network facilitates truthful conversation. We work with businesses, community organizations, governments, and others to bring together people to talk about food, farming, and the future. Our approach is to ask the questions that help groups understand the root causes of the current crises in the food system and discover the new solutions that are needed. We are passionate advocates for effective processes, but maintain a strict neutrality about specific issues. We believe in the wisdom of groups and multiple perspectives.
Our Expertise
Ag Innovations Network staff members are experts at designing and facilitating meetings and processes that get results. We use cutting edge techniques to quickly identify issues, potential solutions, and implementation options. We are specialists in working with competing views and values around must-solve issues. By using defined processes to identify the views that need to be engaged, creating a shared understanding of issues, discovering common ground, and building creative and effective action plans, we help groups accomplish what seemed impossible before.
Over the past decade Ag Innovations Network staff have led thousands of hours of meetings, collaborations, and complex public-input processes. From developing a community response to creating more farm worker housing, to creating consensus on how to mitigate the potential damaging habitat impacts of some food safety practices, to helping frame sustainability strategy for global food businesses, we have built a track record of success.
We have a list of recent projects that you can view to learn more about the kind of work we have done.
What We Do
AIN offers its services to non-profits, formal and informal community groups, businesses, and government. We focus exclusively on food system issues defined broadly as anything dealing with getting food and fibre from farm to fork in a sustainable and just manner.
Design and facilitation of meetings, retreats, and multi-stakholder collaborations
Working closely with you or a team of leaders, we help clarify your objectives, design processes, provide pre and post meeting support, and facilitate processes that work.
Strategic planning, visioning, and business planning
We work with organizations and enterprises to develop the concepts, strategies and plans they need to cope with the incredible complexity of the global food system. Using a “reality-based” approach, we help clarify the imperatives driving change and viable options for success. We also provide classic organizational development support that increase capabilities and improve productivity.
Training in food systems, systems thinking, and facilitation
We offer a suite of training programs that can be tailored to individual needs. We also develop custom training in our areas of experience. Current offerings include basic and advanced facilitation training, multi-stakeholder collaboration, systems thinking, and understanding food systems.
Conference moderation, keynote speaking, and panel participation
Ag Innovations Network staff are frequent conference presenters, moderators, and keynote speakers in our areas of expertise.
Engage Us!
Please contact us to discuss your project or need. Drop an email or call us at 707-823-6111.