Become a Facilitator

Write Around Portland’s volunteer facilitators help to build community and promote healing through writing with participants around our region. 

Facilitators act as “the face of Write Around Portland” to participants and the public. Facilitators lead participants in writing stories, poems, memoirs, letters, and essays, experimenting with imagery, character development, writing in different voices, dialogue, and poetry. Participants, including the facilitator, share their writing and give and receive positive feedback to support healing and validation. All writing is done within each session (there is no homework.)

Almost no programs take place at our office because we believe that everybody deserves access to creative writing – not just those who live in the metro core. Facilitators often travel 30-45 minutes each way to facilitate a session, and they often visit parts of the city they’re unfamiliar with. They also often interact with communities that they would never normally interact with. We see this as a benefit for the facilitator in breaking down barriers between communities, leading to greater understanding for all.

Benefits of Facilitating

  • Use your love of creative writing to help others recover, heal, and transform
  • Learn how to facilitate productive dialogue and conversation in diverse groups
  • Learn how to interrupt bad behavior and microaggressions
  • Develop listening skills and learn how to hold space for others
  • Learn how to respectfully enter communities far different from your own
  • Learn ways to communicate across differences
  • Share the joy of creative writing with individuals who may not have experience with it
  • Training is offered FREE

“Facilitating is the best thing I do in this city. Every time I engage with it, it reminds me that being useful, helpful, and kind to other people is crucial to me feeling like I’m living my life well. It has made me more generous toward my neighbors, coworkers, to people at the grocery store.”

Cara Olexa, Facilitator

Getting Started

Facilitators deliver our programs firsthand across our community. Since our volunteer facilitators represent our work, all interested individuals enter a competitive application process. We accept applicants three times per year. Training is offered for FREE for all cohorts.

Writing Group Facilitators

Summer Cohort

Applications open in May and are due in late June.

Interviews occur in July.

Facilitator training begins in late July.

Writing Groups begin in early September typically last 6-10 weeks.

Winter Cohort

Applications deadlines:

  • Priority Deadline: Fri, 11/20
  • Final Deadline: Tue, 11/24

Interviews occur in early December.

Facilitator training starts in January.

Writing Groups begin in February and typically last 6-10 weeks.

Apply Now

Resonate Facilitators

This cohort is specifically reserved for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) folks interested in facilitating for our Resonate program.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Interviews will occur in January or February.

Facilitator training begins early 2027.

Resonate Writing Circles occur throughout the year with a summer hiatus.

Apply Now

We seek applicants who believe in Write Around Portland’s mission, share our values, and reflect the full diversity of our community. You do not need to be a professional writer or have extensive experience to be a facilitator!

People of color, Spanish speakers, people living with a disability or people who have lived or are living on a lower income are encouraged to apply.

Desired Qualities and Characteristics of a Facilitator

You do not need to be a professional writer or have extensive experience to be a facilitator! Instead, we are more interested in how you interact with others.

Here are a few qualities and characteristics we look for in facilitators:

  • warmth, friendliness and genuine interest in the well-being of others and in learning about communities and identities that may be very different from their own
  • flexibility and ability to adapt to changing needs or circumstances
  • ability to adapt to groups’ and individuals’ changing moods, energies, and needs while maintaining professional boundaries and within the construct of the Write Around Portland model
  • openness and ability to work respectfully with new people and people with diverse backgrounds, health statuses, income and education levels, experiencing isolation, or those who may otherwise face barriers to writing in community
  • ability to meet deadlines, turn in paperwork, and follow through on commitments
  • openness to travel to unfamiliar parts of the city
  • represent our organization well to participants, partners, and the community at large.

“For the first time in my life, I feel like my volunteerism is connected: connected to personal talents and abilities, connected to the world in a real, gritty, passionate, unpredictable way. I have been looking for this my entire life and have not found it until now.”

Sara Guest, Facilitator & Board Member

Volunteer Facilitator Commitment

  • We are limited to training individuals who are committed to and capable of facilitating writing groups for Write Around Portland. We are unable to train individuals who do not intend to or do not have the time to facilitate writing groups with our organization. Because of the careful choices we must make as an organization, we ask that those interested take the same care in choosing whether or not to apply for and complete our training.
  • Attend and actively participate in all training sessions
  • Attend three volunteer meetings during your writing group season (does not apply to Resonate facilitators)
  • Follow all Write Around Portland policies and procedures
  • Pass a criminal background check (does not apply to Resonate facilitators)
  • Let staff know if you cannot make a session
  • Within 24 hours of each session, call or meet (virtually) with your staff support person
  • Attend the Reading & Book Release associated with your writing group’s season (does not apply to Resonate facilitators)

“It felt really good to work with Write Around Portland. I felt I was helping carry the message of Write Around Portland, and it is a message I believe in; and I was helping to add to the community of writers in Portland…I also felt I was giving back to my community in a way that was personal—not just through my profession or ‘work duty’—but from my heart.”

– Dot Hearn, Facilitator

Volunteer Time Commitment

Writing Group Facilitators

  • Writing Group Facilitators volunteer approximately 5-6 hours per week during the season. Most writing groups are 10 weeks long with weekly sessions.
  • These hours include facilitating a 2-hour session, commuting, weekly prep and follow-up, writing participant postcards, and weekly check-ins with staff.
  • They also attend 3 check-in meetings and the Reading & Book Release party at the end of the season.
  • Seasons currently run in the spring (Feb-May) and fall (Sep-Dec).

Resonate Facilitators

  • Resonate Facilitators volunteer for approximately 2-3 hours per session they facilitate.
  • These hours include facilitating a 90-minute session, commuting (if in-person; many Resonate circles are virtual); preparation and follow-up, tech rehearsal, writing participant postcards, and a check-in with staff.
  • Resonate Writing Circles occur year-round with a summer hiatus. They are offered 2-3 times per month.

About Facilitator Training

All facilitators go through an 8-session training with Write Around Portland staff before they can facilitate. All facilitator trainings are offered for FREE. Here are some details to know:

  • Trainings occur in a cohort model, with all accepted applicants and staff members engaged in a Write Around writing group together.
  • Training sessions are generally held on Tuesday evenings and on Saturday mornings.
    • Resonate facilitator training is held entirely online.
  • We require attendance at all sessions. Sometimes, we can supply a makeup session in the event someone is sick, but we ask that all applicants make time in their schedule to attend all the sessions.
  • Our summer and winter cohort sessions are held at our office on SW 2nd & Pine in Portland, OR. Our office building is ADA-accessible and has a gender neutral restroom. Resonate facilitator training is held virtually.
  • We can provide transit tickets and guided playtime for kiddos during training, upon request.

“I loved the Write Around Portland facilitator training! It’s like a universal training for life.”

Erin Ellickson Gerry, Facilitator

“It has been truly life-changing for me to facilitate Write Around Portland workshops. It has not been a small part of my life. While I know that I was volunteering to help others change their lives through writing, I think I was the one who was most affected!”

Elizabeth Fuss Arnott, Facilitator

Questions?

Maya Friedman (she/they)

Volunteer Coordinator

503-796-9224 | mfriedman@writearound.org

Tia-Theo Thompson (they/he/she)

Resonate Program Coordinator

503-796-9224 | tthompson@writearound.org

Scroll to Top