Impact Stories
From dependency to autonomy: MFJ’s 3 year journey to internal facilitation mastery
How Measures for Justice built a self-led facilitation culture
When Measures for Justice (MFJ) first partnered with UFacilitate, their goal was clear: design an effective team retreat. Over three years, this partnership evolved, helping MFJ build strong internal skills to plan and lead impactful retreats independently. typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.
3 years
1 facilitator
7 hours per year
This focused investment allowed MFJ to move confidently from relying on external consultants to fully leading their own events.
The challenge
After the pandemic, MFJ faced challenges common to many mission-driven organizations:
- Rapid organizational growth
- Geographically dispersed, hybrid teams
- A need to strengthen internal connection and clarify organizational purpose
Their retreats had to go beyond routine meetings. They needed to foster alignment, strengthen culture, and develop internal leadership. Planning such events felt complicated and challenging.
Year 1: establishing a solid foundation
UFacilitate worked closely with MFJ to design and implement their first retreat, introducing structured tools such as the Success Spectrum and detailed planning frameworks.
These resources allowed MFJ to:
- Reconnect their hybrid team
- Clearly define organizational goals
- Practice inclusive facilitation techniques
“Brooking, from UFacilitate, proved to be an invaluable resource and a tremendous asset.”
— MFJ Senior People Operations Generalist
Year 2: enhancing internal facilitation capabilities
In year two, MFJ staff stepped into leadership roles. UFacilitate transitioned from facilitator to coach and thought partner, helping MFJ staff take ownership of their retreat’s content and flow. Two key staff members led the process by:
- Creating the retreat agenda
- Organizing the event flow
- Applying facilitation skills learned previously
MFJ staff built upon proven methods, with UFacilitate providing supportive guidance.
“This facilitation process deepened my knowledge about myself, my values, and what I look for in an event and how impactful an event can be.”
— MFJ Team Member
Year 3: achieving full autonomy
By 2024, MFJ fully owned the retreat’s design and execution. An internal committee confidently used templates, processe values and offering consultative feedback on the staff-led design.
“It was deeply satisfying to witness their growing confidence and how they felt empowered to design and facilitate their own processes. They moved from logistics to leadership.”
— Brooking Gatewood, UFacilitate Facilitator
Results: building a stronger team
Over three years, MFJ significantly improved their facilitation skills and team alignment.
Initially:
- Retreats relied entirely on external consultants
- Staff attended passively
Eventually:
- Retreats became essential team-building and strategic events
- Staff actively designed and facilitated retreats
MFJ developed:
- A clear, repeatable system for retreat planning
- Stronger internal facilitation and strategic design skills
- A more cohesive, aligned organizational culture
Ready to build your own capacity?
UFacilitate partners with foundations, NGOs, multilaterals, universities, research centers, and local governments to build internal skills through:
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- Strategic retreat and internal offsite planning
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- Leadership training
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- Organizational development
We see facilitation as an essential leadership skill. Effective facilitation solves immediate problems and builds the capabilities to address future challenges. If your organization is ready to shift from dependency to autonomy, UFacilitate is here to guide you.
Explore our facilitation, leadership coaching, and organizational development services
Contact us about your next retreat
“Other consultants only offered theory. UFacilitate understood the cultural layers, and knew how to work within them.”
— IDB Country Representative
“We came away from the retreat energized, with a newfound sense of connectedness to each other and our mission, and looking forward to the organization’s future.”
— KIND Senior Leader
“It wasn’t just a workshop: it was a cultural reset.”
— Easterseals CEO
Let’s untangle what’s holding your team back.
Whether you’re dealing with misalignment, low trust, or complexity across cultures, facilitation can move you forward.
Facilitation coaching
This is what facilitation coaching built.
Three years, one facilitator, about seven hours of support a year. That’s what it took for MFJ to move from relying on us to running it themselves.