What students are saying

The SPA journey enriched me in so many ways, and the first one is that it boosted my optimism that change is possible. Maya doesn't just share theory or concepts, but practical ways, paths to walk on, and so importantly, partnership and guidance. And not only from herself! I still get lots of strength and inspiration from the cohort and my community partners (with whom I continue to meet). This course really transformed my work and my perspectives and I would definitely do it again and again!

Maya has created an immensely valuable course. The structure, content and experience design all make up for a highly insightful learning experience that brings the participants to a journey of thematic and experiential learning. She is very knowledgeable about the topic but also about group facilitation, allowing us to really digest the key points of the course and integrate them practically into our professional context. If you want to learn the principles and practices of Shift The Power approaches, don’t miss this!!

Super glad that I took the shifting power accelerator course. The course material is very comprehensive with a number of resources to dive deeper into topics. Loved the session design - good mix of lecture format and individual/group reflections. Maya has thoughtfully created this course, and she's a great facilitator.

This course is one of the most meaningful investments I've made in my professional development. Maya has prepared an intense 8 weeks of approaches, ideas, and examples to show us how shifting behaviours, organisations, and advocating for broader social change can start with the work we do in our NGOs. It's for anyone who is active in the NGO space, ideally implementing organisations, and has practices they can use as examples. I leave with not only a library of ideas but inspiration and motivation to apply them. Highly recommended! Alongside it all, Maya brings her approach to cohort-based learning, encouraging discussions and creating a community of practice so thank you for having such a participatory space!

Maya's guidance and creation of a space to both discuss challenges and solutions for shifting power within an organization was really valuable. I'm leaving with tools and action items to help move towards a more equitable future.

This course has been beneficial in broadening my perspective on power shifting. I loved the resources and toolkits as well as the case studies. They have certainly provided me several ideas on different approaches I can take with a range of stakeholders to initiate the work on power shifting as well as strengthen the ones that are already in action. I also loved the opportunity to discuss real time projects with my peers in this course in each workshop as it helped get my thoughts going even before the session ended. I feel very energised to take on the power shifting initiative within my organisation with new ideas and stronger knowledge and capacity than before.

Really interesting and engaging course, really well thought out and excellently facilitated, to get you thinking. All of the course materials were great and lots of support and focus on activities and skills that are valuable for real life situations and practice, I really learnt a lot and built my confidence to take this forwards in my own work.

Every development practitioner needs to take the Shifting Power Accelerator. Amazing and very engaging with relevant case studies to learn from, as well different tools, approaches and frameworks that allows one a wide range of choice for practice!

In a world where we are overwhelmed by online courses and webinars, the Shifting Power Course was a breath of fresh air. Being engaged throughout 2.5 hour Zoom sessions every week speaks volumes of Maya's facilitation skills. The content of the course, the conversation with peers from my cohort, all of the insights have allowed me to keep racking my brain beyond the sessions and beyond the course on how we can all shift power.

Excellent course because it engaged students in a project that provided a way to immediately apply the lessons learned. The diversity and wealth of learning resources provided by Maya was incredible. It allowed me to dig as deep as I wanted to. The thoughtfulness and attention to detail of the instructor showed up in every aspect of the course: the way the activities were structured to be engaging, instructor feedback, and peer learning. A very memorable experience.

I cannot recommend the Shifting Power Accelerator enough! This course has given me invaluable insight into how I can shift power within my work in international development. The course is very practical-focussed: how do you actually shift power - from decision-making, to partnerships, program design and funding. I am very grateful for the course's design as a cohort and the requirement to partner with a local leader or Global South colleague. My classmates and my partner have challenged me and helped keep me accountable. Moreover, Maya is an incredible facilitator: inclusive, flexible, and challenges us towards meaningful action beyond the course. Thank you!

Shifting Power Accelerator's curriculum and instruction was phenomenal, and the cohort's solidarity was motivating and supportive. I felt like a semester's worth of reading + learning was shared in a matter of weeks, and the variety of ways to learn and share during the course made it easy to stay engaged. I also appreciated the emphasis on partnering with a Global South colleague to learn from one another and shift power in real-time. We plan to continue our collaboration, just as I hope this is only the beginning of a deeper study and practice of the shifting power based on this course's rich lessons.