Forum Retreat Facilitation

Forum Retreat Facilitator for YPO, EO, & Executive Peer Groups

Fresh approaches. Fresh experiences.

We'll start exactly where you are, and then go somewhere new.

For Your Forum

Retreats Worth the Investment

Forum retreats can be polite and forgettable, or even pretty great. Or, they can be the moment your members realize they can go even deeper.

The difference is the facilitator, sure, but there's a lot to be said for method. I bring methods you can trust to do their magic.

Methods matter. The Forum structure is the perfect example. Follow it, and you know you'll connect. The methods I've been lucky enough to call mine do the same. Trust the process, and you'll see the results, not only in depth, but in height. (Sometimes what's needed is in the territory of playfulness.)

If your group needs to come off autopilot, you owe it to yourselves to add something new to the tried and true.

A forum retreat closing circle, hands joined in trust

Who This Is For

For Chairs Wanting to Make the Time Extraordinary

You're a forum chair, coordinator, or member planning your next retreat. You want more than icebreakers and a beach view. Your group has already built trust and depth and fun. You want a facilitator who can bring you even deeper, to the group's surprise, and work with what emerges, skillfully and humanely. Who can name, not sidestep, create meaningful movement without unnecessary heaviness, and make the time you invest genuinely cherished and transformative.

YPO Forum Chairs

Planning an annual or mid-year retreat and ready to raise the bar on what's possible for your group.

EO Forum Coordinators

Looking for a facilitator who understands the EO culture and can go beyond the standard curriculum.

Executive Peer Groups

Leadership cohorts and peer learning groups in the 6 to 20 range who want honest connection, receptive attunement, and a space where people can be real and resonate.

Depth and Delight

The retreats that change us the most are often the most joyful.

Your Facilitator

Equipped to Serve

My certifications matter less than what they made possible: the capacity to help groups navigate complexity, emotion, honesty, repair, and transformation with steadiness and care. I'm grateful to the many teachers and traditions that shaped the way I facilitate.

ICF PCC Certified Coach

The international standard for executive coaching, rigorous, ethical, and globally recognized.

ABE Certified Psychodramatist

A rare credential requiring years of supervised practice, skillfully adapted for executive forum facilitation.

MA in Conflict Transformation

From Eastern Mennonite University, peacebuilding, reconciliation, and mediation skills and principles in action.

Decades of Organizational Work

Over 30 years across sectors, including multilaterals like the World Bank.

Certified in Forum Fundamentals

Certified and employed by Mo Fathelbab's International Facilitators Organization and by CircleSpace (YPOer Founder Dan Hoffman's start-up) as a Circles Guide.

Appreciative Inquiry

Trained with the late Jane Magruder Watkins, a foundational figure in the field, and in Mac Odell's 7D adaptation in international development.

"Group process is a powerful catalyst. In a safe laboratory, people can experiment and try on new ways of being. Fresh insights emerge, yes, but we also get to encode lasting change into our mental muscle memory."

- Atieno Bird

What Forum Chairs & Members Say

Voices from the Rooms

Our EO Forum has been together for many years and worked with some excellent facilitators. I was looking for someone who could bring a fresh perspective to our retreat, and Atieno exceeded every expectation. She quickly connected with our group and led one of the most impactful retreats we've had.

Michael Raphael, Founder & CEO, Direct Dimensions, EO Forum Chair

So skilled and talented. So capable and intuitive. An incredible guide and a tremendous force for healing.

Elaine Cohen, Forum Member

Atieno facilitated a powerful and transformative session at the IFO's 3rd Annual Retreat. She is a pro with a wealth of experience and expertise and incredible insightful guidance.

Mo Fathelbab, IFO Founder

Atieno was a fantastic facilitator. She introduced methods that allowed us to dive deeply into our core challenges in a safe and supportive manner. Her wide range of techniques can adapt to nearly any approach, and I highly recommend her.

JP Vasquez, Founder & CEO, Scale Agency, EO Forum Member

I highly recommend Atieno. Professional, grounded and enthusiastic practitioner and facilitator. We enjoyed Superconscious Coaching and other activities that helped us grow individually and as a team.

Gina Foringer, EO Forum Member

The Methods

Three Streams of Practice

Conflict Transformation & Encounter

Safely excavate the truth, vulnerability, and invitation to connection behind conflicts.

Psychodrama & Family Constellations

A rare modality in executive settings. Explore and disclose on a whole new level using action and concretization. Bring the body into the room.

ProcessWork & Superconscious Coaching

Allow what's unconscious to surface safely.

Common Questions

Common Questions from Forum Chairs

What makes you different from other forum facilitators?

My methodology stack is unusual. Most forum facilitators come from coaching, business consulting, or therapy backgrounds. I bring all three, plus Psychodrama (an embodied modality that requires careful translation into executive forum work), Conflict Transformation (a peacebuilding and reconciliation discipline), ProcessWork (a depth-psychology approach to group dynamics), and Superconscious Coaching (hypnosis-related, deeply transformational self-treatments that allow members to touch and divulge material in new domains).

Can you facilitate our annual retreat, or just one-time events?

Both. I work with forum groups on a one-time basis for specific retreats, and I work with groups on an ongoing basis as their regular facilitator. Ongoing engagements let me hold the longer arc of the forum's development.

How do you handle the confidentiality forums require?

Forum confidentiality is sacred. Whatever happens in your group stays in your group. I don't write about my work with specific groups, I don't share names, and I don't use what I learn to coach individual members afterward unless they specifically engage me for that. The same NDA you ask your members to sign, I sign.

What's your geographic reach?

Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, and travel internationally for retreats. Experience facilitating groups across the US, Europe, Africa, and cross-cultural organizational contexts including the World Bank and other international institutions.

What size groups do you work with?

Forum-sized groups, typically 6 to 12 members, are the sweet spot. I also work with adjacent formats: executive teams, leadership cohorts, and small peer learning groups in the 6 to 20 range.

Begin

A First Conversation Is the Next Step

If your forum is ready to go further, let's talk. A short conversation is enough to know whether this is the right fit, for your group, your timing, and what you're hoping to unlock.

First Conversation is Free Email Atieno