Many of us have built our careers around serving and supporting others. But what happens when we ourselves need support? CNF’s Community of Practice gathering is a way to provide a safe forum for people in our sector to support one another, connecting about our hopes, anxieties, dilemmas, and successes. By holding a confidential space for judgment-free conversation, we can help ourselves as we help one another cope with the unique and troubling challenges of this moment.

Our Community of Practice gatherings won’t work from a fixed agenda or required topics. A professional facilitator will lightly-structure each one-hour session so we can use the time to connect with one another and discuss whatever issues have energy for us.

What is a Community of Practice?

This Community of Practice is convened to support its members. Participants meet in an environment of trust and community for the purpose of:

• Being present for one another.
• Asking for help and providing help to others.
• Giving and receiving support, including exploring dilemmas; expressing emotions; raising awareness; making meaning; discussing struggles, triumphs, or defeats; sharing and generating knowledge.

Why is CNF convening Communities of Practice?

One of our values as an organization is collaboration, and we would like to use that value to provide a safe, consistent, and structured forum for us to connect and support each other during these unprecedented times. CNF will hold a space for leaders of our child neurology community to candidly discuss the issues and challenges they experience every day. By sharing what we know and feel, we can build connections and resilience, work together to solve problems, and reinforce that none of us are alone in this crisis.

The CEO Community of Practice has begun!

CNF has begun hosting a CEO Community of Practice to support individuals with leadership roles in the child neurology sector with bi-monthly CEO Community of Practice meetings. This group is only for executives (CEO/ED) at child neurology related advocacy organizations. We ask that only one person per organization attend the meetings. In the future, CNF hopes to offer additional groups for practitioners in areas such as development or communications. Updates will be added here and advertised as they develop.

When are the meetings being scheduled?

The CEO Community of Practice meetings will be held every 2 months. Upcoming dates are listed below:

• March 10, 2021 – 12-1pm ET

• June 2, 2021 – 12-1pm ET

• August 25, 2021 – 12-1pm ET

• October 6, 2021 – 12-1pm ET

• November 10, 2021 – 12-1pm ET

• December 8, 2021 – 12-1pm ET

How do I get involved?

If you would like to get involved in the CEO Community of Practice, reach out to [email protected] with your name, email, title, and organization. You will receive an Eventbrite invitation to RSVP for the next meeting.

CEO Community of Practice Membership Details:

• The COP will meet via Zoom for sixty minutes.
• The agenda will be loosely structured, usually consisting of an individual check-in, group discussions that follow participants’ energy and interest, followed by check-out.
• To facilitate free-flowing conversation, the size of the Community of Practice may be limited. If more than ten participants join a given session, the facilitator may divide the group into breakout rooms for a portion of the gathering.
• Regular attendance is strongly encouraged, but not mandatory.
• Participants agree to keep confidential whatever is discussed. Unless otherwise agreed, it’s ok to share what is said, but not who said what.
• Participants should join remote convenings from a quiet and private space (e.g., so others can’t overhear the conversation)
• COP sessions will not be recorded or transcribed.
• To support the convenings, CNF will provide a Zoom connection, a contact list, a shared space to exchange documents, and staffing in the form of a technical producer and a facilitator. Periodically, CNF may collect confidential information from participants about the value they derive from the COP.
• Membership in the COP is individual, not organizational. If an invited participant cannot or does not wish to attend, please do not designate an alternate or substitute.