Part One
The Institute begins with a four-day training in which you learn the empowerment model, methodology and personal growth facilitation skills and apply it to the project you have selected.
Part Two
After the session in Rhinebeck, you return home to implement your empowerment project. You receive coaching over the telephone from David and Gail.
Part Three
After completing your empowerment project, you reconvene for a final five days of training to debrief your experience, learn from the groups’ best practices and develop your marketing plan. Finally, you participate in David and Gail’s acclaimed personal development training program, the Empowerment Workshop. You will benefit personally and professionally as you observe the empowerment tools skillfully applied.
Certification
After successfully completing the three-part certification program, you will receive a certificate recognizing your accomplishment as an Empowerment Practitioner in the track in which you have specialized.
Empowerment Institute Tracks
Watch Video: Overview of the 5 Tracks
Track 1 – Empowerment Life Coach
An Introduction to Track 1 (video clip)
Societal Change Applications of Track 1 (video clip)
David Gershon and Gail Straub have applied their unique expertise to develop a state-of-the-art coaching program. Clients design their entire life over twelve sessions. It is based on their best selling book Empowerment: The Art of Creating Your Life As You Want It and their acclaimed Empowerment Workshop. Coaches market an actual coaching product as well as themselves. Clients sign up for a twelve-session coaching program enabling marketing to be time and cost effective. And once clients have finished the twelve sessions, they are predisposed to continue with their coach to manifest their dreams. The Empowerment Life Coaching Program has gotten great feedback because it is effective in attracting clients, achieves powerful results and sustains client relationships over time. This coaching program is for both experienced and new coaches. It has been successful working with individuals in all sectors of society.
Track 2 – Empowerment Workshop Trainer
An Introduction to Track 2 (video clip)
Societal Change Applications of Track 2 (video clip)
For twenty-five years Gail Straub and David Gershon have presented their Empowerment Workshop to thousands of people around the world. It is considered by many the most profound and effective personal growth training available. You will learn how to lead this training and develop a niche based on your unique talents and aspirations. This turn-key training program has been successfully used in both conventional personal growth settings as well as those where people face severe life challenges including: homelessness, spousal abuse, genocide survival, life threatening diseases, elderly in assisted care facilities, and transition from dictatorships to new democracies. Its’ flexibility allows it to fit into any environment where people are ready to create their heart’s desires.
Track 3 – Transformational Training Design and
Empowerment Facilitation
An Introduction to Track 3 (video clip)
David Gershon and Gail Straub are masters in the art of transformational training design and empowerment facilitation. The Institute will assist you in creating a transformational training based on your unique talents and aspirations or adding this component to an existing curriculum. A transformational training design combined with empowerment facilitation enables significant learning and growth outcomes unavailable through conventional education techniques. This track is appropriate for individuals with existing training or teaching background. Applications of this track have helped enhance classroom learning, accelerate leadership development and enable a depth of personal growth to a host of specialized trainings.
Track 4 – The Practice of Empowerment in Organizations:
Developing Talent and Changing Behavior
An Introduction to Track 4 (video clip)
Organizational Change Applications of Track 4 (video clip)
In today’s highly competitive talent marketplace, for an organization to attract and retain top talent requires skill in developing people. And as the rate of change in the marketplace accelerates, organizations are constantly trying to help its people adopt the critical new behaviors necessary to keep pace. Organizations that succeed at developing top talent and changing behavior of key employees have a significant competitive advantage. The Institute provides consultants and managers a highly effective and proven methodology to enable talent development and behavior change in organizations. It is based on 25 years of research and practice and has been applied by hundreds of change practitioners in organizations throughout the world.
(For an article describing empowerment in organizations click here.)
Track 5 – The Practice of Empowerment in Society:
Reinventing the Social Change Formula
An Introduction to Track 5 (video clip)
Societal Change Applications of Track 5 (video clip)
The impetus for change in our world is growing as our social systems become unable to meet the stresses placed upon them. This has created an opening in society for a re-examination of its organizing assumptions and the transformation of its social systems. For humanity to effectively address the challenges it faces requires an evolution in how we currently think about social change. The social change strategy of the future needs to be capable of both transforming the old forms and inventing the new ones. Empowerment Institute has developed, tested and evolved a new social change formula through action research over the past 25 years. It has successfully deployed it in the public and civic sectors of society and built the capacity of thousands of change leaders who have influenced millions of people.
The Institute provides non-profits, public sector agencies and social entrepreneurs the tools to apply this new strategy. Participants can either design their own project based on an issue they wish to address or can get certified in one of three specialty areas: low carbon lifestyle coaching, livable neighborhood community organizing and disaster resilient community organizing.
2. Empowerment Methodology – a strategy for transformation
You learn to help people increase self knowledge so they can discover what’s important to them; translate this knowledge into a workable vision; identify and transform the limiting beliefs that inevitably arise when creating something new; and work with the subtle skills of directed thought necessary to manifest their vision.
3. Empowerment Coaching – the how-to of personal growth
You learn the five part empowerment coaching model: intuition, core growth issues, empowerment methodology, interventions and personal growth facilitation. The goal of this coaching model is to enable a person to create a new possibility – the “growing edge.” You then learn how to help them manifest this new growth in their life.
4. Empowerment Architecture – transformational design
You learn how to craft a strategy that enables personal transformation. This includes blending knowledge with personal growth, process design and creation of an enabling environment.
5. Marketing Empowerment – enrolling people in transformation
You learn how to skillfully communicate the benefits of transformation to your constituency – individuals, organizations or a sector of society. You also develop a marketing plan and enrollment skills.
6. Empowerment Support Systems – sustaining growth over time
You learn and apply the principles of self support, buddy systems, affinity groups and online support systems.
7. Empowerment Workshop – a personal growth training model
You personally experience the Empowerment Workshop processes and techniques and are provided the training templates. You also receive instruction in how to apply them to your training or coaching.
A Brief History
In 1981 David Gershon and Gail Straub founded Empowerment Training Programs to explore the question – how do you empower people to grow and realize their full potential? They wished to shift the focus of personal development from healing the past and fixing problems to focusing on what we want for our lives, our organizations and our communities – and how to achieve it. Enabling people to envision their dreams and bring them to fruition was the heart of the approach which they called empowerment. The term empowerment was new in the vernacular of transformation as was their approach. This innovative approach to transformation soon began attracting attention.
People came to learn for themselves, their organizations, or their communities. They came from North America, Europe, Asia and Russia. They were a diverse group which included Fortune 500 managers, organizational change consultants, business school professors, coaches, educators, health-care professionals, therapists, non-profit and government executives, community development consultants, social and environmental change advocates, leadership trainers and those wishing to develop a career in personal development training.
Over the years what evolved was an extraordinary learning community – a global empowerment laboratory. David and Gail then wrote their best selling book Empowerment: The Art of Creating Your Life As You Want It, popularizing their research on empowerment. The writing process brought further refinement to their model and the book’s success attracted yet more people to their trainings. Along the way Gail and David became master practitioners of personal growth facilitation and people also began coming to experience their style.
David and Gail continued to evolve their empowerment work by adapting the model and methodology to other initiatives. Included amongst these was a transformative event created at the height of the cold war, the First Earth Run. In partnership with the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and ABC Television they organized the historic passing of a torch of peace around the world. This simple and profound act of global unity offered at a moment of great fear engaged the participation of 25 million people in 62 countries, the world’s political leadership and through the media an estimated 20% of the population on the planet. It was an extraordinary confirmation of the efficacy of the empowerment tools.
Building on this growing body of knowledge and experience in large system transformation, David applied his empowerment expertise to communities and organizations. His clients included cities, countries and organizations wishing to create behavior change amongst their constituencies. The versatility of the empowerment tools enabled them to address issues ranging from organizational culture change, to environmental behavior change to low income neighborhood revitalization. Research studies indicated the adopted behavior changes were sustained over time.
Gail applied the empowerment methodology to developing an advanced training program that integrated spiritual growth with social and ecological responsibility. This training has become a model for engaged spirituality balancing inner development with outer service. Based on this training she wrote the critically acclaimed The Rhythm of Compassion: Caring for Self, Connecting With Society and Circle of Compassion: Meditations for Caring for Self and the World.
And the results from all this research and application…a robust and rigorously tested transformational model was built that stood the test of time. It worked! While they were now recognized as the foremost authorities on empowerment and their work had grown widely, David and Gail realized there was a next level. It was to create an in-depth professional training program for the mastery of empowerment. The Empowerment Institute Certification Program was the result.
Empowerment Institute Participant Feedback
“The Empowerment Institute is the most powerful, results oriented training program I have ever encountered. I have integrated the empowerment architecture into everything I do from development of community leadership in my work to relationships with my colleagues, family and friends. It’s now like breathing.”
Jeff Nugent, Executive VP, Development Training Institute
“The Empowerment Institute provided me powerful tools to introduce and facilitate transformation with the people and government organizations with which I work. These versatile tools have also transformed the way I lead meetings, build teams and interact with colleagues.”
Montserrat Meiro-Lorenzo, Senior Health Specialist, World Bank
"David Gershon expertly guided me in creating a Leadership Transformation Program which I utilize regularly now with executives in corporations, universities and government. In the first year I sold 10 (6 month) programs with high potential leaders who are critical to their organization's success. The programs were very well received by both organizational sponsors and the coachees. The well thought out design of the program, which David meticulously coached me on, pushed the coaching results to a much higher impact level for both the sponsor and the coachee. The level of engagement and commitment by the sponsors and the coachees was the highest
I have ever seen in executive coaching. David's expertise in empowerment coaching and in program design were instrumental in creating the program and its success."
David Gruner, Principal, Career Directions
“David and Gail’s masterful facilitation of the Empowerment Institute enabled me to transform my vision of creating empowering work cultures into reality. The empowerment process, taught and modeled with integrity, is a powerful instrument in harnessing employee potential. In using this process with one organization, the General Manager said, the behavior changes she witnessed from the workshop participants were dramatic. Now she wants more!”
Elizabeth Soltis, Organizational Development Consultant
"The Institute provided me the skills, knowledge, time and space to create a vision for my classroom and my life and to bring it into reality. My classroom is a different place to be. Thank you!”
Debra Breger, 6th Grade Science Teacher
“I just love the empowerment life coaching program. The way you have designed it enables real transformation. I am amazed by the immediate results it achieves in people’s lives. I am building my clientele fast. I got 13 new clients and earned back my investment three times over within several months. Of course it is through my own enthusiasm and belief in the excellence of this program that I created these results.”
Isis Saris, Life Coach and Organizational Consultant
“Even though I was already a coach, the Empowerment Institute was a wonderful addition to my practice. It propelled me forward in mastery and has enabled me to propel my clients forward to even greater levels of growth.”
Pat O’Connor, Life Coach
“This certification is a must for all social change agents. It is a true cutting edge technology in community empowerment that really works. Thank you David and Gail for your work. The communities I serve are better for it.”
Netrisa Dockery, Community Organizer
“This was the process and support structure that I needed to bring my work to fruition. The individualized coaching was most helpful in enabling me to design my conscious parenting training. A million thanks for helping me move my vision to empower children into the world.”
Linda Rudolph, Personal Development Trainer
“Gail and David are master facilitators of personal transformation. It was a joy to come in contact with teachers that have such a deep knowledge of how people grow and ways to support them.”
Rosa Carillo, Organizational Consultant
"The Empowerment Institute provides a priceless road map for societal transformation. It is refreshing to find a body of work that really delivers. I have been blown away by the effectiveness of this model!"
Rha Goddess Artist, Activist & Founder of The Next Wave of Women & Power
Feedback on David Gershon and Gail Straub's Empowerment Work
“In my role heading the Organizational and Individual Development function globally for Honeywell I have either taken or evaluated most training programs aimed at individual or organizational change. The empowerment work of David Gershon and Gail Straub, however was profoundly different and I was deeply impressed by the simple elegance of the very personal methodology they have honed over two decades of work, including their training design and delivery. They are empathic leaders who move people to discover their highest potential. I am presently running my own consulting and coaching business and continue to rely on the empowerment model as a foundation for my work with individuals and organizations.”
Elaine Millam, President, Workwise Coaching and Consulting
“The Empowerment Workshop profoundly affected my life. It gave me a foundation of self trust that I needed to co-create my business. I have no idea how I would have believed I could do this without the reinforcement of the empowerment model.”
Christiane Northrup, MD, Author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom
“I consider the Empowerment Workshop and Transformative Leadership Training life changing experiences that still continues to have a great impact on me.”
John Mackey, Founder, Chairman and CEO Whole Foods Market
“David Gershon proved he is truly a visionary in moving individuals to higher levels of performance, specifically within our complex organizational system. He helped my team through an intense, personalized learning experience using his unique transformational learning approach. David and the highly effective set of tools of his Empowerment Institute helped produce significant, measurable and sustainable behavior change within our team. He built our consulting skills and worked with us to leverage our collective talent and create business results. Through David's work, this team now has daily practices focusing on their vision. We are empowered!”
Bob Franco, Vice President Human Resources,
American Express Company
“David Gershon is one of the heaviest hitting and most highly respected management consultants in the nation. He goes beyond inspiration to transformation. He helps clients achieve the results they want.”
Ed Sheehy, Manager, Entergy Corporation
"Gail Straub speaks with a voice of total authenticity, great compassion, and a seasoned understanding of all the challenges, joys, and dangers that one is likely to encounter along the path of service. Her [work] can change your life and expand your vision for what you are here for."
John Welwood, Author of Love and Awakening, Journey of the Heart
"Gail Straub is always fostering the quiet light of hope. She has lived the questions she explores disclosing so many of the secret bridges between the inner hemisphere of the soul and the outer world of action. Gail's touch is sure as she grounds both worlds. The balance she recommends will be crucial in setting the tonality of our new millennium."
John O'Donahue, Author of Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom
2008 Registration Information
Part One
January 3–6, 2008
Training held at the historic Delamater House and Conference Center in the charming village of Rhinebeck, New York. Training begins with dinner Thursday January 3th, and ends at 6:00 PM before dinner
Sunday January 6th.
Part Two
January 7 – June 10, 2008
Implement Empowerment Project. Coaching with David and Gail.
Part Three
June 11–15, 2008
Training at The Delamater Conference Center in Rhinebeck, New York. This training begins with dinner Wednesday June 11th, and ends at 6:00 PM before dinner on Sunday June 15th.
Registration:
Empowerment Training Programs
1649 Route 28A,
West Hurley, New York 12491
845 331.1312
Fax: 845 331.3041
E-mail us
Tuition:
Program is $3,450 and includes program registration and materials for both trainings as well as support and coaching during the Empowerment Project. Room and board at The Delamater Conference Center: $1,580 Single Room and Double Room $1,195. This includes lodging for seven nights (January and June sessions) as well as all meals during the two training sessions. A minimum of half payment for tuition and room and board is due upon registration. Full payment is due on or before December 1st, 2007. Checks and credit cards are accepted. Please make checks payable to Empowerment Training Programs. ($1,000 of payment is non-refundable)
Early Registration Discounts:
• 50% Deposit by June 1st – $450 discount
• 50 % Deposit by August 15th – $350 discount
• 50 % Deposit by October 1st – $250 discount
Full payment is due on or before December 1, 2007
Empowerment Institute is a three-part professional training leading to certification. It is based on David Gershon and Gail Straub’s world renown work on empowerment and their mastery of personal growth facilitation developed over the past two decades. Their “empowerment model” is considered by many, the state-of-the-art in transformational technology. And as stated in the Experience Economy, published by Harvard Business School Press: “Nothing is more important, more abiding, or more wealth creating than the wisdom required to transform customers.”