The Participation Company offers a variety of products and services designed to facilitate community dialogue, assist in the assessment of needs and capacity, design of public participation programs, and specialized training in critical areas designed to support public participation programs.

  • Community Engagement and Support for Public Infrastructure.  Our work and experience includes both the natural and built environment for both the public and private sectors.  Where there are people interested in what’s going on, we can help them to understand and participate in community dialogue.  Where there are agencies and companies that need to know what the community is thinking, we can help them figure it out.
  • Issue and Stakeholder Assessment.  We provide independent and thorough assessments of issues including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to projects and proposals, as well as a complete analysis of the current and potential stakeholders and influencers. 
  • Public participation.  Democracy promises citizen engagement in governance and laws mandate public participation in government decisions.   Careful design of public participation programs ensures that public input is focused and helpful for the sponsoring agencies and organizations.  We design effective and legally defensible public participation programs to meet the specific needs of decision makers through effective stakeholder involvement.
  • Group facilitation.  Simply bringing groups together doesn’t guarantee success; individual issues, concerns, and communication strategies can thwart even well-intended groups.  Our professional facilitators have decades of experience in large- and small-group dynamics to design meeting structures and processes to accomplish your objectives.  We create respectful and safe spaces for exploring unique perspectives and provide neutral guidance to support meaningful dialogue.  Meeting efficiency and effectiveness are enhanced through careful meeting design and dynamic process facilitation.
  • Consensus building.  Consensus means a decision that everyone can live with.  Consensus becomes possible when each participant feels heard, respected, and understood.  We create safe places for people to contribute their knowledge and perspectives and then support dialogue around what can be shared. 
  • Crisis Prevention and Management.  The Participation Company offers team training in crisis prevention, preparation, response, recovery, and communication for both public and private sectors.
  • Risk Communication, Public Anger and Opposition, Assessment and Management. Government and business proposals and projects suggest changes to people’s lives.  Frequently these changes sound scary, risky, and result in public concern, anger, outrage, and opposition.  We understand why it happens and to what extent it will happen to you. We’ll help you deal with it to get your project done.    
  • Coaching, Mentoring and Training
    • International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) 40-hour Certificate in Public Participation course
    • IAP2 Emotion, Outrage, and Public Participation course
    • Facilitation
    • Making Effective Presentations that Resonate and Motivate
    • Working with Media
    • Risk Communication and Message Mapping Your Issue
    • Customized communication and planning workshops that craft a plan forward for your team.