WORKSHOP • Chicago, IL
Applying Human-Centered Design to Community Engagement
Join us for an interactive workshop that equips you with tools to build stronger partnerships, foster inclusive spaces, and lead more collaborative community engagement.
Applying Human-Centered Design to Community Engagement
Date: March 26, 2026
Time: 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM CST
Location: Chicago, IL (MEEA office)
Workshop Attendance: $699
If you're looking for practical ways to communicate complex ideas and gather meaningful input, this interactive workshop is for you. Designed for utility leaders, regulators, implementers, non-profit professionals, and anyone committed to equitably engaging their communities, you’ll leave this session with actionable strategies to better connect with the communities you serve.
As one past participant shared: “The Shared Space Project's workshop on Effective Stakeholder Engagement Strategy is very valuable. It provides key tools for organizations with stakeholder engagement as part of their core service offerings. The process reminds participants of the human component of stakeholder engagement so that efforts for effective communication can be more relational than transactional. It's a workshop all who interface with constituents and customers in traditionally underserved communities should experience.”
Learn more about the workshop and training outcomes on the registration page.
A note about the registration process: Our ticketing partner, Zeffy, automatically adds a service fee to your ticket. This fee is optional and can be removed. During checkout, you can select the drop-down arrow where it says 11%, select “other,” and enter 0.
Help us make space for everyone as a workshop sponsor
This training is brought to you by the Shared Space Project. We thank Encolor, MEEA, and Backen Consulting for sponsoring the event.
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What past participants are saying:
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“It was a great opportunity to connect with industry professionals to learn, share, and be introduced to topics of interest.”
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“I found the training engaging and an amazing place to work with peers.”
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“From this training, there was great value in learning from other participants and facing your own unconscious biases.”
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“The environment was collaborative, so I walked away with networking and connections to others in the field.”
Meet your training leaders:
JOAN EFFINGER
Joan Effinger is the Chief Program Officer at Encolor and contributor at The Shared Space Project. With over 20 years of experience in the energy industry, Joan combines technical expertise with business acumen to lead applied research that informs strategy, program design, and decision-making for utilities and stakeholders. She builds deep and long-lasting partnerships with her clients on high-impact projects including multi-phase program designs on building codes and standards across five states, RFP administration, IRP and regulatory filings, stakeholder engagement, logic modeling, traditional evaluations, market characterization, emerging technologies, benchmarking, solar, energy storage, and microgrids.
Her ability to navigate utility operations derives from multiple perspectives – working within a utility, implementation companies, and evaluation firms – giving her a unique and holistic perspective that blends market research, program design and evaluation into impactful results for utilities around the country.
Joan holds a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from U.C. Irvine and an M.B.A. from Texas A&M University.
RACHEL DORTIN
Rachel Dortin is the Director of Community Organizing & Ownership for The Shared Space Project, where she leads community-based participatory research projects and delivers workshops on stakeholder engagement, power sharing, and co-creation with communities. Bringing over a decade of experience crossing industries, including higher education, climate, and energy, Rachel melds a variety of perspectives to help ensure that people are able to claim their rightful seats at tables where decisions are being made about them.
Rachel sits on the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Rachel holds a Ph.D. from Wayne State University, where she developed a community-based research methodology to assess relationships between universities and community-based organizations. She also holds a master’s degree from the University of Findlay and a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Northern University.
Want to bring a training like this to your organization?
We would love to work with you to create a training tailored to your needs. We also run trainings on:
Inclusive facilitation
Asset framing
Community engagement
Community ownership
Power sharing
Having tough conversations
And more!