Creative Ways Consulting/Workshop Facilitation
Shari Davis and Benny Ferdman consult with organizations large and small to build programs, curriculum and organizational capacity. Explore our website to see samples of the collaborative and interdisciplinary projects we have worked on.
Appreciative Inquiry: Shari is a Certified Appreciative Inquiry (Ai) Trainer who leads workshops that utilize this strengths-based approach to organizational change and growth. Shari has used this process in many diverse contexts, including supporting mentoring programs, building new educational programs and for individual and small group coaching.
Shari is also a Certified Facilitator of the Social, Emotional & Ethical Learning Curriculum for The Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University. Shari trains educators and leads workshops in this comprehensive and effective program.
Shari is an experienced facilitator of the World Cafe Method: a large group process which uses the power of meaningful questions and conversation for creating positive change in individuals, organizations, communities and the world.
Contact Shari at [email protected] for a conversation on how Ai can be an effective approach to change and growth at your organization or business.
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Recent workshops/teaching
- The Appreciative Inquiry Process in Mentoring: a 3 session workshop for Rabbinic Mentors at Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles, 2023/24
- The Art & Practice of Learning Conversations-- an Appreciative Inquiry based workshop for Rabbinic and Cantorial students at the American Academy of Jewish Religion, Los Angeles, 2024
Shari Davis Bio:
Shari Davis is an educator, consultant and facilitator of learning experiences that strengthen deeper connections within communities. As co-founder of the organization Creative Ways, she has worked for over three decades developing educational programs, curriculum & exhibitions which explore the intersections of culture, nature, history and identity. For over eleven years, Shari was on staff at the LA Jewish Federation where she held positions as Director of Education, Director of the Focus on Teen Wellness and Manager of Curriculum and Teacher Training. Shari teaches classes in Health and Wellness, Social Emotional Learning and Building Resilience, and consults with organizations on building community through dialogue and the arts. She is a certified trainer in Appreciative Inquiry: a strengths-based approach to organizational change.
Benny Ferdman Bio:
As a collector of materials and stories from our human, natural and cultural landscape, artist Benny Ferdman is a painter and sculptor who reinterprets images and tales to reclaim wonder in everyday life. His journey has led him through broad explorations of nature, diverse cultures, and a more intimate engagement with East European Jewish traditions, history and the Yiddish language he grew up with. His paintings, sculptures and installations are animated by a mix of folkloric and natural forms, ancient text, the past, the present, renewal and contradiction. He has served as the former founding Arts Director at deToledo High School and is the recipient of the Milken Educators Award. As Co-founder and Artistic Director of Creative Ways, he creates public art, exhibitions, multi-media installations, interdisciplinary arts programming and educational curricula nationally and across the globe.
Benny and Shari are also Co-Founder/Directors of Camp Wildcraft--an L.A. based art and nature summer camp whose mission is to "grow
curious, creative, confident and caring kids who feel at home in nature." www.campwildcraft.com
Shari Davis is an educator, consultant and facilitator of learning experiences that strengthen deeper connections within communities. As co-founder of the organization Creative Ways, she has worked for over three decades developing educational programs, curriculum & exhibitions which explore the intersections of culture, nature, history and identity. For over eleven years, Shari was on staff at the LA Jewish Federation where she held positions as Director of Education, Director of the Focus on Teen Wellness and Manager of Curriculum and Teacher Training. Shari teaches classes in Health and Wellness, Social Emotional Learning and Building Resilience, and consults with organizations on building community through dialogue and the arts. She is a certified trainer in Appreciative Inquiry: a strengths-based approach to organizational change.
Benny Ferdman Bio:
As a collector of materials and stories from our human, natural and cultural landscape, artist Benny Ferdman is a painter and sculptor who reinterprets images and tales to reclaim wonder in everyday life. His journey has led him through broad explorations of nature, diverse cultures, and a more intimate engagement with East European Jewish traditions, history and the Yiddish language he grew up with. His paintings, sculptures and installations are animated by a mix of folkloric and natural forms, ancient text, the past, the present, renewal and contradiction. He has served as the former founding Arts Director at deToledo High School and is the recipient of the Milken Educators Award. As Co-founder and Artistic Director of Creative Ways, he creates public art, exhibitions, multi-media installations, interdisciplinary arts programming and educational curricula nationally and across the globe.
Benny and Shari are also Co-Founder/Directors of Camp Wildcraft--an L.A. based art and nature summer camp whose mission is to "grow
curious, creative, confident and caring kids who feel at home in nature." www.campwildcraft.com