Connect First Consulting
Experience the Exponential Power of Connection
Connect First brings learning to life through experiential workshops that accelerate awareness and connection to build continuous resilience in schools and workplaces throughout Berkshire County.
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Meet Lisa
Lisa Howard is a facilitator, trainer, and consultant who has over 20 years of experience working with schools and youth-serving professionals. She brings a welcoming, dynamic energy and intuitive wisdom to her approach; incorporating Experiential Learning methods with Mindfulness practices to create an empowering learning experience that transforms classrooms and workplaces.
Lisa Howard ~ Owner
info@connectfirstconsulting.com
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Connect First Experiences
Connection Sessions
Connection Sessions are a fun, dynamic, and inclusive way to get your group rejuvenated, connected and engaged. Consider a connection session for your next conference, retreat, or team bonding experience.
Mindful Movement
Mindful Movement sessions include a combination of movement, breathwork, guided visualization and meditation practices that help calm the body and clear the mind. Participants learn practices and tools they can apply in real life to help relieve stress and find deeper relaxation.
Mindful Nature Walks
Experience the rejuvenating and restorative power of nature through this gently guided, sensory-based nature walk. Immersed in the breathtaking beauty and deep serenity of Berkshire County forests, mountains, meadows and waterways, you'll find it's so much more than a walk.
Connect First Training
Connect First Trainings make learning fun and impactful. Transform your school or workplace with one of our signature training options.
Resilient Teams
Develop greater agility in group problem-solving and decision-making
Open lines of communication and set the foundation for trust in the workplace
Identify strengths and needs that will increase team performance and support goals
Identify clear strategies for balancing self-care, social responsibility, and organizational mission
Cultivating a Caring Classroom
Learn age-appropriate activities to help students practice and develop self and social awareness in the classroom.
Explore age-appropriate Classroom Contracting methods and practices for shared social accountability
Learn facilitation skills to help students communicate their learning and promote transference
Mindful Stress Resilience
Learn foundational mindfulness concepts that support stress resilience
Learn strategies to help gain control over your own stress response
Experience simple activities for stress resilience that can be incorporated into daily life in 5 minutes or less
Connect First Consulting
When it comes to matters of organizational culture and development, many leaders feel like they are fixing the bike while riding it. Consulting provides a space to assess your company’s needs around connection, culture-building, and communication in order to create and customize a plan that serves your growth as a leader and as an organization. Here are just a few of the topics we can support you with.
Navigating Change
Resilient Leadership
Creating a Culture of Belonging
Public events & engagements
Introducing Connect First Consulting
1Berkshire Entreprenurial Meetup
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM EST
1Berkshire
66 Allen Street
Pittsfield, MA 01202
Mindful Stress Resilience
Project Adventure SEL Symposium
May 20, 2020
Beverly, MA
Connect with Lisa
What people are saying...
"Lisa Howard is the missing link in Berkshire County. She not only listens very well, she's a dynamic presenter and knows how to bring people together. She is a total inspiration."
~John Pritchard, President - Pritchard Digital Arts
"In our group interaction, Lisa inspired an atmosphere of trust and mutual goodwill while communicating clear objectives such that participants enthusiastically collaborated to successfully accomplish what could not have been accomplished by any one individual. It was a sheer joy to work with Lisa!"
~ Howard Rosenberg, Owner - Anahata Schoolhouse
"Lisa is very kind and full of very good information. She helped me obtain skills at a new level that I could use in the classroom or in the field. Her professionalism and rigor to help others understand and grow is remarkable. I truly enjoyed working with Lisa and would do it again if the opportunity arises."~ Jon Burkholder - Pathfinder Farms
"Thanks again for all you did for our team last month. The training was great because you are great. You fit in so well with our group and you kept us on track which is not always an easy task with this group! Anyway, everyone was raving about it and we are already putting some of the strategies we developed into place. Thank you!"
~ Jonathan B. Project Manager
Meet Lisa
Lisa Howard is a facilitator, trainer and consultant who has over 20 years of experience working with schools and youth-serving professionals. She brings a welcoming, dynamic energy and intuitive wisdom to her approach; incorporating Experiential Learning methods with Mindfulness practices to create an empowering learning experience that lasts.
Training & Certification
Special Education Teacher - Immaculata University
M.Ed. Experiential Learning & Facilitation - Plymouth State University
Project Adventure Certified Trainer & Facilitator
Navigating Challenging Dialogue® Trained Facilitator
Yogaspirit Studios® 200 hr. Certified Yoga Teacher
Kripalu® Certified RISE™ Facilitator
Kripalu® Certified Restorative Yoga Teacher
My Journey to Connect First
Connect First Consulting LLC opens the next chapter of a professional journey and personal mission to facilitate powerful learning experiences that cultivate connection, inspire personal growth, and support unity in our world. It has been a lifelong quest to align my career with my gifts and strengths while fulfilling my purpose of bringing people together for connection and growth. I believe that each step of my professional journey has been crucial in preparing me for the next. Growing up babysitting and working in daycare settings allowed me to say yes to a Special Education opportunity I hadn’t planned for. Teaching Special Education for 9 years prepared and lead me toward a Master’s degree in Adventure Education and my next role as Trainer & Consultant for Project Adventure, Inc. And in the 13 years since that pivotal change I have continued to take one step at a time facilitation transformational learning experiences while pursuing my own learning and growth.My facilitation experiences deepened my understanding of what it means to be human in this world. I witnessed, in others and in myself, how connection, communication, and leadership are fraught with challenges yet when they are learned and practiced skillfully, the impact is exponential. As I continued my own personal and professional growth I was lead to yoga and meditation; and the practices that have continued to sustain me and strengthen my ability to show up as a compassionate and balanced colleague, leader, friend, and partner. And when I found myself at another crossroads in 2018 seeking to take my work to the next level, I found Navigating Challenging Dialogue®, a framework for healthy communication that has given me the keys to calm, clear, confident communication and freed me from years of dysfunctional, reactionary patterns of conflict avoidance, emotional outbursts, and people pleasing. I believe in this work because it has changed my life.Now, drawing upon this 20-year career journey I am combining my experience, training, and passion into Connect First. By utilizing experiential facilitation methods embedded with mindfulness skills and practices, I help those who are seeking a different way of learning and a freer, more authentic path to healthy connection and communication. I invite you to join me.~Lisa
Free resources
Coming Soon!
For Teachers
Are you a teacher who wants...
A caring classroom with self and socially aware students
A process for supporting student accountability in behavior management
A learning environment that meets a wide spectrum of needs while supporting learning for all
All this without sacrificing precious instructional time?
Caring Classroom ContractsA caring classroom contract is more than a set of rules or expectations you post on the wall. It is a set of agreements that everyone understands and commits to working towards. It provides a common language and supports a process of shared responsibility for a positive learning environment. And, it works for all ages, in any setting - IF you know how to work it.
Explore age-appropriate Classroom Contracting methods and activities
Learn activities to help students practice and develop skills related to each specific agreement.
Gain strategies for regular, responsive check-ins that keep the Contract central to classroom behavioral norms and expectations.
Experiential Activities for Inclusion & Belonging
Learn age-appropriate activities to help students practice and develop self and social awareness in the classroom.
Learn how to choose the right activity at the right time to specifically address relevant classroom concerns.
Learn facilitation skills to help students communicate their learning and promote skills transference.
Experiential Facilitation SkillsExperiential Learning methodology can be a powerful tool for increasing Social Emotional Learning in the classroom, managing challenging behaviors, and empowering students with better conflict resolution skills. In this workshop teachers will learn:
Activity selection and sequencing
Facilitating learning through reflective discussion
How to prepare for and handle challenging behaviors