Facilitator & Instructional Designer
Reid Kuennen (they/them) strives to make professional development for adults as relevant, engaging, and fun as the educational spaces we aim to create for students. They believe educators deserve to feel seen, heard, and honored for their strengths as they do one of the most challenging and vital jobs in the world: raising the future.
With 21 years of facilitation experience, Reid has designed, facilitated, and managed experiential-learning programs for intergenerational groups worldwide. With an equity lens, they collaborate with youth and educators to create safer and braver spaces where groups build one another up to be their most creative and courageous selves. Reid’s most foundational work has been with Partners for Youth Empowerment, Power of Hope, Salish School of Spokane, Reel Grrls, and Young Women Empowered. On their list of superpowers, empathic listening and inclusive humor rise to the top.
Reid has completed a multitude of trainings in the art of group facilitation, including Partners for Youth Empowerment’s Creative Facilitation 1 & 2 and Heart of Facilitation. They are a certified Positive Discipline Trainer and completed the Center for Equity & Inclusion’s Equity Facilitation Intensive in 2018. They are also fluent in Spanish.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I enjoy filmmaking, writing songs for my niblets, and dreaming out the window with my cat, Simon.
What are people most surprised to learn about you?
I was a competitive ice skater from ages 7-14. DVDs available upon request.
Why are you passionate about working at BELONG Partners?
The education system in the U.S. was not built with equity as an intention – in fact, quite the opposite. We are still navigating a system created by and for white supremacy. BELONG Partners has a unique and powerful approach to reimagining school as a place where everyone belongs, matters, and feels safe to be their whole self. I am proud to work alongside educators and youth to build the world we want to live in.