Lee Button is a freelance facilitator and Senior Partner at WeAreBPG. Lee tells us how he first came across facilitation, when he was part of a session run by someone who was leading a group process, enabling those present to create the content, and how that led to Lee taking his first steps in developing himself as a facilitator. Having some "stamp of approval" was important for Lee, so he describes how he went about his training, starting with The Patterson Centre in Chicago. On his return to the UK, Lee thought, "There must be others doing this here..." and he found the IAF. It's the joy of seeing others come alive to their own knowledge and solutions, even though he doesn't understand the context and content of what they're discussing, that drove Lee to pursue a career in facilitation. Lee explains how he sees where he sees the value of accreditation and how he sought the group where he could be part of the conversation and learn from his peers - guess what, his journey drove him to Martin Gilbraith, who led him to the IAF England Wales Meetups and network. Lee talks in detail about the certification process to become a Certified Professional Facilitator with IAF - and how the process continues to help him to develop. (For more on this process visit https://www.iaf-world.org/site/professional/cpf ) WeAreBPG is the company that Lee co-founded, in order to give as much value as possible to his clients, with his collaborators. They've taken a unified approach to their development and training, and formalise their facilitation route. On their website, WeAreBPG states that "We work with individuals and organisations who are seeking to create positive social value, those who hope to put back more than they take out." Lee explains what they look for in a client and what kind of clients they work with. He also mentions the Thinking Church podcast through which they help a wider pool, and their plans for launching a WeAreBPG podcast. Connect with Lee over at Twitter @LeeButton And https://www.linkedin.com/company/wearebpg/about/ and https://wearebpg.org/ Please let us know your thoughts: [email protected] www.IAF-world.org And go mad on Twitter! @IAFenglandwales @Fac-stories @pilarorti #IAFPodcast