Institute for Leadership in Education Development (I-LED)

“There’s no such thing as neutral education. Education either functions as an instrument to bring about conformity or freedom.”

 -Paulo Freire

About ILED:

I-LED strengthens the capacity of anti-violence and prevention educators to design and deliver training that works. Through practical workshops and technical assistance, we support U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) grantees and their partners in creating accessible, engaging learning experiences for the audiences they serve.

We work with anyone who receives OVW funds or is partnered with an organization receiving OVW funds, including advocates, attorneys, social workers, judges, and community professionals.

How We Approach Learning

I-LED is rooted in a deep respect for adult learners and what they bring to the table. Our programs reflect these commitments:

• Honor existing expertise. Participants aren’t empty vessels—they’re professionals with valuable experience. We help them name, resource, and build on what they already know.
• Practice beats theory. Learning happens through doing. Our workshops prioritize hands-on activities, real-world application, and skill-building over passive listening.
• Embrace productive struggle. Growth happens at the edge of comfort. We create brave spaces for difficult conversations, disagreement, and wrestling with complexity.
• Engage the whole person. Effective learning isn’t just cognitive—it involves emotions, relationships, identity, and embodied experience.
• Learn in community. The room is full of teachers. We facilitate peer learning, collective reflection, and the wisdom that emerges from diverse perspectives.
• Make it relevant. Everything we teach is designed for immediate application in participants’ own training contexts.

We see ourselves as facilitators and co-learners, not experts depositing information. Our goal is to create the conditions for participants to actively construct knowledge, develop skills, and grow as educators.

I-LED Trainings and Workshops

In-Person Workshops

• Faculty Development Workshop (2.5 days in-person or customized virtual options available) This intensive workshop is designed for teams of trainers who want to strengthen both their curriculum design and facilitation skills. Participants will learn the building blocks of effective adult education while creating something tangible to take home and use. This workshop is geared toward learners with no formal training in curriculum design and will cover some of the basic building blocks and accompanying facilitation skills.

  Over 2.5 days, participants will:

  • Learn principles of adult learning and how to apply them to curriculum design
  • Write learning objectives and design activities that align with learner needs
  • Review the nuts and bolts of creating accessible learning environments
  • Practice facilitation techniques for managing group dynamics, time, and energy
  • Build a 30-minute curriculum segment from scratch and present it to faculty and peers for feedback
  • Receive concrete, actionable suggestions to strengthen their training design and delivery

• Effective (Meeting) Facilitation Skills Workshop (1.5 days in-person or custom abbreviated virtual options). Strong facilitation skills are essential whether you’re leading a training, running a coalition meeting, or guiding a group through complex decisions. This hands-on workshop helps participants:

  • Design agendas that keep groups focused and engaged
  • Create inclusive, accessible environments for diverse participants
  • Navigate power dynamics and manage conflict productively
  • Respond to facilitation challenges in the moment
  • Guide collaborative decision-making processes
  • We offer this workshop periodically to OVW grantees and can customize it for your team’s specific needs—whether you’re focused on training facilitation, meeting facilitation, or both.

Virtual Courses

• Distance eLearning Course (7-week virtual course, self-paced and ongoing.) This online course focuses on assisting learners to design self-paced virtual courses on a budget. Request to REGISTER HERE.
• Educational Program and Curriculum Design (EPCD) Workshop(7-week virtual course, offered annually).
  This course focuses on the detailed process of designing a training and creating a curriculum outline.

Learn more about I-LED and our training and technical assistance.

Resources

I-LED has developed many resources to improve training and education. Many are now available in the Resource Library on this website. Choose the option for “Training” in the drop-down menu.

Our podcast, The Accidental Educator, is for advocates who want to change how we teach about domestic and sexual violence. Follow along on topics including “How to Make a Podcast” with our host, Abby, as she learns how to get started with pre-production and planning, what gear she needs, how to use audio editing platforms, and how to edit the episode into a cohesive story. We also talk with local domestic and sexual violence programs about their podcasting strategies and how they make their podcasts relevant to communities.

The podcast is available on all streaming platforms.

In addition, our online learning modules include:

• Language Access and Language Justice Learning Module

Technical Assistance

Please reach out to learning@futureswithoutviolence.org to request technical assistance and/or for more information about our upcoming trainings and TA.