Retreat Facilitator
“Sessions that are far greater than the sum of their parts”
Our team specializes in retreat facilitation, guiding groups through immersive, impactful experiences that foster personal and collective growth. With carefully designed sessions tailored to the needs of each group, we create an environment that encourages reflection, collaboration, and transformative outcomes.
Our award-winning facilitators blend extensive expertise with engaging methods, ensuring every retreat is both structured and flexible to meet the dynamic energy of participants. Having successfully led over 110,000 individuals through meaningful journeys worldwide, we are committed to helping your group achieve profound insights and lasting results.
Discover how Positive Impact curates sessions that
allow you and your business to thrive.
What We Facilitate
Great content is only made better by great facilitators
As an Award-Winning Facilitator and the Owner and Founder of Positive Impact, Will empowers people around the world to lead their best life by blending the art of coaching, integrating mindfulness principles with skills learned from over a decade’s experience with one of the top-three best-known brands globally. The result is a meaningful vision and a gratifying journey. Read more about Will’s journey from Coca-Cola to Positive Impact below.
Lindsay was recently awarded the Top Entrepreneur Coach by the Coach Foundation. She is a passionate entrepreneur, guide, and coach. She brings her experience as a director and divisional head, along with an international coaching certification to help entrepreneurs and business leaders achieve the strategic growth, scale and success they strive for. The focus is on building a highly strategic plan, finance model and leadership team to support this growth.
Bringing over a decade of leadership and development experience ranging from improv stages to executive offices, Michael has worked with over 50,000 people across North America in supporting their own personal and professional development.
Jason is a TEDx speaker, author, certified Life and Corporate Coach, counsellor, and hypnotherapist. With training in Suicide Intervention (ASIST), NLP, MBSR, MBCT, psychology, and peer support, Jason tailors his approach to meet each client’s unique needs. Driven by a passion for building more cohesive teams, he focuses on emotional intelligence, effective communication, and self-restoration—the triad of success.
It was a pleasure to work with Will and Positive Impact. I was both inspired and empowered to co-deliver a meaningful offsite. Their positive incite into leadership performance and emotional resilience gave me clear direction and tactical tools I could apply to my workplace right away. I thoroughly look forward to working with Will again.
– Haley Daniels
Olympian and Motivational Speaker
Thanks for your incredible support, kindness, professionalism, and realness.
It was my sincere pleasure and privilege to work with you on our event.
You are a unique and special human, and I’m grateful that our paths crossed on this project, and look forward to the next time.
– Shauna Grinke, MBA, CPHR
Vice President – People and CultureThe workshop was an incredibly valuable experience for our team — the facilitator created an open, engaging environment that encouraged honest discussion and collaboration. The content was thoughtfully tailored to our team’s specific goals, making the session both relevant and actionable. We’re excited to continue partnering with Positive Impact to build on the great momentum sparked in this session.
– Shannon Charbonneau
Account Director
Treetop Marketing and Promotion Inc.
I’m leaving our session with a sense of optimism that I haven’t had in a while. It was time extremely well spent! I am sure that we all feel much closer and more connected.
– Participant
MDA Geointelligence Engineering Leadership SummitThe environment that was created made me feel comfortable to participate and collaborate with my colleagues. It was very well organized. I liked the outcome of the brainstorm sessions and warmup activities.
– ParticipantThe level of engagement and pace of the training was excellent. Like the fact that this workshop was trainer-guided, but participants lead!
– ParticipantFantastic facilitating most importantly Will understood when to let us talk and when to corral us back on track. Excellent value this afternoon.
– Engagement Workshop Participant
Featured Workshop
COMS Communication Styles
COMS Communication Styles draws inspiration from Paul Costa and Robert McCrae’s research on the Big Five Personality Model, introducing how different personality styles prefer to communicate along the spectrums of result-driven vs. interpersonal and reflective vs. assertive.
COMS is an interactive communication styles exploration. Through answering 8 strategically designed questions, you and your team will gain valuable insights into how individuals tend to communicate and interact. By visualising this into a simple but effective grid and delivering an interactive workshop, it can be instrumental in improving team dynamics, reducing conflict, and fostering more effective communication across the organization. Each of the four identified style has its strengths in different contexts. Your team will leave the session knowing with a deeper understanding and appreciation for diverse communication styles as well as how to leverage each approach and adapt their style to maximize impact and drive positive outcomes.
Strategic Planning
This isn’t just another corporate exercise – it’s a chance for you to engage your team in the planning and execution of the organization and an opportunity to align on strategic planning initiatives and actions.
As strategic planning facilitators, we guide organizations through the strategic planning process. We don’t dictate solutions to you, we enable your groups to co-create strategies based knowledge, experience and diversity. We create an environment conducive to open dialogue, innovation, critical thinking, and collaborative decision-making. This role is distinct in that it focuses on empowering your organization rather than imposing external ideas. Our award-winning facilitators are catalysts for transformative decision-making and planning. We do, however, offer guidance and insight into how other organizations operate and offer suggestions you may wish to implement. To us, strategic planning is more than just a single planning session. We work with our clients to help them navigate the strategic plan throughout the months and even years ahead. With our objective lens, we are well-positioned to offer insights into the strategic plan and execution tactics.
Retreat Facilitator FAQs
What is the role of a retreat facilitator?
A retreat facilitator supports your team by guiding group conversations, creating a clear flow, and encouraging meaningful participation. They help manage time, balance perspectives, and ensure each part of the agenda contributes to the intended outcomes. This allows all participants, including leaders, to engage fully without needing to manage the session. The facilitator keeps the group aligned and focused throughout the retreat.
Why should we bring in an external facilitator for our retreat?
An external facilitator brings objectivity and professional experience in group process. They are not influenced by internal dynamics, which makes it easier to address sensitive topics and surface real insights. Their involvement allows everyone, including leadership, to step back from managing the flow and focus on participating. It also increases the chance of a productive and engaging retreat.
What kinds of retreats benefit from facilitation?
Facilitators support leadership offsites, team alignment retreats, strategic planning sessions, and renewal or visioning retreats. Any gathering with multiple participants and a shared goal can benefit from structure and process design. Retreats that involve trust-building, decision-making, or surfacing ideas often move more effectively with a facilitator. Their role is to create space for honest reflection and clear forward movement.
How is the agenda designed for a retreat?
Facilitators start with a discovery process to understand the team’s goals, dynamics, and current challenges. They collaborate with leadership to co-create a session structure that includes a balance of group discussion, reflection, and planning. The agenda often includes both structured and informal elements to support connection. Each segment is designed to build toward shared clarity and action.
Can retreat facilitation include both personal development and business topics?
Yes, facilitated retreats often include both professional and personal growth themes. These can range from individual leadership reflection to strategic goal alignment. Activities may include team storytelling, visioning exercises, or conversations about values and accountability. The approach depends on what your team needs most at the time.
Are retreat facilitators helpful for small teams as well?
Absolutely, even small teams benefit from a neutral facilitator to guide discussion, surface ideas, and build clarity. Smaller groups often need more nuance in managing dynamics or balancing perspectives. Facilitators create space for each person to contribute fully and safely. The size of the group does not determine the value of the process.
Can retreats be facilitated virtually?
Yes, virtual retreats are possible and often include creative tools like breakout rooms, collaborative whiteboards, and asynchronous check-ins. Facilitators design virtual formats that maintain focus and keep energy high. Sessions can be split over multiple days or adapted for global time zones. While the format changes, the impact can still be significant.
What happens after a facilitated retreat?
Facilitators provide a summary or debrief with key takeaways, decisions, and next steps. Some teams choose to schedule a follow-up session to revisit outcomes and track progress. Retreats often act as a launch point for longer-term plans or commitments. Continued support is available if needed to reinforce alignment and momentum.
