Brett Gurwitz, LMSW, is a trainer, coach, and consultant with over twenty years of youth development and team building experience. Brett believes in the power of relationships and that we learn and perform best when we feel connected to those we are working with. Brett offers interactive training and coaching in areas like community building, supervising staff, social emotional learning, restorative justice and conflict resolution. Brett has worked with organizations such as Ramapo for Children, True to Life Training, Foundation for Jewish Camp, and so much more supporting the important work of staff at schools, camps and youth-based organizations across North America. Brett lives in Queens, NY with his wonderful family and cat named Ginger Ale.
I had the great fortune of working closely with Brett for 6 years across a variety of projects in schools and out-of-school time programs. He was always in high demand with our clients. Year after year, leaders would specifically request that Brett return to their schools and program sites to work with their staff. I, too, loved collaborating with him on projects. He is an amazing community builder, facilitator, coach and strategist. Whether he is supporting youth workers, teachers, school support staff, or school leaders, he consistently ensures that all voices are heard and respected for what they bring. He is thoughtful, empathetic, intentional, fun and always brings positive energy to all he does. I look forward to the possibility of working with him again in the future.
Working with Brett means you’ll be bringing in someone who is masterful at developing a team or group with tools, techniques, and great energy; who pairs expertise in supervision, management, and restorative practices with tangible and easy to apply takeaways every time he’s with a group; and who is an ultimate professional communicating clearly and completely throughout the process. Brett has a deep bench of facilitation techniques that make his training relevant and enjoyable.
As a coach, Brett was attentive to the support I needed as a school leader, taking into consideration the school climate I was navigating. As we worked together, Brett would weave in his deep knowledge of restorative practices. I always walked away from our sessions with new information and strategies to take back to the team. When presenting to my staff, Brett designed sessions that met us where we were with fun strategies that strengthened our connections to one another.
Brett’s support of our school was invaluable. His work in our school community ensured a strong foundation in our implementation of Restorative Justice. As a result of his guidance and support our students are taking ownership of their learning experience and our staff feel connected to the process of guiding students restoratively. Brett’s support and leadership has had a lasting positive impact on our community.
Brett worked with our leadership team last summer and did a terrific job! He was warm, accessible, and funny. He shared thoughtful insights and concrete tools that our team used throughout the summer. We will definitely work with him again!
This year, during our Staff retreat, a goal we wanted to accomplish was for our staff members -- from all departments and across sites -- to get to know each other and to reinforce our organizational values. Having worked with Brett in the past, we reached out to ask if he could help again -- Brett did that and more. With his warm energy and welcoming personality, Brett led 45 staff in creative team-building exercises and cooperative games; he knew how to bring people out of their comfort zone, and to interact in new ways. I especially appreciated how Brett linked these activities to our staff's daily work as youth practitioners. We are already looking forward to having Brett at our next retreat.
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