Brett Gurwitz 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. He offers interactive training and coaching in areas like community building, supervising staff, social emotional learning, restorative justice and conflict resolution. Brett has a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and has worked as a camp director, leadership coach, and staff trainer supporting summer camps, schools and youth-based organizations across North America. He has led teams and initiatives at organizations including: Foundation for Jewish Camp, True to Life Training, and Ramapo for Children. 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 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!
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.
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.
Brett has such great a way of commanding a room without being overpowering. In one 45 minute session I gained so many tools and games that will help me be a better counselor this summer.
Brett's session on understanding triggers and navigating conflict was definitely the most influential program I attended! I can see my self using everything he taught at camp and outside of camp as well.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.