Skills for Shifting Systems: Building Capacity for Lasting Change

About the workshop

Many of today's most complex challenges – housing affordability, community safety, mental health, climate resilience, poverty, and health equity – cannot be solved by programs and services alone. Programs respond to immediate needs while systems change addresses the underlying structures, relationships, mindsets, policies, and power dynamics that keep those challenges in place. For changemakers, the ability to see systems, understand how they work, and intentionally shift them has become an essential leadership skill.

In this highly interactive half-day virtual session, you'll strengthen your ability to use a systems lens, learn practical tools to identify leverage points for change, and develop strategies that can help create greater and more sustainable impact.

Workshop Pre-Learning

Reflect on a brief pre-reading about systems change.
Identify 1-3 questions you are bringing to this workshop

3 Hour Virtual Workshop

Participants will:

Learn how to see systems and recognize the patterns that affect complex challenges.
Discover the structures, relationships, policies, and mental models that create barriers to change.
Explore practical systems thinking tools and frameworks you can immediately use in your own work.
Identify leverage points where small actions can create significant system-wide impact.
Learn approaches for measuring and communicating progress in systems change initiatives.

1-Hour Coaching Session

Thursday, October 29, 2026 – 11:30 am, 2:00 pm or 3:00 pm ET

Explore new questions that are emerging as you begin applying your learning.

Share advice and insights from fellow learners.
Receive personalized support to translate your knowledge into action.

Who should attend?

This workshop is for:

Collaborative initiatives that have identified systems change as part of their strategy
Non-profit and municipal leaders seeking to embed systems thinking into planning, decision-making and action
Backbone staff, convenors and facilitators who are looking for practical tools to guide collaborative efforts to change systems
Resident and lived-experience leaders who want to better understand the systemic barriers affecting their communities and how to influence meaningful change

If you are ready for your work to move from solving problems within the system to advancing strategies to transform the system itself, you won’t want to miss this workshop. You’ll leave with practical tools, new perspectives, and greater confidence to lead systems change.

Sylvia Cheuy

Sylvia is the Consulting Director of Collaboration at the Tamarack Institute. She has spent more than 20 years as a changemaker and champion of multi-sector, citizen-led change efforts.  She is inspired by the capacity of communities to innovate and advance creative solutions to their most pressing issues.

Sylvia is a skilled and seasoned community change facilitator whose work has included designing and delivering capacity-building sessions, both in person and virtually, to clients across North America as well as in Singapore, New Zealand, the UK, and Singapore.  She has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto and completed her Graduate Diploma in Social Innovation at the University of Waterloo in 2013 where she explored opportunities to create change within regional food systems. 

Registration for this session has a limited number of learners to ensure an engaging experience. Registration includes pre-workshop learning, a 3-hour virtual workshop, and a one-hour small-group coaching session with participants. It also includes membership in the Tamarack Institute's Learning Community. Zoom meeting details will be sent one week in advance. All participants will have access to a workshop resource page with slides, virtual workspaces, and all linked resources.

Tamarack Members are eligible for the group pricing regardless of their group size.

Post-workshop, participants will be invited to register for a post-event coaching session. At this interactive session, small groups of workshop participants will be encouraged to share their emerging questions and receive further support in translating the workshop’s learning into action.

Can’t attend the workshop, but love the content? Get in touch with Stephanie to learn more about how you can bring a custom version of this workshop to your organization or collaborative.