Models & Best Practices
One Circle Foundation offers four models — Girls Circle®, The Council for Boys and Young Men®, Unity Circle™, and Women’s Circle®.
Girls Circle®
The Council for Boys and Young Men®
Unity Circle™
Women's Circle®
How it Works
Our Facilitator Trainings and Curricula help ensure that these circle models will be implemented successfully, with fidelity and confidence. *Adaptable to school and high transition settings
Who Can Be A Facilitator?
Caring adults lead and implement the supportive circle programs, including teachers, parents, counselors, therapists, probation and peace officers, youth advocates, health practitioners, program directors, youth ministers, and correctional staff, business and lay persons. Please see our Training Calendar if you are interested in becoming a Certified Facilitator.Who Can Participate in the Groups?
Girls Circle®, The Council for Boys and Young Men®, and Women's Circle® reach across cultures, race and ethnicity, across demographics, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and gender identity, and religious or spiritual beliefs. The programs are successful as an intervention program or as a prevention program, yet both are delivered in the same manner. Why? Because the fundamental approach is to create connection and build a community that provides, safety, respect, non-judgment, and a listening environment. Facilitators do not lecture nor provide advice. They meet group participants where they are at and believe they have the capacity to critically think and make good decisions regardless of their age or backgrounds. They affirm strengths and promote leadership. Even troubled teens learn how to use their skills and talents in positive ways.All people deserve a voice; all people deserve to be believed in, and all people want to know that “they are not alone.” One Circle Foundation's circle models are very successful in helping children, youth and adults to find connection, build assets, improve self-confidence, and lead meaningful, purposeful lives!
Key Programming Elements Apply Across All Youth, Family, and Women’s Service Sectors
Girls Circle® and The Council for Boys and Young Men® models offer gender-relevant, culturally responsive circle programs for safe and healthy youth development. Women’s Circle® offers a female adult development program model to strengthen women’s competencies and capacities in relationships, health, and identity.
Our circle models offer a unique level of programming sustainability, adaptable to meet the needs of varied populations with the appropriate level of care and relevant content. Programs benefit from the clarity of structure and the strengths-based approach of the models. They choose from the full range of OCF curricula and can implement one 8-12 week cycle from beginning to end or select units according to the needs and interests of their groups. The groups can be short term or ongoing, and are usually “closed” groups but in high-transition settings, “open” groups are successful as well.
Organizations can additionally choose to incorporate other curricula into the specific format and approach of these Circle/Council models. In this way, while the focus of the circles and their topics and activities vary, the structure and facilitation approaches become a regular, predictable, sustainable and enjoyable method of service delivery ensuring consistency for clients, staff, and stakeholders.
To view a chart of key elements of each model and their application across service sectors, view our Grant Writer's Template (PDF).