Main description:

Guidebook to Community Consulting provides advice for people interested in starting or growing a career in community consulting. Drawing on the authors' years of experience as community consultants, it offers a wealth of practical guidance to anyone considering or establishing a successful career serving and empowering communities. It includes guidance about the personal qualities, values, and technical skills needed; how to start a consulting practice; how to collaborate with colleagues, and most importantly, how to collaborate with communities. Practical advice and tips are motivated by core guiding principles and goals including an understanding of consulting as a partnership between consultants and communities; decoloniality; anti-racism, and equity. The text is animated with illustrative anecdotes and lessons gained from real-world experience.

Contents:

1. Introduction; 2. Community consulting - how to prepare and where you might work; 3. Do you have the personal qualities to be a community consultant; 4. Community consulting values and knowledge; 5. Skills you might need or want; 6. Setting up your practice and managing the practical matters; 7. Collaboration with colleagues; 8. Collaboration with clients and the community; 9. Money matters; 10. The future of community consulting; Appendix 1: Community consulting professional development planning tool; Appendix 2: Resources; Glossary.