Meeting/Event Design & Management
Event Garde is a consulting firm specializing in facilitation, strategic planning, learning design, and event strategy for associations and mission-driven organizations. We bring creative, adaptable approaches to every engagement — asking the right questions, developing thoughtful strategy, and partnering with your team from problem statement through implementation.
Since 2011, we've contributed to the success of more than 150 clients by combining the expertise of our seasoned consultants with a deep commitment to building the knowledge, confidence, and capacity of the people in your organization.
Healthy by Association (HBA) is a leadership wellbeing initiative for association and hospitality professionals — rooted in the belief that how we take care of ourselves directly shapes how we show up for the people and organizations we serve.
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FACILIT8me is a safe space for facilitators of all knowledge and experience levels, regardless of industry, to learn, network, and transfer their takeaways and lessons learned. Participants are empowered with new resources, meaningful discussions, and advice from trained professionals they can immediately put into practice.
+ Learn More“I’m grateful for Event Garde and their vision for addressing systemic issues head on. This group has been known for providing a valuable space for individuals from different racial backgrounds to come together and engage in open and honest dialogue about race and racism. I had an opportunity to facilitate a session with Krista Rowe on a session “Leading with Our Values: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, During & Beyond COVID-19. This was not the first time we have facilitated together, but I have always appreciated Krista’s willingness to create experiences where participants can share their perspectives and challenge their biases and assumptions. Krista’s idea of leading is centered in increased awareness and empathy and this is reflective of her facilitation style. I am glad to be in fellowship with both Krista and the platform Event Garde has maintained.”
“Over the years, Event Garde has been a valuable presence in shared work spaces. Specifically, their collaboration on our Racial Equity Data Initiative project was instrumental in guiding our direction and fostering a more equitable power dynamic. More recently, I attended a timely webinar where they created a space that validated my experiences while also inspiring hope and providing practical guidance for navigating workplace changes due to the current federal administration. This has empowered me to shift my work in a way that feels more aligned with my positional goal around health equity and social justice.”
"I enrolled in FACILIT8me because I wanted to learn how to guide discussions without rushing to solutions, ask better questions, listen more intentionally, and use engagement techniques that help groups think together.
What surprised me was how much I learned about belonging. One of the lessons reinforced throughout the course was that facilitation isn't about providing answers. It isn't about being the smartest person in the room. It's about creating the conditions for people to contribute, explore ideas, challenge assumptions, and discover solutions together.
The course gave me practical tools, thoughtful frameworks, and opportunities to practice. More importantly, it challenged me to think differently about how people experience a room, a conversation, and a group.
If your work involves boards, volunteers, strategic planning, leadership development, or helping groups navigate complex conversations, I'd highly recommend this course."
“TCDLA has gone through several strategic plans over the past twenty years. The work sessions with Event Garde, led by Aaron Wolowiec, were engaging, inclusive, and all left feeling accomplished. Sessions included staff, members, and board members. We had so many varying opinions and ideas which Aaron helped facilitate our very vocal group to work together and come up with initiatives that would continue to allow our organization to grow. The sessions gave our group a clear direction to set tasks to accomplish each initiative with realistic timelines. As we continued to work through our initiatives, Aaron helped us streamline actions, details, and metrics, leading us to success!”
“We hired Event Garde to facilitate work with our staff of 28 to come up with an agreed upon set of common values and shared culture statements. This was scheduled prior to the pandemic outbreak and we were really pleased that Event Garde was able to pivot to completely virtual. While I was skeptical about how well group work of this size would do, it went extremely well through each of our sessions. By the end of our work we had new culture statements with great buy in from staff and also strategies for implementation so the internal work could begin in earnest.”
“Working with Event Garde brings such peace of mind. Aaron is incredibly knowledgeable, insightful, and forward-thinking. He asks high-level questions to truly understand the project goals - and offers observations and suggestions when there are areas to improve. His insights on content curation and development, faculty training, presentation best practices, learning format and overall program design are a huge asset to any organization looking to deliver high quality learning to their constituents. If you are looking to partner with the consummate professional to help enhance your organization's learning and education strategy - I highly recommend Event Garde!”
“I have been thrilled to co-facilitate with Krista in multiple opportunities with the field of public health professionals that we serve as well as with our national partner organizations. She has used her expertise to help guide multiple groups and work teams through equitable processes on the way to results that ensure inclusion, equity, and belonging for those on our teams as well as those most impacted by the work. She’s helped us refine work processes and get them moving when we have been stuck. One of the greatest tools she’s equipped our partners with is consensus-driven, equitable community agreements to ensure respectful, efficient, and effective working processes. Krista is perceptive, responsive, and has been a “Swiss Army knife” in our toolbox—ready with just the right skills to help us meet the moment. I am grateful for our ongoing partnership, and I look forward to more opportunities to include her in my work as a key facilitation resource.”
“Event Garde assisted us in building a strategic plan for our organization with Aaron and the team delivering an incredible experience. Because of who we are, our volunteer leadership has sat through a number of strategic planning sessions - but nothing like this. From leading up to the planning, to during and following, Aaron took care of all the facets of the work. He challenged our leadership to think bigger and kept us at a strategic level while ensuring everyone’s voice in the room was heard - including our staff. My board thoroughly enjoyed the experience.”
“I so appreciated the process of working with Event Garde. Krista Rowe and Dilhara Muthukuda led conversations at our Leadership Retreat and helped us refocus our efforts when it comes to equity, diversity and inclusion. Like many organizations, we found ourselves struggling a little bit with “what’s next?” and Krista and Dilhara really made us think about what we want to achieve and where we have gaps in our understanding and activities. From the pre-meeting to the follow-up, I felt like they really cared and worked to do their best throughout the process.”
"The Event Garde team helped the Small Business Association of Michigan reimagine our Annual Meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many others at the time, we needed help understanding the possibilities and Aaron kick-started our project. The engagement opened our eyes to new tools and provided actionable ideas that we used to create an engaging virtual experience. Event Garde’s client onboarding, billing and project evaluation process are also impressive. You walk away feeling like the whole team has you supported throughout the entire process."
“NAWIC had the pleasure of working with Event Grade for a last-minute emergency programming assignment related to our 2025 Annual Conference. Delays in getting scheduling done, compounded by unavoidable staffing challenges, made us feel hopeless. Enter Aaron Wolowiec to save the day! With his expertise in project planning and a methodical approach to elevating the education experience, he turned what felt insurmountable into a success—securing all main stage speakers under contract and bringing the At-a-Glance close to completion in just three weeks. Mission accomplished!”
“Event Garde has a tried-and-true formula for strategic planning and it works! Michigan Pharmacists Association hired Event Garde to facilitate our strategic planning retreat and they did not disappoint. Approximately 50 members participated in the day-and-a-half retreat to chart MPA’s course over the next three-year period. Facilitators Aaron Wolowiec and Krista Rowe executed perfectly the preparation for the retreat as well as the retreat itself. A bonus to MPA was to have Event Garde participate in developing an implementation plan with MPA staff and volunteers. That alone set Event Garde apart from its competitors!”
“Event Garde’s assignment for NCPG was like building a plane while flying it. We contracted for both operations management for a conference right in front of us. The same event also badly needed an overall strategic assessment for the future. In the best way, the team provided expertise on cost-saving logistics and operational decisions, while also assessing the conference at a strategic level. It was a great combination of accomplishing short-term goals and longer-term strategic results—all in a very short timeframe. The impact for NCPG? Significant expense reductions on the 2025 event, and a 2026 event on track to bring fresh ideas and new experiences to attendees.”
“Aaron created and led an engaging, energetic webinar for my volunteer community leaders, which focused on successful event planning. By developing a brief pre-session survey, which he distributed to our leaders, he used their content to drive the topics and discussion. Our leaders love nothing more than to share practices and learn from one another. Through Aaron’s thoughtful preparation and facilitation, our leaders participated in a valuable, content-driven experience, which resulted in a deeper understanding of the practices and methods used by their colleagues, along with new tools and resources to use when developing their own events!”
“Dallas County Dental Society knows the value of Strategic Planning and that a great facilitator is key to each process. They have gone through the process for 35 plus years with many facilitators. I must say Aaron was dynamic, energizing and a breath of fresh air. He made sure all participants were engaged and their voice heard as the plan was developed. We look forward to working with Aaron again in the future. He would be an asset to any group developing a new plan or updating their current plan.”
“Event Garde and the Gardian Blog is a valuable resource for association industry leaders, offering insightful content and expertise. It has become one of my go-to destinations for the latest trends and best practices, helping me navigate the dynamic landscape of member engagement, communication and events. As a publishing partner for many of the state allied societies, Naylor works with the Event Garde team to share this content across these groups in order to grow the knowledge base of our entire industry and deliver excellence on behalf of all associations.”
“Working with the team at Event Garde was a breeze! They helped explain the process overall, were on hand to coordinate scheduling conflicts, and were always on top of next steps to keep us running on the timeline we had agreed upon. Aaron is an excellent facilitator and really helped our stakeholders engage in each session. His understanding of events and strategic direction helped our team create the goals we needed for our programming. We are fortunate to have created this relationship with the Event Garde team and are grateful we had their support for this endeavor!”
“I had the privilege of working with the Event Garde team on a new senior leadership conference for our association members. I was short on resources, time, and experience for this effort, so I turned to them for assistance. Aaron and Kara were a pleasure to work with. Kara provided the project management and structure I needed to keep the project on track for a tight deliverable timeframe. Aaron provided his deep knowledge base and experience to help strategize, design, and then build the materials needed for the conference. The conference could not have gone off better and the attendees were extremely pleased with the experience and results. Partnering with Event Garde provided me the opportunity to deliver an exceptional learning experience to our members.”
“Whenever I get the opportunity to work with Event Garde, I am always excited. The team is knowledgeable, professional, and highly organized. Our Bureau gained so much valuable information and skills from the Technology of Participation (ToP) Facilitation Methods (TFM) course that we ended up adding additional sessions to train more staff in the methods. Additionally, we collaborated with Event Garde to develop a six-module series that focuses on virtual facilitation best practices. This was just a shell of an idea, and the Event Garde team developed it into an excellent webinar series that was engaging, informational, and conducive of all learning styles. I would recommend Event Garde for all your organization's professional development needs.”
Event Garde helps you transform the way you think, work and meet. Our Learn, Network, Transfer model allows us to provide you with the most relevant skills and resources to succeed in your career.
The Gardian Blog serves as a content library for association and mission-driven organization professionals — covering facilitation, strategic planning, learning design, and event strategy. Updated weekly by the Event Garde team, with monthly contributions from guest bloggers across the industry.
Event Garde’s clients are always on the move. So our team keeps busy with meetings, events, presentations, tradeshows, facilitations, and more every year. Meet up with the Event Garde team at one or more of these upcoming events.
As consultants with considerable experience in process improvement and actionable advice, the Event Garde team is regularly interviewed for and featured in industry publications. View our latest features in Event Garde news!
Event Garde’s team of highly specialized and experienced consultants have dedicated their careers to acquiring new knowledge and skills, and then transferring this learning to real-life scenarios, case studies and client challenges. We invite you to take advantage of our on-demand learning library to glean insights, best practices and lessons learned.
Subscribe today to The Gardian eNews, a monthly publication featuring content written and curated by the Event Garde team.
