Paul Signorelli

Helping you explore opportunities, Paul is a creative, inquisitive, results-driven writer who designs and facilitates learning opportunities, and facilitates transformative conversations designed to produce positive, measurable change. He brings extensive management experience in arts organizations, libraries (including nearly 15 years as Director, Volunteer Services and Staff Training for the San Francisco Public Library system), and other educational settings to all that he does, and draws upon the experience he gained in earning an M.A. in Arts Administration (Golden Gate University), an MLIS (University of North Texas), and a B.A in Political Science (UCLA).

Author of Change the World Using Social Media and co-author of Workplace Learning & Leadership: A Handbook for Library and Nonprofit Trainers (free PDF available), he works with clients to determine what they need to do to change their world; creates highly-interactive sessions to address the challenges they face; and helps foster sustainable onsite and online communities.

Paul, as a trainer-consultant, currently serves as Library Advocacy Training Project Manager for the California Library Association; facilitator for a variety of online employee assistance program sessions for Claremont EAP; a board member for the UCLA Daily Bruin Alumni Network, and developer and co-facilitator of a mentoring program for current members of the university newspaper; a member of the Public Library Association Continuing Education Advisory Group; and a presenter/facilitator for a variety of lifelong-learning projects.

Writer

Paul, in addition to writing Change the World Using Social Media and co-writing Workplace Learning and Leadership, has had work included in several anthologies; writes for print and online publications; and blogs extensively in addition to writing training material. New: paperback edition of Change the World Using Social Media released spring 2023.)

Keynote Speaker

Contact Paul for highly-interactive keynote presentations designed to foster positive change in response to the challenges your organization wants to effectively address.

Trainer/Facilitator

Talk with Paul for help in designing and facilitating creative, engaging, highly-interactive learning opportunities for onsite, online, and hybrid learning situations. Recent examples of his work include advocacy sessions through the California Library Association and employee-assistance workshops (e.g., conflict resolution, presentation skills, and fostering mindfulness) delivered through Claremont EAP.

"Shola Richards on Civil Unity: Fostering Radical Civility"

“I still recall, half laughing and half in horror, a wonderfully thoughtful, kind-hearted, and usually gentle colleague’s question many years ago during a new-staff orientation session I was facilitating: ‘When is it OK to hit someone [in our workplace, in response to harassment or behavior designed to provoke extreme anger]?’ You can imagine the exchange the question provoked as our peers watched to see how this was going to play out. And it won’t surprise you that our exchange ended with my acknowledging that I could not, at the moment when push literally came to shove, be there to stop a frustrated employee from hitting someone in the workplace, but ‘if you do hit someone, I just want you to know that we’re all going to miss you [after you are fired].’ The response seemed to interject exactly the right combination of humor and seriousness to make the point that needed to be made—we don’t let incivility and threats of violence justify our own descent into incivility and violence—and we were able to return to less emotional-laden exchanges at that point.

That long-ago exchange comes back to mind as I read a comment Shola Richards—a wonderful author, presenter, compelling social media contributor, and activist for civility and collaboration—includes near the end of his latest book (Civil Unity: The Radical Path to Transform Our Discourse, Our Lives, and Our World) as he writes about what he calls ‘radical civility’: ‘In a world that defaults to fighting hate with hate, it is a radical act to respond with love, kindness, and civility when most lack the stamina, courage, or interest to do so.’” (p. 233)

For recommendations of first-rate books to help you address your training-teaching-learning challenges, please visit Paul’s Goodreads list here and short reviews of some of the best books he has read and used.