Introducing the Oak Tree Learning Lab
Your teams are stretched thin and worried about AI. Those aren’t separate problems – they’re connected. When people feel overwhelmed, new technology often feels like a threat rather than a tool. When teams lack resilience, everything feels harder than it should.
Over the past decade, The Oak Tree Project has distributed over $350,000 to charities in Wellington and Guelph. We have always believed in supporting the people behind the proposals, not just funding projects. This year, we heard you loud and clear: you need practical support, right now.
Whether you’re applying to Oak Tree or not, all charities in Guelph-Wellington County are invited to join the Oak Tree Learning Lab. This is a free professional development series designed to help you maximize your energy and talents. Session facilitation and training brought to you by Four Simple Words.
This three-part virtual workshop series gives you frameworks and practical tools to build team resilience and adopt technology with confidence. What makes this powerful is that they start with the same question: What patterns are we missing that could make our work easier?
The Oak Tree Learning Lab has been designed for NGO leaders doing real work in today’s challenging charity environment.
A reflective summary tool will be shared after Session 3, synthesizing insights across all three sessions
All sessions are virtual via Zoom
One registration covers all three sessions
Can’t attend live? All sessions will be recorded for registrants
Our comprehensive suite of professional services caters to a diverse clientele, ranging from homeowners to commercial developers.
Oak Tree Learning Lab Schedule
Session 1: October 15, 2025 10-11 AM
Building Resilient Teams in the Age of AI
Supporting your team’s wellbeing and adopting new technology feel like separate challenges. They’re not. Both are opportunities to identify what’s already working in your organization and build upon it. This session introduces a practical framework you’ll use in the workshops that follow.
Curt Hammond from Four Simple Words, will bring reflection from his experience over 20 years supporting nonprofit resiliency, and guide a conversation with Dr. Kevin Matsui (The Centre for Advancing Responsible and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (CARE-AI), University of Guelph) and Jodi Morris, Registered Social Worker, Compass Community Services) about why change feels overwhelming and how we might approach it differently.
What we will explore:
- Why organizational change feels overwhelming
- How mental health and AI require the same reimagining approach
- Pattern recognition: seeing what’s already working in your organization
What you will walk away with:
- A framework for navigating both conversations with confidence
- Permission to experiment, starting from where you are
- One pattern in your organization you haven’t been seeing clearly
Send your content or event questions to info@foursimplewords.ca
Session 2: October 22, 2025 – 10-11 AM
Mental Health & Team Resilience: Practical Strategies That Work
Legislation now requires psychological safety. But compliance isn’t enough – your team needs genuine support, not just policies. This workshop gives you tangible approaches to workplace mental health that go beyond checking boxes.
Jodi Morris, Registered Social Worker, Compass Community Services, shares practical strategies for psychological safety, work-life integration, and creating a culture where people can actually ask for help. Facilitated by Curt Hammond, Four Simple Words.
What we will explore:
- Psychological safety as legislation meets culture
- Work-life integration (not balance – keeping things separate while acknowledging they’re connected)
- Employer and employee strategies for supporting mental health
What you will walk away with:
- Tangible practices you can implement immediately
- Conversation strategies for mental health in the workplace
- Recognition of what you’re already doing well (and how to do more of it)
Send your content or event questions to info@foursimplewords.ca
Session 3: October 29, 2025 – 10-11 AM
Embracing AI: Turning Fear into Practical Tools
Your team is worried AI will replace them. What if it could actually make their jobs easier instead? This hands-on workshop demystifies AI and shows you specific applications for your nonprofit work.
Sean Yo (AI Strategist, Four Simple Words) walks you through what AI actually is, where it helps (and where it doesn’t), and gives you prompts and workflows you can use immediately. Facilitated by Curt Hammond, Four Simple Words.
What we will explore:
- What AI actually is (and isn’t) – demystifying the technology
- The +AI Mindset: seeing AI as amplification, not replacement
- Practical tools your team can use immediately
What you will walk away with:
- Specific AI applications for common nonprofit tasks
- Prompts and workflows you can implement this week-
- Confidence to start experimenting safely
Send your content or event questions to info@foursimplewords.ca