Learn About Motive’s Training & Education Services
Training and education is an integral part of how Motive advances our mission to mitigate global conflict and instability. Our training audiences include U.S. and international civilian and military officials, civil society, and the private sector. We see students as “force multipliers,” equipping them with empirically - and operationally - proven tools to tackle complex problems, then supporting them with life-long reach back support - a commitment we make to all Motive alumni. All Motive courses feature dynamic pedagogical techniques to achieve superior learning outcomes measured through rigorous evaluations.
Our Signature Courses
We offer the following courses on a Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) basis or can customize either upon request.
Governance & Social Contacts Course (Gov)
Motive’s expert instructor-led “Gov” course prepares students to understand and affect who has authority - and why - in societies experiencing competition, fragility, or conflict.
Designed around Motive’s one-of-a-kind, empirically proven Social Contract Assessment Tool (SCAT), this course translates theoretical concepts into powerful, action-oriented skills. By the end of the course, students will be able to analyze, strengthen, counter, and leverage state- and non-state systems of authority in ways that bolster resilience, reduce conflict, and enable stability.
This course is ideal for foreign affairs professionals including diplomats, military personnel, development practitioners, international civil society and business leaders.
The course features hands-on practical exercises, expert-led seminars, case studies, and a culminating final exercise – taught by former diplomats, PhD faculty from Tier One universities, and seasoned practitioners with 30+ years of experience achieving governance effects all over the world.
Read how course concepts help counter hybrid warfare.
COTS Version:
Duration: 4-5 days (40 hours of coursework)
Format: In-person or virtual, worldwide
Avg. Class Size: 20-25 students
Delivered by: Motive Training Team
Transforming Crisis
SystemS Course (TCS)
Rooted in the principles of systems and design thinking, Motive’s popular “TCS” course builds mastery of 6 tools & methods for advanced analysis, planning, and measuring change in complex systems.
In this course, students master the TCS methodology through scenario-based simulations based on real-world “wicked problems.” Fast paced, hands on, and action-oriented, this course builds powerful and remarkably versatile problem-solving skills.
This course is ideal for policymakers, military and law enforcement analysts, planners and operators, program and project managers, and most civil society and business personnel.
TCS enhances the speed, precision, and integration of problem analysis and decision making through an approach that transcends sector, language, and cultural barriers. Whether it’s user-friendly analytic frameworks, systems mapping tools, logic-based planning models, or methods for measuring results, TCS is routinely described as “game-changing” by the thousands of course alumni.
Check out real-world case studies applying TCS.
COTS Version:
Duration: 4-5 days (40 hours of coursework)
Format: In-person or virtual, worldwide
Avg. Class Size: 20-25 students
Delivered by: Motive Training Team
“Motive’s Gov course trained me to apply the Social Contract Assessment Tool (SCAT) and presented case studies where this tool had been applied in the real-world. The example of how Motive applied the SCAT to analyze Russian influence in the Baltics was totally eye-opening and highly relevant to my role crafting multilateral policy.”
Custom Training & Education Services
Motive offers full-service training and educational experiences, relying on our deep in-house expertise or collaborating with training partners whose domain mastery complements our own. Whether it’s an on-demand classroom course, custom version of our Signature Courses, workshop overseas, or immersive tabletop exercise, Motive combines hands-on learning with real-world problem solving to translate knowledge into action.
Highlighted Events
Motive has designed and facilitated dozens of immersive, multimedia Tabletop Exercises (TTXs) for government, industry, and civil society participants on 5 continents, including TTXs focused on atrocity prevention, refugee management, nonproliferation, supply chain security, and more.
Motive has designed and led security cooperation workshops all over the world, including in Panama that helped officials from across Latin America integrate Women, Peace and Security (WPS) into real-world operations.
Motive has organized numerous workshops for U.S. Special Operations Forces teaching, then applying analytic and planning methods to produce actionable campaign and crisis response plans and products.
Special Topics Courses
Cracking the Code on Assessments, Monitoring and Evaluation
Mastering the Information Environment: Influence and Information Operations
Strategy Essentials (In partnership with SEI)
Optimizing the Effectiveness of a TSOC Staff
Effective Writing, Briefing, and Communications
IDPs, Refugees, & Dislocated Populations: A Civ-Mil Lens
Leveraging Interagency, Civil Society, & Private Sector Authorities and Effects
Countering Violent Extremism: Empirical Approaches
Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
Advanced Negotiations and Mediation
Booking & FAQs
Booking Motive training is easy. Here’s HOw:
Step 1: Request a quote or contact us to discuss your training goals.
Step 2: We send a quote and help navigate the purchasing process.
Step 3: We ensure smooth event execution and meaningful post-event reporting.
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U.S. Federal customers: Our commercial off-the-shelf courses (COTS) can be purchased without a contract using a government credit card, while custom courses can be purchased via a variety of contracting options. Click here to learn more about the 4 easy ways to buy form Motive.
Other customers: Motive routinely delivers training for commercial and civil society partners and we accept all forms of payment: credit card, ACH, check, etc.
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COTS courses are priced under government credit card spend limits.
Pricing for custom events and services depends on training scope, duration, location, audience size, purchase mechanism, and other factors.
We’re committed to fair and competitive pricing and are happy to provide estimates upon request.
Simply request a quote here.
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In-Person training is delivered by Motive Mobile Training Teams. Venues can be provided by clients or Motive can take care of full logistics. We deliver training worldwide and at various classification levels.
Virtual training is delivered via secure online platforms with interactive technologies to ensure active learning. Virtual training is a great option when training audiences are not co-located.
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Yes, we love doing this! We’ve delivered training all over the world - including high-threat environments - often with multinational partners and in multiple languages. These events build capacity, cross-cultural understanding, and often lead to tangible policy or operational outcomes. Motive is fully insured for worldwide operations and has coordinated events on every continent except Antarctica. Our instructors have extensive overseas experience, deep regional expertise, and are fluent in several languages.
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A typical class size for in-person delivery of our Signature Courses is 20-30 students. We’ve executed workshops and training events for groups as small as 4 and as large as 100+ people. Class size is flexible based on your needs.
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We deliver training on-demand, though some of our contracts have pre-defined training schedules. We’ve executed courses with as short as 48-hours notice, but recommend clients book at least 1 month ahead to enable pre-course consultations and smooth logistics coordination. For clients with longer-range plans, we’re happy to reserve training dates many months in advance.
Request a Quote:
If you have questions for our team, contact us here.
If you’re ready to request a quote, fill out the form below and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.