courageous leaders for collective liberation

building cultures of practice

Our Courageous Leaders Program is designed to help folks build compassionate cultures of practice within their communities or organizations by learning to weave care-based, anti-oppressive, and healing-centered pedagogies into their leadership work.

Participants learn to:

    • develop relational tools for strengthening connection and belonging;
    • strengthen their structural competency and fluency in anti-oppressive pedagogies;
    • apply tools for healing and transforming harm and oppression;
    • expand their vision for more equitable and compassionate communities; and
    • integrate their personal and collective liberation practices in sustainable ways. 

The program is open to all who have completed our Courageous Healers Program.

APPLY NOW

"Give light and people will find the way."

ELLA BAKER

Program Dates
2021-2022

Intensive 1: October 1-3, 2021 (Online)

Intensive 2: December 3-5, 2021 (Online)

Intensive 3: February 4-6, 2022 (Online)

Intensive 4: April 1-3, 2022 (Online)

*Peer-based pod sessions to meet weekly from October through late March. Times and dates vary depending on group schedules and needs.

What It Costs

We offer a sliding scale registration fee for our courses and workshops in service of economic justice. We also offer payment plans as needed to support accessibility. See more on payment plans below.

Full tuition is $3600. We ask white folks and those with class privilege (eg raised in middle-upper class homes and/or making over $62,000 per year), access to financial resources and/or access to organizational professional development funds to please pay the full course fee. Paying the full fee helps us cover costs and make the program accessible to others with less financial resources.

Work exchange tuition is $2400. We offer several reduced fee tuitions annually based on financial need and skills offered. We encourage folks interested in work-exchanges to apply early as these slots are limited and fill quickly.

BIPOC tuition is $1200. We invite BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) folks to register at our scholarship fee. *Payment plans are available.

Need more financial support? Let us know in your application. We are committed to work with you to make this training accessible.

Payment Plans

We are a small organization and are helped by folks paying the full registration fee prior to the start of the program as they are able. We ask that folks with class privilege and access to professional development funds to please consider making a one-time payment.

We are also committed to helping folks with limited financial means to access the course in a sustainable way. Below we outline two payment plan options.

Full Tuition Payment Plan

We can offer folks committed to contributing the full $3600 tuition the following payment plan:

    • $900 due at registration or by September 21st, 2020
    • $900 per month October 1st 2020-December 1st 2020

Work-Study Tuition Payment Plan

We offer this reduced work study rate in exchange for 60 hours of service. We expect service to be completed within the program training term (e.g. Sep-Dec @ ~15 hours per month). We can offer work-study folks the following payment plan:

    • $600 due at registration or by September 21st, 2020
    • $600 per month October 1st 2020-December 1st 2020

BIPOC Tuition Payment Plan

We can offer the following monthly payment plan for BIPOC folks:

    • $300 due at registration or by September 21st, 2020
    • $300 per month October 1st 2020-December 1st 2020. *Folks wishing to begin payment plans upon acceptance can reduce their monthly payment

Application

We will accept applications on a rolling basis until September 18, 2020 or until the cohort fills.

OUR TEAM

Our team has years of experience in educational equity work, anti-oppressive training and pedagogy, trauma-informed practice, contemplative studies and community building.  Contributing program faculty may include:

Brooke Lavelle

Ana Hristić

who takes this course

Participants in our recent cohorts are: 

Educators
Diversity and Inclusion Directors and Trainers Clinicians, Coaches and Counselors
Social Workers
Community Activists and Organizers Restorative Justice Practitioners
Professors of Social Psychology
Social Science Researchers
Health Equity Researchers
Anti-Oppression Trainers
Environmental Activists
Contemplative Teachers and Practitioners
Graduate Students in Health Education, Urban Planning and Psychology
Artists & Creatives
Directors of University Centers for Compassion

Claire
Anti-Racist and RJ trainer

"Courage of care has provided a practice community through which I’ve been able to deepen the foundation of my work as an organizer. I’m grateful for the vulnerability, intentionality, and courage of our community. Working with courage continues to invite me to me to the edges of my own capacity to live my values sustainably."​

Ward
Professor of urban planning

"Without question, being a part of the Courage community has been one of the two or three most important experiences I’ve had at the intersection of the personal and professional realms. I feel a deeper sense of peace and resolve in my work as a parent, a teacher, and someone fighting injustice.”

Dan
environmental Activist

"The advanced training programs have given me tools and the courage to step into healing trauma and confronting oppression from a stance of fierce compassion. I feel that Courage of Cares modality is unique, and one that is beneficial to anyone interested in developing the sustainable courage and compassion necessary to address the deep suffering of ourselves and our world.”

What Folks Do With the Training

Folks go on to do extraordinary projects that incorporate the principles of the Courage of Care approach. Some highlights include:

    • building compassionate, just school communities
    • teaching relational compassion in diverse faith communities
    • strengthening their coaching practice
    • writing new books!

Learn more at the links below!

Colombia Peace-building project

anti-racist and restorative justice work

ecological justice & sustainability

Compassionate, Just Schools project

Talk with Us

Want to talk with someone from our team about the program to see if it’s the right fit for you? Check out our Facebook events for news on upcoming online info sessions. Feel free to also reach out for a one-on-one info session. 

request a call

FAQ

is this a certification program?

No. We are happy to offer you a certificate of completion for the training upon request, but this training does not “certify” you to teach Courage’s model. On our view, it takes years to develop the capacity to teach this work, and that level of training cannot be completed in one year. We do believe this training will help you in your life and work and that you will be able to weave the learnings from this program into your personal and professional life.  We are also interested in moving away from the highly transactional certificate world, and instead are interested in building a community of practice. 

Do i need to complete the healers program if i've done a lot of healing work?

Yes, or at least our Summer Intensive. The Courageous Leaders curriculum assumes a depth of knowledge and practice that we offer in our Courageous Healers Program, and effectively serves as . Level Two or Year Two training. If you have already taken a lot of trainings with us and are curious whether you can apply for the Leaders program, reach out to us.

I need financial support. Can you help?

Yes! We practice an economic justice model with our sliding scale tuition. We ask folks with class privilege (eg raised in middle-upper class homes and/or making over $62,000 per year), access to financial resources and/or access to organizational professional development funds to please pay the full course fee. This practice of “solidarity giving” enables us to continue to run these trainings and to provide scholarship support to others with less financial resources, thereby building and strengthening our community.

What do you actually teach us? What informs Courage?

Our work draws on various methodologies, pedagogies and practices. We incorporate relational compassion practice, trauma-informed healing work, anti-oppressive pedagogy, systems thinking, creative practices and movement work. We will help you integrate these practices into your life and work as part of your own healing process.

Why the focus on love and compassion?

To be sure, we don’t think love alone will save the world. We need clear seeing, healing, and action. But if we are not careful, and if our work and practices are not grouned in love, we risk replicating the harmful oppressive structures we aim to transform in the name of justice. This is why we see love and compassion and care as foundational to the work. 

how does this program compare to other trainings?

Our approach aims to integrate deep relational contemplative training with critical social analysis and inclusive, anti-oppressive pedagogies. Our team has a diverse range of experience in education, social work, health care, spiritual activism, organizing, and contemplative studies. We collectively draw on these backgrounds to create a collaborative learning environment that fosters deep personal reflection and sustainable, committed service