Our Approach

Today’s converging social and ecological crises are the result of centuries of broken relationships produced by systems of oppression. The fundamental sense of separation and “othering” endemic to systems of capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy is collapsing under the weight of its dysfunction.

Because we understand the roots of these crises to be fundamentally relational in nature, our work centers on nurturing and strengthening the relational tissue within our communities, organizations and movements for justice and liberation.

We focus on supporting various theories of change by building a broad community of interest, a deep community of practice, and compelling trajectories of trainings that help individuals, organizations and movements strengthen their relational capacity.

All of these efforts are in support of building a tradition of relational practice grounded in our framework, CourageRISE.

INDIVIDUAL
PATHWAYS

Programs and practice groups for all committed to building beloved community.

ORGANIZATIONAL
PATHWAYS

Approaches for organizations committed to building relational culture.

CourageRISE

We build compassion-based, anti-oppressive, healing-centered, transformational and visionary practice communities.

We believe that systems of oppression live in our bodies and our cultural practices, and thus we cannot simply legislate—or meditate—our way forward. Justice is a practice. Anti-racism is a practice. Beloved Community is a practice.

Our movement-based approach, CourageRISE, leverages spiritual, contemplative, psychological, philosophical and somatic lineages to support our practice of building relational culture.

Building Courageous and Relational communities of Practice

Building beloved community is a practice that requires consistent attention and adaptation.

Our community practice agreements are designed to support and strengthen the relational tissue of our communities and organizations.

We invite you to reflect upon and work with these practice agreements within your own community.

Our Lineage

Our approach is rooted in many wisdom and justice lineages.

Our five-part model, CourageRISE, is designed to provide a balance of qualities deemed essential by many wisdom lineages: the ability to be open and soft, yet firm and fierce when needed; to see what is with clear eyes and sense that which is unseen, and to discern when it is time to lead and when it is time to follow when embarking on new pathways.

CourageRISE as a model is inspired by non-dual contemplative traditions, including Tibetan Buddhism and Kashmiri Shaivism, human development and family studies, anthropology, process philosophy, evolutionary psychology, disability studies, gender and women’s studies, womanism, decolonial studies, design thinking, futures studies, science fiction, regenerative practice, community organizing, and the history of liberatory and solidarity struggles across the globe.

Each member of our team as well as every person that enters our practice community contributes to the tapestry of our model. We continue to learn and be inspired by countless other individuals, healers, weavers, and movement leaders who are building a better world.

To learn more about these lineages, read our latest article here.