2023 Winter Workshop Series
In February and March, we are offering 4 virtual workshops for white-bodied people who hold and control space (specifically organizational and leadership development practitioners, facilitators, coaches, consultants, trainers as well as organizational leaders and managers).
We will be joined by our mentor and friend, Aaron Johnson from Holistic Resistance for two of them.
Feb 6: The Ins & Outs of Positionality with Aaron Johnson, Holistic Resistance
Feb 13: The Culture Behind the Culture
Feb 27: The Stories We Carry with Aaron Johnson, Holistic Resistance
Mar 6: Examining the Tools of Our Trade
Workshops will be limited 20 people.
2023 Winter Virtual Workshop Series
Please join us in one or more of our virtual winter workshops to dive deeper into the conversations we are having on the Disrupting Our Practice podcast. We will explore what is needed to be more conscious and explicit about bringing anti-racist and anti-oppression practices into how we hold and control space. We will grapple with challenging questions and build our capacity to be in the intensity, emotional discomfort, and not knowing required to disrupt our practices.
Please know these are not your usual workshops or webinars. They are not just about understanding things cognitively. We will be learning (and unlearning) through practicing different ways of being together, such as moving at a slower pace, pausing to notice our feelings and sensations, and deeply listening to one another.
Resmaa Menakem talks about the need for us to “get the reps in” with other white folks in order to become people who can do this work in mixed space. These workshops are designed to help us do that. The “muscles” we build this way make us more capable of being in the work and relationships necessary to disrupt and dismantle white supremacy and co-create something else.
Wherever you are in your anti-racism work, you are welcome. The only requirements are an open mind, an open heart, and a willingness to slow down and listen deeply.
We all see it: budgets are tightening, contracts getting delayed, layoffs are happening. The news is abuzz about the possibility of the “r” word. So, to help ease things a bit for everyone, we are announcing our “Here Comes the Recession” sale. 50% off of all workshops. Money still an obstacle? Reach out. We want you there!
Save $100 by registering for all 4 workshops for $500 $250
Use this button to register for all four or multiple workshops, otherwise, register for individual workshops below.
You’ll take away…
Questions to support your ongoing inquiry in this work as you move through your day-to-day experiences
Insight into what it means to ‘get in the reps’ and build your capacity to be in these challenging conversations
A “felt sense” of what it is to talk about these usually un-discussable topics and “be in the charge of race”.
A practice called Reflective Listening (different than active listening) that you can use to continue exploring your conditioning and building your capacity
Clarity about the power and importance of relationship and community in dismantling white supremacy culture and co-creating something different.
What to expect in this series:
Interactive, dialogue-based explorations of each topic with individual reflections, dyad listening sessions, and facilitated discussions.
Grappling with challenging material and questions in a non-judgemental, non-shaming, caring space.
Engaging more than our thinking minds and inviting in our emotions and body sensations
Using a slower-than-typical pace and mindfulness-based practices to help us develop capacities to be with the challenges of these conversations.
Making connections between our unique personal stories, collective stories, and the cultures that shape us.
Let’s not let money get in the way
If these prices are out of reach for you, please connect with us to discuss options. We don’t want money to stand in the way of your having access to this work.
On the other hand, if you have the resources, we hope that you’ll consider making an additional donation towards supporting scholarships or reduced-price packages. Thank you! Please reach out to us if you’d like to make a donation.
About Your Facilitators
SHANNON H. PATTERSON (she/her)
When Shannon founded Connection Works in 2011, she felt a calling to help stop workplace practices that diminish and disregard people’s humanity. However, at that time, anti-racism work was not a part of her work. In 2016, Shannon realized she couldn’t actually meaningfully address her calling without it, marking the beginning of her learning journey. She has worked with Anna-Brown Griswold, Reverend angel Kyodo williams, and Holistic Resistance (HR), read voraciously, and joined community to better understand how whiteness and racism lives in her. In summer 2020, Shannon created Women Connecting: Understanding Whiteness in response to the white women in her life who called seeking support in making sense of what unfolded in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. In February 2021, she completed HRs 6-month facilitation training and is currently in direct communication with them around this program to maintain accountability.
GREGORY FLYNN (he/him)
Greg created Men Connecting: Understanding Whiteness in the fall 2020. He works as a coach, facilitator, and supporter of humans. While Greg has had a deep commitment to social justice for most of his life, he began to realize that he had a lot to learn when it came to race and racism about three years ago. Since then, Greg has done workshops and programs with Anna-Brown Griswold, Reverend angel Kyodo williams, Robin DiAngelo, and Holistic Resistance (HR), read voraciously in order to better understand how whiteness lives in him, and joined community to be in relationship around ending racism. Because it is important to him to be in accountability in his anti-racism work, Greg continues to work with the excellent folks at HR to learn about how whiteness and racism lives in him and where his blind spots are. In February 2021, he completed HR’s 6-month facilitation training program and is currently in direct communication with them around this program to maintain accountability. To learn more about Greg’s other work, check out his bio here.
AARON JOHNSON (he/him)
Co-facilitating workshops 1 and 3
Aaron is an earth builder, teacher of closeness, and activist. He graduated from the California Institute of the Arts in 2007 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He has made a lifelong commitment to use the skills he possesses to end racism. In addition to using intimacy and closeness to blackness as a primary means to that end, the tools he frequently uses are speaking, teaching, singing, photography, filmmaking, and minimalism. Aaron leads a mentoring program called Turn It Up Now that focuses on elevating the power, talent, love, and work ethic of youth. He believes that deep connection is one of the most powerful tools one can use in dismantling racism. You can learn more about Aaron’s work with Holistic Resistance here.