Presence, Power & Possibility: A Circle Way Online Intensive
Amanda + Tenneson aren’t offering any learning events in 2022. Please see the global offerings at thecircleway.net or those offered with Tenneson Woolf.
Group size is limited to 20 participants
Presence: So many of us are living, leading, and making decisions everyday amidst growing complexity, disruption, and uncertainty. We need a different quality of conversation that allows us to be more present to ourselves and one another in these times.
Power: So many of us are in organizations, institutions, and communities where we are wrestling with dominant culture’s inequitable distribution of power and leadership. We need different approaches in our leadership and ways of working with power that can help contribute to greater equity.
Possibility: So many of us long for well-held conversations and meetings that ignite new possibilities for our work in the world. We need group processes that reclaim relationships, our shared humanity and the brilliance of collective wisdom.
We will explore the ways circle in its principles and practices offer another culture of working and leading
Shifting from the pace of urgency and efficiency to pace of sustainability and care.
Shifting from transactional meeting cultures to relational meeting cultures.
Shifting from power as a limited resource to power as shared and infinite among us.
Shifting from prioritizing our rational intelligence (head) to also include our emotional (heart) and intuitive (body) intelligence.
Details
Where:
Video Conference for Whole Group and Small Groups (Zoom).
Private Online Learning Space.
You'll need a computer or tablet with access to the internet to join the Zoom calls and the Basecamp learning space.
Group Size: Registration is limited to 20 participants
Accessibility: Automated live captions through Rev are available in Zoom.
Cost:
$450 USD Supported By Community
$525 USD Regular
$600 USD Supporting Community
This is our version of a sliding scale of price - more of an intent and energy than a strict financial formula. It means that the pricing we are anticipating from most is $525. We are trusting that the $600 (Supporting Community) will balance the $450 (Supported By Community).
To further support financial access, some grants for participants who are Black, Indigenous and/or People of Color (BIPOC) are available through The Circle Way non-profit.
Who this is for
From people inserting more humanity in today’s plethora of distracted and disjointed meetings, to those wanting to grow even more deeply in personal grounding, and to those who are doing the extensive work of community reclamation. Everyone who cares for the quality of conversations and the quality of relationships and leadership is warmly invited to participate.
We welcome those working in a variety of sectors and roles from around the globe: leaders, managers, supervisors, board members, organizers and educators from non-profit and faith-based organizations, to government agencies as well as the corporate and private sector, and more.
This online intensive invites a range of experience level from those who are very new to circle to experienced practitioners ready to renew their practice with curiosity. Previous experience in group facilitation and leadership is helpful.
Note that this class will be held in English.
Your Hosts
Amanda Fenton (she/hers) designs and hosts participatory processes to spark new thinking, foster collaborative leadership, navigate uncertainty and possibility, accelerate learning, and move to wiser action. She is a circle practitioner and co-teacher teacher of The Circle Way and the Art of Hosting. Part of her "deeper yes" is journeying alongside others who use these participatory processes to decentre whiteness, redistribute power in more equitable ways, and work in service of greater equity and justice. Amanda lives on the territory of the Qayqayt in what is now known as New Westminster, BC with her partner and their elderly Great Dane Moses. Learn more about her at amandafenton.com
Chantilly Mers-Pickett (she/hers) is a Pasifika minister, justice educator, and circle practitioner. Born and raised in Maui, Hawaii, a daughter of immigrants, she moved to New York City to study Theology and the Arts at Union Theological Seminary. Today she co-leads a beautiful faith community, Common Ground Church, in Manhattan and collaborates with What’s Next Now? a team of racial equity consultants. She is passionate about reclaiming ordinary spaces for emergence and radical togetherness. A learner of living systems, permaculture, and Indigenous wisdom, Chantilly lives and tends a garden in Bloomfield, NJ (Lenape Land) with her multigenerational ‘ohana made up of her parents, spouse, two daughters, and their 7 tropical plants. Learn more about her at kindomcollective.com
Tenneson Woolf (he/his) is a facilitator, workshop leader, speaker, and writer. He designs and leads meetings in participative formats. To help people be smart together. To get people interacting with each other — learning together, building relationships, and focused on projects. To get deeper to the heart of what matters. From strategic visioning with boards to large conference design. He has been a practitioner of Circle and other participative forms for 20+ years. His lineages include The Berkana Institute, The Circle Way, and The Art of Hosting. Living systems, self-organization, and emergence inspire his work. Learn more about him at tennesonwoolf.com
“One insight from this class is how interrupting habitual cultural norms can create new ways of being and even help transform oppressive systems into new more inclusive ones. I really appreciated learning about the role of each circle component, the impact that it has and so why it is important.”
Some of the topics we may explore:
Grounding in the components of circle practice - a light structure to help correct what often goes awry in so many meeting formats.
Working with energetics, shadow, conflict and sustaining healthy circles.
Practices that can support our circles in disrupting patterns of privilege and oppression, and contribute to more equitable spaces.
Personal preparation including inner work as circle hosts, guardians, and participants.
Question wizardry to use the power of a good question to help ignite the curiosity of a group.
Planning circles to support connection, shared responsibility, learning, and action.
Making decisions in circle with the sweet potential of proposals held in circle.
