Shifting Power with Purpose: Strategy + Skills for white folks to practice anti-racism at work

This experiential workshop series brings together white people working at nonprofits and social justice-oriented organizations to skill up, learn and share strategies, heal, and rebuild connection. Our goal is to become more trustworthy, strategic, risk-taking, and embodied partners in the work towards racial justice. We will create a practice container with other white people who are ready to make structural changes that move power, decision-making, and compensation towards racial equity and justice.

Starting in October, this series will be completed over 8 sessions, with a 1-on-1 coaching session offered to each participant who completes the series.

THIS COURSE MAY BE RIGHT FOR YOU IF...

• You are a white person working at a nonprofit or a social justice-oriented organization. You are a junior or mid-level staff (not in senior leadership).

• You have a baseline understanding of what it means to engage in work towards racial justice and want that to be a central part of your work life.

• You want to practice greater solidarity with BIPOC people at your organization and / or are interested in supporting your organization to become more racially just and equitable.

• You value connection with other white people to practice accountability, share challenges and successes, and grow.

DURING THE COURSE OF OUR TIME TOGETHER, WE WILL…

• Define a clear set of personal values and commitments to racial justice that you are committed to embodying and practicing at work (and in life!).

• Share and practice skills to use in workplace organizing, from trauma-informed facilitation tools to working with resistance.

• Learn multiple lenses for looking at power so that we can embody “power-with” - outside of power-to, power-over, power-against, disengagement, or the drama/trauma triangle.

• Increase our willingness and capacity to take risks in service of our values and commitments.

• Build relationships with white people committed to anti-racism that are based in compassion, rigor, feedback, and ongoing practice.

Understanding Our Sliding Scale: (credit to Hatch & Bloom for this language)

NOTE: A third of what we collect through this offering will go to Black-led grassroots liberation efforts that Em and Root are connected to personally. We will share more about these organizations at some point during the series!

We are using a sliding scale to help you to determine how much to pay for this series. This sliding scale is dependent on your access to money and wealth. It is an intentional equity effort. All of our experiences regarding these factors are different and complex. This list of questions aims to help you do some self-assessment to consider what rate to pay:

Are you and your family homeowners or landowners?
Have you attended private education institutions or do you have an advanced degree?
Are your bills or credit cards on autopay?
Have you not had difficulty accessing and affording healthcare or health insurance for you or your family members?
Do you have zero to no debt and/or do you have disposable income?
Do you have a safety net composed of “financially stable” or wealthy family and friends?
Do you have U.S. Citizenship?
Does your income only support you, and not other loved ones?
Have you or do you expect to inherit money or property?

Was race, ethnicity, or religious heritage a barrier to your family building wealth in the past 2 generations?
Have you (or could you) have attended college and/or graduate school?

Sliding Scale Rates based on your answers to the questions:
If you answered almost all no → Solidarity rate
If you answered more yes than no → Full Cost rate
If you answered almost all yes → Redistribution rate

Dates and Participation Expectations

We expect participants to attend all sessions. We understand that life happens and so you may miss a session due to an illness or personal emergency. But, before registering, take a look at your calendar and make sure you are available. Better yet, go ahead and block the following dates and times on your calendar so you are already prioritizing this work.

The dates and times for Shifting Power with Purpose are on Tuesdays from 4-6pm ET // 1-3pm PT on the following dates:

Oct. 3

Oct. 10

Oct. 17

Oct. 31

Nov. 7

Nov. 14

Nov. 21

Nov. 28

About the Facilitators:

Em Morrison (she/her) is a white, cisgender, bisexual queer facilitator and educator. She brings an anti-oppression lens to all of her work, whether it is conflict transformation, culture change, anti-racist consciousness-raising, or trauma-informed mindfulness teaching.

Her facilitation style is grounded and heartful, with a dash of playfulness, humor, and laughter. Em believes in looking with clear eyes to honestly appraise what's arising in the moment, with a lot of care and space for holding whatever we find.

Em has been in recovery from substance abuse for over a decade, an achievement of individual freedom that she knows was made possible by a collective community of care. Her journey continually inspires her to seek impactful approaches to community healing and transformative justice.

Root Schermerhorn (they/them) is a white, nonbinary queer, and chronically ill facilitator, educator, strategist, and coach. They are co-owner of Cambium Collective where they support organizations to increase their integrity to be in alignment with their racial equity and justice values.

Root brings over 15 years of experience in and alongside organizations from grassroots organizers to federal agencies working on change and transformation. Root has a heartful and passionate approach to their work and is a deep diver who can ask a penetrating question then have you giggling. With a background in regenerative agriculture and design, they weave in lessons from nature that clarify and bring meaning to complex situations. As a Southern queer organizer, Root brings the ‘front porch’ into conversations, allowing space for stories, narratives, and sharing.

Root does this work because they believe that liberation and healing is possible. They have found deep healing, meaning, and belonging in racial and social justice movements and longs for others to feel the healing and freedom that doing racial justice work brings over time.