Social Justice Stewardship:
Relational Skills for Sustainable Change
A Two-Day In-Person Training in Partnership With the Network for EdWork
Bethaday Community Learning Center, Seattle
Thursday and Friday, June 20-21
8:00am-4:30pm
Who Is This For?
Social Justice Stewardship is a two-day in-person training designed for those working for social justice across various sectors (education, law, healthcare, food access, climate justice, etc...) who are tired of watching infighting, poor communication, and burnout diminish the power of social justice efforts.
If that’s you, you’ve probably been around long enough to see important efforts fall apart due to infighting. You may even have lost close relationships along the way. It’s become clear that the personality conflicts and siloing are actually collaborating with the system that social justice is trying to transform.
While your commitment to social justice work is strong, Frances Lee’s article Excommunicate Me From the Church of Social Justice resonates.
All of this contributes to a need for a way to make sense of this mess. You’d appreciate a framework for understanding oppression that humanizes every single human on earth, acknowledges the complex connections between systems and trauma, AND points us toward effective action.
Most importantly, you want to continue deepening your skills for stewarding effective, sustainable, and authentic social justice work over time.
If this sounds like you, read on to learn more about this training.
Want to Know More?
Before You Register
There are three ways you can continue learning about this training before you register.
First - if you continue scrolling down this webpage, you’ll find more information about the content, the facilitators, and logistics.
Second - you can sign up to my newsletter to receive regular updates and free content related to this training.
Third - you can attend a free virtual information session to meet the facilitators and ask questions. Click on one of the times below to register for the free info session:
What Will You Leave With?
If you attend, you’ll walk away with 13 hours of intensive training that will include…
Skills for stewarding social justice work over time
Networking and community with like-minded social justice advocates from various professions across the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia
A framework for thinking about systems of oppression that humanizes everyone AND points toward effective action
Practices for accessing inner capacity for the responsible and effective use of power
What You Can Expect
If you choose to attend this workshop, you can expect:
A mixture of theory and exercises that support the relational work needed to affect systems transformation
A trauma-informed, healing-centered, relationship-forward, humanizing style of facilitation
Opportunities to build relationships with like-minded folks
Conversation and exercises around some potentially triggering topics, like trauma, oppression, and violence. We will balance the heavy stuff with play, relationality, and creativity. We won’t go too personally into any topic (and you’re welcome to opt out of any exercise), but if you choose to sign up for the workshop, please check with yourself to make sure you feel resourced enough to engage with this type of material.
The Trainers
James Boutin (Designer and Lead Trainer)
James is an educator, facilitator, and trainer for social change.
After fourteen years of public school teaching and union organizing, he stepped away from public education for some deep reflection about the challenges of social justice work in the 21st century. This led him to a deep investigation into methods for supporting the personal transformation needed to create systems transformation.
He’s been teaching about systems of oppression and their history for nearly twenty years. He has degrees in education, facilitation, history, and conflict studies. His style is informed by Processwork, Nonviolent Communication, as well as various schools of critical theory and liberatory pedagogies. He thinks of his work as holistic abolitionism.
Martha Hurwitz (Trainer)
Martha Hurwitz is an equity and oppression awareness coach, consultant, and facilitator.
A longtime educator, Martha applies a distinctly non-pedantic approach to the tender work of understanding how systems of oppression function societally, and live within each of us individually.
Martha has pursued an interest in power, liberation, and society for decades, both formally and experientially, including an M.Ed. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in democracy and education.
She is the granddaughter of immigrants from Eastern Europe fleeing anti-Semitism who arrived in the U.S. just as Jews became seen as white. Reconciling her family’s transition away from Judaism into white-identity is a recent focus of Martha’s self-reflection and study.
Other Trainers
Other trainers are in the process of being finalized, and their bios will be added soon.
© 2024 james boutin
