global sısterhood from the ground up
Interdependant Self Directed Liberatory Learning Program for
Co-Creating a Social Infrastructure for the Future
Welcome,
'Global Sisterhood from Ground Up' is a Interdependant Self Directed Liberatory Learning Program created for women from marginalised groups, designed to offer concentrated resources to women who specifically see the NGL approach as a path to individual and collective liberation that they want to be part of and support.
This program is based on the premise that supporting women’s leadership in the areas of liberation and nonviolence is a revolutionary path towards a livable future, because of the specific ways that the subordination of women has been integral and primary to patriarchy.
Vision
Across the world individuals, groups, organisations, and communities, across all social divisions, are actively liberating themselves and one another from the grip of patriarchal conditioning, leaning on the leadership of women to bring forth their full essence, genuine self-confidence and unique combination of gifts and limitations, and walking together as part of a vast network of trust that supports individuals and communities in the re-mothering of a world structured upon narratives that are oriented to needs and natural limits.
Purpose
Create a liberative learning environment with NGL’s tools and practices to unleash the creativity and resilience of women from marginalised groups to increase our collective capacity to respond to a world in crisis.
Theory of Change
We get energy from: making things that are fully within capacity and big on vision; from celebrating our work as we witness women in this program walking together towards liberation from within solid support structures; from experiencing the integration and togetherness within both delivering the programme and being participants; from co-discovery and iterative learning, as we construct and care for the program; and from connecting with reverence for frameworks and tools which have evolved from NGL’s experiments around orientation to human needs. These elements are resources that support us to seed an interdependent network of solidarity and intimacy, and to unleash our own collective capacity and creativity to respond to a world in crisis.
Monthly team updates
Nov 2023
The sisters from Palestine even with the extremities of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and impacts in their environment continue to meet with us twice a month, where they are sharing where they are. The team is holding the vision of nonviolence, when they are finding themselves out of capacity to do this. The mourning circle is turning out to be supportive as a space for their grief and traumas to land. They are aware of the Purpose based EFT support that some people are receiving training from Victor Lee Lewis in, and the sisters are not fully ready to receive this support and appreciate that it's there. During the Liberation Pod Meeting one of the sisters worked on exploring patterns. Yaren and Rosey are supporting the sisters to build their individual VMs. We are also wanting to discern with them where they are with the purpose of the program. We really care for the rigour and commitment to nonviolence even in the most extreme situations, and we are wanting for all of us to stretch towards this. It is very challenging work of untwisting, and we would like to keep the rigour and commitment going as we choose to move forward in the program.
Arnina offered coaching to the Holding Team and Companions through Miki, so that we are able to pull the sisters to the vision of nonviolence. Having Yaren in the team is supportive for this too. Menaka was able to acknowledge her own privilege (and also the lack of it) when the sisters pointed out something about naming Gaza, Jerusalem and not all of Palestine. She was not fully aware of the geographical history of the region. The sisters appreciated the way in which she received impacts from them. It was a deeply liberative experience for Menaka and she is continuing to learn more about the (tragic) history of the region which has led to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Sept-Oct 2023
The Global Sisterhood Program had been continuing to find a rhythm and gaining energy, with the Sisters from Palestine wanting to translate the NVC for Liberation materials and expanding connections within the NGL community. With the violence escalating in Gaza, our meetings were paused, and we are looking at other ways of supporting movement toward liberation for all, and hoping to start back meetings in some way that is within capacity, so that we are not only meeting when things are simple, we also meet when things are extreme.
In the meantime the weekly Purpose-Oriented EFT training with Victor Lee Lewis has met three times. It has been a powerful space of inspiration and lots of knowledge for the 20 participants.
August 2023
The first iteration is ready to begin this September, connections of Miki who have many years of experience with Miki and Arnina’s work, and on-the-ground experience in their context. We plan to begin the first iteration of the program in September this year.
You can see the description of the program here and our Program VM to have a sense of the systems that we have in place to support the learning and participation of the Sisters, which include a Feedback Flow system, Decision Making matrix and Conflict Engagement System.
The NGL tools in place are:
Mourning circles scheduled to be held by Diane
Liberation pod scheduled to be facilitated by Marta and Tricia
Weekly meetings with Companions (currently Rosey and Carimar) to work on the Sisters’ Interdependent Self-directed Liberatory Learning plans.
Prompts for Daily Liberative Mails (shared with Companions and Sisters)
We had our first Global Sisterhood Financial Gift Hub (FGH) Cycle Trimester 3 (T3) Sept-Dec 2023 and distributed money from the one-time donation we have for this program to sustain those offering foundational support for the program. The sisters can request for stipend, to cover for loss of income and for technological access needs to participate in the program, as the need arises.
Also scheduled is the purpose based trauma support calls with Victor Lee Lewis, for those who will continue to support the sisters and people inside NGL as needed!
July 2023
We plan to begin the first iteration of the program in September this year.
You can see our Program VM to have a sense of the systems that we have in place to support the learning and participation of the Sisters, which include a Feedback Flow system, Decision Making matrix and Conflict Engagement System.
Eddy shared inputs from the Feedback Flow System that evolved from courses from Marta and him holding it for VM Intro Course. We adapted it to fit our program needs. Emma is giving us inputs on our VM to clarify who it is for, and more.
The NGL tools in place are:
Mourning circles planned to be held by Diane
Liberation pod planned to be facilitated by Marta and Tricia
Weekly meetings with Companions (currently Rosey and Carimar) to work on the Sisters’ Interdependent Self-directed Liberatory Learning plans.
Prompts for Daily Liberative Mails (shared with Companions and Sisters)
We met the Convergent Facilitation (CF) Team and learned how they are holding CF Financial Gift Hub (FGH) for those who don’t request money from the NGL FGH, and are supporting the program like the Companions, facilitators of Mourning Circle and Liberation Pod, people offering trauma training like Victor Lee Lewis, and others. The sisters can request for stipend, to cover for loss of income and for technological access needs to participate in the program, as the need arises.
We are very excited about the possibility of the program being documented by Krystal who is also willing to write case studies about the program and the sisters' stories and their journey.
June 2023
So far, we’ve identified and begun to set up the structure that we will make available to the Sisters in the first iteration of the program. And most exciting, we have four women in Palestine who are eager and ready to start when we will be ready for them, connections of Miki who have many years of experience with Miki and Arnina’s work, and on-the-ground experience in their context.
The NGL tools in place are:
Mourning circles planned to be held by Diane
Liberation pod planned to be facilitated by Marta and Tricia
Weekly meetings with Companions (as of now it is only Rosey) to work on the Sisters’ Interdependent Self-directed Liberatory Learning plans.
We met the CF Team to learn how they are holding FGH for those who are not part of NGL FGH, for the sisters and companions who may request for stipend, to cover for loss of income.
Program Description
This program is based on the premise that supporting women’s leadership in the areas of liberation and nonviolence is a revolutionary path towards a livable future, because of the specific ways that the subordination of women has been integral and primary to patriarchy.
We are aiming to create sister solidarity in the following context. Bringing sisters from marginalised communities to come into our power collectively to seed nonviolent liberative communities and organisations. We have internalised that we need to do everything on our own, individually. What we are aiming to create here is a sisters collective, to have sufficient internal and collective power to challenge patriarchy with nonviolence.
Who is this for?
The program focuses, in particular, on women who have also been marginalised based on race, ethnicity, religion, caste, class and/or income.
It does not focus on all women, because of the ways that women from more dominant groups (e.g. white in relation to darker skinned people; Christian in relation to Jews and other religions; middle and owning classes in relation to working classes) have often aligned themselves with narratives and actions that resulted in the continued marginalisation of the majority of people on the planet.
The aim is that women attend the program with the express intention of focusing on rapid movement towards restoring sufficient choice, togetherness, and flow to be able to learn how to work with others using the materials covered within the program.
This means doing so both proactively in their communities and in response to requests made from people to NGL for services and offerings.
LIMITATIONS
We mourn that, at present, the program is limited by several factors, and thus it is likely to take several iterations before we cross the accessibility barriers sufficiently. Here are some of the limitations we are aware of, most of which are likely to continue for years still:
Existing NGLs materials are heavily text-based, and thus themselves easily act as barriers related to education;
The program is only offered online, limiting it to those who have access to technology;
The investment in the program - both hours per week and the length of the program - is very demanding.
As we embark on the first phase of the program, we expect there to be voids, imperfections and unforeseen challenges. Our intention is to name and hold the voids, imperfections and challenges together, and discern if there are within capacity pathways to attend to them. We expect to fold in the learnings from this first phase into the next iteration and co-shape the program with the participants.
The first iteration of the program is entirely a pilot program begining from September 2023. The current design is for working with an initial group of women while receiving and integrating feedback from them, before considering whether to invite additional women to apply.
Program Structure
The program supports participants in learning the various tools and practices that exist within NGL sufficiently to be able to apply them with others. Participants will be invited to seek consultancy, coaching and guidance on ways they can bring and apply NGL frameworks in their environment and will be offered debrief and harvesting spaces for further integration.
Interdependant Self Directed Liberatory Learning Journey:
The program is designed for the learning to be interdependant self directed and liberatory. The program participants will choose from an array of NGL resources, in accordance with their learning needs.
Learning Resources:
Online programs primarily taught by NGL providers and providers closely aligned with NGL framework, such as Nonviolent Communication for Liberation (NFL), Vision Mobilisation, Convergent Facilitation, Nonviolent Activism for Liberation, and many more.
Learning Packets that include theoretical grounding as well as practices
Recordings of previous offerings and programs within NGL Online
Group Coaching Calls, both pre-scheduled and by request
Relevant NVC academy classes
Women in the program who want to also teach others how to use the tools and practices will be supported to start sharing what they learned in NGL spaces by offering coaching calls, workshops, presentations, etc.
Participants in the program will also have access to applying and integrating the tools and practices by:
Shadowing and eventually working within NGL Teams as a way to move out of consumption model and move into a co-creation model
Participating in NGL Gatherings with specific purposes
Individual liberation and accompaniment:
Individual Accompaniment
The participants will be supported by people who have been engaging with NGL materials and experimentation for years and are on the journey to become NGL Providers who are, themselves, women from marginalised groups or work with marginalised groups.
We call this group of people 'Companions'.
Who are ‘Companions’
One of the crucial features of this program is that it offers ongoing accompaniment to women in their learning journey. We call those who offer this support and accompaniment ‘Companions’. Companions are people who have been engaging with NGL materials and experimentation and are on the journey to become NGL Providers who are, themselves, women from marginalised groups or are working with marginalised groups. In the first phase of the program, we plan for Companions to also participate in this self directed learning journey, in alignment with their purpose. To read more about Companions and how we see them function, follow this link.
Until fully owned by this group, Miki, NGL’s original founder, is committed to supporting and coaching them, as well as offering direct teaching, as needed based on collective assessment of the group’s capacity.
Active Support:
Every woman in the program is offered individual accompaniment in support of access, self-confidence, healing from trauma, challenging internalised oppression, and more. The individual connection starts with a capacity assessment at application time, continues with supporting the creation of a Vision Mobilisation structure as the basis for an individualised program with specific areas of emphasis based on specific needs, and proceeds with ongoing check-in and support throughout participation in the program.
Access to Support Structures:
Purpose pods: This program is designed to be an intensive learning immersion, a significant personal and collective journey for all participants and those who accompany them alike. We are designing, within it, a core structure of peer support for the entire journey that we call a purpose pod. A purpose pod, in general, is a group of people coming together to support each member in ongoing development and movement toward their purpose, ideally with some sense of coherence between their individual purposes. There can be, for example, “Convergent Facilitation (CF) Purpose Pods” for people who want to support each other on the path of using Convergent Facilitation in a variety of settings. In the case of this program, the purpose pods are focused on liberation and on gaining mastery with the tools and practices provided in the program. Purpose Pods may form based on one or more of the following pathways:
Shared context (within a community, through activism, at organisations, shared location etc.) within which you apply the NGL framework.
Shared focus within liberation (e.g. internalised racism, overcoming class oppression, specific kinds of trauma, nonviolence, increasing agency, etc.)
any other relevant criteria, like geographic proximity, language, logistical ease, or personal affinity.
Within pods, participants mutually support one another's integration of NGL material and personal liberation in relation to each person’s development in the program:
Offering each other feedback and coaching on applying the NGL framework
Digesting learning about the NGL framework, including in particular how it influences applying this content outside NGL
Finding unanswered questions or areas for further learning/integration
Applying program content to how Purpose Pods function, e.g. having clear purpose, agreements, support structures, joint activity, and more
Supporting one another in clarifying and consistently and consciously connecting with purpose and how applying the NGL framework relates to that purpose
Accompanying each other’s personal liberation from patriarchal conditioning and, especially, deepening capacity to orient personal liberation towards purpose (rather than healing for its own sake)
Liberation Pods: A Liberation Pod is a small group (4-5 people) that comes together with the purpose of supporting each other to surface and co-hold their patriarchal conditioning around specific topics (such as resource flow, class and gender training, power and access, etc) and move towards liberation.
Mourning & Grief Circles : Each one of us carries pain, fear and grief that are too intense to stay present with alone. Our habitual ways are to suppress it or carry judgements about ourselves and/or rest of the world. Mourning connects us with the pain and longings beneath the suppressed/judgemental energy, and restores movement and flow so that we can tap into our individual and collective creativity to do the work that is ours to do, connected to our larger purpose.
Vision Mobilisation (VM) work with support from the VM community.
Criteria and Process for Applying
Given what we are trying to do with this program, each application will be reviewed individually, which may include an interview for mutual assessment of fit. Here are the main criteria for both self and mutual assessment:
Existing familiarity with the NGL framework, at least through having attended some NGL offerings (such as 2-3 NGL introductions, an NVC for Liberation workshop series, an NGL VM intensive, Miki’s Responding to the Call of Our Times course, etc.)
If we assess that there is a high degree of mutual fit, we will consider applicants that haven't yet taken the above mentioned introduction and/or intensive, and invite them, as participants, to focus first on those.
Active orientation and enthusiasm about getting actively involved with the NGL Online community, as an NGL friend initially and as a contributor over time, in support of the work we are doing within NGL teams and for learning about how the principles function within this context;
High degree of motivation to integrate the NGL framework into how you show up in the world day-to-day and how you apply it in the world;
Willingness and capacity to invest an average of 6 hours a week in a virtual setting for the duration of the program and 7-8 hours offline for reading and watching material that NGL has created; (recognizing that this is a significant barrier to many)
A total commitment to the liberation of all, regardless of social location, including your own liberation and all the risk and discomfort that the journey may bring;
Commitment to nonviolence as a deep orientation to life as well as a method for creating change, including the commitment to maintain togetherness with others even when they don’t.
Process for Applying
This process is closed for now. So far, we’ve identified Sisters for the first iteration of the program, we have four Sisters in Palestine connections of Miki who have many years of experience with Miki and Arnina’s work, and on-the-ground experience in their context and the program begins with them in September 2023!
Sustainability
The program is currently funded by a one-time estate donation that is designed to sustain both the support team and any participants who would not be able to participate without receiving a stipend to cover for loss of income. Simultaneously, we invite contributions (please mention its for the Global Sisterhood Program while contributing money) from anyone reading this description who is excited about this program and has any capacity to contribute financially to its long term viability.