These are relational changemaker conversations that alternate between integrated storytelling featuring a Changemaker who expands our understanding and habits of whole leadership, and an hour-long Wisdom Circle where the hosts are listening and the audience is talking. We develop these relational changemaker habits together on the LeadHER Path.
Allowing for Connection this Summer and Beyond
It is with feelings of excitement and great anticipation that we announce the changemakers that are walking with us on the LeadHER Path this summer. Together, we will gather for a series of six masterclasses, each one guided by a changemaker we are Amplifying, along with four co-hosts. In addition, on alternating Wednesdays, we host a live Wisdom Circle where space is held to practice connection through brave conversation inspired by a masterclass. This season, our changemaker theme is: Allowing for Connection, which we put into practice during each gathering.
In a practice of ritual and ceremony, the co-hosts and guests open each conversation by expressing their connection with the land that they live, work, and play from and the circle is closed with a brief one-minute reflection from each changemaker on what stood out to them during this peer-learning experience. As we hold space for connection this season, each changemaker will share their perspective, experiences, and reflections that emerge as a masterclass through these questions and prompts:
- Over the last few years a lot has surfaced: A pandemic, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Truth and Reconciliation in Action, climate concerns and so much more. What WAS your relationship with the word connection before these movements? Where are you now?
- What do you think keeps us from connecting? Can you share one tip to create more connection?
- In amongst the everyday doing, how do you stay connected with your big vision, long term changework goals?
On the LeadHER Path, we are guided by the seasons. As we move into summer the team at PowHERhouse recognizes this as a time of rest and a time for play. In the spirit of rest and play, we have kept things light and simple this season, with little to do. Our invitation is to show up with an open heart on Wednesdays and connect through brave conversation, however you see fit for your individual needs at this time—we are all unique in this practice.
Without further ado, please meet the changemakers we are thrilled to be connecting with and Amplifying this season in order of emergence on the LeadHER Path:
The Co-hosts:
The women guiding this conversation embody relationality, they walk a path of changemaking that invites us to deepen our connection to self, other, all, and spirit. Please meet Kelly Beattie, PowHERhouse Amplify Coach and Guest Co-Host on the LeadHER Path. Kelly is Founder of Beyond Connections Consulting and a heart-centred relational leader who believes that business improvement begins with the people.
As a PowHERhouse Braid Partner, Christina Benty, also co-hosts on the LeadHER Path, develops curriculum for our First Steps program & Facilitates the experience, she is an Amplify Coach, and Owner of Strategic Leadership Solutions where she dismantles human systems to build back better within politics and governance. Tina Overbury is the PowHERhouse Managing Director and a multi-disciplinary artist, space holder and listener, Tina works with narrative and story structure as a vehicle for human connection, recognizing that communication is a sacred practice. As PowHERhouse Founder, Charlene SanJenko is an Indigenous Storyteller, Impact Producer, Media Visionary, and the Founder of our sister company, reGEN Impact Media. Sharon Marshall is the owner of DEVA Staffing and Training solutions, additionally offering a partnership that uplifts Indigenous entrepreneurs through the LeadHER Path empowerment pack, and she is a member of the PowHERhouse Braid. As PowHERhouse Amplify Coach and Guest Co-Host on the LeadHER Path we welcome Janet Mohapi-Banks who is also a conscious leadership coach and consultant.
At PowHERhouse, we are honoured to amplify changemakers and their organizations to uplift brave communication and storytelling as we co-create a more relational approach to business. Our seasonal speaker series on the LeadHER Path braids the wisdom, relational habits and stories of Indigenous (Turtle Island) and non-Indigenous (Ancestral) leaders together to inspire hope and to shift how we lead from transactional to relational.
"We can't change society until we change ourselves. It all starts with a connection to self and allowing for connection to our bigger self.
Wendy Altshuler is a writer and media storyteller—She combines myth making and media as a changemaker living in Massachuttes, US. As an author, Wendy has written a youth based book series and continues to work on additional books and scripts while working at a civil rights organization. As a media storyteller, Wendy has produced animated shorts along with regional documentaries that get to know cultural creatives through a ‘day in the life of’ perspective. Wendy holds an undergraduate degree in depth psychology and a Master of Arts in Education, with credits including script writing awards and Writers’ Guild accredited representation.
"My version of connection is more introverted and manifests as I cultivate a connection with nature and my inner voice."
Tara Caffelle is a Registered Professional Counsellor and Professional Certified Coach working extensively with grief, trauma and relationships. In addition, she is a business and leadership consultant, storyteller and grief collector, working in community with her partners at Living Bridges Therapy Collective in Kamloops, BC. She brings more than 15 years of experience and a lifetime of her own challenges and grief to her conversations with change-makers as they create cultures of mental health in our work spaces, recognizing the intersection of trauma, grief and our relationships.
Tara is of Scottish, German and English descent and with her family, has settled in humble gratitude just outside Kamloops on the ancestral, traditional and unceded territories of the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc nation. She is anticipating her first book, Powerhouse, for publishing in 2024 and will be attending the school of Social Work at Dalhousie University in September of 2024.
"...AND what are you going to do? How are you going to keep putting one foot in front of the othe? Taking breathes, showing up, and looking for evidence of hope."
Jen Lowry has a long history in the healthcare system. She’s worked in both the private and public sector, in not-for-profits and has focused on Mental Health and Substance Use since 2015. As FOUNDRY was enjoying its early days in Vancouver, Jen would refer people from all over the province there because of the immediacy of service and the way the FOUNDRY approach is designed to fill in the gaps in a system that is not designed for wraparound care, which is what FOUNDRY does.
Jen is grateful for the trauma informed solution oriented approach. She understands that those who work at Foundry often have a personal connection and a deep heart for the work, and Jen is no different. “I know what it’s like to sit in the stigma. I’ve seen it. I’ve had my life turned upside down, and it changed my profession, it changed the work I do, it changed how I exist in the world. When families call me and I hear their backstory, I know it’s not about being a good person, or a bad person, it’s about the struggle they’re experiencing.”
“I have nothing but pride for people as they are showing up, and asking for what they need. I want to shout their stories from the treetops and mountain tops! I’m grateful through Foundry, I’m able to be part of their healing journey.
Conly Basham is a queer, neurodivergent artist, educator, and healing practitioner. From performing and teaching in New York City, to moving to San Francisco for her Masters in Counseling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy, Conly's life work centers around the power of creative expression in individual and communal healing. She facilitates restorative justice circles, practices family constellation work, and is currently working towards a Ph.D. in Expressive Arts where her scholarship explores the intersections of arts-based ritual
and restorative practices towards intergenerational healing, the acknowledgment of power and privilege, and ecological peacebuilding. She is honored to be a faculty member of The Wheat Institute, teaching expressive arts therapy. She is of colonizing-settler descent, with ancestral roots from Northern Ireland and Celtic wisdoms. She was raised on the original lands of the Quapaw and Caddo people in Little Rock, Arkansas and currently travels between coasts following Divine’s leading and communal resonance.
"I have found that when I let go and listen to the movement of my spirit, it guides. And whether it's music, visual arts, poetry, ritual, I've been able to find a way through these barriers, towards more connection."
Katherine Lazaruk is a poet and author of two collections (of a planned seven) of long stories in short poems. In her day-to-day life, she can be found working in her consulting practice, speaking on podcasts and stages, sharing her stories and expertise and, of course, writing. When she’s not doing either of those things, she can be found enjoying live music, singing jazz, watching movies with her film editor husband, or consuming good food, drinks, and outdoor walks with a plethora of chosen family and friends in Vancouver, BC.
She has spent nearly twenty-five years exploring personal growth, self-awareness, and self-acceptance and brings that knowledge to her poetry and music, sharing what it feels like to be fully embodied, fully yourself, and fully expressed in this limited world.
"Society is us, we decide what society looks like."
These changemakers care deeply about the future and the generations to come, we invite you to join us on the LeadHER Path to experience their activated and calm approach to bravely walking this path, together.
What you’ll experience:
- Six masterclass style learning circles that can be watched on your own time
- Six Wisdom Circles hosted live on alternating Wednesdays
- A space to witness and practice brave communication and connectivity
- A sense of activation, rejuvenation, and calm
- A community of changemakers, thought-leaders, and meaning makers
- A whole lot of open hearts and minds