Plainfield, VT — EmpowR Transformation received a $2000 grant to offer eight community dialogue circles this summer at Grandmother Cherry Sanctuary in Plainfield, Vermont. The grant was awarded by The Circle Way, a global equity and justice facilitation organization and practice.

“EmpowR Transformation and The Circle Way are aligned in how we make a stand in our world–-to uphold racial, ethnic, gender, disability, economic, and environmental justice. We are pleased to support EmpowR’s efforts to make this vision and commitment become reality,” said Sarah MacDougall, Elder and Board Member with The Circle Way.

Four White Women Accountability Circles will be held for white-identifying women (cis/trans), femmes, and non-binary/trans people who were socialized as women to support staying engaged in transformative justice and processing emotionally charged racialized situations without putting labor on People of Color. Facilitated by EmpowR Transformation founder, Rae Carter, space will be held to integrate deeper layers of equity commitments through processing personal antiracism work in community. White Diversity/Equity/Inclusion/Belonging (DEIB) facilitators, equity consultants, trauma practitioners, advocates, and educators are encouraged to attend to also cultivate relationship building in movement work. Circles take place on June 8, July 12, August 10, and September 6 from 5:30-8:30 pm. Pre-registration is required.

Four Men’s Community Evolution Circles will be held to support relationship and community building among men and to shift away from mainstream cultural norms that promote unhealthy expectations of masculinity. Facilitated by special education teacher, Mitch Pauley, space will be held to listen and share—without judgement—and to build capacity for self acceptance, behavior awareness, personal and collective responsibility, and creating new behavior patterns. Anyone who identifies as male is invited to attend. Racial, class, sexual identity, age, and ability diversity are all welcome. Circles take place on June 5, July 10, August 7, and September 11 from 5:30-8:30 pm. Pre-registration is required.

Donations are encouraged and will go to the Vermont Releaf Collective to support advancing racial equity in land, environment, agriculture and foodways.

All community dialogue event details and registration links at EmpowR-Transformation.com/Events.

Learn more about why these types of programs are being offered in the blog post The “personal work” of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.

The Circle Way facilitation practice is utilized throughout EmpowR Transformation’s educational programming, equity facilitation, and communication consulting services. Founder Rae Carter first began facilitating health and wellness programs with circle process following a cancer diagnosis in 2018. In 2020 she began training in The Circle Way which was recommended by Layla F. Saad in Me and White Supremacy. Serving on the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility Board of Directors at the time, Rae coordinated and facilitated a Me and White Supremacy book group working with The Circle Way equitable communication practices. In 2021 Rae introduced The Circle Way to ElevateHer Vermont and circle process served as the premise for the 2022 program, Accountability in AntiRacism—a collaboration between EmpowR, Mia Moore Consulting, ElevateHer and the Vermont Women’s Fund.

The Circle Way grant funding for EmpowR Transformation to host the community dialogues is the first time The Circle Way is funding a project in Vermont.

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The Circle Way is a lightly formalized, lightly facilitated social structure that allows people to use circle process in a wide range of settings. The purpose is to mainstream circle process as a shift in how organizations and communities’ function and work together; to grow a diverse inter-generational community of circle practitioners who promote racial, gender, disability, ethnic, economic, and environmental justice; and to incubate and accelerate the growth of circle practices. The circle practice that grew to be known as The Circle Way is a small part of the ancient story of circle and humankind co-arising around the world. Learn more at TheCircleWay.net.

EmpowR Transformation builds capacity to co-create cultural conditions of belonging, equity, and collective liberation. Facilitation and consulting services, personal support and healing sessions, educational program design and implementation, community building opportunities, and nature-based retreats are offered to individuals, groups, teams, communities, organizations, and institutions who are navigating the complexities of change. An incubation space for transformative justice and emergent strategy, EmpowR is a woman owned business, a network of co-creators, and a community of evolving humans committed to building new ways of being in relationship with ourselves, each other, and the Earth. Collectively, EmpowR cultivates personal, organizational, and cultural transformation. EmpowR Transformation is located at Grandmother Cherry Sanctuary in Plainfield, Vermont. Learn more at EmpowR-Transformation.com.