Care and Courage Presenters and Facilitators
Thanks for visiting our lineup. We are gradually publishing details as facilitators provide descriptions and bios for their customized offerings, workshops, listening circles, and activities. Some will be plenary addresses and some are offered in morning or afternoon breakout sessions (11am or 2:30pm) for more intimate groupings. If you'd like to help, please reach out to learn more about how you can get involved with our volunteer-created symposium festival at London Nelson Community Center: sistersresounding@googlegroups.com You can also visit us inside our Sisters Resounding Community Matrix on Hylo, become a member for free, create interest groups, post events, and share your thoughts with Santa Cruz Sisters. Click the link below to join for free:
Deep Resilience and Racial Healing with Ami Chen Mills-Naim (11am Classroom)
Deep Resilience is our capacity to identify with our core peace and "being-ness." When we can ground ourselves in our resilience, we are better able to listen to and reflect on the stories, pain and concerns of others--even if we might feel defensive at first. This workshop is open to everyone, but is primarily geared to white and white presenting women and femme persons. Ami Chen MIlls will lead this workshop, including reflective and listening exercises. Together, we will seek to answer the question: How will we ever heal from racism and othering? How can white allies help more effectively without abandoning their own integrity and wisdom? Ami will share stories of her journey learning about Chinese history in the Monterey Bay region and the state, and how she sees white people seeking to care and often falling short in anti-racism efforts. Is disarming ourselves a path toward greater understanding, right action and even self-healing? Learn more about Ami Chen Mills-Naim in About Us
Aiki-Presence in Action: Embodied Leadership for Resilience and Presence with Silvia Austerlic
Join us for an experiential workshop designed to strengthen your leadership presence and community resilience. Through three foundational Aikido principles—also known as the Art of Peace—you will learn practical ways to cultivate self-awareness, groundedness, and choice in the face of life’s challenges. These simple yet powerful body–mind practices will help you stay centered under pressure. transform stress into resilience, and respond with conscious choice instead of reacting on autopilot. Together, we will explore how the aiki-way can strengthen our leadership, deepen our resilience, and inspire us to co-create a more connected and flourishing community. Learn more about Silvia Austerlic in About Us.
Leading with Care and Courage in Uncertain Times with Yvette Brooks, Sonja Brunner (11am Classroom)
Leadership requires courage, especially in times of uncertainty. This interactive 90-minute session will explore the real challenges women face when stepping into leadership roles, the costs and lessons learned along the way, and the power of intentional action. Yvette Lopez Brooks – CEO of United Way of Santa Cruz County and former Mayor of Capitola, a current Santa Cruz County Councilmember – bringing perspective from today’s political and civic leadership landscape, and a student leader from Jóvenes Sanos (JS) – offering a rising generation’s voice on courage and community leadership. Moderated by Julia Greenspan. Learn more about these presenters on About Us.
Regenerative Reciprocity with AnnieMa
Anniema has been dedicated to regenerative land-base practices for nearly 2 decades centering her work on watershed restoration and whole system design. Her personal focus is rooted in seed and food sovereignty and spiritual ecology. She understands her purpose is to give back to land through reciprocity and respect.. For Anniema, Land is sacred and seeds are honored as carriers of ancestral knowledge and legacy. These are our Living bridges to our ancestors that are guiding us to our future generations. She calls on us to remember our role as stewards of this sacred land. How can we strenthen our practices rooted in accountability, honor and reverence? How do we restore our relationship to Mother Earth? How do we protect the seeds, water and earth that sustains life? Together we will explore these questions as we re-member, re-claim our re-lationship to our HomePlace. Learn more about Anniema in About Us
Listening and Dialogue across Polarization w Sarah Young, Batya Kagan, Dana G. Peleg, and Mia Collins (11am Classroom)
Are there topics you simply cannot discuss with family, friends, co-workers, and people in religious or political organizations? Would you like to increase capacity and acquire skills for building alliances? Our group, Shama'ati has been holding listening circles and workshops for the Jewish community and others on issues that brought together widely diverse views, such as Israel and Palestine, or antisemitism. Join us to practice bridge building skills in the multitude of polarized situations we find ourselves in, in our country and the world today. Learn more about Sarah, Dana, Batya, and Mia in About Us
Decolonizing Beauty Standards: Poetry as Liberation with Victoria Bañales (2:30 Co-Creative Cafe)
This poetry workshop explores the intersections of body, beauty, and liberation. Together, we will challenge colonial and oppressive beauty standards and make space for radical self-love, healing, and reclamation. Through reading and discussing poems by writers who resist and redefine dominant narratives of beauty, participants will reflect on their own relationships with their bodies and create their own poems. More about Victoria @ vickybanales.com
Turning Towards Death Together with Love w Ore Ganin-Pinto (2:30pm)
We live in a death phobic culture and do everything we can to turn away from the ultimate reality that every life that exists on earth will exit this earth. (at least in the bodily form that they are in!) Join me in a courageous circle to explore together what it means to turn towards our inevitable death so that we can feel prepared to face our mortality with love and dignity. Ore will support us to drop into our bodies, hearts and minds to create an embodied space for you to bring your curiosities, fears, stories and longings. From the practical to the existential/spiritual and from the individual to the collective experience of this moment, we will explore this taboo topic and form the foundation of community support. Ore hopes that this space might catalyze a growing network of community interest that can continue beyond this space to engage further in conversation and practice to transform our relationship to and experience of all things end-of-life. In doing so, we may even become even more fully alive! Read More about Ore in About Us
Clarify Your Life Purpose, Amplify Your Impact + Income w Sage Lavine and Debra Artura (11am Co-Creative Cafe))
Sisters, the world is calling for your voice, your vision, and your leadership. In this powerful talk, you’ll be guided to uncover the deeper purpose that’s been quietly shaping your path all along—and learn how to align it with the impact and income you were born to create. The feminine is on the rise, and now is the moment to claim your purpose and power. Through experiential exercises and grounded insights, you’ll discover how to rise above the challenges that have kept you playing small, so you can step into your most authentic, magnetic self. Together, we’ll explore how your life—every twist, turn, and triumph—has been a PhD program preparing you for your next great chapter of contribution. This is more than a talk; it’s a call to action. You’ll walk away with clarity, confidence, and practical tools to amplify your impact in the world while creating abundance that reflects your worth. Read more about Sage and Debra in About Us.
Sisters in Harmony Song Circle with Heather Houston
Join Heather Houston for an uplifting women’s song circle where our voices become instruments of empowerment, healing, and joy. Imagine the strength of a room full of women lifting their voices together, rising in harmony, claiming space, and affirming the beauty and resilience within us all. Through easy to learn, heart-opening songs, Heather will guide us into a shared experience of unity, courage, and belonging. No prior singing experience is needed - just your willingness to show up and let your voice be heard. Together, we will weave a tapestry of sound that reminds us of our collective power and the timeless truth that when women sing, the soul of the world heals. Read more about Heather in About Us
Care Lounge with Dallas MacKenzie
The Care Lounge is a cozy sanctuary within the gathering a space designed for rest, reflection, and renewal. Between workshops, classes, and talks, participants are invited to step into this nurturing environment to pause, integrate, and connect. Throughout the day, the Care Lounge will host acoustic and singer-songwriter performances, sound healing sessions, and opportunities for mini massages, including vibration frequency massage. Whether you need a quiet moment to yourself, soothing live music, or gentle bodywork, the Care Lounge offers comfort and care so you can return to the larger event replenished and ready to receive. Read more about Dallas in About Us
Dance in Community with Heather Christie and Special Guest Emily Ra
An alchemical fusion of global rhythms, electronic production, and live vocal artistry creates transcendent experiences that invite audiences into a communal celebration of sound and movement. As a masterful DJ, Christie crafts immersive journeys through deep, afro, and latin house, but it's her dynamic integration of live vocals that truly distinguishes her performances. Where most DJs rely solely on curated tracks, Christie's mesmerizing voice becomes a powerful instrument in her sonic arsenal, transforming ordinary dance floors into sacred ceremonial spaces. Read more about Heather Christie and Emily Ra in About Us
Radical Self Care as an Act of Rebellion with Bernadine Rosso
Implement and retrain yourself to lean into the things that refuel you instead of tending to push harder when things get challenging. Loving all parts of ourselves, we begin to feel worthy of this beautiful magnificent planet and the love available to us through healthy relationships. We can then embrace the behaviors and choices that go with the newfound changes in our patterns and beliefs and amplify them the more time we take to fill our cups. We serve the foundations that encourage us to speak our truth from a place of authenticity rather than fear and defense. The clarity we hold when we are grounded and centered allows us to stand firm in the face of the bullies and abusers and to continually bring love and compassion to the table. We find solutions in obvious broader context places instead of searching in the dark of confusion. Read more about Bernadine in About Us
Soulful Serenade with Sarah Songbird (Lunchtime)
I am a singer-songwriter living in Santa Cruz, California. I write songs that speak from my experiences as a deep feeler, a spiritual seeker and a wisdom carrier. My music honors the beautiful multidimensionality of the human experience and invites my listeners to feel right along with me. I draw inspiration from both my inner and outer landscapes - spinning lyrical metaphors that point to the parallels between the cycles of nature and life. It is my deepest intent to be of service with my music. May it be a blessing to you and those you share it with.
Visualizing the Precious Miracle: A dyadic Inquiry with Jessica Britt
An emodied journey inward to explore the felt sense and grounded aliveness of the more beautiful and just world we know is possible. Allow your animal-body awareness to discover your authentic yes, your personal next steps, and aligned action. Allow your unique vision and purpose to be illuminated and infused with your passion and commitment. Be witnessed and supported by your partner. Write an encouraging love note to your future self and allow us to join you in your vision for a miraculous future. Read more about Jessica Britt in About Us
For KIDS: “Wind at Work” STEAM Project- 10am-2:30pm Cafeteria and 2:30-5 Lawn
Led by Sini Bava, this project, participants will use an enhanced pinwheel to explore how moving air can be converted into mechanical energy. Through guided investigations, you’ll experiment with wind power, understand energy conversion, and design variations to test efficiency. The kit comes with project guide sheets in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese, making it accessible and engaging for diverse learners. It’s not only a fun activity you can do together, but an educational experience that promotes curiosity, environmental awareness, and engineering thinking. Suggested Age Range for Attendees According to the product listing, Wind at Work is designed for grades 3–12 (roughly ages 8 to 18) Resource Area For Teaching . For your women’s event, I’d suggest inviting daughters/children ages 8 through 14 (or up to middle school) as an ideal fit. At that age, they’ll be old enough to grasp the scientific principles and also enjoy the hands-on design and experimenting aspects. Younger children might find parts of it challenging without a lot of adult steering, and older teens may prefer more open-ended or advanced engineering challenges.