How We Work
We guide individuals, groups and organization to nurture and draw upon the roots that provide our lives and work with meaning and purpose, resulting in deepened awareness and grounded action.
Just as a tree's complex root system provides stability and carries nutrients from the soil to the limbs, leaves, flowers and fruit -- allowing the tree to grow, thrive and sustain -- so, too, do our roots as humans. Our roots nourish our own lives, but they also nurture other life nearby.
We Believe in the Goodness of Humans
We root our work in the belief and experience that all of us, at our core, are good, that we are whole, that there is actually nothing wrong with us and that we don't need fixing. At the same time, we also recognize that there are larger systemic forces that get in the way of us being the powerful, courageous, brilliant, kind, just, loving, proud and present beings we were born to be. Some of these forces might be called systemic oppression, the isms, systemic domination or injustice, institutional power, structural abuse, or a lot of other words that many of us find difficult to face, regardless of our group memberships where we find ourselves as the systemic target or non-target of oppression. This dynamic can be especially hard to face when we find ourselves in the groups that have been ascribed dominance. We didn't ask for this system. We didn't ask to be indoctrinated with superiority and inferiority patterns. And yet we were. It is this core belief in our goodness, and the support of community, that we believe give us the foundation we need to face hard truths and create meaningful, sustainable change. It is from this foundation of goodness that we can experience and build somatic awareness, authentic connection, equity, justice, love, compassion, courage, healing, vulnerability, collaboration, and liberation of all, into the world.
We Incorporate Embodied Practices and Joyful Engagement
We design activities to appeal to multiple senses, as well as to various learning styles and approaches. Activities are hands-on, experiential and somatic in nature. In our experience, all initiatives toward justice matter, whether they are the most minute individual practices, the largest systemic initiatives, or something in between. We offer small, everyday actions and practices to deepen and support your change-making work, as well as larger, ongoing systemic approaches and projects to move you closer to your goals. We recognize our bodies are rich sources of information and inspiration. We pause to listen and notice what they are teaching us. We design our sessions to include reflection, rest, and fun. We invite groups to find joy in doing meaningful, and often serious and life changing work together. We provide opportunities for individuals and groups to practice deep listening and experience the power of being deeply listened to. We use an assets-based approach, recognizing that building on what is strong and working is as important as facing the gaps. We share our own stories of struggle and learning to illustrate concepts we are exploring and demonstrate we are on this journey with you.
We Make Space for Feelings
We intentionally  build space for feelings into our designs. We provide support for staying present with the vulnerability, discomfort and intense emotions that can accompany change making work.  We model and work with mistake making, strive to hold ourselves accountable with grace and conviction and extend this to others. We support individuals and groups to work with, and move through, feelings. This enables us to better access our brilliant minds, and allows clear thinking to be our guide for action.
We Ask Thought-Provoking Questions that Unearth Your Inner Wisdom
We ask thoughtful questions that guide you to uncover your own wisdom. Our questions support you to pause, unpack what is happening currently, and feel and understand it in a larger context that can bring expanded perspectives and deeper compassion. These questions help you explore how your own roots, values, purpose, vision, and what you care about most as powerful guide posts for navigating the challenges. With these questions come choice-points where you determine your own path for exploration, learning and growth.
We Honor and Build on Legacies
We believe this work is legacy work. We have been impacted by many, many people who have committed their lives to social justice, many we never had the chance to meet but whose contributions to the world, shaped how we come to this ourselves, each other and this work. We are also are deeply grateful for those who have personally mentored and taught us along the way, with all their humanness, what being rooted in this work, and laboring to make it more loving, just, inclusive and whole, could look like. Many of them are listed on our Who We Are page. We call in the legacies of all our ancestors, and the complex lives they lead. We hold the belief they did the best they could as they faced systemic oppression both as targets of the oppression and as non-targets or agents, just like all of us at Rooted Change Consulting. We honor the original people of the land where Rooted Change Consulting is based, the Lisjan Ohlone people. They continue to live, lead and thrive here as well as face the effects of current and historic systemic injustice. We support the Sogorea Te' Land Trust and the mak-'amham Ohlone Cafe, We wrestle with how to put our values into consistent action while living on stolen land in a nation built, in large part, by enslaved people and their unpaid labor, as well as by immigrant, low wage labor.