Power and Equity Challenge

Power & Equity Challenge
Retreat

June 21-28, 2024

Registration is open! Sign up below.

Please note that this is a small retreat and limited seats are available.

Registration is now OPEN! Scroll down to find the cost that is right for you.

Pre-requisite Course: RUP Core Training

The Power and Equity Challenge Retreat is a 7-day, in-person retreat located at the beautiful Charis Mandala Retreat Center near Des Moines, New Mexico (USA). 

This retreat is for those who have attended the Right Use of Power™ Core Training and want to develop their power-and-equity consciousness with a deep dive into status, collective, and systemic power. 

There will be space and intentional opportunities for both self-care and collective-care. You will have the opportunity to develop deep connections with other participants as well as have a renewed sense of your own power. 

This is a retreat for the people who do the work of liberation and need rest, the support of community, time to reflect, and space to be in right relationship with self, others and the land.

Join us for the retreat Info Session!

Thursday, April 4th, 5pm - 6pm MST

If you can’t make it that date and time, sign up anyway and we’ll send you the recording!

What is Power-and-Equity Consciousness?

Power-and-Equity Consciousness (PEC) is a term that was developed by Dr. Amanda Aguilera to refer to the state of awareness of social power dynamics, like those in interpersonal power differentials as well as collective and systemic power, that influence equity in relationship.

Why do we need to develop our PEC?

Power is present in every relationship. As your PEC develops, you are more capable of seeing power dynamics as they occur, inequities that show up in those power dynamics, and deciphering your responsibilities and vulnerabilities within your relationships.

When you have a framework for understanding power dynamics, the language to talk about it, and the skills to navigate it, you are better resourced for creating and maintaining relationships across difference.

Day 1

Friday, June 21st

Arrive & Settle

You will arrive between 1pm – 5pm to get checked in and settled into your room. We will have dinner together at 5:30pm and you will get an overview of our time together.

Day 2

Saturday, June 22nd

Building Connection

This day will be dedicated to  connection: to ourselves, one another and to the retreat space. We will share story, build our collective narrative and honor the land that holds us. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Our goal is to create a beloved community and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” This challenge is designed to help build Beloved Community where there is mutual belonging, collective care and active responsibility.

Day 3

Sunday, June 23rd

Cultivating Personal Power

Often we can feel powerless when it comes to navigating relationships with difference. After this training, you will not only know what power you do have, but also how to use that power in ways that can empower others. Knowing your power and the accompanying responsibilities and vulnerabilities that come with it is empowering for you, can minimize harm (misuses/abuses of power), and empowers others.

Day 4

Monday, June 24th

Self-Care & Collective Care

We know from our Right Use of Power training that self-care is an ethical imperative. This retreat will create space not only for us to care for ourselves but also the space and support for caring for each other. We will learn what it means to cultivate a practice of collective care and we will take a deeper look at how we care for ourselves. You will leave with a self-care and collective care plan that you can take back to your life and communities.

Day 5

Tuesday, June 25th

Navigating Power Differentials

With the understanding of systemic power, we able to better understand and prepare for the complex power dynamics present in every interpersonal relationship. We’ll look at the responsibilities and vulnerabilities in each part of the power differential and address the particular challenges in relationships across differences in power.

Day 6

Wednesday, June 26th

Accountability in Relationship

As we get into the nuance and complexities of power differential relationships, we’ll notice that responsibility – and the lack thereof – is a central determinant for how power gets used. We will look at the myths and norms of responsibility present in dominant culture and then start to learn a “power with” approach to accountability.

Day 7

Thursday, June 27th

Collective Power

Collective Power is the only type of power that can shift systemic power. This session explores the different types of collective power, how collective power forms, can be sustainable and ultimately shift systems. 

Day 8

Friday, June 28th

Closing & Depart

We will end our time together with intentional connection and commitments for going forward. Packing and Departure will happen between 11am – 1pm MST.

The Facilitators

We are excited to introduce our team of facilitators who are rooted in a Right Use of Power lens and have a great deal of wisdom, experience, skill and passion in the learning session topics.

Dra. Amanda Aguilera

Wheat Ridge, CO, USA

Amanda (she/her/ella) is the Co-Exectuive Director of the Right Use of Power Institute and a consultant, teacher and strategist in the area of power-and-equity consciousness and conflict resolution. Driven by her core values of curiosity, courage, and connection, Amanda is adept at creating visuals that help make learning more accessible and communicating complex ideas in simple ways.

No centro de sua paixão acadêmica e pessoal está o avanço na compreensão da dinâmica do poder social e o aprofundamento dos usos pessoais e coletivos do poder no mundo com sabedoria e compaixão. Sua tese de doutorado se concentrou na dinâmica da vergonha e do poder no sistema de justiça e continua a desenvolver modelos teóricos nas experiências intrapessoais e interpessoais da dinâmica do poder, incluindo a integração da neurobiologia, práticas contemplativas e práticas restaurativas no que se refere aos diferenciais de poder. 

Veronica Borgonovi

Seattle, WA, USA

Veronica (she/her) is a seasoned organizational and project leader, manager, mentor, and coach, with experience supporting over 40 client projects in management and social sector consulting across multiple countries. She continues to guide a multi-year effort to transform organizational culture around equity and inclusion across multiple geographies, and is experienced in strategy development, evaluation and learning, facilitation, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

She is a certified coach through Leadership That Works, a graduate of Right Use of Power Institute’s teacher training, and a Qualified Administrator for the Intercultural Development Inventory. She is also an experienced meditator and currently studying the application of Buddhist contemplative psychology toward psychosocial change efforts.

Michelle Cottingham

Boston, MA, USA

Michelle (she/her) is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, trained professional speaker, experienced teacher, presenter, and activist with an extensive professional background in the real estate industry.

Since 2015 she has created curricula and guided hundreds of professionals through coursework about personal identity, collective and community identity, intersectional feminism, and the complex topics of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, familial status, agency, systems of land ownership, and the history of the formation and current cultural state of the USA.

Farzin Farzad

Reston, VA, USA

Farzin (he/him) is an Organizational Justice practitioner with experience in higher education, local government, and the private sector. Holding two master’s degrees in international affairs and diplomacy as well as a certificate in conflict resolution skills, Farzin leverages his unique academic background, extensive travel experience, and experiential knowledge to provide comprehensive, thought-provoking local and global approaches to his work.

Farzin is the founder of Critical Equity Consulting, LLC, a boutique Organizational Justice consulting firm focused on helping organizations rebuild with a primary focus on creating equitable outcomes.

Dau Windwater

Morris, IL, USA

Dau (they/them) is a contemplative practitioner, systems thinker, and lover of the living world. They bring pragmatism from a past career in bookkeeping and a big heart from their deeper interest in community and belonging. Through Dau’s work, they foster the awareness and exploration of power and paradox in order to empower and encourage multicultural understanding. As a facilitator, their style is infused with ritual, reflection, and space to experience the relationship between our inner and outer landscapes.

Jamelah Zidan

Boulder, CO, USA

Jamelah (she/her) is the Restorative Community Coordinator at Naropa University. She was born in New York City to Palestinian parents. She earned her B.A. in Political Economics from Sarah Lawrence College, where she was the recipient of the Scholarship for the Environment. She then pursued her M.S. in Education from Sarah Lawrence, where she was the recipient of the Regina Arnold Memorial Scholarship.

For several years, Jamelah worked as a teacher in New York City. Desiring to work in a more spiritual atmosphere and impact the quality of people’s lives, she later changed careers, taking up a position as Assistant Director at the Abode, a Sufi and Interfaith retreat center in the Berkshires. She moved to Colorado in 2020 to be with her husband, Netanel Miles-Yepez, and is now happy to be working with the compassionate and skilled staff, students, and faculty of Naropa.

She’s currently a fellow in the Emerging Leaders Fellowship, and volunteering in the Restorative Justice program of the Boulder County DA’s office.

How much does it cost?

Reduced Rate

(Limited to 5 Seats)
$ 1500
  • This rate is for those who frequently struggle to meet basic needs or are facing temporary financial crisis.

Standard Rate

(This helps us to cover costs)
$ 2250
  • This rate is for those who are mostly able to meet basic needs and have some discretionary income.

Redistribution Rate

(This helps us to offer the reduced rate)
$ 3000
  • This rate is for those who comfortably meet their basic needs and have significant discretionary income.

Thursday, April 4th, 5pm – 6pm

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