December 6th-10th
in Revere, MA
In the face of relentless pressures to conform, abandon meaningful work, prioritize social status, and appease loved ones who perhaps misunderstand or reject the nature of the work, social leaders fight and wage a daily battle against the injustices that plague our world. They wholeheartedly invest their time and energy into forging a new society, robust and resilient, capable of offering people a life of true fulfillment.
They work tirelessly, sacrificing precious moments with their loved ones, grappling at times to make ends meet, and confronting the myriad of challenges inherent in constructing organizations, projects, campaigns, and solutions to address the crises they confront. Yet, in this arduous journey, they often find themselves plagued by a profound sense of aimlessness, questioning whether their efforts can truly bring forth the transformative change they so ardently yearn for. They grapple with the doubts that their leadership, capabilities, qualities, skills, and perspectives may prove inadequate in meeting the formidable leadership challenges of our times.
Their longing to achieve more weighs heavily upon them. They confront an astute web of political and economic institutions that relentlessly suppress genuine efforts of change. Despite their unshakeable commitment and intentions, they confront the internal questions of: “Is our leadership enough? Can we truly embody the leaders we need to be? Is such a profound transformation even possible?”
For over a decade, the Ayni Institute has confronted these questions and problems. We know and empathize with the profound disorientation experienced by social change leaders in this journey. From the pain and wisdom of doing this work, we have learned that the key for growth amidst these moments of doubt and challenge lies in reconnecting with the tradition of community work, shining a light on the blind spots of our leadership qualities, and fostering a communal space where we can reimagine our calling, transforming ourselves into the leaders our world so urgently requires.
As an institute, we see our roles as guides for these warriors of social change, empowering them to embark upon the next stage of their leadership journey. Such is the essence of the Rooted Leadership Training – an immersive, five-day experience designed to:
- Awaken and crystallize your vocation, aligning it with your deepest purpose.
- Conduct an honest assessment of your leadership qualities and skills, paving a plan for intentional growth.
- Discern the genuine systemic obstacles that impede social change organizations and projects from remaining firmly grounded in the interests of the people they serve (instead of coopted) and fostering unity.
For leaders who possess an unwavering commitment to effecting social change and who yearn to refine their craft over the long haul, this training is for you. We offer this opportunity because we honestly want our work, dreams, and efforts to leave a lasting impact upon society, avoiding the feeling that our lives have been wasted by doing something irrelevant.
The Rooted Leadership Training is a live training taking place in Boston, spanning from Wednesday, December 6th to Sunday, December 10th. Applications are currently open, and we will be admitting participants on a rolling basis until the deadline of October 19th.
Further Details
- Have been engaged in social change work for at least 5 years.
- Have an honest desire to grow as a person, leader, and be open to being coached.
- Recognize the limits and pain of the non-profit industrial complex as the dominant way to organize our organizational structures and vocations and the limits of cancel culture as an approach for social change.
- Committed to being a respectful and productive participant in the training space – this means respecting the different journeys of peers and the training container established by the trainers.
The Training will start at 5pm EST on Wednesday Dec 6th and end at 4pm on Sunday Dec 10th. Please plan to arrive with enough time to be on time. Once your application is approved we will ask for your travel schedule to make sure we can coordinate rides to the airport or local transportation
The agenda is subject to changes based on the needs of the approved participants and the evolution of the content as we prepare.
This program operates by the Gift Economy, which means the Ayni Institute will subsidize the cost of of trainers, preparation, coordination, logistics, training location and food for all 5 days of the training. We are seeking to make this experience as financially accessible as possible. Due to this, there will be no entry cost or charge for any accepted applicants. At the end of training, if you feel you have benefited from the experience, you are welcome to donate and gift the experience to the next Rooted Leadership Class, according to your volition and your means.
- Social change leaders that are interested in an honest reevaluation of their leadership.
- Leaders that have worked hard in social change for at least 5 years and feel like they need a new vision to move forward.
- Leaders that feel called to do this work as a lifetime vocation and are looking for a supportive community that gives them perspective, hope, camaraderie, and leadership tools that can be there regardless of the role or occupation they hold.
- Leaders that have experienced the pain and limits of structuring our organizations/work using the mainstream tools of corporate nonprofits and the approach of cancel culture.
- Leaders who want to contribute to community work that is rooted in benefitting Mother Earth and is sustainable.
We hope this program can benefit the larger social justice ecosystem by:
- Seeding a new radical model of leadership to confront our most pressing challenges.
- Holding a new standard for the leadership we need in our social movements.
- Having accessible tools to reevaluate our leadership.
- Providing clear social analysis to understand the structural and systemic constrains and limitations that are placed on our community and social change.
The application deadline is on October 19th, 2023. Approvals will happen on a rolling basis prior to this date but no later than October 31st. We will also be conducting 30min interviews with some of the applicants to get to know you better.
Number of participants: We’re going to have a maximum of 30 participants. We encourage you to apply early.
Location: In-person in Revere, MA. Our Ayni School is located just 10min away from Boston’s Logan Airport.
Travel and Lodging:
We ask participants to arrange and cover their own lodging and travel cost. For lodging, there are a few options:
There is a hotel located just a few minutes away from the training school, The Confort Inn, which you can book if you want to be as close to the training site as possible.
Arrange shared accommodations (Airbnb, etc.) with other participants. Please let us know if you are interested on this option in your application.
We can arrange humble accommodations with local supporters of Ayni.
COVID Precaution (In person participants):
For our in person training, our Ayni Team will be testing consistently. We ask that before attending the first session you test negative, this ensures we don’t accidentally put others at risk of COVID-19 (especially those that are immunocompromised in our training team and within our participant cohort).
We encourage you to wear a mask, especially if we are indoors, but they are not required in order to participate. Please do what you feel most comfortable doing.
If COVID symptoms arise, please contact us immediately and refrain from coming in person. Even if symptoms do not arise and you feel you have been exposed, please get a PCR test (it can be done at your local CVS) to ensure you are negative before coming back to being in-person.
If you have any questions that will be helpful in clarifying whether this training is right for you, please email both Carlos Saavedra and Sergio Hurtado at carlos@ayni.institute and sergio@ayni.institute.