Facilitating Conversations on Race Book Launch Our second edition book, Facilitating Conversations on Race: Strategies for Leading Group Discourse, is due to be released in just a few weeks on July 23rd! Used as a foundation for our Train the Trainer workshops, this book will equip facilitators and organizational leaders with the necessary tools and strategies for dealing with stumbling blocks that often arise when people are brought together to talk about some of the most di

Train the Trainer in Three Ways + Book Pre-sale! We have so much exciting news to share! First, the 2nd edition of our Train the Trainer book, Facilitating Conversations on Race, is now available for pre-order! It's been 11 years since our first edition came out in 2015 and we've added lots of new and updated content on topics such as virtual facilitation, accessibility, and using anchors. You can pre-order your copy today at Bookshop to support indie booksellers, as well as

June is LGBTQ+ Pride, National Immigrant Heritage, and Caribbean American Heritage Month LGBTQ+ Pride Month is celebrated in honor of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of protests that erupted in late June 1969 after police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village. The patrons, many of whom were transgender women of color, drag queens, and homeless queer youth, fought back against years of harassment, sparking a movement that led to the first Pr

There's a moment Willie Seals III describes that cuts right to the core of what The Academy for Creating Excellence (ACE) is about. A young man walks in late, maybe 9:30 or 10:00, when the program started at 9:00. Instead of a reprimand, he's greeted with warmth, “We're glad you're here. Make sure to shake everybody's hand.” That small act, the welcome before the question, is not accidental. It is the entire philosophy of the ACE Academy lived out in a single moment. Seals kn

We've had the great privilege of interviewing several people from the greater Seattle area doing important and interesting social justice work for our newsletter this year. If you've missed any of them, we encourage you to read the interviews on our blog to learn more about their work and how to support them. Dr. Tanmeet Sethi Tanmeet is an integrative medicine doctor and author of the book, Joy is My Justice. She spoke with us about how her son's fatal medical diagnosis led

Ilsa Govan at the White Privilege Conference 2026 Our co-Founder, Ilsa Govan, recently attended the White Privilege Conference (WPC) in April. She, along with colleague Johanna Eager (pictured center top), facilitated their workshop "Beyond the Book Group." Ilsa and Johanna shared a model people can use to form and facilitate a group that goes beyond a traditional book group. Originally designed to challenge White cultural norms in the way groups meet to discuss What's Up wit

Transforming White Women's Leadership Lunch & Learn Series Starts this Month! Our three-part Lunch and Learn series, Transforming White Women's Leadership: Reflection and Inspiration to Strengthen Racial Justice Practices, is coming up in a couple weeks with the first of series, "A Power Analysis." This workshop will support white women in leadership roles to deepen awareness of the presence and impact of institutional power, privilege, and stereotypes that white women leader

Rallying Resistance through Song Concert The Seattle Labor Chorus is be holding a concert to celebrate and fundraise. Inspired by the Minneapolis singing resistance groups, this event aims to "celebrate the power of collective resistance and support their mission in giving voice to song to the cause of economic, social, and racial justice." Starbucks Workers United, TRACTION, and Seattle Gaza Mutual Aid will all be tabling at the event. Rallying Resistance will be held on May

Make Us Visible (MUV) is a national nonprofit working to get bills passed throughout the country to make AANHPI history part of school curricula. In Washington state, MUV-WA has been advocating to pass SB 5574 for the past few years. Last year, MUV-WA expanded its efforts to include Latine and Black American history in the bill. Cultures Connecting is a proud supporter of MUV and has been sharing updates and calls to action with all of you to help get this bill passed. We are