November is Native American and Indigenous Heritage Month Native American and Indigenous Heritage Month, observed each November, honors the histories, cultures, and contributions of Native American and Alaska Native peoples. Its origins trace back to the early 1900s, when Native leaders such as Dr. Arthur C. Parker, a Seneca educator, and Rev. Sherman Coolidge, an Arapaho priest, advocated for national recognition through the Society of American Indians. After decades of advo

Dr. Caprice Hollins and Ilsa Govan at Town Hall Seattle Join co-authors Dr. Caprice D. Hollins and Ilsa Govan of Faciltating Conversations on Race: Strategies for Leading Group Discourse for an evening of conversation at Town Hall Seattle. At a time when conversations about race and racial justice are increasingly difficult to navigate, knowing how to stay engaged matters. Click Me Drawing from the latest edition of their book, Caprice and Ilsa will share stories from their e

Train the Trainer Lunch & Learns in November With the launch of our book Facilitating Conversations on Race: Strategies for Group Discourse, we're excited to offer these Train the Trainer Lunch and Learn series. Participants will learn skills for navigating tense conversations during this time when multiple tools are most needed. Content of these sessions will include new strategies we've learned in the ten years since the book was first published, along with deeper explorati

Train the Trainer Virtual Workshop in Three Weeks! Our Train the Trainer virtual workshop is coming up in less than a month on October 7-9th at 9:00-12:30pm PT / 12:00-3:30pm ET on Zoom. This 3-day intensive will provide practical strategies outlined in our newly release book, Facilitating Conversations on Race, participants will learn approaches for creating learning environments where people can engage across differences, wrestle with challenging ideas, deepen their underst

Join Us at our Author Event at Third Place Books We are thrilled to share that our first in-person author event for our latest book, Facilitating Conversations on Race: Strategies for Leading Group Discourse, will be on September 14th and Third Place Books at Seward Park. During this immersive discussion, Dr. Caprice Hollins and Ilsa Govan will share stories and strategies they have practiced in their more than forty years of combined experience facilitating, while reminding

Our Latest E-Course on Stereotypes and Bias is Here! Over the past couple of years, we've been working on getting all six of our foundational workshops into online course format and we're excited to share that the final one, How Stereotypes Become Bias and Ways to Interrupt Them is complete! Below is a brief introduction to the course taught by Dr. Caprice Hollins. In addition to this course on stereotypes and bias, we offer five other foundational courses: Foundations for So

Our printable Diversity Calendar for 2026-2027 is here! Covering August 2026 to July 2027, this calendar features culturally significant dates to support the diversity of staff and families. By increasing our understanding of diverse cultures, group experiences, traditions, values and beliefs, we can enhance our relationships and create culturally responsive environments where everyone feels valued and respected. The best way to use this calendar is to consult it before sched

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

Diversity Calendar 2026-2027 is Here! Our printable Diversity Calendar for 2026-2027 is here! Covering August 2026 to July 2027, this calendar features culturally significant dates to support the diversity of staff and families. By increasing our understanding of diverse cultures, group experiences, traditions, values and beliefs, we can enhance our relationships and create culturally responsive environments where everyone feels valued and respected. The best way to use this

Support Community and Volunteer for Black Farmers Collective One of the ways we can promote social justice is to volunteer with nonprofit organizations doing important work in our community. The Black Farmers Collective (BFC), whose mission is build a Black-led food system for liberation through food sovereignty, is holding volunteer days this summer on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays from now until October 24th at YES FARM located on 721 Yesler Way. You can learn more by visiting

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

Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19th, marks the day in 1865 when Union General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced to enslaved people that they were free more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had legally abolished slavery on January 1, 1863. The news of freedom reached different communities at different times, and some enslavers deliberately withheld the announcement even after that date. June 19th has become the widely accepted symbol of

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

Join SURJ to Launch Block by Block in Your Community Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) is hosting a virtual Block by Block Summer Kickoff Call on June 3rd, at 5-6pm PT / 8-9pm ET. Their goal is to reach one million White voters in key swing states by talking to neighbors and move people into action. This training call will teach you about the Block by Block strategy, hear stories from organizers, and next steps for launching your own circle or chapter team. Register for th

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

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 Pride marches in 1970. Today, we can honor Pride Month by attending local parades, supporti

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