I believe that the path to a more liberated and joyful society starts with the way we gather.

I create gatherings rooted in radical joy, abundance, and co-creation. I believe that the path to a more liberated and joyful society starts with the way we gather. I work at the intersections of arts, racial justice and collective decision making.

I love New Haven, CT, where I am rooted.

I was raised by big belly laughs, competitive word games, and adopted dogs. I grew up in black box theater, protesting for queer rights in D.C. and Virginia, organizing, and building with and in community. I live in New Haven with my adopted beagle, Reginald. I am most alive in my body while swimming, floating, or doing somersaults underwater. I’m most at home with people when we’re imagining just futures into being.

I come from a long line of settlers to this land, landowners, farmers, and WASPs, beneficiaries of state sanctioned violence and settler colonialism. I'm the daughter of orphans, raised with an understanding of the power of chosen family. I am a lifelong student of storytelling, theater, and building collective justice.

As a consultant and facilitator, I work with Co-Creating Effective and Inclusive Organizations as a Capacity Building and Training Partner and Civic Impact Lab as lead facilitator. I’ve worked with a number of local organizations including The City of New Haven, The New Haven Free Public Library, Collab New Haven, Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale, The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, and more.

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FACILITATION & CONSULTATIOn

I design and facilitate gatherings that bring people into their full humanity and creativity. Whether it’s an internal retreat or a community listening process for your organization, I specialize in anti-oppressive facilitation, with tools from Theatre of the Oppressed, Liberated Structures, and more.

FACILITATION OFFERINGS

Retreats for Boards and Staff
Community Meetings

WORKSHOPS/TRAININGS

Professional Development
Team Building
Fostering a sense of belonging
Developing shared language around systems of oppression

COMMUNITY FEEDBACK AND COLLABORATION PROCESSES

I specialize in the creation and implementation of community collaboration, centering the folks most impacted by policies. I’ve done this work for the city of New Haven, the 2019 Mayoral Transition.

COMMUNITY CENTERED CURATION

As an artist and curator I work to center community expertise, wisdom, and need. Examples of my work include: the 2021 Imagine Ideas and 2020 Democracy Ideas series at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, founding the New Haven Play Project at Long Wharf Theatre, and facilitating the opening of a free space for artists at the Arts Council of Greater New Haven.

Affiliations

CO-CREATING EFFECTIVE AND INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATIONS (CEIO)

I am a part of the CEIO Rising Leadership Team. CEIO’s intention is to support community-serving organizations and organizers to fully embody inclusivity, justice and conscious co-creation, thereby inspiring, encouraging and expanding the wider practice of these values within the communities they serve.

BLOODROOT

Born from a desire to remember the body as home, Bloodroot Retreats are a space for liberation in + through our bodies. Through an intentionally curated retreat space with generous permission, abundant community, space for rest + deep witnessing on an individual + collective level, our hope is that you leave freer than you came.

ERIC REY & ELIZABETH NEARING

Hire me with my collaborator and colleague, Eric Rey. Eric Rey is a coach, facilitator, healer, and musician. For most facilitation projects we prefer to work as a team. Find out more about Eric and his work at Black Obsidian Healing

SELECTED CLIENTS

City of New Haven - Arts Council of Greater New Haven - CT Next - Tsai CITY

Press Coverage