Hi friend,
I’m going to do something I don’t often do in this newsletter and just say it plainly:
If you’ve been considering bringing me in to work with your team next year, this is your invitation to do it now.
Who this is for
Leaders who sit at the intersection of strategy, culture, and systems change — nonprofit EDs, philanthropy directors, and senior government leaders who:
- Are navigating complex internal dynamics while still needing to move meaningful work forward
- Are trying to institutionalize values-aligned leadership inside structures shaped by hierarchy, urgency, and political pressure
- Know that strategy collapses when the relational foundation is unstable
- Want a team that can think critically, disagree honestly, and stay aligned without burning each other out
In a time of polycrisis, we don’t do our work — the work of big, complex, dreaming change — alone. And we need the structural and relational conditions that make organizational integrity possible.
The December inflection point
Here’s what I’m hearing from leaders like you right now:
- “We’ve had a brutal year of financial and political instability. Everyone’s exhausted, but strategy season is coming whether we’re ready or not.”
- “There’s nothing specific we’re trying to resolve right now, but I’m struggling with all the unsaid tensions. It’s painful to feel the culture of mistrust — even though I think everyone is trying to do their best.”
Even if your team isn’t in active conflict, this work prepares the ground for what’s coming — because pressure always finds the cracks.
- “We need shared language and protocols for conflict. I want discernment to be a skill we build, not a judgment we fling at each other.”
- “How do I know when to keep going — and when to let go and walk away?”
On paper, everyone’s gearing up for “fresh start” energy — strategy retreats, planning cycles, leadership transitions coming in Q1.
But you and I both know: we’re not actually starting fresh.
There are side chats you’re still worried about, a board member you’re low-key avoiding, staff who are tired of “naming harm” without any clear plan for repair. You’re fielding 11pm texts from senior leaders who are wondering if they can keep doing this for another year.
This is the moment where organizations typically choose one of two paths:
- Push through, hope everyone shows up in January magically aligned, better regulated, and less depleted, or
- Pause long enough to tend to the relational architecture that will make next year’s work possible.
Most leaders kick the decision down the road, avoid it for now, and hope that option one somehow comes true.
The wise ones invest in option two.
What I’m offering before the end of the year
Between now and December 31, I’m opening five spots for my 90-minute Relational Skills for Systems Change workshops for leadership teams at my current rates.
You can schedule the workshop anytime in 2026.
To lock in 2025 pricing, all we need is a deposit by Dec 31:
90-minute Relational Skills Workshop: $5,000
(includes pre-workshop consultation, custom design, facilitation, and recording.)
If, during our initial call, we find a half-day or series would better serve your team, you’ll still receive 2025 pricing if reserved by the 31st.
Why this matters (and why now)
Over the last month here in the Intimate Practice newsletter, we’ve been talking about:
- How our brains and bodies respond to conflict
- Why “regulated” does not mean calm and polite (white supremacy culture in action!)
- How power, privilege, and oppression shape what conflict even feels like
- How to discern among conflict, harm, and abuse
- How to practice relational architecture — designing new worlds across very old tables
These workshops are where we put all of that into practice, out loud and together.
We work with what’s real and alive in your organization, and weave in frameworks like:
By the end of the workshop, your team will have:
- Shared language for conflict, harm, and abuse
- A way to distinguish between what needs conversation, what needs healing, and what needs real intervention
- Simple practices for slowing down, naming the tension, and choosing generative conflict instead of avoidance or escalation
We build simple, durable practices your people can use long after I’m gone.
I don’t do one-off trainings — the unfortunate version of so many DEI talks that might have felt cathartic in the moment but now live on a shelf, gathering dust.
The goal is that six months from now, your team is arguing better — with more clarity, less panic, and much more capacity to stay in principled disagreement without burning each other out.
What participants say
Here’s what participants from a recent workshop series said they were taking with them:
“I’ll be thinking more about how power intersects with our work, and how to slow down when conflict could actually be generative.” “I’m going to lean way more into principled disagreements. It’s good for the work, and good practice for me to lean out of being conflict avoidant.” “Learning about principled disagreement was huge. ‘Position of mutual curiosity’ really stuck with me — I don’t have to necessarily trust you, but I can be curious.”
And from the learning & development lead:
“You were SENSATIONAL, Shivani! It’s engaging and theoretical and personal all at once. Folks are buzzing with momentum on what to do with it.”
This is what I want for your team: not perfection, not fake harmony — but more precision, more courage, more capacity.
How to raise your hand
If you’re reading this thinking of a specific team, coalition, or Board:
- Hit reply with a short note:
“We’re considering a workshop in [month]. Can we discuss fit?”
or
On the call, we’ll map what’s happening, assess whether a 90-minute workshop is the right container, and outline the steps to secure 2025 rates.
No pressure, no hard sell. If I’m not the right fit, I’ll tell you — and, if I can, direct you toward what I think you do need.
If I think you need deeper conflict midwifing, not a workshop, I’ll say that too — and we’ll decide together what makes sense.
