Peace Leadership Academy – ’23 – ’24
January 9, 2024 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Do you want to be an agent of healing and peace in your family, work, or community?
Do you want to grow in your capacity to lead and follow in, the ways of peace? Might you be empowered through co-creating an online learning community dedicated to supporting each other in growing our capacities to be present, listen, speak and act from our deepest truth?
This online journey is an opportunity for everyday peacemakers–those who wish to be a healing presence wherever they live, work, learn or play–to learn and grow while experiencing and co-creating a community of support.
The Peace Leadership Academy(PLA) is for those who desire to be agents of peace, healing, harmony and justice in their world. We offer learning and growth in four skills essential for peace leadership. These are the MEDC (pronounced medic) skills of Mindfulness, Empathy, Decision making and Conflict transformation. These skills are based on Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication and Robert Gonzales’ Living Compassion.
PLA 23-24 develops peace leadership skills, provides support, and offers ongoing opportunities to practice and grow.
Stand-alone Workshops
Each month we will offer one workshop that is free, accessible online and open to all. Donations are welcome.
Three-month Cohorts
Beginning in January, we will offer a journey together in community through forming a cohort for three or more months. Fill out the Expression of Interest form below if you’d like to learn more and apply for one of these peace leader cohorts.
Sessions
We will on Tuesdays at 7pm Eastern time, via Zoom. Each session focuses on a theme related to Life seeking fulfillment. Each session will include an invitation to stillness, input on the theme, exercises designed to cultivate skills related to the theme, and dialogue. Cohort members will meet at least monthly in practice groups and with an empathy partner. Practice groups cultivate the skills and capacities introduced in the main session. They are also a place to experience support, a growing sense of connection, and clarity.
“Needs are the doorway to spirit. Needs are the doorway to accessing spirituality in life and sharing our being in relationship. They are an aspect or an expression of the Divine Life in us. Needs arise from life, expressing the requisites of life necessary to fulfill and nurture itself. We experience the beauty of a need when we are in contact with the quality of its energy.” Robert Gonzales
Practicum
An important part of this program is creating your own Peace Leadership Practicum. This begins with your choice of a context in which you live, work, learn or otherwise relate. You then apply the skills and awareness developed in the program, choosing to either: A. Teach one or more skills that we are developing by sharing in the exercises that we draw on; OR, B. Practice the skills in “stealth” way – simply by being intentionally present, dealing with conflict, listening deeply, and more.
Each month’s theme builds on the previous month. Themes may include:
- Navigating Conflict
- Life Seeking Fulfillment
- Distinguishing What Is and Interpretations of What Is
- Trauma, Healing and Cultivating Needs Consciousness
- Two Ways of Living: Reactive or Connected
- Empathy and Not Empathy
- Reflecting and Responding
- The Power of Please and Thank You
- The Heart Dance and Inner Life Map: Tools for Discernment
- Celebration, Mourning and Sending
Peace Leadership Academy Application
Begin by expressing your interest through an Expression of Interest Form below. You will then receive an Application. Return the application and you will be notified of your acceptance. We are now accepting applications for the cohort that begins January 2024.
Learn More About the Peace Leadership Academy and Join Us for Free Workshops
Peace Leadership Academy Cost and Registration Information
The cost of the PLA is $237 $79/month for three months. If cost is an obstacle to participation, financial assistance is available. Please consider your own needs, the value of what the Peace Leadership Academy offers you, and the sustainability needs of Heart to Heart. Then, request a scholarship by emailing johnsweeney@heart2heartinc.org.
The Peace Academy is a joint project of Heart to Heart and the Center for Receptive Communication.
About the Principal Trainer
Steve Tumolo, MA, SEP is a certified trainer in Nonviolent Communication, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and Laudato Si’ Animator. He has led Heart to Heart education in jails and prisons for over twenty years. Steve’s experience includes leading educational, therapeutic groups for trauma survivors and teaching Leadership, Faith, and Sustainability at the graduate and undergraduate level.
Steve offers Nonviolent Communication workshops and retreats for leaders in schools, universities, nonprofits, and faith communities. He studied Nonviolent Communication with Marshall Rosenberg and Living Compassion with Robert Gonzales. He lives by the ocean in Massachusetts with his wife and animals, teaches Theology at Fontbonne Academy, and serves as President of Heart to Heart.
John Sweeney, Laundette Jones and Deborah Diggs serve as Program Assistants. For more information, email Peace Leadership Academy (PLA) Dean of Student Life, John Sweeney at johnsweeney@heart2heartinc.org or text John at (520)444-6628.