Connection Café: The Power of Presence

As you navigate complexity and change, are you fully leveraging presence - including all your senses, voice, identity and values? Would you like to learn how to activate the power of presence in moments when you are called to show up with courage?

Presence is a superpower that enables choice, authenticity and alignment with the energy of growth and positive transformation.

Helen Tewolde will facilitate this interactive, high-touch workshop grounded in adult learning principles and environmental awareness. Helen will offer simple practices to activate presence in moments of discomfort and uncertainty.

Through conversations and practice sessions with peers, you’ll learn:

• What presence is and why it is essential to social change work and personal wellbeing
• A Presencing Practice to help you activate and reactivate presence in the moment
• Ayurvedic and other natural principles and practices to remain present in daily practice

The workshop fee is $50. Proceeds will go to Helen Tewolde who has advised that 50% will be donated to refugee women affected by war in East Africa.

If this fee poses a barrier for you, please contact Anuradha Dam at coordinator@changeopenly.com.

As a Certified B Corp, Openly is committed to compensating Indigenous Peoples, Black people and People of Colour for generously sharing their knowledge, expertise and guidance so that we may become more effective allies.

About Our Facilitator

Helen Tewolde

Helen Tewolde is Director of Policy and Programs at The Law Foundation of Ontario. The Foundation funds millions of dollars of grants each year to non-profits and Legal Aid Ontario and is the sole foundation in Ontario with the mandate of improving access to justice.

Helen co-founded Eritrean Youth Collective and is Founder and Editor of Netselana, the first Eritrean-Canadian collective anthology documenting the lives and experiences of the Eritrean-Canadian diaspora through creative expression: www.netselana.com.

Alongside her efforts in Canada, Helen has worked in research consultancy and advisory capacities on a range of international development, humanitarian and peace and security issues. These include transitional justice and Track II diplomacy, education for development, and the role of diasporas in Canadian foreign policy. She has authored reports or supported research for organizations such as the African Union, Canadian Commission for UNESCO, European Access Network, Mosaic Institute, Global Campaign for Education, Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and United Nations University for Peace.

She attended McMaster University for Hons. B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science and OISE/UT for an M.A. in Theory and Policy Studies in comparative, international and development education. She holds a certificate in Executive Non-Profit Management from the Stanford University School of Business and is currently an LLM Candidate in Constitutional Law at Osgoode Hall Law School.

Helen enjoys travel, writing poetry and is a certified Ayurvedic practitioner

About Our Host

Lisa Villeneuve – Co-Founder, Openly

Lisa Villeneuve is a trusted social impact strategist with 20+ years of experience helping changemakers to navigate complexity and transform human systems. Lisa's human-centered, collaborative approach builds trusting relationships through meaningful dialogue, shared learning and purposeful planning. As a consultant and coach for social purpose organizations and networks, she facilitates strategy design, learning, organizational development and system leadership. Lisa is known for her ability to illuminate strengths, listen deeply and bring strategies to life.

changeopenly.com

Our Connection Café events will be hosted by a range of women change leaders who will share their recommended approaches and practices. These events are designed to create spaces for meaningful conversations where women and allies can care for themselves and integrate personal growth with professional development and impact. Please bookmark this page on our website or follow our Linkedin Page to learn more about our next event.