New Seneca Village : Our Offering
New Seneca Village (NSV) is a retreat and network space for cis and trans Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color leaders working to advance justice.
Our goal is to provide nature-based retreats centered on restoration, connection and visioning within an intentional community designed for justice oriented leaders from across a wide array of social movements.
With this offering, we hope to contribute
to both the personal and professional development of your restorative practices, which we believe will support your long-term sustainability as a leader which we believe is critical to ensuring a Just Future for us all.
We prioritize leaders who work in non-profit spaces, in particular frontline organizers and others whose work is about advancing collective progressive justice.
More on how we define leaders here.
We are in awe of the love and commitment that you pour into your work and recognize it as a powerful calling in of new visions for our collective reality.
We are honored by the long legacy of women upon whose foundations we build and who were afforded little opportunity to rest, to connect, to be cared for,
to dream together.
We wonder what is possible when leaders like us are holistically and abundantly resourced in this way?
And what happens when we take the time and space to re-connect to all of the resources - beyond money - that we already have access too?
This offering is an exploration.
THE OFFERING
New Seneca Village is an invitation for justice oriented leaders who are ready to intentionally commit to
exploring your own restorative practices and willing to take on the elements of this Village experience
with a spirit of curiosity for what might unfold in your life and leadership.
If this is you, please read on.
We host up to three residencies annually as we work to create our permanent retreat center space as part of our Big Vision.
In the spirit of artists residencies, New Seneca Villagers on retreat have access to nature and the time and space to reconnect to self and to explore restorative practices. Villagers also have the opportunity to connect with one another and the space to expand their vision for their work and their communities.
In-person residencies range from 6 to 7 nights long and are held in gorgeous natural settings, with offerings designed to lift up restorative and visioning practices.
Accommodations are complimentary, along with breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.
To further support participation for all, we offer Travel grants as well as Back Home grants to cover costs like child, elder, pet care, etc., so that all Villagers are able to attend and can focus on the present moment.
Villagers are not expected to produce anything while on retreat with New Seneca Village.
Throughout the residency, we encourage all to respond to their own rhythm and needs.
New Seneca Village is an emergent project designed around many knowings and also wonderings about the power of restoration, connection and visioning grounded in relationship with land and nature.
We ask your intentional participation in the full breadth of offerings designed to support leaders in powerful pre - participation and whole self post - participation in the New Seneca Village community.
Please see Our Ask below as you consider whether this offering is right for you.
Venues + Dates
New Seneca Village has a few spaces left in our 2023 residencies.
If you submit this intake survey after all 2023 residencies are filled,
you will be added to the waitlist for 2024.
Restorative Vision Circles
Pre - Residency Connection
Each New Seneca Village residency cohort will come together in advance of their respective residency for three sessions of exploration, connection and sharing.
The Restorative Vision Circle Series is an opportunity for Villagers to prepare for the residency and the longer-term practice of integrating restorative practices into their work and life while also building relationship within the group.
Restorative Vision Circles support Villagers ability to be present and grounded when we gather in person, so that they are able to more quickly access restoration, connection and visioning during the residency.
Time Commitment: 3 Months - 4.5 hours
Feedback
In order to co-create tailored residency experiences, evolve our offerings and further define (and fundraise for) the intentional community of New Seneca Village,
we rely on Villager feedback.
We anticipate asking for 4 - 6 hours of your time providing feedback via surveys and potentially interviews over a 6 - 8 month time period.
Your participation in this feedback process during the NSV pilot years will enable opt-in feedback for future Villagers.
It will also support our ability to fundraise if we can gather and share about the impact of this offering.
Meet the folks opening up this
intentional community
Village Exchange
Participation in New Seneca Village is complimentary and we believe in energetic exchange.
Our request is that you exchange at least 12 hours of your time - within the year following your residency - to connect with, learn from, share with and support others within the NSV community.
We know how much brilliance lies in our collective community. And that brilliance shows up beyond your work in the world.
We encourage you to bring your full self to this exchange - what delights and intrigues you, in addition to your areas of professional expertise. In this way, we intend to build a strong community of sustained leaders who are uniquely interconnected with one another over time
Our Ask: Practices for Mutual Sustainability
New Seneca Village is a complimentary experience designed for mindful restoration.
We ask for the following commitments from all Villagers to ensure that we support leaders
who are able and ready to be fully engaged in the fullness of this offering and that they are
in alignment with our intention to be a community stewarded network.
What surprised me was that I didn't know I needed this until I was given the opportunity to participate.
The thought of being in a space that is specifically for me that encourages me to rest?! What?!?! Amazing.
Teresa R Ellis, Pilates Barre and Jams, Decolonizing Movement for Marginalized Bodies, Oakland, CA
What Comes Next?
Open Houses
Intake Survey
Everybody is going through their own process in their own way and allowing that to happen in abundance is magical.
Being open and present also allowed unexpected things to emerge.
Naomi Yu, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, CA
We sporadically host open houses to connect, discuss this offering, provide clarity and hear your feedback.
See below for upcoming Open House dates
If you are interested in being a New Seneca Village leader, please review our Living Values and if you align with those, complete the survey below.
The survey is open throughout the year and completion adds you to our list for 2023 or 2024 residencies.
Invitation Process
New Seneca Village determines residency cohort members in alignment with our Founding Commitments.
Leaders chosen for a 2023 residency will receive confirmation invitations in early 2023.
As leaders confirm or pass on the opportunity, additional invitations will be extended throughout the early part of the year.
Open Houses
To connect, share about the New Seneca Village offering,
hear your feedback and answer questions.
We have closed out our spring season for Open Houses.
Please check back in the early summer for new dates
Please note: This space and opportunity is for cis and trans women and non-binary folks. If you do not identify this way and still are interested in learning more about NSV, please visit our FAQ page or email us at team@newsenecavillage.org.
We invite you to pause and reflect on this invitation and whether you have the interest and willingness to make space for the entirety of the New Seneca Village offering.
Invitations are for leaders to apply and not a guarantee.
New Seneca Village will review and choose Villager cohorts in alignment with our intentions as defined in our Founding Commitments.
New Seneca Village
I want future Villagers to know that an invitation to NSV is an invitation to leadership, modeling and practice. As we deepen the relationship to our inherent Knowing and practice that wisdom, we begin to model right relationship with our Selves and Others.
We are given the gift of time to Be in our many Selves, and we are given new tools to maintain our resolve. Accepting the invitation to an NSV residency is accepting an invitation to time travel into the future that we are manifesting together.
Taylor Mary / True Heart Consulting, LLC / Community Care / Durham, NC
This experience was a precious GEM. Prepare to really rest, and to "be with" what comes with actually slowing down and feeling, to luxuriate in your pace, to let go of plans and allow for emergence of what is needed in the moment.
Taraneh Sarrafzadeh, Healer, Artist, & Embodiment Guide, CA
This was different than any other retreat space that I had been to. The fact that it was cultivated intentionally and dedicated to WOC, nonbinary people of color and intergenerational exchange - all amongst people whose lives are working for racial justice and liberation - is a powerful combination.
I was surprised at what is possible when we create flexible and open containers for play and rest. I was surprised that we were encouraged not to center talking about work! What a relief. I was delighted at the moments of laughter and the ways that folks were drawn into rites of passage and letting go in many ways.
Anisha Desai, AORTA, transformative coach + strategist, Bay Area -CA
Invite to Pause
As You Consider This Invitation for Your Self
Sit quietly and comfortably with your feet on the ground.
Take 8 cleansing breaths. [In through the nose. Out through the mouth.]
Imagine the feels, smells, tastes and sounds of intentional community. Sense the energy of those around you as you gather virtually and physically to co-create spaces centered on restoration, connection and visioning.
~ Is this an invitation I want to say yes to?
~ Do I have or am I willing to make the space for this opportunity?
~ Am I a (joy)full yes to this offering?
Close with 3 deep breaths.