Members of the feminist giving community: An upcoming webinar co-led by Helen LaKelly Hunt could be the perfect opportunity to learn some new skills for healthier relationships.
Relationships First and the Center for Partnership Studies (CPS) are joining forces next month for Safe Conversations: Shifting from Domination to Partnership in Relationship. Held 11:00 – 12:30 PR (2:00 – 3:30 ET) on Thursday, September 12th, 2019, this FREE webinar focuses on the ways people can improve their relationships through quality communication skills.
“Practicing Safe Conversations can strengthen any relationship, move us past entrenched differences, and pave the way for social change,” reads the event listing. “This inspirational webinar is grounded in evidence from neuroscience and the relational sciences and is ideal for anyone wanting to deepen your own relational practice, and those seeking to connect the dots between the quality of our personal relationships and the well-being of our society, economy, and culture.”
Hosted by Riane Eisler (President and co-founder of CPS) and Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt (co-founders of Relationships First), the webinar will demonstrate the effectiveness of Hunt and Hendrix’s Safe Conversations method.
Founded in 1987, the Center for Partnership Studies focuses on building relationship systems at all levels of society. Their research and education base are devoted to “promoting human rights and nonviolence, gender and racial equity, childhood development, and new metrics that demonstrate the financial contribution of the work of caregiving.”
CPS’s founder, Riane Eisler, is a social systems scientist, cultural historian, and attorney who has committed her life’s work to studying and improving human partnership. Her groundbreaking book, The Chalice & The Blade: Our History, Our Future analyzes our cultural origins to show that war–and the so-called “war between the sexes”–are not ordained by our biology or our religion.
Eisler’s work focuses on bridging the gaps between people that lead to conflict–from small disagreements to large-scale wars between nations. Her study of human systems, as well as her vocal support for the rights of women and children, has earned her global accolades and recognition.
Relationships First builds off of the same basic ideas as the Center for Partnership Studies. Where CPS focuses on research and education, Relationships First uses workshops and events to teach its tried-and-true Safe Conversations method to people around the world. By improving conversations, the nonprofit seeks to open lines of communication that weren’t there before, and improve our human-to-human relationships every day.
Co-founders and life partners Helen LaKelly Hunt and Harville Hendrix are two giants of the relationship theory world. Together, the two Ph.D.’s created Imago Relationship Theory & Therapy, a dialoguing technique that has become a worldwide phenomenon. In addition to Imago and Relationships First, Hunt and Hendrix have co-founded and supported numerous philanthropies, research efforts, and campaigns.
Hunt’s work in the philanthropy sphere has many similar themes to her work in psychology. Since the 1970s, feminist philanthropy has taken a heavily relationship-based approach. The participatory grantmaking approach that many women’s foundations have used from inception and still use today is built on the strength of ideas like incorporating grantees into boards and working with grantees to inform key decisions in the program and grantmaking process.
Foundation staffers, activists, and donors alike could all benefit from the communication skills available in this free webinar. Hendrix, Hunt, and Eisner join forces for this interactive, all-hands-on-deck approach to communications. On September 12th, participants will:
- Learn the 3 simple steps people around the world are using to help them talk with anyone about anything.
- Discover how to talk and listen with mutual respect for real connection, collaboration, and co-creation.
- Explore how our everyday relationships shape the well-being of our children and our society.
- Learn why relationships are foundational to shifting away from systems of domination that rank and divide us.
- Get inspired to practice Safe Conversations and take part in cultivating a relational culture that supports partnership.
The event will be held 11:00 – 12:30 PR (2:00 – 3:30 ET) on Thursday, September 12th, 2019.
Interested in signing up? Registration is now open at this link. If you can’t make the full session, it’s still a good idea to register: all registrants will receive a video recording of the event. We hope to see you there!
To learn more about the Center for Partnership Studies, visit their website at CenterForPartnership.org.
To learn more about Relationships First, visit their website at RelationshipsFirst.org.
To learn more about Helen LaKelly Hunt’s past and present work, read our 2016 profile on this pioneer of women’s funding. For more information about Safe Conversations, read about the nonprofit’s impact as it moves into 2019.
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