Announcing our new Racial Healing Initiative
The Retreat Center Collaboration is excited to announce the launch of the Racial Healing Initiative, a brand-new RCC program made possible with generous support from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and other future supporters.
The RCC’s Racial Healing Initiative is a nationwide racial equity initiative grounded in retreat centers across rural and urban geographies in the United States. The initiative will cultivate learning, healing and transformation, offering a menu of resources including retreats and small group experiences provided on-site, virtually, and within local communities. Resources will also include training, technical assistance, and support to strengthen the capacity of retreat centers to advance racial healing and systemic change in their organizations and their communities. The program is deeply rooted in RCC’s core values: the power of place and space, the interplay of inner and outer work, and a commitment to universal flourishing.
The first phase of the initiative, a planning and design phase, will run from September 2021 through May 2022, followed by phases of piloting and scaling. RCC will collaborate with the Center for Healing and Liberation (CHL) to implement the project. The RHI team includes Ben Scott-Brandt, RCC Program Manager, and Victoria Santos, CHL Program Director. Victoria and Ben will work together to fulfill the goals of RHI. Project liaison Justine Johnson and the RCC steering committee will provide connection to the RCC context and community of retreat centers as the program planning and design process unfolds.
We are looking forward to the work ahead, and look forward to deepening our engagement to understand the legacy of inequity and center equity, healing, and transformation in our collaboration among retreat centers.
Please refer to our Frequently Asked Questions page for more details.
Learn more about our supporters:
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Mich., and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.
The Fetzer Institute is helping build the spiritual foundation for a loving world. We work with thought leaders to develop programs, research projects, convenings, and funding collaborations in the sectors of faith, spirituality, democracy, education, and organizational culture. Learn more about our work and sign up for our newsletter.