Brave Space Groundwork

Brave spaces are crucial because they allow for vulnerability, the safety to take risks, mess up, reflect, and recover, all while still belonging in the community.

This experiential module will equip educators with lessons, instructional practices, and mindsets to create brave spaces for their youth.

This workshop will be delivered over 2 sessions during Winter Institute. Your instructors are part of the Girls Leadership team. A foundational piece of the work at Girls Leadership is to create brave spaces — communities where girls and all youth feel seen, accepted and loved by peers and adults  — in person and online.

For the last 10+ years, Hénia Belalia has been involved in community organizing around racial, social and environmental justice issues including migrant rights, prison solidarity, land defense, indigenous sovereignty, and community self-defense. She is a published writer and a conjurer of stories from the margins. She loves stories and the process of storytelling, especially those from voices who’ve been systematically erased, invisibilized, or stolen across generations. Hénia is firmly grounded in the belief that art can be used as a tool for liberation.

Dr. Kendra Carr joined the Girls Leadership team after almost a decade of work as an administrator at an all-girls school in Oakland, CA. She is deeply committed to girls programming that addresses the needs of all girls, especially those at the margins of society. Love, community, humility, equity, and a commitment to liberating action are the values that guide her work with youth. For the last 15 years, Kendra has served in various roles within the field of education and youth development, and has worked with elementary, middle, high school, and community college students and their families.

We will provide continuing education certificates at the end of the workshop that will certify the work you undertook in each session.