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Cultivating Safe Spaces

Elaine Alec is a member of the Syilx (Okanagan) and Secwépemc (Shuswap) Nations.

She is the CEO of Naqsmist (nux-meest) Storytellers Inc. and a social justice advocate. She created the framework “Cultivating Safe Spaces.”

In this activity, you will learn about the Cultivating Safe Spaces framework and how love-based practices can counter the fear-based practices embedded in colonial systems, including leadership.

At this point in the course, we will look beyond dismantling systems of oppression and look towards leaders who are practicing in ways that promote holistic wellness of individuals, organizations, and communities. These practices are pre-colonial, and celebrate the resistance and resilience of the cultures, teachings, and traditions to Indigenous People on Turtle Island.

The Cultivating Safe Spaces framework illuminates the potential for love-based practices to connect us back to our internal ways of knowing and relating to the world beyond the imagined permanence of settler-colonialism, beyond hierarchies, and toward interconnectedness.

In this podcast, Jen Greenway explains the Cultivating Safe Spaces framework and how leaders can apply the agreements and protocols into practice to support a vision and practice of justice. Listen to the podcast.

After listening, take some time to read Jen Greenway's blog post, "Decolonizing Leadership: Qualities of a Better Leader (2023) before proceeding to the reflection on the next page. 

References

Alec, E. (n.d.). Cultivating Safe Spaces. Naqsmist Storytellers Inc. https://www.cultivatingsafespaces.com/

Green, J. (Executive Producer). (2023, January 13). The Four Conditions (Episode 6) [Audio podcast]. In Cultivating Safe Spaces Podcast. https://cultivatingsafespacespodcast.buzzsprout.com/2250470/episodes/13625012

Greenway, J. (2023, May 7). Decolonizing leadership: Qualities of a better leader. Go Smudge Yourself. [Blog]. https://www.jengreenway.com/post/decolonizing-leadership-qualities-of-a-better-leader

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