Reclaiming Us: Leadership Coaching Circle

Reclaiming Us is a coaching circle that aims to create a supportive community for women and femmes of the Asian diaspora. The program focuses on cultivating a collective space for reflection and witnessing. Together we will explore our personal histories, our inner lives, and deepen our connection to our nervous systems. This will create a foundation for greater self-awareness, self-compassion, and clarity of purpose.  

Core Objectives

  • Foster community among women and femmes of the Asian diaspora (up to 12 participants)

  • Facilitate self-reflection and personal growth

  • Provide a confidential, communal space for witnessing and resonance

  • Gain greater clarity and confidence in your leadership and vision

Why this program?

After the 2021 mass shooting of six Asian women in Atlanta, I felt heartbroken, enraged, and isolated amid rising anti-Asian hate crimes and the COVID shutdown. I questioned the significance of my own experiences and worried for my safety. During this time, I received numerous requests for coaching from Asian American women leaders across the country, and their stories of isolation and longing for visibility deeply resonated with me.

Through these coaching relationships, we created a space for belonging and healing. After two years of coaching primarily Asian American women, I yearned for a communal space where we could collectively witness each other, explore our inner lives, and find clarity in our purpose. I am excited to see the possibilities that arise from harnessing the collective power and wisdom of this community.

Session Overview

  • Establishing community and creating a safe space for learning. Creating intentions for how participants want to show up in the group and the changes they want to see in their own leadership.

    Creating the container: Collectively work together to build a supportive space for participants to connect and share their experiences.

    Setting the Foundation: Participants explore their hopes, needs, and concerns for being on the journey together. Learn about the program’s core values of emergence, somatic awareness, and heart-centeredness. 

    Leadership Goals: Creating intentions for how participants want to show up in the group and the changes they want to see in their own leadership.

  • Using the body as a source of healing and wisdom, focusing on connecting with and regulating the nervous system.

    Somatic practices: Body-based practices to help regulate the nervous system that create more space for choice and action. 

    Trauma awareness: Acknowledging the impact of historical and intergenerational trauma on the body.

  • Reflecting on the impact of being bi-cultural and of often being seen as proximate to whiteness in our leadership.

    Collective exploration: Participants collectively reflect and share experiences that are unique to being a leader in a female/femme asian body.

    Witness & Resonance: Practice skills of resonance to deepen understanding and awareness of our wholeness and complexity.

  • Delving into personal and family histories to understand intergenerational influences, transforming trauma into wisdom.

    Historical excavation: Participants explore their family/cultural histories and begin to understand its intergenerational impacts.

    Personal stories: Reflecting on our personal journeys and all that has influenced and shaped who we are. 

    Individual coaching: Participants will sign up for a 1-1 coaching session to be completed before the final session.

  • Integrating and healing neglected parts of ourselves.

    Self-awareness: Exploring different aspects of the self, especially the parts that may be challenging or hidden.

    Integration: Creating spaciousness and compassion for all our parts, especially the parts we turn away from.

  • Clarifying vision and commitments to those whom we love and serve.

    Reflecting on the journey: Acknowledgement and gratitude for the growth of each individual and the group.

    Setting commitments: Reflecting on what matters most and the commitments we want to embody. 

    Building ongoing support: Creating a plan for ongoing support through this group and beyond.

FAQs

Who is it for?

Women and femmes of the Asian diaspora who want to embody their authentic voice and lead with confidence and clarity. These are people who are seeking community through sharing of experiences and being vulnerable within a small group context (up to 12 participants). People who have questioned their own experience because it is often invisibilized in their organization's racial dynamics, and people who are curious to explore their inner lives.

What is involved?

Participants will have a 30 min introductory call, one 3-hour virtual opening session, five 2-hour virtual sessions, and peer support throughout the program. Participants can opt-in for an hour coaching session with Ja Young for an additional cost.

What does it cost?

$1000 for individuals paying out of pocket; $1500 for organizations paying. Optional coaching session is $275.

What are the dates and times?

For the Spring cohort, we will be meeting Mondays at 7-9pm ET/4-6pm PT. 3/24, 4/7, 4/21, 5/12, 5/28, 6/9. The first meeting will be 3 hours long, 6-9pm ET/3-6pm PT and the fifth session will be on a Wednesday, due to the Memorial Day holiday.

How do I sign up?

Fill out this form and Ja Young, the facilitator will follow up to schedule a 30 min call to discuss the program in more detail.

Our Facilitator

Ja Young Ahn-Williams (she/her) is one of the founding partners of Imagine Us, a multi-racial, multi-generational community of equity-based consultants. Ja Young brings over 20 years of experience working with leaders and organizations in the non-profit and education sectors. She works with individuals and organizations that are committed to healing and unlearning the ways that white supremacy distorts our sense of belonging - to ourselves and to each other.

Ja Young is a native New Yorker, a daughter of Korean immigrants, and the mother of a multiracial child. Her identities have gifted her with a capacity to hold multiple realities and a passion for interrupting the silence of marginalized voices. Both as a mother and a facilitator of change, she is in a daily practice of humility, vulnerability, and self-compassion. Her joy comes from laughing with her son, harvesting fruit and vegetables from her garden, and hiking in the redwoods.

Ja Young is a transformational coach and consultant, working with leaders and organizations through Imagine Us, LeaderSpring, Social Transformation Project, and the Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation school. Ja Young was trained as a facilitator of Somatic Abolitionism, working alongside Resmaa Menakem. She is trained as a facilitator and lecturer of interpersonal and group dynamics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, UC Berkeley Haas Business School, and The New School. She is a graduate of The New School where she received her MS in Organizational Change Management.

What people are saying …

“Reclaiming Us supported an arc of internal and group work that resulted in me reclaiming my voice, strength, and confidence.” Cohort participant

“As a nonprofit leader and executive, I have long suffered from imposter syndrome, being made to feel constantly interrogated or questioned, resulting in insecurity in my leadership status. My work through Reclaiming Us, supported an arc of internal and group work that resulted in me reclaiming my voice, strength, and confidence that will bolster all my work ahead.”

“This experience was a breath of fresh air and a warm hug at the same time. Ja Young set the tone and container of showing up as our authentic selves. I felt a deep sense of belonging, ease, and comfort as I saw myself reflected back in many different fractals. The space itself, just being in the presence of this group, brought in a level of awareness about my identity and belonging I haven't felt in years. I'm so grateful for the experience. “

“Ja Young is incredibly thoughtful in creating a space for vulnerability, self-reflection, mutual support within the group. I appreciated the progression of the sessions that created opportunities for exploration and experimentation into the parts of me that need reclaiming. She provided actionable resources that will be invaluable for helping me navigate our turbulent world from a place of strength and loving curiosity.”