📚 2026 Workshops & Retreats ✊ Other Groups Organizing White People 💬 Collective Conversations
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Dear Impact Collective Community,

As we navigate a deeply challenging period in our nation’s history—marked by entrenched inequities, division, and systemic oppression—I find myself returning to one truth: connection and community will be our way through.

In the face of racism, misogyny, and the harmful structures of capitalism, the power of coming together cannot be overstated. We cannot do this work in isolation. The path to closing the racial wealth gap and advancing equity requires us to build authentic relationships, share resources, and take collective action.

This month, I’m thrilled to invite you to engage with the many offerings we’ve designed to foster these connections. From transformative workshops to inspiring conversations, these opportunities are more than just events—they are spaces where you can align your work, time, and resources with your values, connect with others on this journey, and build the community we need to create lasting change.

I hope you’ll join me in this vital work. Together, we can continue to learn, grow, and push for a more just and equitable future. Now, more than ever, let’s get and stay connected.

 

With hope and solidarity, 

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Julia Johannsen
Founder of the Impact Collective

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We’re thrilled to provide several opportunities to connect, build community, and engage in meaningful conversations about wealth, race, and values with the Impact Collective. Our workshops and retreats are designed to bring people together in a supportive environment where connection and community are at the heart of the experience. 

By joining us, you’ll become part of a growing community of individuals committed to aligning their resources with their values, creating positive change, and fostering deeper relationships with others on the same journey. There’s a space for you here.

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Privilege & Purpose: A Transformative Retreat for Women
with Sara Narva & Julia Johannsen
Spring 2026, Schedule TBA

One in-person weekend retreat in spring 2026 is the cornerstone of a 3-part hybrid experience that will guide you from awareness to action and empowerment. Designed to fit your life, family, beliefs, and financial situation, Privilege & Purpose is for those with more than enough money to thrive and a curiosity about their role in the financial system. Each woman will leave the workshop with a personalized action plan that aligns her money with her values.

Learn more about the Transformative Retreat on our website.

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Transformative Workshop for Men
with Ethan Kerr, Founder of Breaking the Mold
Spring 2026, Schedule TBA

This 3-session virtual workshop with Ethan Kerr from Breaking the Mold will guide you from awareness to action and empower you to align your resources with your values. Within a community of white men learning together, explore the complexities of race and money—and how to drive action. Through a range of modalities, including contextual learning, group discussions and personal reflection, you’ll gain tools to make a tangible impact and promote equity.

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Money Talks: Aligning Finances & Values in Relationship
with Ethan Kerr & Julia Johannsen
Spring 2026, Schedule TBA

This workshop will offer a unique opportunity for couples to explore some of the challenges and opportunities of aligning their money with their values. We will explore our relationship dynamics through lenses of race and gender, and consider some of the implications for our partnerships, our money, and our impact on the world.

Learn more about the Couples Workshop on our website.

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In order to build the America we dream of, it is essential for white people to get educated and organized in affinity for justice. Beyond participating in the Impact Collective community, we hope our white community members will learn about, fund, and get involved with some of our trusted partners that also center organizing white people for racial justice.

We encourage you to get involved with our trusted partners and community organizations that center organizing white people for racial justice: 

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  • Breaking the Mold offers transformative experiences for white male leaders to become more impactful partners in constructing inclusive workplaces and communities. The community moves white men from the sidelines to active participation in the equity field, fostering a network of skilled and visionary white male partners for equity through its national leadership program.

  • Punch Up is working towards building a home where poor and working white men from across the country join in the work for freedom and justice for all. We are joining forces alongside everyone else who is getting ripped off by the rich and powerful. We are picking our own battles to fight for housing, for work, for health, for freedom, for the lives we deserve.

  • Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) aims to mobilize white people for racial justice, working to challenge and dismantle white supremacy and support efforts led by communities of color. Since the election, SURJ has launched Gear Up: a training series for white people to fight back under Trump.

  • The Freedom School for Philanthropy is a curriculum and experience for donors and advisors who want to center fairness, equity, and joy in their practice. Within each of the nine sections organized around virtues, participants explore four modules: mind (a learning component), body (somatics), heart (feelings), and soul (legacy).

  • We Are Finding Freedom is an engaging and compassionate community coming together to take bigger risks for racial justice. Together, we support each other to understand how we as white women and genderqueers are complicit with white supremacy and patriarchy. The organization offers workshops and tools for white women and gender expansive people to take on white supremacy both in ourselves and in the world.

  • White Awake combats white supremacy by centering on educational resources and spiritual practices intended to facilitate the involvement of individuals socially categorized as 'white' in the pursuit of a just and sustainable society.

  • White Men for Racial Justice (WMRJ) is an anti-racist, pro-justice community of practice rooted in personal transformation, relationships of mutual accountability, and taking action in their spheres of influence. WMRJ’s shared purpose is to dismantle racism and the culture and systems of white supremacy in ourselves, our communities, and our country.
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From Isolation to Interdependence
with Shannon Cofrin Gaggero, Donor Organizer in the Solidaire Network
Friday, Dec 6, 12-1:30pm ET
Register Here

Join us for an inspiring Collective Conversation with Shannon Cofrin Gaggero, a donor organizer in the Solidaire Network. Shannon will share her personal journey of breaking away from the secrecy and isolation often associated with wealth, and her path toward building relationships that bridge class and race. She will discuss how this transformation has been essential in her growth as "an owning-class donor" and how embracing transparency and community has reshaped her approach to philanthropy and social justice work.

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A Conversation with Betty Francisco 
CEO of Boston Impact Initiative & Co-Founder of Amplify Latinx
Friday, Jan 10, 12-1:30pm ET
Register Here

Join us for an inspiring Collective Conversation with Betty Francisco, CEO of Boston Impact Initiative (BII) and Co-Founder of Amplify Latinx. Under Betty's leadership, BII has been at the forefront of closing the racial wealth divide by investing in entrepreneurs of color and community-controlled real estate. In 2022, BII launched its second integrated capital fund, a $20 million initiative aimed at supporting enterprises owned by entrepreneurs of color and preventing displacement through community-owned real estate investments.

Betty will share insights from her extensive experience in impact investing and community leadership, discussing how BII's innovative approach blends financial, social, and political capital to foster economic and racial justice.



About Collective Conversations

Collective Conversations is our series of monthly opportunities to learn, take action, and build community. Please join us and bring friends on the first Friday of every month for a one-hour Zoom conversation with experts and activists from within and beyond our community. Upcoming topics include direct giving, investing to close the racial wealth gap, how to find the right investment advisor, Boston’s Black business ecosystem, and more!

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Julia Johannsen (Founder & Facilitator), Beth Spaulding, Kelly Sherman, Betsy St. Onge, Lauren Baer (Participant), and Sara Narva (Facilitator) during the 3-day weekend of the Transformative Retreat

Transformative Retreat: Weekend Recap 

Intensive Workshop alum, Sara Narva (CLTV5), designed our very first Transformative Retreat for Women: an extraordinary, in-person experience held in Boston's South End, bringing together a remarkable group of women for a weekend of connection, reflection, and action. Over three full days, participants shared personal stories, explored the intersections of race, class, and gender, and delved into the systemic roots and realities of the racial wealth gap.

Read the full summary under the CLTV News section on our homepage

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Reflecting: Our Experience at the Mass Black Expo 2024

The Impact Collective team is inspired, energized and grateful to have attended this year’s Mass Black Expo hosted by BECMA! We engaged with Massachusetts’ vibrant community of visionary Black business owners and leaders, who provided a powerful platform for meaningful discussions about economic equity, generational wealth, entrepreneurship, homeownership, and quality employment. These topics are all core to our mission at the Impact Collective of closing the racial wealth gap.

Read the full summary under the CLTV News section on our homepage

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"The Embrace", a bronze sculpture by Hank Willis Thomas on Boston Common, recalls the hug between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King after he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Photo courtesy of Embrace Boston. 


Embrace Honors MLK
hosted by Embrace Boston
Sunday, Jan 19, 6:30pm-12:00am, 2025
Location: Big Night Live at 110 Causeway Street, Boston, MA 02114
Register Here

During the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, Embrace Honors MLK offers a unique celebration of Black joy, an often-overlooked aspect of racial justice discussions. Through music, food, and fellowship, reflective of the Black diaspora, attendees can find solace and healing in a collective celebration of joy and freedom. Embrace Boston encourages guests to wear their best formal attire—tuxedos, gowns, and sparkles—paired with their favorite sneakers for a night of self-expression, food, and live performances from local musicians.

Watch this recap of The Embrace's 1 Year Anniversary Celebration

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