Application Guide
We're so excited that you're interested in applying for Seeding Conscious Co-Creation (SCC). In many ways the application process is the start of the journey of SCC.
Applications are now closed.
Below you will find more important information and criteria for Who Can Apply and consideration criteria, as well as Frequently Asked Questions.
Who can apply?
Practitioners can apply as individuals or as a team of 2 people. CEIO will not accept applications for SCC to work in specific organizations. Organizations can engage with CEIO through our Community Partnership Organization program.
Applicants should have experience in:
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Creating groups or initiatives in the community as you will be responsible for forming and/or further developing your community of practice within the 9 month program timeline.
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Working with groups. Whether you are a facilitator, team lead, or group holder of a different kind you will need skills in group facilitation and dynamics.
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Promoting what you’re up to and recruiting people to join your community of practice.
Applicants should be able to clearly:
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Define your group’s point(s) of connection and purpose.
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Understand and communicate the connection between your group/project and equity, justice, and liberation.
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Demonstrate how your group/project will make a societal/systems level impact.
Applicants should be committed to:
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Furthering your understanding of how power is used on multiple levels, group facilitation and dynamics, program operations and management.
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Building communities that center:
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Justice - equitable sharing of power throughout the community
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Whole systems transformation
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Inviting, listening, honoring people’s stories
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Understanding and being in alignment with CEIO's values, mission & vision (see our homepage for more info on each of these).
Currently SCC is only available for folks who reside in the state of Connecticut and are 18 years of age or older.*
*CEIO is geographically based on occupied Quinnipiac, Wappinger and Paugusett land in what is now called Greater New Haven and will prioritize applications from this area; however, we are open to receiving applications from aligned applicants from across the state of Connecticut.
2024 Program Outline
CEIO is accepting applications until Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 11:59pm. Eligible applicants will go through an interview process to further determine readiness and right alignment with SCC. We will announce the selected 2024 SCC Cohort by Wednesday, April 10, 2024.
SCC Programming will take place over 9 months beginning on Friday, April 26, 2024 with a Welcome and Orientation Day and run through December 2024.
The Opening Retreat will be held Thursday - Sunday, May 16-19, 2024.
Cohort Sessions are confirmed for the following dates. Cohort Sessions will be for 4 hours in length and will be held in the morning (likely 10am to 2pm) on the following dates:
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Friday, June 21, 2024
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Friday, August 30, 2024
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Friday, September 20, 2024
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Friday, October 18, 2024
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Friday, November 15, 2024
In December 2024 (date to be determined) we will have a closing day and celebration, which will mark the end of the program.
Throughout the cohort participants will meet regularly with Support Guides, attend CEIO Communities of Practice circles, and attend CEIO Deeper Change Forums.
Applications accepted for consideration will include:
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Completed online application.
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An up to 1 year projected budget for facilitating your community of practice and/or collective endeavor**
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Aligns with all the listed bullets in the above "Who Can Apply?" section
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A narrative that:
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Illustrates the vision of the newly forming or existing community of practice.
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Explains how the community of practice circle will help increase equity, liberation, justice, and conscious co-creation locally for individuals, organizations, and/or the larger community.
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Demonstrates the project’s clear societal/systems level impact: Explains how the community of practice is supporting liberation and healing from systemic racism, patriarchy, the myth of white supremacy, racialized capitalism, heteronormativity, and/or other forms of systematic oppression.
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This year we are interested in groups who, through their collective learning, might desire to produce/create a wider initiative in the community. This might look like a forum, art show, collective action, pop-up, concert, etc... While this is not a requirement we encourage applicants who have both experience facilitating groups/teams and developing community initiatives to apply.
**We will be exercising equitable practices in determining the SCC community of practices that will be funded with the $100,000.00 budget that is allotted for this initiative.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you assess readiness for participation in SCC?
Readiness for SCC looks different for each potential participant. Our assessment of each participant’s readiness for SCC intends to:
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Look at each applicant individually and as a potential part of the whole cohort and
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Select participants who have some prior experience working with groups or initiating things in the larger community
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If participants are forming a new community of practice SCC seeks participants who display readiness to launch their community of practice within the 9 month program timeline.
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If you are applying as a team of 2 please be clear about your relationship, your intentions for working together and what you are up to.
What is the process for deciding who gets into SCC?
A group of SCC and/or CEIO staff will review all applications to assess readiness and alignment with this SCC cohort. If specific questions arise about your application we will reach out via email for clarification. Promising applicants will then join in group and/or individual interviews with SCC Staff to help determine the final group of applicants for the cohort. All applicants will be notified if they are accepted or not and provided with feedback on their application.
How long is the commitment and how much work is involved?
In many ways the commitment starts with the application process. We estimate the application can take from 1-2 hours or more depending on how clear your vision is. We recommend copying and pasting application questions into a document to work on before putting them in the actual application form.
If selected, the 2024 SCC Cohort begins April 26, 2024 and programming will go till December 2024. Below is approximately how much time will be involved in cohort sessions:
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Welcome and Orientation Day = ~6 hours
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Opening Retreat = Thursday evening to Sunday morning
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Cohort Sessions = 4 hour monthly cohort sessions during June, August, September, October and November.
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Meeting with Support Guides or SCC staff = ~1-2 hours per month
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Closing Celebration Day = ~6-8 hours
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Other related events including CEIO Communities of Practice (x3) and Deeper Change Forums (x3) = ~4 to 6 hours as scheduled.
These estimates do not include the hours you will be putting into the community of practice you are facilitating. How much work each participant will put into their community of practice will depend on a variety of factors such as where their group is at in its development, frequency of meeting, etc…
Do participants receive compensation to show up?
As part of the application participants are required to submit a budget which should include a line-item for yourself. We recommend you include a line item for up to $7,000 for your time.
Other eligible expenses including:
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Honorariums and contracts for guest facilitators or other contractors
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Local transportation costs
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Food & Accommodations
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Supplies and expenses directly related to running your community of practice circle
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Fees for use of physical and virtual spaces for gathering
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Additional training and development opportunities
More about communities of practice and what it means for facilitators
Communities of practice, as we see them in SCC, have 4 main components:
1. Practice and learn together
“Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—in short a shared practice. This takes time and sustained interaction (Wenger-Trayner, 2015).” Members of a community of practice are all people who have experience within the groups shared point(s) of connection and desire to practice and learn collectively with each other. Members of a community of practice are not people simply looking to take a class, attend a workshop, or receive an offering from you.
2. A shared point(s) of connectionThis shared point(s) of connection (identity, area of interest, passion, concern, profession) is what brings people together and relates to the members intention to practice together. Your group's point of connection might be intersectional e.g., women of color who are also mental health professionals. This example brings together folks within an intersection that takes into account race, gender and their profession.
3. An understanding of your shared point(s) of connection to equity, justice, and liberation and how it might impact multiple levels of a systemSeeding Conscious Co-creation is all about cultivating more equity, justice and liberation in ourselves, our communities and our larger society. We believe in and work towards whole systems transformation. As such applicants should have an understanding of how their domain is connected to these goals. Furthermore, it is helpful to ask the question: what might it look like to practice more equity, justice and liberation in my group’s point(s) of connection and how can we support each other in that? Or, how does your group be and act when liberated from systems of oppression? These are principal questions to explore in your community of practice and in our cohort sessions.
4. A desire to cultivate and facilitate community
Cultivating community creates the social fabric for collective learning, healing and practice. There are lots of different ways to cultivate community which we will practice and learn about throughout the cohort.
Communities Practicing Conscious Co-Creation
Conscious co-creation is the awareness that we all have power and responsibility for creating what is and invites us to be aware of our individual and collective power as well as how larger systems have historically used power. When the practice of conscious co-creation is seeded in a community of practice it looks like people coming together around a point or multiple points of connection who desire to build relationships and practice consciously being aware of how they might use their power to foster more equity, justice and liberation for themselves and in their wider community.
What does this mean for you as a facilitator of a community of practice?
In many ways, it should take the emphasis or stress off of you being an expert in your area of interest. You are not creating a community of people who are coming to you just for guidance and knowledge. Each person within the community brings their experience, stories and knowledge to the group. Nor are you creating a group where people come together to just talk about an issue or concern. As a group of fellow practitioners you look deeply at what brings you together. Together you might explore how power has been historically used, identify ways it is continuing to perpetuate systems of oppression, and/or develop practices that can help shift the power. Together you are practicing new ways of being that advance equity, justice and liberation individually and collectively. Through building relationships and practicing with one another there is more space for support, healing and liberation to take place. Out of this space a shared repertoire of practices may emerge which might include stories, tools, methods, etc… for yourself and your community. You may also be inspired to develop an initiative that raises the awareness of what you have learned to a wider audience.