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Organized by: Matriarch Movement — https://www.eventbrite.com/o/68129309033A three-day healing workshop for Indigenous women and Two-Spirit relatives to move from lateral violence toward lateral kindness.
A three-day, in-person workshop for First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, girls and Two-Spirit relatives, with a focus on Indigenous women entrepreneurs.
Please note: This is a full three-day commitment, not a drop-in event. Space is limited to 20 participants to keep the circle meaningful, and a waitlist will open once spots are filled.
What would it look like to build communities where we feel supported, respected and safe to grow together?
Lateral violence is the harm that can happen between people and within our communities: gossip, exclusion, competition and the pressure to be perfect. These patterns don’t come from nowhere. They are shaped by generations of colonialism, systemic barriers and intergenerational pressure.
This workshop doesn’t place blame on individuals. Instead, it looks at the roots of lateral violence and creates space for healing, accountability, belonging and collective care. Through storytelling, reflection, collaborative design and embodied practice, participants will name the challenges in their own communities and co-create practical, community-rooted ways to interrupt harm.
Solutions won’t be handed down from the outside. Your lived experience, cultural knowledge and collective wisdom guide the work.
Why this workshop?
This workshop was born in circle. Over the past year, our Medicine Circles x Indigenous Wellness program, delivered in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada, has brought Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit relatives together to share openly. One theme kept surfacing: lateral violence. Participants described experiencing it in their workplaces and institutions, in their friendships and within their own communities.
These stories showed us how many of us carry this harm quietly, often alone. The Lateral Liberation Workshop is our response. It is a space we co-create together, where we can begin healing lateral violence within ourselves, speak about it honestly without judgement, and remember that we are not alone.
To us, sisterhood means more than standing together. It means tending to the wounds we have carried with one another, and choosing to heal them together.
What is a Solutions Lab?
A Solutions Lab is a collaborative way to tackle complex challenges. Participants don’t arrive with a ready-made answer. Together, they identify root causes, explore possibilities, and design and test real interventions.
The Lateral Kindness model behind this workshop was first piloted in May 2025 with Nunavik Investment Corporation and the Fireweed Institute. It has kept evolving through community delivery and is now adapted for Indigenous women entrepreneurs.
What to expect:
Virtual orientation: Monday, November 16 ([time + time zone])
Meet the group, learn about the Solutions Lab approach, set shared expectations and help shape the days ahead.
Day 1: Roots & Recognition (Fri, Nov 20)
Opening with the land, story circles and group agreements. We’ll explore how lateral violence develops and how colonial, systemic and intergenerational patterns shape our relationships. We’ll also begin mapping what builds belonging, and what breaks it.
Day 2: Empathy & Intervention Design (Sat, Nov 21)
Empathy mapping and small-group design pods to begin creating practical interventions, with movement and breathwork woven through the day.
Day 3: Prototyping & Integration (Sun, Nov 22)
Pods build and refine their tools: community agreements, peer-support practices, rituals, communication tools and more. The day includes strengths-based peer feedback, a belonging collage, personal commitments and a closing ceremony.
Virtual follow-up gathering ([date])
A facilitated reflection and care check-in to process the experience and sustain what you’ve built.
Each in-person day runs about 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at the Alt Hotel Calgary Village East. Friday & Sunday will be in the Indigo room, Saturday will be in the Lime room.
What you’ll take away
A shared understanding of lateral violence, its roots and how it shows up in our communities, without shame or blame
At least one practical, community-rooted intervention to bring home to your work, relationships or community
Reflective and somatic tools to recognize, respond to and interrupt lateral harm
Real connections with Indigenous women, entrepreneurs and Two-Spirit relatives across communities
Practices you can adapt to your own community and cultural context
Our approach
The workshop is trauma-informed, culturally grounded and experiential. It draws on Solutions Lab methodology, Liberatory Design, Trauma of Money™ principles, First Nations Health Authority research on lateral violence and lateral kindness, and the Fireweed Institute’s approach to experiential and land-based learning.
Our intention is a space where hard conversations can happen with care, and where harm can be named without reducing people to their actions.
Facilitation team:
Jacqueline Jennings, Lead Facilitator. Jacqueline works at ispahcâw Consulting & Development Inc. She is a Trauma of Money™ Facilitator and Solutions Lab designer, and she developed and led the original Lateral Kindness workshop with Nunavik Investment Corporation.
Lee Spence, Co-Facilitator (Somatics + Breathwork + Movement). Lee is a mixed First Nations member from York Factory First Nation and the founder of Embodied Resurgence. She is a somatics and breathwork practitioner who guides disruptor leaders, entrepreneurs and moms from colonial conditioning to embodied liberation. She brings 16 years of experience in non-profits, education and community development.
Kim Haxton, Co-Facilitator. Kim (Potawatomi) is from Wasauksing First Nation in Ontario. She has developed and facilitated land-based education, ceremony and leadership programs for 30 years, including as co-founder of Indigeneyez. She is a thought leader in decolonization across language, art, economics and gender.
Shayla Stonechild, Co-Facilitator (Breathwork + Movement). Shayla is a Red River Métis and Nehiyaw iskwew from Muscowpetung First Nation and the founder of Matriarch Movement. She is a global yoga ambassador for lululemon, the first Indigenous person on the cover of Yoga Journal, and a member of lululemon’s Global Advisory Board for Mental Health.
Who is this for?
This workshop is for First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, girls and Two-Spirit relatives who want to strengthen relationships, foster supportive communities and explore ways to interrupt lateral violence.
All ages and generations are welcome, and no prior experience is needed. Participants under 16 will need parental or guardian consent to attend. All we ask is that you come with an open heart and a willingness to reflect and learn together.
Please note: This is a full three-day commitment, not a drop-in event. Space is limited to 20 participants to keep the circle meaningful, and a waitlist will open once spots are filled.
What will you need?
Every participant will receive a lululemon yoga mat, generously gifted by lululemon. Beyond that, you’re welcome to bring:
A journal and pen
Comfortable clothes for movement
A water bottle
Coffee, refreshments, a snack break and lunch will all be provided.
An invitation from the Matriarch Movement team
Our communities carry complex histories, and healing asks for more than naming what hurts. It asks us to imagine what’s possible when we choose care, accountability and collective responsibility. Together, we can move from lateral harm toward lateral kindness, building spaces where Indigenous women and Two-Spirit relatives grow, lead and succeed alongside one another.
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Event venue
Alt Hotel Calgary Downtown, 635 Confluence Way Southeast, Calgary, AB T2G 0G1, CA, Canada
Tickets
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