Saturday, June 17th

The Great Turning

Empowering action
for a thriving planet

Summit

This event is now over

Step Into The Movement

We are alive in an unprecedented moment, with a convergence of social, political, and climate crises that disorients our own hearts and our clear vision of a livable future for all beings. But we are also alive during the largest, non-local, planet-wide movement to fight for life on this planet.

Both are happening. Both are alive. And for many of us, some central questions are, “What do I pledge myself to while I am here? How do I stay engaged, inspired, and connected to others when the stakes are so high? And what do I do when I feel hopeless?”

30 years ago, Joanna Macy energized a term for this global movement on behalf of life: The Great Turning.

The Great Turning Summit is a doorway into this movement, this pivot toward a livable future, a collaboration between millions of people and the more-than-human world. This summit will offer up a healthy dose of honoring and inspiration, highlighting the good works of communities from all over the world.

In this Summit…

You’ll hear from inspiring activists, visionaries, artists, and elders about how The Great Turning is taking place through them, and in their communities.

Joanna Macy described three dimensions of The Great Turning:

  • Holding Actions to slow down destruction, buy time, and protect the Web of Life.

  • Life-Sustaining Systems to facilitate systems and resources in ways that perpetuate life.

  • And Shifts in Consciousness that need to happen for us to truly maintain such profound change.

Our speakers, each engaged in these dimensions, will share their powerful stories and insights.

This is an invitation into the global movement toward a life-honoring way of being human on Planet Earth. Listen in, take heart, and find inspiration and camaraderie as you rise to your own role in The Great Turning.

Meet Our Speakers

  • Lyla June Johnston is a musician, public speaker and internationally recognized performance poet of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) lineages. Her personal mission is to grow closer to Creator by learning how to love deeper and to support and empower indigenous youth.

    She is a student of global cycles of violence that eventually gave rise to The Native American Holocaust and the destruction of many cyclic relationships between human beings and nature. This exploration birthed her passion for revitalizing spiritual relationships with Mother Earth and cultivating spaces for forgiveness and reconciliation to occur between cultural groups. She is a co-founder of The Taos Peace and Reconciliation Council which works to heal intergenerational trauma and ethnic division in the northern New Mexico.

    She is a walker within the Nihigaal Bee Iiná Movement, a 1,000-mile prayer walk through Diné Tah (the Navajo homeland) that is exposing the exploitation of Diné land and people by uranium, coal, oil and gas industries. She is the lead organizer of the Black Hill Unity Concert which gathers native and nonnative musicians to pray for the return of guardianship of the Black Hills to the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota nations. She is the also the founder of Regeneration Festival, an annual celebration of children that occurs in 13 countries around the world every September. 

    In 2012, she graduated with honors from Stanford University with a degree in Environmental Anthropology. During her time there she wrote the award winning papers: Nature and the Supernatural: The Role of Culture and Spirituality in Sustaining Primate Populations in Manu National Park, Peru and Chonos Pom: Ethnic Endemism Among the Winnemem Wintu and the Cultural Impacts of Enlarging Shasta Reservoir. 

    She currently lives in Diné Tah, the Navajo ancestral homeland which spans what is now called New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Arizona. She spends her free time learning her endangered mother tongue, planting corn, beans and squash and spending time with elders who retain traditional spiritual and ecological knowledge.

  • Joanna Macy,  Ph.D, author & teacher, is a scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking , and deep ecology.

    A respected voice in movements for peace, justice, and ecology, she interweaves her scholarship with learnings from six decades of activism.

    Her wide-ranging work addresses psychological and spiritual issues of the nuclear age, the cultivation of ecological awareness, and the fruitful resonance between Buddhist thought and  postmodern science. The many dimensions of this work are explored in her thirteen books, which include three volumes of  poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke with translation and commentary.

    As the root teacher of **The Work That Reconnects**, Joanna has created a ground-breaking framework for personal and social change, as well as a powerful workshop methodology for its application.

    Based in Berkeley, California, close to her children and grandchildren, Joanna has spent many years in other lands and cultures, viewing movements for social change and exploring their roots in religious thought and practice.

    Since the early 1980’s her travel was governed by invitations to teach the group work that she and a growing number of colleagues were developing. Many thousands of people around the world have participated in Joanna’s workshops and trainings. These methods, incorporated in the Work That Reconnects, have been adopted and adapted yet more widely in classrooms, community centers, and grassroots organizing.

    In the face of overwhelming social and ecological crises, this work helps people transform despair and apathy into constructive, collaborative action. It brings a new way of seeing the world as our larger living body. This perspective frees us from the assumptions and attitudes that now threaten the continuity of life on Earth.

  • Lydia Violet Harutoonian, M.A., is a visionary, group-work facilitator, community organizer, and musician who has studied dedicatedly with deep ecology elder and Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy for the past 14 years, learning how we can metabolize climate despair, eco-anxiety, and community traumas into energy for resilience, action, and community healing.

    She founded the School for The Great Turning, in dedication to the work of Joanna Macy, and to create access to an education that supports the societal shift from an Industrial Growth Society to a Life-Sustaining Society.

  • brontë’s work and rest is guided by the cosmology and promise of sabbath for black people and the land. as a black-latine transdisciplinary artist, trickster, educator, jíbare and wakeworker, their eco-social art praxis lives at the intersections of black feminist placemaking, abolitionist theologies, environmental regeneration, death doulaship, and the levity of absurdity.

    the prayer of their life is to support safe and hilarious passage through climate collapse.  they embody this commitment of attending to black health/imagination, commemorative justice (Free Egunfemi) and hospicing the shit that hurts black folks and the earth through serving as creative director for Lead to Life design collective and ecological educator for ancestral arts skills and nature-connection school Weaving Earth.

    they are currently co-conjuring a film with esperanza spalding in collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony and practicing pastoral care (in an ecological and ministerial sense) as a co-steward of a land refuge in Kashia Pomo territory in northern California. mostly, brontë is up to the sweet tender rhythm of quotidian black queer-lifemaking, ever-committed to humor & liberation, ever-marked by grief at the distance made between us and all of life.

  • Wholeheartedly fed by the folk and gospel traditions, MaMuse (Sarah Nutting and Karisha Longaker) create uplifting music to inspire the world into thriving. Interweaving brilliant and haunting harmony with lyrics born of honed emotional intelligence, MaMuse invokes a musical presence that inspires the opening of the heart. Playing a family of varied acoustic instruments including upright bass, guitar, mandolins, ukulele, and flutes, while backed by guitar virtuoso Walter Strauss and inspired drummer (Mike Wofchuck), these two powerful women embody a love for all life. The synergy that is created through this musical connection is palpable and truly moving to witness.

    With nine delicious years of co-creation and five full length albums under their belts, MaMuse keep their hearts tuned to the creation of music for the health of all beings.

  • Ruth (Łchavaya K’isen) is a Dena'ina Athabaskan and Ashkenazi Russian Jewish woman, raised in Dgheyay Kaq (Anchorage), Alaska. She is a member of the Curyung Tribe from the Lake Clark region, and also has roots in Bristol Bay. She is a recent graduate from Brown University, built on occupied Wampanoag and Narragansett lands, and received a BA in Critical Development Studies with a focus on Indigenous resistance and liberation. Ruth is the Climate Justice Director for Native Movement, a matriarchal grassroots Indigenous organization that fights for the rights of Indigenous peoples, our lands and waters, and justice for our ancestors and descendants. She has worked many years towards climate justice and a regenerative economy for all on her lands and beyond, her work also includes international advocacy, including attending the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the UN Youth Climate Summit, COP25 in Madrid, Spain, and the Continental Gathering of Indigenous Women of the Americas (ECMIA). She is a daughter, a granddaughter, and aunty, a language learner, a traditional beadworker, and a subsistence fisherwomxn.

  • Pat McCabe is a Diné (Navajo) mother, grandmother, activist, artist, writer, ceremonial leader, and international speaker. She is a voice for global peace, and her paintings are created as tools for individual, earth and global healing. She draws upon the Indigenous sciences of Thriving Life to reframe questions about sustainability and balance, and she is devoted to supporting the next generations, Women’s Nation and Men’s Nation, in being functional members of the “Hoop of Life” and upholding the honor of being human.

  • John Seed is the founder and director of the [Rainforest Information Centre] in Australia, which has engaged in the protection of rainforests worldwide. Since 1979, he has been involved in direct actions, which have resulted in the protection of the Australian rainforests. He has since created numerous projects protecting rainforests throughout South America, Asia, and the Pacific.

    In addition, he is an accomplished songwriter, filmmaker, and author, writing and lecturing extensively on deep ecology and conducting re-Earthing workshops for the past 25 years. John co-authored “Thinking Like a Mountain – Towards a Council of All Beings” with Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming, and Arne Naess. His most recent project with the Rainforest Information Centre focuses on the protection of Ecuador’s rainforests in the Los Cedros Biological Reserve.

  • Rev. Vahisha Hasan is a faith-rooted organizer moving at the intersections of faith, social justice and mental health. She is the Executive Director of Movement in Faith, a project of Transform Network. She is a powerful public speaker, transformative facilitator, social justice trainer, minister, and writer with a deeply prophetic voice and imagination for how faith communities can be an active part of healing and collective liberation.

    She is the Director of the SEAL Initiatives at American Baptist College in Nashville TN (Social Justice, Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership). Vahisha is also a core team member of TRACC4Movements (Trauma Response and Crisis Care), providing supportive tools for wellness for those who labor in freedom and liberation. She also serves as an associate minister at Christ Missionary Baptist Church, under Rev. Dr. Gina Stewart, Senior Pastor, where she was licensed and ordained June 23, 2019.

    Vahisha holds a dual Master’s of Divinity and Master’s of Mental Health Counseling with an Education Specialist Certification from Gardner-Webb University and a bachelor’s degree in Communications with a concentration in Interpersonal Organization from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

    In addition to penning book reviews, journal articles, online publications, and writing a bachelor’s curriculum in Applied Psychology, she has curated and co-edited three editions of *Resipiscence: A Lenten Devotional for Dismantling White Supremacy*, 2018-2020.

  • Gloire Mudekuza is young refugee, a social entrepreneur, a climate activist and a mentor in Uganda, making an impact in the refugee community. He is passionate about regenerative agriculture, climate action, and entrepreneurship. He is the founder and director of Plethora Social Initiative, a refugee-led organization that works to develop the inner potential and capacities of refugees in Nakivale Refugees settlement, and their host community. They provide learning opportunities and a community of practitioners, encouraging each person’s unique abilities while developing a regenerative culture and building a resilient local community.

  • Leilani Wong Navar, MSOM, is a mother, acupuncturist, herbalist, and dreamworker. She serves as Assistant Director at School for the Great Turning, and hosts Turning Season Podcast, a series of deep conversations with people around the world who are rising to their own unique roles in this adventure story. Born into Chinese and Jewish families, she carries on her ancestors' holistic, poetic medical science, and their dedication to asking big questions. Leilani earned her B.A. at Evergreen State College, where she studied Political Economy and Holistic Health, and her Masters of Science in Oriental Medicine from the National University of Natural Medicine. Both through formal schooling and through direct study with lineage-carriers, she has been studying and practicing traditional Chinese healing and movement arts for 20 years. She brings her experience with illness and healing, motherhood and clinical practice, facilitating groups and connecting with the land, and dreamwork and Deep Ecology to her perspective on personal and collective well-being.

  • For decades, gender inequality and discrimination against women have been legally enshrined in Iran. Under Iran's Islamic Penal Code, Iranian women's rights are severely restricted. Women must comply with the Islamic Republic’s mandatory hijab laws from the onset of puberty, and they are unequal in matters of marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance, and more. In the Fall of 2022, hundreds of protesters, including dozens of children, were killed by Iranian authorities, and an estimated 23,000 were arrested. These nationwide protests were triggered by the tragic murder of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini who died in police custody after being arrested by Iran’s “morality police” for failing to cover her hair adequately. We will hear from Iranian women who have been on the ground in Iran since the beginning of this uprising, sharing their experiences as well as how they experience this movement as part of The Great Turning. For their safety, these women will remain anonymous.

And more to come…

Joanna Macy

“

Of course, not everyone involved in this adventure calls it the Great Turning. You don’t need that name in order to fight for survival and fashion the forms of a sane and decent future. Yet, more and more of us are finding the concept to be both accurate and inspiring.

For me, as a teacher, activist, and grandmother, the Great Turning helps me see what the physical eye cannot. It illumines the larger forces at play and the direction they are taking. At the same time, it sharpens my perception of the actual, concrete ways people are engaging in this global transformation. In other words, it serves as both compass and lens.

”

Schedule

9:00am — Lydia Violet Harutoonian

Welcome & Orienting Within the Three Stories of Our Time

Environmental activist, scholar, and writer Joanna Macy identifies three overarching narratives or stories that shape our understanding of the world and influence our actions. These stories provide different lenses through which we perceive and engage with reality. Macy refers to these as "The Three Stories of Our Time.” Listen in to orient yourself in these confusing times, and better understand what’s happening in your own life, through one of Joanna Macy’s most appreciated insights.

9:25am — John Seed

Stories from Australia: The Three Dimensions of The Great Turning

As a deep ecologist, John emphasizes the intrinsic value of all life and the need for a fundamental shift in our relationship with the natural world. He invites us into ecological consciousness and the recognition of our interconnectedness with the Earth and its ecosystems. He speaks from over 50 years of experience in rainforest conservation, environmental activism, and grassroots organizing. He also ventures into Joanna Macy’s “Three Dimensions of The Great Turning,” meditating on his own life’s offerings to each of these dimensions. Explore what it would be like for you to identify with the “ecological self,” and perhaps open your mind and heart to your own sense of purpose as you hear about John’s decades of passionate work on behalf of Life.

10:00am - Pat McCabe

Transformative Connection: A Diné View on The Great Turning

Pat McCabe offers us a critical perspective on The Great Turning, coming from her experiences as a ceremonial leader of the Diné (Navajo) Nation and ecological steward. In this conversation, we center around the revitalization of indigenous cultural practices and the restoration of harmonious relationships between humans, the natural world, and the spiritual realms. Join us for this opportunity to learn and to be deeply moved by Pat’s stories and wisdom.

10:35am - Rev. Vahisha Hasan

Messages from Memphis: Ministry, Mental Health, and the Fight for Social Justice

Rev. Vahisha Hasan speaks from a critical intersection of frontline experience protecting Black lives in the United States, working with TRACC (trauma response and crisis care) for Movements, and faith-rooted organizing. Vahisha discusses some of her experiences as a facilitator responding to movement trauma, some of the manifestations of this trauma in the developmental cycle of movements, and a vision for a network of healing care providers (mental health, spirit care, holistic and embodied care), who can mobilize for crisis response. Learn and find new inspiration from Vahisha’s frontline experience and visionary perspective.

11:10am - Ruth Miller

Indigenous Sovereignty, Environmental Justice, and Cultural Revitalization in Alaska

Ruth shares potent teachings from her experience as the Climate Justice Director for Native Movement, a matriarchal grassroots Indigenous organization that fights for the rights of Indigenous peoples, their lands and waters, and justice for their ancestors and descendants. Ruth speaks to the evolution of her theory of change, especially when it comes to responding to our personal burnout, and the larger journey of vying for life. Listen in to better understand past and current events around justice, traditional ecological knowledge, and the nurturing of a regenerative future for all.

11:45am - Iranian Freedom Fighter

Winning Our Freedom for Future Generations in Iran

Since September 16th, 2022, with the murder of Mahsa Vahdat at the hands of the so-called “morality police” in Iran, the people of Iran have risen in the largest uprising seen across the country since the 1979 revolution. We have the great privilege of hearing from one courageous protester at the heart of this uprising, and she reflects on The Great Turning in Iran, and how she keeps future generations with her as she endures the life-threatening realities of fighting for justice. Her identity will intentionally remain anonymous for her protection. Join us in solidarity as we witness and learn.

12:20pm — Lydia Violet Harutoonian

Songs of The Great Turning

Iranian-Armenian-American folk artist and School for The Great Turning founder Lydia Violet shares some of her favorite tunes to honor the movement and inspire. Along with her bandmate Jules Indelicato, enjoy these crooning harmonies and sassy strings as they revel in the wondrous power of music.

12:45pm — brontë velez

Hauspice

brontë explores the prophetic attention and awe that can come through honoring grief and death, and how being at the bedside for mass extinction transforms us. With this vision they share about their work across their organizations Lead to Life, Weaving Earth, and The School for Inclement Weather. Get in touch with your own relationship to the profound losses of this time on Earth, and find strength through brontë’s insights.

1:20pm — Leilani Wong Navar

The Great Turning in Our Bodies: Understanding Illness & Facilitating Healing with the Wisdom of Chinese Medicine and Deep Ecology

Leilani explores how The Great Turning is taking place within the intimate realm of our own bodies, through the ways that we treat our illnesses and promote our healing. She reflects on how Deep Ecology and Chinese Medicine both teach us that the honoring of human emotion is essential to our personal and collective well-being. She also discusses how all “three stories of our time” are playing out in the field of medicine and the landscapes of our bodies. Learn about your own health and healing through this practical wisdom, and reorient yourself toward a life-honoring approach to medicine.

1:55pm

Panel Discussion:
Parenting in the Great Turning

Five parents with diverse backgrounds and children of a range of ages reflect together on parenting during The Great Turning. They explore the hopes they hold for their children, how being parents impacts what they dedicate themselves to, talking with children about current crises and possibilities, and supporting their children in rising to their own roles in these times, with active hope. For people raising children, caring for children, or considering having kids, let these insights, stories, and still-open questions fortify you on the journey. With Quentin Cox, Jen Myzel, Sarah and Jonathan Nahar and special guest Tomi. Hosted by Leilani Wong Navar

2:40pm - MaMuse

Making Music for Life

Sarah and Karisha of the musical duo MaMuse reflect on connecting with a sense of purpose, how they see The Great Turning happening in their daily lives, and why art and music are critical to this shift. Join us for an insightful, personal conversation with these two treasured hearts and minds, who have been the source of so much beautiful, uplifting music for these times.

3:05pm - MaMuse

MaMuse Music

MaMuse share with us a few of their heart-opening tunes, rooted in the folk and gospel traditions. Listen in and soak up their brilliant, haunting harmonies and life-loving lyrics.

3:20pm - Gloire Mudekuza

Regenerative Culture in Uganda: Refugees and Host Communities Building Resilience

Gloire shares his story of coming to Uganda as a young refugee and founding Plethora Social Initiative. He talks about their projects to help refugees access basic human needs, as well as support each other in their innate capacities to do great things, and contribute to a thriving community and healing world. He shares his perspective on what The Great Turning means, and the many ways he sees it happening around him right now. Learn with us and be inspired by Gloire’s story, his work and his vision.

3:55pm - Lyla June

Indigenous Reclamation and Climate Repair

Lyla brings us insight and inspiration from her focus on Indigenous rights, traditional land stewardship practices, and healing inter-generational and intercultural trauma. Lyla’s offerings to these times blend studies in Human Ecology at Stanford, graduate work in Indigenous Pedagogy, and the traditional worldview she grew up with to inform her music, perspectives, and solutions. Let your mind and heart be impacted by Lyla’s powerful way of sharing her orientation to these times, and the work she is doing on behalf of Life.

4:25pm

Surprise

4:45pm - Joanna Macy & Lydia Violet

Being The Great Turning

In addition to working together on behalf of life, The Great Turning at its root also invites us into an identity shift that lifts us from human anthropocentrism into a homecoming into the web of life. We are, and have always been, a part of the larger miracle of life on this planet. Please join us for this precious opportunity to listen to our beloved elder offer us her current reflections on who we are, and what’s happening right now.

5:15pm

Closing

This Summit is for the ones who wish to…

  • Understand more deeply what The Great Turning is, and how it’s happening in this time of accelerating crises

  • Gain powerful new insights from brilliant heart-minds dedicated to this planet-wide movement towards a life-sustaining society.

  • Immerse in soul-nourishing, healing music, performed by artists committed to The Great Turning.

  • Cultivate emotional resilience through practices from Deep Ecology and the Work that Reconnects

  • Find inspiration in life-affirming projects that are happening around the globe right now, and opportunities to offer your support

  • Aid the fostering of equitable and regenerative societies, and the deconstruction of supremacies that cause division and oppression in our world.

  • Embody the idea that our pain for the world is feedback showing the intelligence of the Web of Life, and want to connect with others who care about holding each other well in our pain.

  • Navigate the challenges of our times with more active hope, compassion, and courage.

adrienne maree brown

“

We are all the protagonists of what might be called the great turning, the change, the new economy, the new world.

And I think it is healing behavior, to look at something so broken and see the possibility and wholeness in it. That’s how I work as a healer: when a body is between my hands, I let wholeness pour through. We are all healers too—we are creating possibilities, because we are seeing a future full of wholeness.

”

FAQs

  • The Great Turning Summit is a virtual gathering of inspiring activists, visionaries, artists, and elders from around the globe who are actively contributing to the planet-wide movement towards a life-sustaining society. This summit offers deep insights into how The Great Turning is taking place in various communities, nurturing your engagement in this transformative movement.

  • The summit is for anyone committed to a life-honoring way of being on Planet Earth. Whether you're an environmental activist, a concerned citizen, a spiritual seeker, or simply someone interested in making a positive difference in the world, this summit is for you.

  • The Summit will be held on June, 17th.

  • You can register by clicking here and inputting your name and email address.

  • Attending the live summit is free, and you’ll be able to purchase lifetime access to recordings after the summit.

  • The Summit sessions will be live-streamed, but all the sessions will be recorded. You’ll be able to access the sessions for free for 48 hours after the summit. And lifetime access will be available for purchase afterward for a small fee so you can catch up on anything you missed or revisit your favorite talks at your own pace.

  • If you have more questions, feel free to contact us at care@schoolforthegreatturning.com We're here to help!

  • To participate in the Summit, you will need a computer, tablet, or smartphone with a good internet connection. You will receive access instructions via email after your registration.

  • We appreciate your interest in sponsoring the Summit! Please contact us at care@schoolforthegreatturning.com for more information about sponsorship opportunities.

  • Yes, our platform is user-friendly, and we'll provide clear instructions on how to access the summit sessions. Additionally, our team will be available to assist you if you encounter any technical difficulties.

Let's Turn Things Around Together!

There's something amazing brewing here and we can't wait for you to be part of it. It's more than just a summit—it's a gathering of hearts and minds, all striving for a life-sustaining future.

In this cozy and inspiring corner of the web, we've gathered some of the world's most passionate activists, visionaries, artists, and change-makers. They can't wait to share their stories, insights, and journeys with you, all in the spirit of Joanna Macy's vision of The Great Turning.

But this isn't just about listening—it's about joining in. It's about becoming part of a worldwide community, a thriving network of people who are ready to make a positive difference.

So, how about it? Ready to roll up your sleeves and join us? We'd love to have you!