Reimagining capacity: a trauma-informed approach to sustainable workflows

As we step further into the new year and are all somewhere in the depths of grief, trauma recovery, and adjustment, I’ve been thinking a lot about capacity—the limits of what we can give, create, and sustain—both personally and professionally.

Our work with clients often comes back to this—as folks move through the process of workplace cultural change they are able to more clearly see how systems of oppression function in their day-to-day work, in this case in the urgency of our workflows.

While the cultural pressure to push ahead can feel overwhelming, especially in the current political context, a trauma-informed lens reminds us to consider capacity differently: not as a fixed boundary to ignore or overcome, but as a dynamic, evolving reflection of our human experience.

The Deep EndLaVoya WoodsJanuary 27, 2025#capacity, #burnout, #sustainableworkflows

What do we mean by “trauma” and being “trauma-informed” in the workplace?

I’ve been thinking a lot about trauma lately, both in the context of my own life experiences, that of loved ones, as well as the trauma we see day-to-day in the workplace as well as in the world.

It feels like it’s everywhere, and the truth is, it is something that has been core to our work for a long time. I mean, look at how many times trauma is mentioned in our blog posts.

Not that I am an expert on trauma (we have LaVoya for that - that being one of the reasons ve was a very intentional hire). I am feeling and learning my way through. And what I’m realizing is that we very much don’t generally have a shared understanding or language around trauma, collectively.

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickJanuary 19, 2025#trauma, #traumainformed, #inclusiveleadership

LA is burning and we are complicit

There’s a rage and a sadness and a weird kind of knowing that I am feeling right now: LA is burning and we are complicit.

For a country founded on genocide and enslavement, that is, theft, rape and violence towards land and people, we have to confront the fact that, as heartbreaking and devastating as it is to witness, this is a logical outcome, one of many, of the collective dominant culture.

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickJanuary 12, 2025#lafires2025, #capitalism, #rupamarya

Trauma, growth and accountability: is your therapist DEIB ready?

Though we often hear that our work is deeply supportive and feels therapeutic to our clients, it is not therapy. For many of the leaders we partner with, having a supportive, aligned therapist can make a world of difference—especially when that therapist aligns with your DEIB journey.

Therapy can be a powerful container for processing the challenges and complexities of DEIB work, from trauma recovery to the development of accountability and resilience—and on that path, surfacing needs along the way. But finding the right therapist, one who truly understands and aligns with your DEIB journey, can be challenging.

The Deep EndLaVoya WoodsJanuary 5, 2025#therapy, #therapist, #traumainformed

Inclusive leadership skills: checking for intent and understanding

We almost all have people in our lives, loved ones even, who know how to push our buttons, whether they intend to or not.

I’ve found that communication can become fraught very quickly, if not go downright off the rails.

For the people we care about, and for the people we have to work with, this can be a problem when it compromises trust and psychological safety over time, not necessarily equally in both directions, but in both directions.

Finding “obstinate” healing and joy

We’ve been having a great discussion with one of our client groups about organizational, national and global turmoil, and what to do when we are sick and tired… and sick and tired of being sick and tired.

The idea of being obstinate in the face of overwhelming challenges and a bleak outlook came up.

And so we brainstormed ideas for “obstinate” healing and joy.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickDecember 8, 2024#joy, #healing, #selfcare

Navigating unsteady ground: honoring your needs in times of change

I know that we’ve all been holding a lot of mixed feelings these past couple weeks. You may be somewhere on the spectrum of grief, openness, protection, anxiety, and hope. Finding yourself in that nebulous place where the ground feels unsteady can be difficult, and especially hard to navigate as you show up to work and are expected to do well.

I’m LaVoya Woods (ve/ver)—but you can call me V. I’m the Director of Trauma-Informed Methodologies at CCI, and I’m honored to bring my voice to this space alongside Alethea’s. This post marks the start of a new series where I’ll be sharing insights monthly from my own perspective as a Black, Queer, Trans Non-Binary, Neurodiverse, Disabled leader navigating complex systems and supporting folks in recovery and transformation.

The Deep EndLaVoya WoodsNovember 24, 2024#traumainformed, #needs, #alignment

Inclusive leadership skills: processing emotions

A lot of people have been processing a lot of emotions over the past two weeks since the US election, whether publicly, privately, outwardly or inwardly, in large or small, direct or indirect ways… or not at all.

We’ve held group processing sessions for at least some segment of staff at all of our client organizations as well as 1:1 coaching and each conversation has been very different.

Concentric circles of safety, trust and grief

My social media feeds are a cacophony of post-election shock, grief, despair, panic, reflection, analysis, strategizing, wisdom and business-as-usual right now.

I’ve been taking the time to curl inwards, rest, and remain steady, not that a total and utter freakout isn’t justified, but here’s what has been coming up for me.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickNovember 10, 2024#grief, #election2024, #ringtheory

Post-election thoughts: what haven’t you learned, acknowledged or reckoned with?

In 2016, I told myself I NEVER wanted to feel that way again - shocked, betrayed, and most of all ANGRY at the ways at which I had learned to deny my race, even to myself, in order to buy a kind of safety that was NEVER on the table, because safety that requires you to deny parts of who you are, safety that is offered up at the expense of others, a safety that props up a system of advantage and privilege based on genocide, enslavement and colonization is not actually any kind of safety at all.

Today, I am saddened and dismayed, but my work over the past 8 years means I am not surprised. Because what I’ve learned is - this is who America is.

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickNovember 6, 2024#election2024, #history, #truth

Operationalizing guard rails, or, how are you preparing for the US election?

A few years ago, one of our team members proposed a new day off for us… the day after the election.

That’s right, not the day of the election, but the day after, as it’s then that we need time to process the results.

Inclusive LeadershipAlethea FitzpatrickNovember 3, 2024#guardrails, #election2024, #operations

Trading success for survival: the hidden cost for Black women in leadership

Black women are incredible. They lead, they innovate, they stabilize entire industries—often while juggling more than anyone should ever have to. And yet, the numbers tell a darker story: Black women are paid just 63 cents for every dollar earned by white men, and even with advanced degrees, that only rises to 69 cents. Despite making up the largest percentage of women in the workforce, they hold just 1.5% of leadership positions in industry.

Dismantling oppressionLaVoya WoodsOctober 27, 2024#blackwomen, #blackwomenleadership, #dreaming

Inclusive leadership skills: needed for collective healing and liberation

Something we’ve seen with our organizational clients is that traditional, top-down, hierarchical models of leadership continue to have a strong grip on many leaders.

This makes sense, given that traditional and dominant culture in the US, including corporate culture, has its roots in plantation culture.

Inclusive leadership skills: authenticity

Authenticity is an essential inclusive leadership skill. It builds the trust and psychological safety needed for collaboration, innovation and impact. It’s one of the things that people need to do their best and most fulfilling work in alignment with the mission of their organization.

But if authenticity is defined as being true to oneself, how can you measure authenticity, particularly in the context of the workplace?

We are all worthy of protection

There is always grief and trauma around us, at a local, national and global scale. Organizations often grapple with acknowledgements - what events should be acknowledged, and how can you possibly cover them all?

We’ve been talking about this at Co-Creating Inclusion as well, and have been considering the idea of a “grief acknowledgement.” We may not be able to acknowledge every single thing that is going on, but we can acknowledge that we are all likely struggling with varying degrees of grief and trauma, including secondary trauma.

The continued invisible and unpaid or underpaid work of women

I’ve been thinking a lot (again) about how women continue to do a disproportionate amount of caregiving work… invisible, overlooked, devalued, under or unpaid emotional and administrative labor in the home, the workplace, and all around. And sometimes it feels like white women do it so cheerfully it makes it that much harder for women of color.

At an event recently, I heard a horrifying statistic - apparently 98% of food shopping is done by women!!!

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickSeptember 22, 2024#invisiblelabor, #womenintheworkplace, #paygap

Privilege and trauma are not mutually exclusive

One of the things that happens when we start to talk about privilege with people who are not accustomed to naming it, and especially about white privilege, is that the word “privilege” is experienced as an insult.

And that’s because the word “privilege” is often used as an insult.

That’s not what we mean though.

Inclusive LeadershipAlethea FitzpatrickSeptember 15, 2024#privilege, #whiteprivilege, #trauma, #systemsofoppression

Another school shooting, another week in America

Another school shooting. Another week in America.

An eighth grade friend of my son said to me this weekend about his school’s new cell phone policy something to the effect of “why do they care more about keeping us safe from our phones than keeping us safe from guns?”

Dismantling oppressionAlethea FitzpatrickSeptember 9, 2024#gunviolence, #schoolshooting, #righttobeararms

Involuntary childlessness

My sister wrote this heartbreaking yet beautiful article for the Wall Street Journal.

This is a tender topic for me as well so please, no advice, thanks. Shared experiences from your own perspective are invited.

Grieving is necessary for change

A few months ago I wrote about how every memory hurts and everyone is traumatized.

Every memory still hurts.

And what I along with our team at Co-Creating Inclusion have been exploring is how grief is necessary for change.

The ability to grieve, then, is a rarely articulated leadership skill, if we are aspiring for creativity, innovation and transformation towards equity, inclusion, justice and liberation.

Co-creating inclusionAlethea FitzpatrickAugust 11, 2024#grief, #traumainformed, #wildedgeofsorry

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