About Andruni Circles
Andruni Circles is a new initiative to support women of color on their journey in professional leadership. We use peer-learning, evidence-based approaches in a group coaching format to support women leaders of color in identifying their authentic leadership styles - that do not mimic the "traditional" leadership models that were created by and for white men - and apply those skills in the workplace.
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We ask anyone who is joining us to be come prepared to be uncomfortable, to listen, learn and share, and to be courageous and respectful with ourselves and to each other.
Why: Why Andruni Circles?
What exactly is an Andruni Circle? It's a learning circle built on our values.
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We have chose the name Andruni, which refers both to a women's only space in traditional South Asian and Persian architecture, and also to mean internal reflection.
We believe that we all have:
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Wisdom rooted in historical and lived knowledge
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Knowledge about how we best show up
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Knowledge about what kind of leaders we would like to be
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Knowledge of the ideal world we would like to live in
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Critical stories to share and to hear
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And we believe that we do not always need an expert to tell us everything. Rather, what we need is space to surface all of these elements - leveraging our lived experiences to help achieve the professional goals we want.
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Andruni Circles is open to:
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Women or non-binary individuals who identify with a community of color AND are
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Mid-career professionals. This means that you are currently or were recently an employee where you still have a supervisor you report to regularly AND are managing others.
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Women of color from different sectors/industries, background, career goals and family obligations (we believe that we learn from each other and that these differences only help us see things in new light, expand the options we see, and the like)
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​To support these visions, we will be holding workshops and sharing resources. Sign-up here to stay up to date on upcoming Andruni Circles cohorts, get our articles and other resources.
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What: Our Inaugural Cohort
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Through this six week course, participants can expect:
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Story based-learning that helps connect our pasts to our futures.
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Provocative questions that seek to complicate and tease out nuance.
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Interactive, facilitated sessions that will include a combination of uniquely designed and facilitated exercises that offer a combination of self-reflection, explorations in pairs and discussions in small groups.This will be 90% you thinking and talking, so come prepared to be engaged!
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Community focus that will help you connect with your fellow cohort members - for this session and beyond, as you all continue on your leadership journeys.
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Reflection exercises and homework to keep the learning going between sessions (about an hour a week).
Through this process, participants will walk away with:
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A custom leader “job description” that outlines what you value in a leadership position
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A unique leadership action plan that gives you concrete steps on what you should do more of AND what you should do less of on your journey
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Access to a curated list of resources and research that will continue to challenge you to be more authentically you (however you define that)
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Powerful connections and a community of like-minded talented femme leaders to collaborate with for years to come
This program will NOT give you a boiler template of what leadership is or copy and paste “toolkits.” We use a peer-to-peer learning, and storytelling approach that allows each individual to explore what leadership and all that entails means for you. Instead of waiting for a new “how to book” or the latest craze, we invite you to define leadership for yourself. And to do so in community with like-minded women - a community you can take with you and grow with.
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How: Format and Preliminary Agenda
In order to build community, and learn over time, the program will be structured as follows:
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6 sessions that are 90 minutes each, over 6 weeks. These will be held from 9:30 AM - 11 AM PST on select Thursdays in October and November, with 1 final session in December.
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Specifically, each session below will deeply explore a core issue that is designed to unearth answers to inform and create your unique leadership action plan.
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Mapping Your Leadership Journey: Map your unique leadership journey to date. What does leadership mean to you? Why do you want to be a leader? How has your history, heritage and values shaped what leadership means for you?
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Deconstructing Models to Achieve Authenticity. Explore and clarify what authenticity is and why it’s important to you. What is authentically you? In a world where the commercially available models to leadership styles, personality constructs and work styles were designed primarily based on understanding white male leadership, how do we use what makes sense to us – and intentionally set aside what doesn’t resonate?
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Visioning Values-Led Leadership. Articulate a clear set of values to guide your decision-making. As you lead, what values will you use to make decisions? What experiences and systems shaped your values? How does this frame your exploration of your leadership journey?
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Connecting Power and Values. Create a power analysis framework for you to start using today. How you navigate power is a powerful litmus test for operationalizing your values. How do you envision navigating power as you think about working with those with more power than you (the Board, C-suite executives, external clients) and those over whom you have power (your teams, other staff members)?
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Crafting your unique Ecocycle Leadership Plan. Use your leadership values and a systems-based approach to sift through, prioritize and plan for what comes next. Consider deeply what you want to leave behind and what you want to nurture and grow as you continue your leadership journey.
Each participant will walk away with a comprehensive leadership job description of how you articulate your leadership role for your future self; and a clear, concrete, actionable plan on what you can start doing today to help you become the leader you envision for your tomorrow.
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Pricing
We want to make this program affordable for all, and offer a sliding scale:
Tier 1: Your employer is paying for you - $3,000
Tier 2: You are paying out of pocket and make more than $120,000/year - $1,800
Tier 3: You are paying out of pocket and you make less than $120,000/year - $1,200
Questions? Or want to discuss your particular case? Please contact us.
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Past Events

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