H.O.M.E Jam 2025
Invitation to the 2025 HOME Jam
Since 2013, the HOME Jam has woven together the journeys of hundreds of leaders from across the environmental and climate movements—strengthening a synergistic ecosystem that powers our collective impact. As we face unprecedented challenges in our rapidly changing world, this year’s HOME Jam offers a powerful opportunity to connect, cross-pollinate ideas, and envision the regenerative world we know is possible.
We invite you—as a passionate advocate in the climate and environmental justice movement—to step away from your desk, breathe deeply, and realign with your whole self so you can shine even brighter in your work.
Let’s embody the healing we wish to see in the world.
Why Gather? Why Now?
Our environmental and social systems are under constant, intensifying pressure. Climate chaos is unfolding at home and around the globe as hard-won environmental regulations are being unraveled, and the sixth mass extinction is well underway—leaving us with both profound grief and an urgent call to action.
Yet the very ideologies that have harmed our planet are also fracturing our movement cultures. Across the environmental sector, we hear common stories of limited time, fractured trust, overstretched capacities, and competition for scarce resources. These pressures have led to misunderstandings, infighting, disenchantment, and burnout—threatening the strength and unity of our shared and interconnected missions.
Now more than ever, awareness is growing. People are recognizing the need to “move at the speed of trust,” build bridges across differences, and nurture cultures of belonging. These aren’t just “soft skills” but essential foundations for our movement’s vitality. This is exactly where the HOME Jam comes in.
The Purpose of the HOME Jam
As we face significant movement building challenges, new forms of learning and community are available to us to strengthen our ability to act collectively. We are guided by these inquiries:
- How could we generate more mutual support within and across the full spectrum of environmental activism?
- How does personal healing impact collective liberation, and vice versa?
- How can we apply our wisdom to strategically join forces across movement sectors to catalyze transformation?
- How do we protect our spirits and keep our hearts soft in these times?
What questions are alive for you? Bring them to the Jam!
“Thank you for reigniting my belief in my capacity and ability as a facilitator, leader, and organizer. It has been a true gift to return to my confidence. You have also gifted me, gifted us, with a restored belief in our collective capacity to find joy amidst uncertainty, hold conflict with care and increasing ease, dream of and create cultures of care and integrity.”
-Rachel Duthler, 39, Therapist, wilderness guide, facilitator, Verdure Counseling, Seattle, WA, US / Duwamish territory
The HOME Jam transforms on three interconnected levels: Internal, Interpersonal and Systemic.
→ As Individuals: Receive Rejuvenation
We create space for restoration, healing, and inspiration so that each of us can nurture our transformative potential. Here, you’re invited to take off your mask, explore your next growing edge, and connect your mind, heart, and spirit to your work.
→ As a Community: Build Solidarity
We ignite a collective fire that forges strong relationships. Through exercises that stretch our comfort zones, we discover common ground and celebrate our differences. By honestly addressing our conflicts, we move beyond collaboration and allyship towards deep friendships that sustain us long after the Jam ends. As our elder Joanna Macy reminds us, the point isn’t to “save the world” but to ensure that, even as the world falls apart, we don’t turn on one another.
→ As a Movement: Foster Collective Liberation
We intentionally examine the tools and perspectives we use in our work to decolonize our imaginations. We explore how our individual liberation is intertwined with the freedom of the whole and learn practices we can bring home to transform our organizational and coalition cultures. We learn how we can weave our work together into an interconnected whole for larger systems change.
What is a Jam?
In music, a jam is a creative, live gathering of musicians who come together to create an emergent new sound—where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Similarly, YES! Jams are spaces where diverse leaders and visionaries pool their passion, unique perspectives, and open hearts to heal fractures and build radically inclusive communities. To date, more than 200 jams have been held in 85 nations across six continents, forging connections that last a lifetime.
The Jam is about cultivating a culture of deep belonging with ourselves, one another, and the Earth. It’s a collaborative space to imagine and live into the practice of a beloved community. Balancing structure with spontaneity, we come together to show up authentically and generously—sharing loving attention and creative gifts to embody the healing we wish to see in the world.
“The Jam afforded us a unique opportunity to feel loved and to show love. This has lifted a heavy burden off my mind, and I am going back home knowing that I have a community of friends who share in my vision.”
– Nehemiah Tettey Odjer-Bio, 40, Program Coordinator (Forest & Biodiversity), Society for Ecological Restoration, Friends of the Earth Ghana, Accra, Ghana
How is the Jam structured? What will we be doing?
A Jam is not a conference, seminar, or typical meeting. Together, we will explore seed questions through facilitated dialogue, visioning exercises, sharing circles, collective ritual, artistic expression, playful games, participant-led workshops, outdoor adventures, quiet spaces for reflection, and intentional free time for spontaneous magic-making. The relationships, synergies, and partnerships we form here will sustain us long after we return to our day-to-day work.
Who is invited?
Anyone who does “earth work” is welcome to apply. Our intention is to gather a diverse community of practitioners from across the environmental movement. To maximize our movement-building impact, we also encourage you to invite other individuals and organizations with whom you’d like to collaborate to apply, too.
We welcome diversity in:
- Livelihoods & Perspectives: Foresters, clean energy engineers, food justice advocates, social entrepreneurs, environmental lawyers, policy wonks, members of intentional communities & ecovillages, those affected by environmental racism, conservation biologists, community organizers, sustainable tech designers, and anyone eager to reshape how our environmental movement operates.
- Identities & Worldviews: Class, race, religion, sexuality, gender, dis/ability, ethnicity, and more.
- Age & Experience: We embrace intergenerational participation, welcoming leaders approximately between the ages of 20 and 70.
“You feel like the most soothing ointment to my wounds. I feel seen, loved, heard. The HOME Jam has been a space I’ve been looking for and more. Thank you for this sacred, transformational, alchemical space.”
– Chiara Armand, 19, student, Williams College, Environmental Studies, New York City, NY, USA
Dates & Venue & Contribution
Dates: Sunday August 17 – Friday August 22, 2025
Location: The Quaker Center in Ben Lomond, California. Located 90 minutes south of San Francisco in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Quaker Center is a serene and magical retreat space away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. We will be staying in simple rooms and having delicious food prepared by our chef.
The HOME Jam is offered on a sliding Scale: $300 – $1200
Organizing and facilitation require real resources. The at-cost price per person for this Jam is $1050—half of which covers food, our chef, lodging, and supplies, and the other half supports the honoraria for our organizers and facilitators.
We offer tiered pricing based on your financial situation.
We encourage you to seek support from your organization; many past participants have received professional development funds knowing they’ll bring back valuable learnings and tools.
We also understand that even the lower end of our scale may be a significant expense, so please let us know your needs. And if you’re in a position to contribute more, wonderful—the extra funds will help grow our scholarship pool for those in need.
APPLY HERE: https://forms.gle/LdzsVXGPWAPgXqJE9
Priority Deadline: May 15, 2025
Final Deadline: July 1, 2025
Please feel free to contact us at <homeecojam@gmail.com> if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!
With gratitude for who you are and all you do,
Avi, Elias, Jodi, Marisa, Shilpa, and Zi
Organizer
Zihir Unique is a climate resilience and sustainability advocate dedicated to building greener, more equitable communities. With a background in program development, outreach strategy, and community education, they have led initiatives that reduce environmental disparities, increase urban canopy cover, and empower residents to take action in the face of climate change.Beyond strategy and policy, they believe real change happens when communities are engaged, informed, and equipped with the tools to create lasting impact. From spearheading volunteer driven environmental projects to designing public education campaigns, they bring a mix of data-driven solutions and people-centered approaches to their work.
When not working on sustainability initiatives, Zihir channels his passion for movement and connection into music and wellness. He crafts house, disco, and Afrobeats sets as a DJ, and is also working to make holistic health practices more inclusive. to transmasculine people At the core of everything they do is a commitment to fostering resilience—whether in ecosystems, communities, or individuals
Born into a large, multicultural Mexican American family in Los Angeles, Marisa Villarreal (she/her) grew up surrounded by matriarchs who nurtured community through family, spirituality, and food. Shaped by these women, she sees herself as a nurturer, connector and cross pollinator, working to bring more heart, joy, and spiritual/ancestral practices into the climate movement (and revolution). For over 15 years, Marisa has helped build and manage intersectional programs for organizations that aspire towards climate resilience, equity, and social justice. In her day job, Marisa works as a Program Director at GRID Alternatives, an organization advancing economic and environmental justice through renewable energy jobs and technology. The work that calls most to her soul is designing and facilitating spaces, like the Jam, for transformation, healing, dreaming, and play. She’s called Oakland her home for the past 11 years, where she finds joy through cooking big delicious meals with and for her friends, surfing, and dance parties.
Originally from Asheville, NC, Jodi Lasseter is an educator, facilitator, organizer and ritualist who has been engaged at all levels of the climate justice movement. She founded and serves as the Co-Executive Director of the NC Climate Justice Collective (NCCJC), a statewide movement ecosystem of environmental justice communities doing popular education, civic engagement and cultural organizing. Through previous leadership positions at the Amazon Alliance, Engage Network, and Friends of the Earth, she has partnered with hundreds of communities in the US and abroad. She co-founded the HOME Jam and created the 4Rs of Social Transformation framework used by Yes! Jams all over the world.
She also founded and leads Womyn of Wunjo, a women’s training program in European earth based spirituality and ecofeminism. Jodi has a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill and earned her MA as a Social Change Fellow at Clark University’s International Development, Community and Environment program. She currently lives near Durham NC, where she delights in song circles, playing frame drums, and exploring the best local swimming holes.
www.ncclimatejustice.info
Avi Kruley (she/her) thrives in the liminal magic of transitions. Her diverse toolbox of experience and education empowers her to build bridges from our ideals to our daily life, putting intention into practice. She has been a passionate player in the world of intentional community for over a decade, when she first discovered the magic of this unique intersection of people, place, and purpose. With a dual degree MBA/MPA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School, Avi spent the first couple Covid years serving as Director of Community Well-Being at Mount Madonna Center until she took a leap of faith into following her dreams of co-creating a new intentional community. She is now a community consultant and facilitator for the nonprofit she co-founded, The Next Big Step, and lives in The Sanctuary, an intimate community home in Oakland focused on sacred living.
Elia Serras is an EcoSomatic facilitator and guide for individuals, groups and organizations. His work is to empower embodied belonging through Truth, Healing, and Wholeness. Contact with wilderness saved his life as a younger man and inspired him to live and learn in communities ranging from traditional villages to contemporary Ecovillages in 11 different countries. Elia is a co-founding teacher of the Great Earth School, in which adult students engage in an initiatory education through connecting with nature, and empowering the vision and gifts they have for the world. He has been working with men and masculinity throughout the US since 2016 and has been a Jammer since 2018. He currently lives in a cabin in the woods on the Olympic peninsula, and can often be found singing, dancing or breaking bread wherever the village fire is burning bright. See more at EcoSomaBe
Shilpa Jain (she/her) is currently rooting herself in Oakland/Berkeley, CA. For 11+ years, she served as the Executive Director of YES!, working with social changemakers at the meeting point of internal, interpersonal and systemic change, and aiming to co-create thriving, just and balanced ways of life for all. Prior to taking on this role, Shilpa spent two years as the Education and Outreach Coordinator of Other Worlds and ten years as a learning activist with Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development, based in Udaipur, India, where she served as coordinator of the Swapathgami (Walkouts-Walkons) Network. She has facilitated dozens of transformative leadership gatherings with hundreds of young leaders from over 50 countries. She is passionate about dance and music, organic and natural farming, upcycling and zero waste living, asking appreciative questions and being in community. A focus on healing, forgiveness, compassion, love and wholeness permeates all of her work and life.
Recent Comments