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Community of Practice

Impact Across Sectors

HU is a learning laboratory and community of practice. We partner with projects and organizations across sectors through capacity building, fiscal sponsorship, organizational development and more, supporting them to increase their impact and thrive in their work.

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Embrace Incubator &
Community of Practice

An impact incubator and community of practice guided by love & liberation.
Fiscally Sponsored by Holistic Underground.

  • Embrace is a community of spiritual innovators and seekers embodying beloved community. This is achieved through exploring modern methods for providing a sense of purpose, belonging, meaning and beyond to BIPOC and our allies. By practicing healing justice, radical joy and building transformative relationships across lines of difference, we are creating a replicable model for what community and movements can do and be.

  • Traditional spiritual and cultural institutions, many of which were the birthplace of our modern movements for justice, did not only provide regular events and programming for the community. They also provided a suite of services for community leaders, healers, practitioners, elders, artists and others who provided essential services to the community. The Embrace Impact Incubator addresses the other side of the solution to the crisis of soul and separation which underlies the social, political and economic challenges we face as a people. This is achieved by providing the tactical support, coaching, and resources they need to scale, prosper, and thrive while doing the best work of their lives.

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Communities Upwards

Community development, equity research, legal services and more empowering immigrants for a brighter tomorrow.
Fiscally Sponsored by Holistic Underground.

Led by Sudanese-American lawyer, Gamila Halim, staffed by professional women specialist in civic engagement and health services, Communities Upwards has built health programs, community leadership and public participation links among the Middle Eastern population in the Bay Area

  • To create a society where all immigrants, especially women, can flourish. We provide vital support, resources, and advocacy, ensuring integration, cultural exchange, and holistic well-being. Together, we aim to break barriers and illuminate the path to a brighter future.

  • In partnership with the University of California Office of the President and the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, CU initiated California’s first significant study focusing on Middle Eastern Immigrant Women in California. Furthermore, they have done important research with this community regarding breast cancer prevention and the impact of refined sugar on families and communities. Beyond just research, CU is engaged in exploring culturally relevant interventions and solutions.

  • Communities Upwards has been an essential resource for refugee communities from North and East Africa seeking political support in the United States.

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Forever Sabah

Indigenous-Led Eco-Justice in the Jungles of Borneo

The state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, Malaysia, is being stewarded to a visionary future. Forever Sabah is supporting Sabah’s transition to a diversified, equitable, and circular economy. Holistic Underground was invited to lead a skill-building retreat for these incredible leaders. The Holistic Underground Workshops found themselves on the other side of the world, facilitated in the vibrance of tropical fruits and mountain views.

  • To support Sabah’s transition to a diversified, equitable, circular economy by:

    • Catalysing positive institutional change through a ground-up, project-based approach.

    • Building capacity to sustainably manage Sabah’s natural resources.

    • Further protecting and restoring Sabah’s natural habitats.

    • Enhancing social and ecological resilience in the face of changing climate and land use.

  • Guided by the principles of equity, integrity, inclusiveness, custodianship and shared responsibility, Forever Sabah will be delivered through a ground-up, project-based approach organised around four focal areas:

    • Food, Agriculture & Fisheries

    • Energy, Infrastructure & Waste

    • Livelihood, Tourism & Enterprise

    • Forest, Water & Soil

    Recognising the need to address the pressing issues of:

    • Habitat protection and restoration

    • The development of local communities

    • Critical knowledge and skills

    Forever Sabah will maintain an over-arching focus on rainforests and marine & coastal habitats.

  • Forever Sabah will build a fair, prosperous and sustainable Sabah by pioneering the State’s transition to a diversified circular economy. It will change the development and economic trajectory of the State by rebalancing the economy from its historical over-reliance on and exploitation of natural habitats, particularly Sabah’s forests, rivers and seas.

    The Malaysian state of Sabah has numerous advantages that together form a strong foundation for change:

    • Sabah is still endowed with a mega-rich diversity of intact terrestrial and marine ecosystems.

    • Sabah has a government that is openly looking for innovative approaches to enhance sustainability while developing a robust and competitive economy.

    • Sabah has an increasingly vocal civil society and active network of indigenous communities that is poised to engage in shaping the direction of the state’s future.

  • Forever Sabah was initiated to answer the fundamental question: where will the state be in fifty years if it continues to progress along it’s current development trajectory? The vision, principles, and focal areas, have evolved through an enriching 2-year engagement process involving all sectors of society; local communities, industry, NGOs, scientists and government. This uniquely inclusive conversation has in itself catalysed change, creating new relationships while empowering and energising communities.

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Repaired Nations

Building Black Cooperatives & Promoting Pan-African Economic Solidarity

Repaired Nations invited us to co-design and train facilitators for a series of workshops introducing Black folks in Oakland, Richmond, and the Bay Area to the power and possibilities of cooperative business ownership. When that invitation expanded to support fundraising and accompanying a delegation to Accra, Ghana to co-produce an international, Pan-African solidarity economics conference, we jumped on the plane.

  • Our mission at Repaired Nations is to redress economic marginalization through education, funding, and infrastructure for Black-owned cooperatives. These approaches work together to help Black entrepreneurs start and grow a cooperative business.

    We repair the effects of colonization and oppression by weaving interconnected communities into thriving, sustainable networks that equitably provide life’s essentials.

    Recently, Repaired Nations funded six Oakland projects, including The DEEP Grocery Cooperative and Nana Yaa's Be House, and supported dozens of Black entrepreneurs with business technical assistance.

  • Racial equity is embedded in the organization’s core values and permeates throughout its operations. Repaired Nations unequivocally exists to support Black people and the African Diaspora, is stewarded by an entirely Black leadership team, and prides itself on its deep roots within the East Bay community.

    As an organization, we do not think about the term “racial equity”—to us, it is the lived experience of our community, a survival instinct, and the reason for our being.  We recognize the collective grief that our communities have or are still experiencing even as we work to channel that feeling into collective action.

    We value cooperation, simplicity, patience, and compassion, never straying from these in our pursuit of ecologically sustainable development in under-resourced communities.

    Operating Values: Cooperative Ownership; Clarity; Compassion; Patience; Simplicity; Support; Integrity; Regenerative Economics; Emergent Strategy

    Operating Principles

    1. Always set up a win-win-win game

    2. High Challenge, High Support, High Courage/Resolve

    3. Cooperative Community Currency Circulation

    4. Focus on purpose & respect others, let’s not get stuck on identity

    5. Be Count-on-able

    6. Generously communicate for clarity

    7. Global Liberation through Pan-African Liberation

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OAXXANDA

Cooperatively Owned Black Eco-Community Development in Northern California, and opening pathways for Land and Property Ownership for Black Families

Opening Pathways for Black Community Ownership with At a time where equity is focused on as a trend rather than an outcome, some initiatives stand apart. After an18 month long professional development program powered by Repaired Nations with Training and Facilitation from Holistic Underground, OAXXANDA (Rhymes with Wakanda) was born. Years later, they have successfully purchased multiple acres of cooperatively owned property in Northern California currently being developed for residence, agriculture and community programming.

  • Our mission is to help Black and Indigenous families in the Bay Area stay rooted in their community. We aim to show how creative individuals can work together across generations to pool their money and resources. This will help stabilize the community through shared land projects and by supporting Black-owned businesses.

  • Our vision is to create an inclusive space where cultural heritage, creativity, and sustainable living intertwine. We envision a world where community members have access to a nurturing environment to live, work, and grow while being rooted in their cultural identities.

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Bringing JEDI to the field of advanced illness and end-of-life care with Lets Reimagine

To the backdrop of a Global Pandemic and healthcare inequities along the lines of race, gender, and class more stark than ever before, we had the honor of partnering with letsreimagine.org, creating sacred spaces for people to talk about the experience that brings us all together: death and loss.

  • Reimagine's mission is to help all people face adversity, loss, and mortality, and channel the hard parts of life into meaningful action and growth.

  • Reimagine envisions a world where we can embrace life fully—from this moment through the end—and collectively contribute to a more just and compassionate society.

  • J.E.D.I. (justice/equity/diversity/inclusion), to champion a compassionate space for all people
    Community    , to support personal and collective transformation through life’s challenges
    Creativity    , to explore our biggest questions with curiosity
    Authenticity    , to stay true to our hearts and minds
    Courage    , to turn toward what is hard
    Optimism    , to believe in, strive for, and manifest new possibilities
    Celebration    , to savor this “one wild and precious life”*

    *From Mary Oliver’s The Summer Day

  • Reimagine hosts community-driven experiences that bring creativity, connection, and essential conversation to communities around the world. Reimagine experiences encompass:

    • Arts + Entertainment

    • Healthcare + Social Services

    • Spirituality + Religion

    • Innovation + Design

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Practicing alternatives for Police Response to Mental Illness, Drug Abuse and Homelessness crises with Concrn

Among the most exciting and educational partnerships of our history was a police-alternative experiment: Concrn.org. The majority of San Francisco's 911 calls are in response to substance abuse, mental illness, or the homelessness crisis. Members of HU were among the first crisis responders, armed with musical instruments, snacks, and compassion. As we saw new sides of community care, the housing crisis, and policing, we also the need to provide the healers with some healing, so we provided workshops and wellness training for responders.

  • When you see a neighbor in emotional or behavioral health crises in the Tenderloin, you now have an alternative to calling emergency services.

  • Use the Concrn App or text 415-881-8278 to request a Compassionate Responder in the Tenderloin.

  • Trained Concrn Responders will arrive to mediate or provide assistance. Concrn Responders connect our neighbors to shelters & services as needed.

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Job training for people returning from incarceration and working to overcome homelessness with Code Tenderloin

Code Tenderloin was one of HUs first client-partners, allowing us the opportunity to share the communication and collaboration skills we teach with folks who can use them to take a pivotal step in their lives and career.

  • We collaborate across different sectors to  achieve system-level change.  

    Through partnership with other organizations, we create combined social, financial, legal, and emotional support. With this holistic approach, we uplift our clients and in turn their families and communities. 

    Partnering with other organizations to ensure our clients are housed, clothed and fed is essential to put them in the best position to work with us to secure long-term employment. 

  • Before becoming regular trainers for Code Tenderloin's job readiness program, we had the distinct honor of hosting a wellness and team building retreat for the founding team.

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Sunrise Movement Bay Area

“Environmental Justice Beyond Burnout” Workshop for youth organizers.

We partnered fellow Academy-Trained coaches to bring resilience tools and skill development to leaders of the youth led Sunrise Movement, Bay-Area division. At the peak of their activity, many of these young change-makers were experiencing burnout and fatigue, and were seeking tangible tools that can support them to strive on. This engaging training is one of many examples of ways that Holistic Underground answers the call of social movements in the moment of greatest need.

  • We are the climate revolution

    Together, we will force the government to end the era of fossil fuel elites, invest in Black, brown and working class communities, and create millions of good union jobs. We’re on a mission to put everyday people back in charge and build a world that works for all of us, now and for generations to come.

    • We grow our power through organizing our communities.

    • We are rooted in what we’re fighting for.

    • We are all on a journey to become better organizers, leaders, and people.

    • We rise to the challenge.

    • We transform ourselves so our movement can win.

    • We ask for help and give what we can.

    • We respect each other and our shared home.

    • We are a united movement.

    • We oppose state violence with nonviolent action.

    • We are in solidarity with other movements for change.

    • We are full of determination, fire, and hope.

Addressing Racial Displacement in Oakland with Black Tech for Black Lives

Many of our clients are visionary startups leveraging tech to create solutions to social issues or increase access and resource for communities who have been historically marginalized. When Black Tech for Black Lives launched its pledge, we were among the first to sign it, and that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship rooted in building community and working for liberation.