&
Present
Future
We are simply trying to hold space for
people interested in group relations work.
We serve as a home for people who have experienced the power of group relations work, particularly in combination with spirituality and social justice. We want to nurture the GR network by offering a place to co-create as individuals and/or organizations. We are open to collaboration around group relations conferences and application events, writing, reflecting and meeting. We offer to stay connected with “the work” in various ways. We pay attention to where the energy takes us.
The programs we offer at this moment are listed in the activities section. As we are growing in numbers, we are beginning to create local (and virtual) communities that people may join to nurture “the work.”
&
Present
Future
We are simply trying to hold space for
people interested in group relations work.
We serve as a home for people who have experienced the power of group relations work, particularly in combination with spirituality and social justice. We want to nurture the GR network by offering a place to co-create as individuals and/or organizations. We are open to collaboration around group relations conferences and application events, writing, reflecting and meeting. We offer to stay connected with “the work” in various ways. We pay attention to where the energy takes us.
The programs we offer at this moment are listed in the activities section.
As we are growing in numbers, we are beginning to create local (and virtual) communities that people may join to nurture “the work.”
Past
Close to twenty years ago GRI was conceived on the back porch of a house in Washington DC with three people: one person from Palestine,
one from the US and one from the Netherlands. A few years later a small group of five individuals from across the globe built on this initial foundation and explored the energies and connections between each other and committed to harnessing this energy for the good of the world.
As a result, GRI was born. Our passion centers around Group Relations, Social Justice, and Spirituality. Feeling that over-imposing too much structure on the organization was not in service of our larger intention, our leadership model looked quite different from other nonprofit organizations in that whoever had more energy took the lead to organize events, often in pairs.
The general philosophy guiding founding members is that everyone is equal, and must trust each other, working both collaboratively and independently, but most importantly, fluidly. The first GRI-community started in the Netherlands when the five co-founders created GRI.
Now active GRI communities are present in San Diego, Boston, Philadelphia, and Denmark. We have GRI Co-creators in many cities in the US and in the following countries: The Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Poland, Singapore, India, Denmark, Jamaica, Israel and Australia.
Impact
While it may be difficult to quantify specific outcomes of GRI, there is a deep knowing that it provides the container that activates the potential for the transformation of people, groups and systems. When people interact with GRI through any of its core ways of being – group relations, social justice or spirituality --, it changes the way they look at themselves, their role, their group, their organization, the system and ultimately, the world.
In changing the way of looking at the world, it changes the way of being in the world – the cultures we create, the communities we connect with, the decisions we make, and ultimately, the way we lead and impact others and our environment.
GRI creates community through the energy that people bring to it. A group relations conference or training, a virtual event, ongoing participation in one of our groups, or a retreat often leaves people with many reflections, questions and insights about their lives and the context in which this takes place. People then seek each other out to continue the conversations and talk about application and come back for other events. In many instances GRI offers a place (literally or in the mind) of belonging for people.
