How do I know if your training is right for me and how do I bring your workshops to my group?

If you’re part of–or willing to create–a small group that’s ready to start getting active, Suburbia Rising’s From Idea to Action is a good fit for you. Feel free to contact us to talk through which of our other workshops might work for your company or organization as well. SRS3 workshops are ideally designed for a group of about 15-25 people in person. If you’re an individual, feel free to reach out to us and we can try to connect you with others in your area to start recruiting a group. You can keep in touch with us and be the first to know about stand-alone workshops by liking and following our Facebook page, or signing up for our email newsletters (we never sell or trade mailing lists, and won’t flood your inbox).

Are your workshops/trainings free?

The work we do requires intensive emotional and mental preparation and labor, so we do charge for our time and expertise for training. Our in depth, multi-part workshops are billed a flat, group rate; stand-alone workshops can be priced per attendee with tickets sold ahead of time or at the door; and one-on-one coaching is billed at an hourly rate. Please contact us for more detailed pricing based on your needs.

We also provide some pay-it-forward service scholarships. Our scholarships require up front community service to demonstrate intent, and require a pledge to continue and expand service after training. We do not want financial hardship to be a barrier to education, so please do reach out if you are interested in obtaining a scholarship or able to fund additional scholarships for those in need.

Public events, such as the Beloved Community MLK Day Tribute at ECA, are underwritten by grant funding so that the public can attend freely. At SRS3, we are always looking to make our work more accessible and still sustainable.

Can you modify your workshops to fit our interests/schedule?

We do have the flexibility to make sure our teachings resonate with the population we’re serving, and we will work with you to create a schedule that fits your group. Our curriculum is not set in stone, however, we are more likely to be able to add-on than to remove portions. As an example, if your group is focused on climate change, we can add case studies and tactics favored by environmentalists to our syllabus. But, we won’t remove our anti-oppression framework from the introduction to activism since that understanding is an important part of systemic change.

What if I want to learn about another topic that you don’t currently offer?

Get in touch via our contact form and let SRS3 either create a custom workshop for you and your group—or let us help connect you to a trusted consultant who fits your learning needs. The work for collective liberation is big, and we need a network of people learning and educating to get to where we want to go.

Is this just feel-good hand-holding?

Suburbia Rising is intentionally working to ​start​ people on the road to lifelong activism, which means, yes, we do want our participants to feel good and sometimes that means holding a hand as we set off into uncomfortable territory. However, we are teaching and committing to real, measurable, sustained systemic change–and our participants exit our workshops with the skills and resources to do the same. We expect our participants to be challenged and even upset at times during our work; growing requires effort and labor, not just good intentions. Suburbia Rising is a solid first step, way beyond the platitudes and talk-only diversity trainings about celebrating difference. We are action-oriented, so our empathy partners with accountability and follow-through.