Infrastructures of Care

Announcing Manager Study Hall! A radical professional development program for managers at values-driven small businesses

In the dwindling days of 2022, I can’t stop thinking about the concept of infrastructures of care. I first heard the phrase from Anne Helen Peterson and it gave shape to something I was struggling to articulate. On a grand scale, and on the most intimate levels in these post-peak-pandemic days, being held and holding others in ways that foreground intentional, structured care is more urgent than ever.

Because I have the privilege of working closely with a wide range of values-driven organizations, I am painfully aware of precisely where small businesses are falling through the cracks in our existing “infrastructures of care.” Whether it’s a restaurant trying to create an inclusive and collaborative culture in a traditionally toxic industry, a start-up committed to scaling its product without grinding its employees to a pulp, or an agency working actively with brands and real estate developers to put money directly in the hands of the local creative economy instead of extracting from it, I am deeply familiar with the kind of support that entrepreneurs fighting the status quo really need. 

To that end, I’m thrilled to announce Manager Study Hall: a six-month program featuring regular virtual group meetings and a dynamic curriculum of resources tailored for managers at values-driven small businesses. Incorporating wisdom from a broad range of disciplines (including business school, conflict mediation, Change Management, coaching, Restorative Justice, anti-oppression facilitation, and traditional management training), Manager Study Hall will sharpen your management skills and take your leadership to the next level. Over the course of six months, participants will meet online every other week to talk about work, trade tips, learn new skills and to figure out how we can be the architects of the infrastructures of care that we need for ourselves, our teams and the worlds we want to live in. Manager Study Hall offers a space for you to workshop real-life challenges with like-minded peers, while also engaging with asynchronous activities and reflection prompts. The emphasis will be on integrating theory and practice to bring your unique perspective to the foreground while cultivating the skills needed to manage a business’s most important asset – its people.

If you are looking for a genuine and non-stuffy manager training experience, then this is it! Meetings start in January 2023, sign up here to join.