Who We Are
Grounded Connections grew out of our desires; to reconnect to deeper traditions, undo systems of violence, and learn in ways that center play, delight, and curiosity. Each of us fulfills a need and brings unique and specialized skills to this work. We hope you’ll join us on this journey. To welcome you we’d like to tell you a bit about ourselves, what excites us about GC, where we’re going, and how we’ll get there.
image description: A gravel driveway starts at the bottom center of the photo and leads to Mary’s home, which is also a hostel. The wall we can see is rock and the roof its a green roof with skylights. The top half of the photo is a view of the hillside in Glencolmcille, co. Donegal. Mary’s home is where Grounded Connections started.
Who We Are
Jeanette
Jeanette is a researcher, activist, educator, and organization builder who works to undo embodied-Empire and lives in Tsumas, on Nuuchahnulth territory. She is an abolitionist whose activism is rooted in honesty, compassion, and hope, and aims to create projects that are collaborative, educational, and creative.
Jeanette has over a decade of experience in project and non-profit management and spent six years being mentored by carla bergman in radical trust, hospitality, and project development. She was a Prosperity Witch for Free Cascadia Witch Camp for four years and is trained in financial management.
Jeanette is currently building Ground Connections, a place for people of Irish Ancestry or affinity to cultivate resilience and build networks of support to undo the systems of power and violence we benefit from. She is the creative lead of Spit Fire, a magazine-workbook that supports personal unlearning through connection and vulnerability.
River
River is a somatic educator who centres creativity and pleasure in their approach to learning and care. They are a certified Somatic Sex Educator and Tension and Trauma Release practitioner with a private practice on Nisenan Territory.
They have a BA in Fine Art and have studied NeuroAffective Touch, which focuses on developmental and relational trauma. River is especially curious about the way art, music, play, and language change and shift within our bodies. We know that songs and singing are visceral experiences, but we don't often acknowledge how they support us as we grow. By doing this work together, rooted in honesty, compassion, and play, we can discharge stuck emotions and tension held in our body's tissues to as we begin to move into right relationship with ourselves and one another.
River creates a non-judgmental and safe space for queer, trans, non-binary folx, and women to explore their boundaries, desires, and pleasure at their own pace.