Instead of forcing yourself to fit the system, what if you could just be yourself?

You’re invited to

“FIND YOUR VOICE”

A space for BIPOC to heal from racial trauma and find their voice in community

Join the waitlist to be the first to know when the next cohort launches!

Join an intimate group of BIPOC working together in community for 8 months to unpack racial trauma, explore our identities, and find our voices in a world that often wants to silence us. We will retrace history to understand how modern society upholds white supremacy and causes extensive harm to BIPOC communities. Using that knowledge, we will consciously move away from white models of success, learn how to become more comfortable with our identities, and re-design our life based on the values that matter most to us. We will also learn how to use our voices, leverage our power, and organize in community to usher in the systemic change we need.

Our program in a nutshell

  • These are 60-minute weekly classes with your entire cohort. The time will be divided equally between a lecture portion and a guided discussion where you will work through the weekly prompts and discussion questions.

  • Each week, you will be presented with a set of exercises and prompts to critically reflect on your racial trauma, unlearn white models of success, and discover important facets of your identity and values. These worksheets can be referred to and reused as you continue on your healing and advocacy journey, long after our program ends.

  • In addition to the weekly classes, we will have three facilitated peer discussions to further your understanding of the topics we’re learning as a community.

  • We will have an online platform where you can discuss the course material and exchange thoughts and ideas with your peers. We hope this will help to build a thriving online BIPOC community of co-conspirators working together for our collective liberation.

  • After we complete the course, we will have monthly calls for the next six months to help you implement the strategies we discussed in class and be a supportive force in your racial healing and advocacy journey.

  • Free access to our online peer network for 6 months after course completion, with monthly prompts and challenges and other perks. After that you can stay enrolled in this network for a fee of $15/month.

THE EFFECT OF RACIAL TRAUMA

The western world was not built for people of color. How could it be when the foundation of the West is rooted colonization, imperialism, and slavery? Most of us grin and bear through these unfair conditions because we are economically dependent on these systems of oppression. But the reality is that these structural barriers reduce our opportunities, lower our quality of life, and take a toll on our physical health and mental well-being. Research has shown that BIPOC tend to develop chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes at an earlier age simply from being under stress all the time.

Without healing, BIPOC can inadvertently channel white supremacy, add a layer of legitimacy to racism, and harm other BIPOC peers.

BREAKING THE CYCLE

Systems of oppression lower self-esteem in a variety of ways, such as by isolating you, gaslighting you, and making you feel like “the other”. A key way to counter that feeling is through community, education, and reflection. Our 8-month program is built on that understanding and offers:

  • An anti-oppressive wellness program centering BIPOC

  • A safe place to explore your identity

  • A reflective space to heal from racial trauma

  • A step-by-side guide to unlearning systems of power

  • A playbook on organizing and advocacy

  • A supportive community of co-conspirators

Our course creates a space for you to heal your racial trauma, find your voice, and work towards collective liberation in community with others.

COURSE DETAILS

Weekly Topics and Discussion

Week 1: It’s not you – it’s the system

  • Understanding white supremacy and systems of oppression

  • The effects of historical segregation in present systems

  • How western imperialism rewrote the history of the world

Discussion: Reflecting on past failures that were most likely due to systemic barriers

Week 2: Reconnecting with our identity 

  • How systems of oppression affect our identity and self-esteem

  • The psychological damage of the white gaze and coping methods

  • Reclaiming our confidence and healing from racial trauma

Discussion: Getting comfortable with the various facets of our identity

Week 3: Exploring our racial trauma

  • The weight of our intersectional identities

  • The lie of meritocracy woven in intergenerational trauma

  • Dismantling white models of success and professionalism

Discussion: What ideas of success do we need to unlearn? 

Week 5: The white supremacy playbook

  • Perfectionism and Urgency

  • Neutrality and Order

  • Divide and Conquer (model minority myth and anti-blackness)

Discussion: Which of these strategies have been used against you?

Week 4: Redefining success

  • Becoming aware of core values in our life 

  • Connecting these values to our identities

  • Strategies for living with authenticity

Discussion: Creating a vision for our life on our own terms and values

Week 6: Finding and using our voice

  • Strategies to counter racism and interrupt harm

  • Centering and amplifying the most marginalized voices

  • Understanding how our collective liberation is connected

Discussion: Using our unique strengths and voice for systemic change.

Week 7: The cost of our resilience

  • How racial trauma hurts our health and well-being

  • The toxicity of being a leader of color in a white space 

  • The double standards for BIPOC and our perpetual exhaustion

Discussion: Strategies to avoid burnout and manage our nervous systems and energies

Week 8: Organizing in community

  • Learning how to create & organize a network of allies to push for change

  • The importance of BIPOC safe spaces to heal from racial trauma

  • Why rest is an important component of liberation work

Discussion: How to organize in community and divest economically from systems of oppression

Live classes every week during the first two months of the program

Lecture Dates: TBD

*Recorded lectures available for missed classes

OUR STORY

And why we created this course

Hi there, we’re the team of sisters who created A Better Force to bring an equity focus into the leadership industry. We wanted to bring our unique voices as first generation, Asian and Muslim immigrants to the leadership space in the US. But as so often happens to BIPOC business owners, we ourselves struggled to get our voices heard. From nonchalance to microaggressions to outright hostility, we felt like we didn’t really belong in these mostly white business and networking circles.

Then in 2022, Saamiya got a cancer diagnosis. This was after 15 months of pleading with doctors to take her seriously by which point her cancer had spread all over her body, and we saw firsthand how advocating for yourself as a BIPOC could be the difference between life and death. As we healed from our family’s cancer journey, we intentionally started seeking BIPOC affirming spaces and even formed a book club where we exclusively read fiction from women of color. These spaces have been transformative in our racial healing and confidence as women of color. Then the genocide in Gaza started, along with vicious backlash against the Muslim, Arab and Palestinian community and we saw more than ever the need for (and the power of) our communities.

We hope that our 8-month program will teach you how to harness that beautiful and powerful voice of yours and give you the community that will rise and stand beside you to change this world. And of course, us sisters will be with you on that journey. We may not hold much power individually, but collectively, we can truly make a difference.

Connect with us: Saamiya’s LinkedIn — Sarah’s LinkedIn — Email

TRUSTED BY

  • "The team at A Better Force is truly committed to creating strategic, emotionally intelligent, compassionate, educational conversations around the much-needed topics of equity, diversity, inclusion, and leadership development. They are leaders in the true sense of the word: guiding and supporting folks towards a more positive and healthy vision for work, life, community, and civil society."

    Lorelei Gonzalez

  • "A Better Force is so thoughtful in holding space for tough subjects and conversations in the workshops they facilitate. It's hard to condense a lot of information in a 1.5 hour workshop but their workshops are rooted in so much knowledge and reflection that tackles the root of these issues! I felt really grateful to learn from them."

    Jennifer Xia

  • "A Better Force has transformed the Austin area and beyond. I have participated in their thoughtful and engaging dialogues, and have seen the safe spaces they've created for identity sharing. Whether it's one-on-one work, or a team training, the two powerhouses are equipped to handle your needs with professionalism, years of expertise, lived experience, and empathy. I have recommended their services to others in my professional network, and will continue to do so. Their dedication to this work and to their community is unmatched."

    Cristina Tejeda

  • "This dynamic duo made the topic of DEI enriching, powerful, and insightful for our team today. Thanks so much for bringing such strong awareness of how we can all be better at seeing and bringing out the best in one another and society. BRAVO."

    Monica Perras

After our course, you will have:

  • A better idea of how systems of oppression affect our well-being

  • More confidence in being yourself and expressing your unique voice

  • More clarity and comfort around your identity and values

  • Your own vision for what success looks like for yourself

  • More understanding of your racial trauma and ways to heal from it

  • Strategies on how to use your voice and advocate for yourself and others

  • Techniques to organize in community and create a network of allies

  • A supportive community that you can lean on, even after the course

  • Worksheets with step-by-step instructions that you can keep re-using

  • Monthly calls for half a year after the course to help you implement the strategies discussed

Ready to invest in yourself?

What’s included in the price:

  • 8 hours of live, interactive lectures

  • Access to all recorded lectures

  • 3 hours of guided peer discussions

  • 8 sets of re-usable self-reflection exercises and prompts

  • Online community of peers

  • 6 check-in calls for six months after course completion

  • 6-month access to our online peer network after course completion where we will have weekly challenges and answer your questions

Price for our course: $1,200 (early bird)

If you want to ask your company for reimbursement, check out the template in the FAQ below.

Fun fact: The combined hourly billable rate for Saamiya and Sarah’s services are $300 / hr. You will receive more than 17 hours of course content and discussions containing the most crystallized insights from the sisters’ expertise and lived experience. The actual value add is more than $5,000, without even considering the bonus perks such as the worksheets and access to the online community of peers.

Find your Voice is the right fit for you if:

  • You want to learn how to express yourself authentically, especially in professional spaces

  • You are questioning the role of systems of oppression in your life

  • You need a safe space to belong and heal from constant racial microaggressions

  • You want to speak up and advocate for marginalized community members

  • You want to create a network of allies for mutual support and systemic change

Got more questions? We have answers.

  • Yes, we usually have free demos on the lead-up to a workshop, so make sure to sign up on our mailing list or connect with us on social media so that you see news on that. We often have free or low-cost workshops on related topics as well, so you can check those out too.

  • The class dates for the next cohort have not been determined yet. For the first two months of the program, class, we will have 1-hr of lecture at the same time every week. However, classes will be recorded and available to you for the duration of the course. The three facilitated peer discussion dates and monthly calls will be determined during class, dependent on cohort availability.

  • The classes and other sessions are fully virtual.

  • You will get access to the course portal one week before class starts.

  • Reserving 2-3 hours per week is ideal. One hour for the actual lecture, and the rest of the time to work on exercises and distill your learning.

  • We don’t offer refunds for this course, so do make sure you want to participate in the course before purchasing.

  • Yes, this class is currently exclusive to non-white folks since it focuses on unpacking racial trauma as a person of color. We hope to have a version of this course for white allies in the near future.

  • Of course, we encourage you to ask, and we have an email template you can use to request reimbursement from your company. The template highlights the benefits of the course to both you and your employer. You can find it here.

  • Of course! Please email us at contact@abetterforce.com to schedule a 30 minute chat. You can also access our Calendly link via the Contact page. We can also be reached on LinkedIn (Saamiya & Sarah).