About Circles Rising
The Circles Rising Philosophy
We believe that transformation happens when people gather with intention. We view circles as a living structure where each voice carries value and where collective wisdom emerges through presence, accountability, and care.
We create community through shared agreements, conscious facilitation, and a commitment to noticing and disrupting patterns of dominance and exclusion. Circles Rising works to ensure access, dignity, and meaningful participation for all, while holding space for different lived experiences.
At its core, Circles Rising is a practice of reimagining how we belong to one another. In our circles connection is intentional, leadership is shared, and every person has a place.
What We Offer
Circles Rising offers training in facilitation and relating. We help women create meaningful connections, practice honest communication, and build sustainable community structures. We offer in-person experiences that allow women to step away from daily demands and into spaces of camaraderie and nourishment. Circles Rising focuses on core relational skills such as communication, repair after rupture, boundaries, agreements, and group dynamics. We work with women from all walks of life, creating spaces where they can be authentic and listen with presence.
Facilitated Circles
We host guided women’s circles that provide a supportive environment for connection, reflection, and shared growth. Each circle is designed to foster trust, deepen self-awareness, and strengthen relational skills.
Circle Leader Training
We train women to design and lead their own circles with confidence. This includes practical tools, facilitation techniques, trauma-aware frameworks, and guidance for creating inclusive spaces within their communities.
Community Building Support
Our work extends beyond the circle itself; we support individuals and organizations in creating intentional communities. This includes, consulting on circle structure, group agreements, and other sustainable practices that promote accountability and belonging.
Each of our circles is grounded in the values of authenticity, shared leadership, and equity, ensuring that every space we create is intentional, accessible, and rooted in real connection.
Our Story
Eliza and Jasmine met in 1999, by sharing an RV together for a week at a festival. Eliza liked Jasmine so much, she invited her to join a new women’s circle, of which Eliza was one of the founding members. The WEB circle, Women Expressing Brilliance, welcomed any woman to come and participate at any of the circle meetings. So many women were hungry for the connection of a women’s circle, that during a weekend retreat the group made the choice to divide into three circles. Jasmine and Eliza both joined the Monday night group, and thus in October of 1999,
the TREE Circle had our first meeting.
There were 12 of us, and we had no idea what we were doing. We were inspired by a tiny book called “The Millionth Circle” by Jean Shinoda Bolen. Many of us had done personal growth workshops and were in consciousness raising communities. Each woman brought her own unique gifts: organization and logistics; communication and creativity; grounded thoughtfulness and spiritual practice. At times it was messy, but we kept coming back every other Monday night. In the end,
TREE Circle lasted for 17 years.
Through trial and error, conversation, conflict and repair, sharing, caring, and sheer determination to continue, over the course of those 17 years together, we figured out what makes a women’s circle work. Eliza and Jasmine feel that this was some of the most important work of our lives. Now we have distilled all the joy and hard learned lessons from TREE Circle into one extraordinary course: Circles Rising.