We believe that each organization & individuals are unique & therefore require customized support designed specifically for them. UP specializes in creating innovative development & plans suited for the individual organizations & communities.
We don’t follow a cookie-cutter philosophy to consulting. that’s why all our tools are vetted through numerous iterations.
But we take it yet another step…
Every time we do a gig, we learn, right along side our clients. We learn how our tools impact those we serve, how folks orient to our styles & methodologies, and then we make adjustments. This means that every time we do our work, every single time, we bring our internal lessons forward to serve individuals & organizations moving forward.
UP|services
consulting
UP’s consulting engages the whole agency in every focus area & on every level (individual, staff-wide, executive leadership & Board) typically over a period of time rather than one specific event.
UP’s consulting customizes on every level so the work is shaped by the people who make up the organization. In doing so, we ensure the greatest impact of our consulting work making implementation & execution of the work more relevant & achievable.
somatic campaign development
Forging a new model towards galvanizing the people to reclaim their power, one campaign at a time.
UP’s principle, Rusia Mohiuddin, has innovated a new model for strategic campaign development that begins by developing a comprehensive understanding of the somatic shape of the communities campaigns seek to organize & catalyze into action. By doing so, campaign plans, strategies, & tactics are holistically grounded by a deep understanding of the historical shape of communities & geared to specifically move these communities into action.
retreats
Typically 2-4 days in length, retreats provide an uninterrupted environment that results in far more advancement than the equivalent time in episodic training. Skills in several focus areas are taught, & extended to agency-specific needs & practices.
Retreats naturally creates an environment that allows for deep connection, alignment, & buy-in within & across participants.
Universal Partnership also designs & facilitates retreats open to organizations that are geared to address themes that have come up in our work with many organizations across the country. Currently, our primary retreats are #FreeYourBody: Oppression In the Soma and
our focus areas
strategic planning
UP has created a unique methodology for developing strategic plans that simultaneously attends to both short- & long-term goals using a somatic lens.
trainings
Training imparts the analytical structure of Somatics & Embodied Organizing, & teaches specific skills in each of our focus areas.
retreats
2-4 days retreats provide an uninterrupted environment that results in far more advancement than the equivalent time in episodic training.
leadership development
UP’s work emphasizes personal leadership skills as the foundation for sustainability & effectiveness.
organizational development
The overarching goal of UP’s work is to reshape organizational culture to prioritize wellness & dignity towards high efficiency + external impact.
coaching
UP’s engages the whole agency in every focus area & on every level using somatic coaching (individual, staff-wide, executive, & board).
leaders of embodied organizing (LEO)
UP’s principle, Rusia Mohiuddin, pioneered the integration of somatics into an organizing framework. With 8 years of frontline organizing, four years of leading community organizing organizations, & ten years of training beginner to experienced organizers, Rusia has taken her vast community organizing + leadership development mastery to develop a new holistic model of organizing called Embodied Organizing.
Embodied Organizing is a comprehensive training model for community organizers. The model imparts skills, with a somatic lens, to be an effective organizer while uniquely cultivating leadership that creates necessary balance & self-care tools that allows organizers to do movement work for the long haul.
In early Spring 2015, UP worked with Make the Road NY to bring the first ever Leaders of Embodied Organizing Intensive (LEO), an 11-week organizing training based wholly on UP’s Embodied Organizing model.
organizational development
The overarching goal of UP’s work is to reshape organizational culture to prioritize human wellness & dignity. We take a 4-pronged approach to this work:
- Staff: Somatic analysis of an agency’s internal communication & operational systems to identify practices that impede effectiveness & impact.
- Community: Exploring the history of the communities organizations serve; what actions community members are therefore primed to take or not take & customizing organizing approaches to cultivate desired actions.
- Board: Aligning the roles & responsibilities of Board members with the vision & goals generated by the somatic process, emphasizing where, when & how the work of the Board connects to the work of the organization.
- Collective: Designing points of contact & group interaction practices to streamline & enhance effectiveness of the agency & the community as an ecological whole.
leadership development
UP’s work emphasizes personal leadership skills as the foundation for sustainability. Using UP’s model of embodied organizing, individual staff, board members, & community members go through a process of discovering their own conditioned tendencies & designing practices crafted to advance their personal wellness, professional goals & organizational impact. Skill sets are grouped in basic, intermediate & advanced levels.
One of our most important groundings for effective leadership that inspires & motivates is the simple reality that changing you IS changing the world. Catalyzing change of our collective condition, on any level, must begin by making personal leadership shifts that create opportunities for change to happen on a broader spectrum.
somatic strategic planning
Organizations tend to operate as a default in day-to-day work rather than a plan that looks more broadly at the work over a period of time. UP has created a unique methodology for developing, implementing & assessing strategic plan in a way that simultaneously attends to both short- and long-term goals.
UP has innovated new tools that utilities a somatic lens to deeply understand the communities the work serves as well as the inner and outer works of organizations. Through these innovations, plans are more holistically aligned & strategic, further ensuring effectiveness & success.
UP has worked with numerous organizations & national alliances on 3-5 year strategic plans. Among them are California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, Mothers on the Move, Families United for Racial & Economic Equality, United We Dream (through RoadMap), Gender & Sexuality Alliance Network, & FIERCE.
somatic coaching
“I have stepped into the mantra that I will fiercely defend spaces, resources and leadership roles for those directly impacted by the issues I passionately work to address. I am a commitment to empowering those directly impacted– the youth and their families– for the sake of an inclusive and just community. I forgive myself when I don’t get it right; I seek understanding and keep an open mind when I need to be grounded. I am a commitment to creative leadership, to selfless listening, and to radical hope because my dream, my purpose is to help those that I meet become all they have been created to be.
Rusia’s coaching helped me articulate this vision. I found my center– my sweet spot, my super powers. And while the struggles are many still and the injustices hurting and dehumanizing our communities seem to be overcoming and overwhelming, the movement, mediation and journaling I practice help remind me that I am connected to a loving, powerful people. Our connectedness is our existence, and even though I can’t fix it all, I have an important part to contribute that depends on my creativity, my humanity, and my passion to mold a rising generation of leaders.”
–Erin Howard, Director of Latino Outreach and Support Services at Bluegrass Community and Technical College
somatic assessments + planning
Working with individuals & organizations to develop an understanding that points of measure & evaluation are just as important as planning, both long & short term & customizing practices to ensure that all three exist an eco system that is strategic & sustainable. Evaluations that generate data to make critical assessments that not only should serve as a grounding for developing plans but also as a measure of determining progress & updating plans where necessary. Assessments & evaluations go hand in hand with planning.
Steven Covey famously said, “If you are not planning then you are planning to fail.” We all know that our opponents have 50-100 year plans in addition to resources to actualize those plans. It is our onus to be strategic & visionary & one of the best ways to do that is to plan.
trainings
Typically day-long (6 hours) training sessions are for building specific analytical methods & individual/organizational practices. Trainings imparts the analytical structure of Somatics & Embodied Organizing, & teaches specific skills in each of our focus areas. Specific topics include political education, wellness training, & even tech training.
UP has designed & facilitated trainings for many organizations & alliances across the country. Most notable are United We Dream, California Latinas for Reproductive Justice, Make the Road By Walking, and Center for Constitutional Rights.
board development
Boards are a key leadership body within every organization. Intentional board development that imparts skills that teach & differentiate between the different roles within a non-profit board & the various responsibilities is vital to an effective, integrated board.
We do board development with boards, executive committees, & we design & facilitate board meetings. UP also has a training track geared for board members that can be offered virtually through three 3-hour webinars or a 2-day training.
