Hi! I'm Tara Robertson.

As a workplace inclusion consultant I see a lot of things from a systems perspective. For example, what are the design decisions we make around hiring/onboarding/promotions/layoffs that create fairer and more equitable workplaces, (or not)? After I had written this newsletter I could see that system level design decisions are a through thread through what I'm sharing in this newsletter: How do we design leadership events that are nourishing? How do we build movements that creates liberation...

Em and I launched Seasons of Change and co-lead our first session for spring. It was such a delightful group of people! We invited participants to think back to what they dreamed in the winter time and what seeds they were choosing to plant in their lives. Then, we invited people draw their gardens. We took our own medicine (that sounds so much nicer than dogfooding, don't you think?) and drew the seeds that we want to grow in our lives. This is what I drew: The raspberry bushes are ones that...

Seasons of Change - starting THIS FRIDAY! When Em House and I started brainstorming about what we want Seasons of Change to be we were both excited to build something that's creative and stretches what hosting a seasonal group on Zoom could feel like. How can we involve all the senses? How can we use embodiment? One of my favourite ideas is a digital postcard to get people starting to think, feel and dream before each the live session. It goes out later today! If you're on the fence about...

In Vancouver spring is here. Winter is over – It’s time for the parts of us that have been hibernating to wake up. Spring Equinox is March 20th, and that’s when Seasons of Change kicks off! What is waking up in your life now? What did you dream up in winter? The ground is fertile and ready to get started. What seeds are you planting now? What are the signs of spring where you are? Hit reply and let me know (or even better, show me with a photo!) Magnolia tree blooming in Vancouver Seasons of...

The world feels fucked up, probably because it is. I'm not going to list all the things, because I think we all know what's going on and most of us are titrating the news so we don't get overwhelmed. This weekend I doom scrolled and found myself overwhelmed and numb (oops). Connecting with moments that felt alive for me helped me thaw and reconnect with people I'm close to and then broader communities. When I read Dr. Dori Tunstall's newsletter I realized I had also been micro-dosing on joy:...

I've been noticing a lot of people standing up and saying NO to injustice and coercive power. In Andrea Reimer's Power U video she talks about the power of refusal. These ideas come from Václav Havel's The Power of the Powerless from 1978. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney referenced this essay in his speech at Davos. Here's three examples of people saying NO: Minnesotans who have been saying NO to ICE creatively, consistently and loudly. Chappell Roan and Abby Wambach saying NO to...

Procurement with Purpose My first online course, Procurement with Purpose is live! It's my first work collaboration with my wife, Carolyn Arthur, an ethical procurement expert. Chances are high that you are not a procurement professional. Would you do me a favour and forward this to your procurement team at work? This course will help you prepare and submit your organization's response to Canada's Modern Slavery Act (Bill S-211) while helping you connect with your values and purpose to...

I don't know what to say. Everything that's happening in the US right now is violent and horrific. It's not new, however. The courage of the people of Minnesota give me hope. This clip from a Singing Resistance vigil on Saturday night gives me hope and feels good for my nervous system. Over 1000 people gathered together to sing. They sang songs of solidarity and grief after ICE executed Alex Pretti, a legal observer. Vanessa Richards taught me about the power of singing together in community....

I've hosted an online workshop to do YearCompass in community for the last 4 years and this year's might have been the best one yet. It didn't feel like a Zoom webinar at all. Here's the combo of ingredients that made it so good: The world is a hot mess right now and we all needed a cozy space to land, reflect and dream Participants showed up and were real and generous with themselves and each other (special thanks to Ravi, Shae, Mary and Reem for being your glorious and tender selves)...