Leap of Leadership
Community meet-ups with Spring Co-CEO Archana Deshpande
September 25: From stormy intensity to "Centering in Action" with your body's wisdom
1 PM UTC | 6 AM San Franciso | 9 AM Toronto | 3 PM Cape Town | 8 PM Jakarta (Find your time zone)
“The world we long for must begin in our own bodies—by shape-shifting from what is harmful into what we long for, to presence, and to love."
So says Angelika Arutyunova, a feminist resourcing activist, facilitator, strategist, thought leader, and somatic practitioner.
Yet, in today’s era of urgency, crisis and rapid change, it can feel like the world is spinning off its axis. You might need to make fast decisions that will have long-term implications. You might be struggling to “do it all” while still showing up with kindness and clarity for yourself, your team and your community. How can you embody the presence Angelika talks about? What practical tools can we all use to be more aware of when we are—and are not—doing that?
In September’s Leap of Leadership meet-up, we’ll be joined by Angelika to practice this somatic awareness together. Through a blend of guided practices and candid conversation about her own humbling journey of recognizing and unlearning harmful patterns, this session will support you to better understand some of the habitual emotional responses and protective armour you carry.
What emotions are easily accessible to you? How do they take care of you—and which ones, not so much? Why? Emotions are like muscles, whichever you access and use the most, you become really good at. Sometimes these emotions serve you, and sometimes you might get stuck in patterns that aren't useful any longer. Can you recognize that? Thank them for their great service to date, and let them make space for new emotions, new “shapes”.
Angelika will offer a few meaningful practices that we’ll explore as a group during the session, which you can take away with you for your toolbox of staying centered in these turbulent times. Without judgment, these practices offer space for you to shift, expand, and cultivate curiosity about what is possible for you with your newfound emotional space.
Angelika Arutyunova
Angelika Arutyunova is an international social justice leader, resource activist, and somatic practitioner with over 20 years of experience bridging philanthropy and movements. She has co-founded pioneering funds such as FRIDA: The Young Feminist Fund and Dalan Fund, and held leadership roles at the Global Fund for Women and AWID, where she led landmark research on “Where is the Money for Women’s Rights” and directed the 2016 AWID International Forum.
With deep roots in women’s, youth, and LGBTQIA+ movements, Angelika has advised foundations, UN agencies, and social justice networks on resource mobilization, participatory grantmaking, and the politics of money. Today, she is pivoting toward working directly with wealth holders—bringing her training in somatic practices to support courageous, embodied approaches to resource redistribution that align wealth with justice, healing, and long-term systemic change
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Archana Deshpande
Archana Deshpande is the host of Leap of Leadership, Spring Co-CEO and a multilingual, creative rights advocate, strategist, facilitator and Integral Master Coach™. She believes major strides towards justice, life-giving societal change and liberation are possible through the cultivation of generosity, presence, strong communities along with intentional actions.
Previously, Archana led the creation and expansion of OpenGlobalRights — a multilingual, global forum that explores human rights policies and strategies as well as managed and conducted research on human rights organizations and public perceptions of human rights in India, Mexico, and Morocco. She has co-authored various publications on the resource mobilization challenges and opportunities for human rights groups in the Global South and is passionate about finding innovative ways to sustain and expand social and climate justice initiatives.
Learn more about her on our About Us page!
