Igniting the next generation of kind & courageous leaders

The Summer Accelerator

Join our 6-week collective integrating parenting + activism

Let’s light the path for those who follow.
join the waitlist
TAKING ON TOO MUCH

Scattered &
Overwhelmed?

Transforming frantic reactions into responsive, impactful action

SPACE FOR HUMOR

Rascals &
Shenanigans

Making space for ridiculous mischief while still caring deeply

INTERDEPENDENT

Inclusive
& Accessible

Relationship-building cohorts to collaborate at a pace and method that works for every member

READY FOR CHANGE

Curious &
Determined

Mixing our skills, interests, and efforts toward impact that ripples through generations

RADICAL HONESTY

Brave Spaces &
Accountability

Identifying what matters & taking responsibility for our impact.

A VIRTUAL 6-WEEK COLLECTIVE

Parent Activist
Summer Accelerator

If we want to ignite the next generation of leaders, we've gotta be the change we want to see.

In a few short years, our kids will be grown. Somehow, we have to keep them alive, raise them to be courageous and kind, and maintain society long enough to keep humanity from imploding.

So how do we do ALL THAT with zero spare hours each day?

Raising Luminaries Parent Activist Collectives are virtual, seasonally-oriented 6-week experiments where radically progressive parents reflect, assess, and take action to make a laser-beam impact all-year-round.

Unlike single-issue workshops and online groups, we work together in small, private, interdependent cohorts to process & reflect, take accountability, and create individual plans of action for the change we want to see.

Get Curious

Who
We Are

What
We Do

What
We Get

Our
Moderator

Tailored
Objectives

Pricing
&FAQ

WHO WE ARE

Parents Who Just Won't Settle Down

AAPI parent activist self-advocate

Self-Advocates

For those of us who exist at the intersection of privileged and exploited identities, whose voices have been shut down in traditional activist spaces for not fitting within a binary, for those who refuse to use others as a footstool for our own liberation.

community organizer parent activism

Community Organizers

City planners & PTA treasurers & baby feeding consultants & food bank supervisors & carpool task-masters & the parent who organizes the block parties - the world needs ALL KINDS of community leaders who show up & make space for community needs.

ally parent activism

Accomplices & Conspirators

For those with bonus power & privilege investing resources and action into liberation for us all. Whether you're ready to move beyond saviorism or aren't ready to disclose private challenges that make traditional ally spaces unsafe for you - we got you.

From isolated accomplices in a sea of bigots, to frazzled self-advocates, to experienced community leaders, the one thing that ties us together is that WE JUST WON'T SETTLE FOR THIS.

We're tired of social media feeds stealing our fucks. We're tired of parent groups refusing to change the status quo. We're tired of wealthy abled folks burning the planet and all our relations. We're tired of performative allies, saviors, virtue-signaling, and moderates waiting for us to politely and quietly die.

We're messy, we fail, and we screw up all the time. But we keep trying to do the thing - trying to make the world better. Even when the world asks for way more than we can give.

We just need a little support. Some clarity. A little time set aside to gather together, regroup, and get the inspiration and motivation we need to stay curious, stand brave, and keep trying.

WHAT WE DO TOGETHER

Let's Explore This Summer

Using videos & transcripts, ridiculous discussion prompts, rollicking reflection activities & weekly live virtual hangouts, we'll support each other in setting realistic objectives based on our individual values and creating specific, actionable steps to get there.

We show up for each other to listen, share tools and resources, and get the inspiration we need to prevent burnout and stay motivated - even when dinner is burning and the dog barfed on your pillow.

01
Week One

Getting
Radically Honest

What's REALLY driving us to change the world for our kids? How does identifying our core values help us make a deeper impact with less busy work?

Let's embracing our most juicy impulses and create opportunity for the greater good.

02
Week Two

Re-Humanizing
Accomplices

Let's zoom way out, and them zoom way in: who are we centering in our social initiatives, our parenting, and our self-care? How can we get more intentional about the role we play as self-advocates, accomplices, and future-elders?

03
Week Three

Choosing
A Lane

Not everything is for you. It's gonna be okay.

We're identifying our kryptonite and strategizing emergency response plans like a team of elite stealth diaper-changing badasses.

04
Week Four

Growing Into
Our Power

You know in movies when everything goes to shit, and the hero is like 'Oh No! BETTER CALL THE FIXER!' and then a badass expert comes in with cool sunglasses and just OWNS THAT MONTAGE?!
This is the week we BECOME the badass.

05
Week Five

Overdue
Reality Check

Surprise! You can't do it all. How arrogant that you thought you could!

This week we get a loving reality check, laugh about the hubris that unites us as humans, and create a realistic pace of attack with space for spontaneous hijinks, rapscallionry, and cleaning the milk your kid just dumped on the sofa.

06
Week Six

Stumble-Proofing
& Sustainability

Mixing & matching personalized strategies to stay resilient through failure and motivated through despair, we'll create a kick-off checklist and accountability process to develop sustainable activist parenting habits for the rest of this year and beyond.

Join the waitlist

Your existence creates some wild opportunities for this world.

Own it.

WHAT WE GET

Collective Experiences

See, look! Real humans using real human words on the internet to show how our seasonal collectives are awesome!!

You'll have to take my word for it that they are real humans and not cats yowling creatively using voice-to-text.

[Seriously they are real humans]

WOW. When I read this I had the feeling of being spoken to DIRECTLY, like you got in my brain and understood the essence of my guilt, shame, insecurity.

Reading this transcript made me wonder if my brain telepathically sent you a big neon sign that says, THIS IS RACHEL. THIS IS HOW MY THOUGHTS RUN WILD AND SPIRAL AND LEAD TO SHOWING UP IN WAYS THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE MORE HARM THAN NOT “DOING” ANYTHING AT ALL.

I am going to read and re-read this because I think it holds several keys to my own (lifelong) process of liberation.

Rachel G.

Parenting Activist Collective, 2022
I was doing a lot of spinning and thinking ‘I need these credentials and these qualifications in order to do the work that I want to do to make an impact.’

But I don’t. Because I’ve already been doing the work, and making the impact. And that’s a place that I need to focus more energy.

Maura Kate M.

Parenting Activist Collective, 2022
I used to think I really did nothing, or I just did what everyone does - and since there was nothing tangible to show, I would feel guilty when I felt worn out, tired or overwhelmed.

I began to realize in a new way that I spend a lot of time building relationships - and that that is work. All the meetings I go to, all the people I meet and connect with others, all that lays the foundation for cultural and community change.

I knew that intellectually, but it really dawned on me after this collective. I really needed to reflect and put my work and personal life into perspective.
I am glad that I trusted the process, because I feel more deliberate, even, calm.

Kerry P.

Parenting Activist Collective, 2022

Let's show up for each other - and try this new thing together.

Ashia Ray

Hi, friends!

I'm Ashia Ray (they or she), Head Custodian of Raising Luminaries and your resource-sharer for our Seasonal Parent Collective series. This here is my face.

 

I've never identified as a 'leader,' but oh hey, here I am, caring for our lovely Raising Luminaries community of Benevolent Incendiaries since 2017, co-founder of the Student Ignition Society, and Head Book Nerd of Books For Littles since 2014. And now I'm the boss of this space! I can do whatever I want! Whooppeeee!

 

And what I want to do is... this. To hold space for a crew of parents in the in-betweens - those of us who are multiracial, class migrants, nonbinary, 'but-you-don't-look-disabled'-disabled parents. And all the folks who have grown tired of moderate activism spaces but don't feel quite ready to lead a decolonizing salt march.

 

Leaders like you, who don't realize you've been lighting the path this whole time.

about Raising Luminaries
At the beginning I felt like I was the imposter in this group.

And everybody's like, "No, I totally feel like the imposter."

While there is an agenda, there's no desired outcome that you need to meet. The point of it is, we're all coming at it from different areas.

Having this group of really cool people - people that we look up to, all different levels of activism - and everybody is like, 'Wow, I also feel like, I'm not doing this right.'

We're all gonna get different things out of it - but we're all doing it together, and traveling together, and learning about it together.

And that that is how it was different from other parent activist initiatives - I didn't feel that there were all these expectations for who I should be coming into it as, and who I should be going out of it.

Della M.

Parent Activist Collective, 2022

By the end of this summer, you will

(probably not)

Reconcile with your long lost lover - Find the hat you lost in 1998 (the one with the flaps) - Significantly change the shape of your body or the number of limbs attached to it - Get rid of that rash - Get your kids to stop leaving wet towels on the floor - Convince your housemate to unball their socks before throwing them in the hamper - solve the energy crisis

BUT IF YOU JOIN OUR COLLECTIVE & DO THE WORK

You can be the leader your kids are proud to follow

Join the waitlist for free & get email notifications when enrollment opens for our next Parent Activist Collective

join the waitlist

No commitments, just email notifications about the parenting activist collectives. Unsubscribe any time. Check out the privacy policy.

Never-Asked-But-Anticipated Questions & Concerns

FAQs & What-Ifs

Brave space guidelines, reciprocity, how we do things differently here

Our 2022 Summer Collective kicks off on July 11 and lasts for 6 weeks.

The enrollment period lasts from June 17-July 1 (but capacity is limited to 6 members, so sign up early.)

For the rest: start dates for our seasonal collectives shift each year.

Sign up for email updates to get notifications for when enrollment opens for our next collective.

You’ll have online access to the portal for a whole year! Don’t worry, you can’t fall behind.

Videos! Transcripts! Podcasts! Google docs! PDFs! Live chat recordings! Oh my!

And if you want to download them, go for it! Just please don’t share it, ’cause enrollment fees are how I feed those kids I’m always yammering about.

Expect roughly 2-3 hours each week of video, articles, audio, and reflection activities, to review and play with at your own pace.

But put a top on and set an alarm for our weekly live 2-hour class.

If you engage with the resources and reflections to the best of your ability, and it’s still not for you, send me all of your completed work before the end of the third week, and I’ll send you a full refund.

Since there is such limited space in the incubator, I can’t offer refunds if you just don’t engage with the work, since that’s a space we can’t retroactively re-fill.

There is no way to fail, and so long as you can make our six live hangout events, there is no way to fall behind.

You’ll have a whole year of access to catch up on the resources.

For a 6-week collective, the enrollment fee is priced at a sliding scale starting at $1400 all the way down to $400 for multiply-targeted folks experiencing hardship.

We’ll get together as a group to hang out on Zoom for 1-2 hours once weekly to discuss the reflections of the week.

I record the sessions and will send private links for folks who missed the hangout or would like to review it.

Collective members get free access to the Luminary Brain Trust for 3 months.

Yay bonus perks!

At the end of ever daily video thingie, I provide a list of resources to dig deeper.

(You know how I do).

I create them on the fly, so details TBD!

I know this is exclusionary (I’m sorry!) but while we’re still developing the rhythm and content of the Collectives, for now we’re just gonna focus on parents (of any gender) – because I’m a parent and that’s my wheelhouse.

I know families come in all kinds of constellations, so I hope to expand to other types of primary and secondary caregivers and educators once I get my bearings.

Because of the nature of our work in the collective, we have to max out each season at 6 members.

I tailor each season’s resources to be accessible for every member of the collective’s accessibility needs and individual goals.

We also grow through developing relationships and building trust – so it’s vital each member has ample time to share and discuss in our live hangouts.

Ready to smash the kyriarchy?

The Next 6-Member Collective Starts July 2022

Get notifications right to your inbox when the next open enrollment period starts.

Join The Waitlist

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AFFILIATE DISCLOSURE

Ashia Ray & Raising Luminaries are participants in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. We’re also also an affiliate of Little Feminist Book Club and Bookshop, and you’ll find affiliate links for them on this site, too!

ACCOUNTABILITY

©2022 Ashia Ray of Raising Luminaries™. All rights reserved.

Raising Luminaries
Igniting the next generation of kind & courageous leaders
©2022 Ashia Ray of Raising Luminaries™. All rights reserved.