RAISING LUMINARIES WINTER COLLECTIVE

Frequently Asked Questions

"I really, really need this! Buuuut..."
Do you have some... hesitations?
No worries if you're unsure how to weave the Winter Incubator into your limited budget, packed schedule, and distracted brain.
We built this just for you.

join the waitlist

Due to work visa restrictions, participation is currently restricted to returning members only.

Join the wait list to get notified when we re-open to new registrations.

Already a member? Log in

How can you change the whole world without neglecting your kids - or yourself?

I don't have time!

How well is scrambling to keep up currently working for you? Using our strategies, members <b>save an average of 5 hours weekly</b> - even long after the winter incubator ends.

I can't afford it!

50% of members use our sliding scale, deferred payment plans, or reciprocate by supporting the group in non-monetary ways.

I'm not ____ enough!

While a few of us are Certified Badasses, none are Official CTOs of Activism or whatever. We're just caregivers who want to make a difference without melting into a puddle of goo.

I wouldn’t have had any idea how to make a space like that, if I hadn’t had the opportunity to watch Ashia make these spaces that are so welcoming and supportive and effective for people.

I adapted the way Ashia built community norms for the Winter Incubator to determine what my decolonizing research faculty group wanted. What would it look like to have a space that was just for us, rather than a space designed by and for rich white dudes?

We landed on green and growing things, warm drinks, and personal squishmallows. Our first meeting was yesterday and it was so exciting.

Alison L.

join the waitlist

Due to work visa restrictions, participation is currently restricted to returning members only.

Join the wait list to get notified when we re-open to new registrations.

Already a member? Log in

RAISING LUMINARIES CAREGIVER WORKSHOP

Winter Incubator General FAQ

  • The Winter Incubator is an annual online six-week workshop hosted by Raising Luminaries. 
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  • Gathering in small-group discussions, we identify the support you need to juggle advocacy, life, and caring for your community. 
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  • In our guided discussions, we learn about personal, interpersonal, and community strategies to let go of harmful practices and weave social justice and decolonization into our days without burning out.
  • The Incubator is designed for neurodivergent parents, educators, and caregivers who feel overwhelmed and overworked.
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  • We welcome both self-advocates and accomplices striving for collective liberation.
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  • To learn more, check out our About Page.

The Winter Incubator is available on a sliding scale and payments are distributed over 12 months to help balance your contributions.

To check out our sliding scale options, visit the Pricing Page.

  • You have access to all workshop material, workbooks, and recordings all year round.
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  • Every winter you will also have access to drop-in gatherings and chat groups for up to 12 weeks if you’d like support while you process.
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  • This gives us something to look forward to each winter and  makes it easy to connect with like-minded caregivers while loading the dishwasher, waiting at the bus stop, or walking your dog.
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  • For those who want to meet in real time, we also host live drop-in Tea Times once a week on Zoom during the winter months.
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  • For more information on our schedule, check out the Scheduling Page.
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  • When won’t you feel overwhelmed? Let’s be honest. Your life isn’t going to get any simpler. When you’re too scattered to think straight, you’ll always take on more than you can handle.
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  • Wrangling kids, work, and a world that’s literally on fire – we’re here to help you get a grip without drowning in everybody else’s demands, so you can give them what they need.
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  • We’ll help you feel less overwhelmed now and in the future, no matter what complicated horrors await next.
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  • However – are you up to your neck in crisis?
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  • > Is it impossible to get 15 minutes to yourself for five days a week?
  • > Would the lowest cost on our sliding scale prevent you from paying for rent or medicine?
  • > Is the car you live in currently on fire?

 

  • If so – you have more urgent things to attend to! Join us next year.
RAISING LUMINARIES CAREGIVER WORKSHOP

Winter Incubator Scheduling FAQ

  • These seasonal collectives aren’t for you. They’re to help you care for others without burning out and becoming someone else’s problem.
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  • If you keep setting yourself on fire to keep others warm, you’ll end up a crispy mess.
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  • If you keep running on empty, you’ll let people down in catastrophic ways.
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  • You’re already causing damage that you don’t even know about yet. But it’s not too late to change course.
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  • Whether it’s your kids, those you show up for, or others who follow in your footsteps – you’re leaving vulnerable people who rely on you to deal with the consequences of showing up to run on fumes.
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  • Everything Raising Luminaries creates (particularly our seasonal collectives) is to help progressive caregivers stop harming those they care for under the guise of performative activism, saviorism, and martyrdom.
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  • Stop raising incels. Stop prioritizing comfort over community well-being. Stop doing saviorism, martyrdom, and performative busywork. Stop ignorantly upholding the kyriarchy. 
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  • If you only want to join us for the appearance of getting your shit together, then this isn’t the space for you. But if you genuinely wish to reorient how you show up for others from the roots up, invest the time it takes to be the change you want to see in the world.
  • While you have access to the member portal and all resources all year round, we host drop-in gatherings and optional chat groups for 12 weeks every winter, starting in December and continuing through February.
  •  I host a virtual weekly drop-in gathering through the winter. Attendance is optional for those who would like to connect with the group.
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  • We also host an asynchronous video chat group on Marco Polo during the 12 weeks the Incubator is in active session.
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  • If you’d like additional time to chat, all members are welcome to reserve a space in our virtual Common Room at a time that works for you.
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  • Life with kids can get chaotic; we all get sick, and many of our members are managing multiple disabilities. 
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  • Not only are you welcome to take what you need and leave the rest for next year (which you’ll be invited to at no cost) – you don’t need to wedge any live sessions into your schedule if you don’t have the time. Just drop in when you like to get the support you need.
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  • While you’re invited to participate as little or as often as you like, you can also skip active sessions and join us again next year at no additional cost.
  • All of our gatherings are optional drop-in events. The concept of ‘missing’ a gathering doesn’t apply here.
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  • We’re disrupting toxic hustle culture because scrambling to keep up, consume, and produce upholds the kyriarchy we’re fighting to dismantle.
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  • But we’re not doing that here. With our cyclical approach to growth, there is no such thing as ‘falling behind’ in the Incubator.
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  • Attending at least four of our live virtual gatherings may help you connect and develop supportive relationships. However, we also offer a 24/7 asynchronous chat group and written portal discussion threads for members who need accessibility support, play at a different pace, or can’t attend live gatherings.
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  • We’ve designed the Winter Incubator specifically for overwhelmed caregivers. If you need to step away from active participation, you can defer to a future winter session at any time for no additional cost.
  • You’ll have online access to the winter portal and all downloadable bonus resources for as long as our portal exists.
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  • Year-round access means you can download the discussion guides, guidebooks, and resource library materials at your own pace and access them forever.
  • We don’t record our weekly drop-in sessions. Not worrying about being ‘observed’ helps our members share personal stories and challenges without feeling self-conscious.
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  • If you’d like to leave personal messages in your cohort’s video chat group, these recordings last one year before being automatically deleted. You can remove your personal messages from the group anytime, no questions asked.
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  • And at the end of the winter, we retire our videochat discussions to start fresh for our next session.
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  • No need to perform, stay anything brilliant, or be charming. We have a ‘no itchy underpants’ rule where you’re encouraged to show up as you are, messy and wearing your coziest stained and threadbare pajamas.
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  • We’re aiming for cozy and intimate conversations to get to know each other. Of course, our kids will interrupt us. We’ll make space for each other’s chaos, and our sessions are not recorded or shared beyond the group.
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  • We use automatically generated live captions on Zoom. Unfortunately, we can’t afford a live ASL interpreter at this time.
RAISING LUMINARIES CAREGIVER WORKSHOP

Winter Incubator Registration FAQ

  • Educators, parents, and caregivers who feel spread thin caring for others are welcome here – particularly neurodivergent caregivers who may not feel welcome or safe in traditional ‘parent’ groups.
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  • We expect our members to have a cursory understanding of systemic oppression (ex: racism exists). We’re all expected to have self-awareness and be mindful of our individual power and group privilege when in conflict with other members.
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  • If you’re not sure whether you are welcome in this space, let me know what’s on your mind so I can help you find the support you need – even if it’s not in this particular group.
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  • But if you believe you *already know everything* about social justice and parenting, this is not the space for you.
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  • If you are offended by targeted people finding ways to laugh through hardship, this is not the super-serious space you need.
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  • We are not your people if you can only tolerate polite, restrained conversations that center the comfort of people in power over curiosity and honesty.
  • We welcome up to eight new members each winter. Our enrollment period typically starts in October, giving first dibs to folks who have signed up for the free winter waitlist.
  • If by our fourth week, you have attended at least four live hangouts and or have engaged twice a week in the chat group – and you realize this isn’t the support you need – you can request a full refund.
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  • Since there is such limited space in the collective, I can’t offer refunds if you don’t attend or engage with our group. 
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  • For more info, check out our generous and flexible refund policy.
  • You have lifetime access to the Winter Portal and all existing and future Winter Incubator resources. But you’re never obligated to join us for future collectives.
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  • I invite returning members each year to see if you’d like to join an upcoming session, support new members, or take a break this year.
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  • Don’t worry about ‘taking up space.’ In addition to limiting enrollment to only eight new memberships each year, we can also break larger groups into cohorts to ensure everyone gets the time and attention they need.
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  • If you’re concerned with making space for others, you should join sooner rather than later. We help you gain free time, strengthen your relationships, and keep others warm without setting yourself on fire.
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  • The longer you put this internal work off, the harder it’ll be to support those who need your help.
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  • If you are a person of privilege and want to show your kids how to care for others without saviorism or burnout – start now – before they pick up more of your most self-destructive habits.
  • Our live hangouts are deeply interactive and not designed for passive consumption. We include 3-8 members in each cohort to build trust and get to know each other. 
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  • I tailor the resources for each collective to be accessible for every member’s accessibility needs and individual goals, so we keep our groups small to give you the breathing space you’ll need to dive deep into our unique challenges.
  • Contact me for a discounted group rate if you’d like to join the collective with a friend or as a group.
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  • However, if your friend wants access to the portal and resources but can’t afford the enrollment cost, encourage them to take advantage of our sliding scale or contact me for support.
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  • Please keep your portal login and the resources from our library private unless you have express permission from Raising Luminaries. Sharing these outside our membership is a violation of our terms & conditions.
  • To learn more about hosting, licensing, restrictions, and customizing the incubator for your group, reach out to me, and we can coordinate something that works for you.
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  • Outside this program, please keep your portal login, the resources from our library, and the workflow and trainings from our Winter Incubator private unless we’ve worked out a consensual hosting and licensing agreement. Sharing our material for profit beyond our membership is a violation of our terms & conditions.

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©2014-2026 Ashia Ray of Raising Luminaries™. All rights reserved.

Raising Luminaries
Igniting the next generation of kind & courageous leaders
©2024 Ashia Ray of Raising Luminaries™. All rights reserved.