Cascadia Men’s Alliance
2025-2026 Fellowship
Vision and Prayer
May all boys and men have access to communities, rituals and practitioners to support them in their journeys towards deeper healing and belonging.
May those who lead this work be supported, skillful, culturally responsive, trustworthy and in service of collective liberation.
May we be courageous and humble as we reach across differences and link up with others who share in this vision.
In partnership with the Men’s Healing Network, the Cascadia Men’s Alliance invites a cross-cultural and inter-organizational fellowship that seeks to connect and empower leaders through relationship building, training, sharing and coordination across an ecosystem of healing and support. The fellows will be selected based on criteria to maximize positive impact throughout our bioregion.
There is great opportunity and need for regional coalition building among leaders, facilitators, conveners, teachers, organizers and culture workers who are devoted to the healing and support of men and boys. Many practitioners are doing important and powerful work in this arena, and many are lacking coordination, organizational resources, and educational opportunities to help this work flourish and begin to meet the tremendous need for these services. Furthermore, there is siloing due to differences in specialization, focus, demographics, and geographical distance that blocks a healthy flow of support, communication and trust-building across differences.
Why Place-Based?
This initiative grows out of the understanding that we humans need each other! As global challenges rage around us, more people are awakening to the simple and ancient truth that trust and kinship are some of the most resilient currencies.
This is an attempt to weave people together who can jump in a car, boat or train and show up in mutual support. We also understand that the land, watersheds and local ecologies contain so much wisdom and intelligence that we must ally with. Much of the “men’s work” being offered today has lost it’s sense of place. It is homeless. People go to retreats or trainings and often never see each other again.
We are interested in empowering something different here. What becomes possible when our common ground is literally shared ground, shared water, and shared food supply?
New ways of gathering must emerge
VUCA is an acronym used to describe or reflect on the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of general conditions and situations.
VUCA times ask us to put aside our individualistic, siloed and competitive ways in favor of relationality, agility, creativity and resilience.
“In VUCA times, bringing people together is like steering a ship through a storm where the winds constantly change direction. When wicked global challenges take center stage, the dynamics of these gatherings often reveal the deep fractures and undercurrents of tension that run through society…
As we navigate these increasingly turbulent landscapes, the challenge is not just to bring people together but to acknowledge that the frameworks we’ve relied upon for collective coherence might no longer serve us. New ways of gathering must emerge, ways that embrace the volatility and ambiguity of the times, allowing for nonlinear and adaptive forms of collaboration that do not rely on forced consensus or the appearance of unity but on deeper, more authentic forms of engagement capable of holding the multiplicity of truths, identities, and demands that now define our collective experience.”
~ Excerpted from '“Outgrowing Modernity” by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira
What Is It?
On one level, this is a 6 month fellowship beginning in October 2026. We will meet twice a month around a virtual fire to share our questions, our burdens, and our gifts with a circle of peers. We believe that all the genius we need is in the room. This isn’t a training led by one or two of us who think we’ve got the answers, this is more like a mastermind of skilled and devoted practitioners who have much to share and learn with and from each other.
On another level, this is an opportunity to be part of a courageous experiment. Fellows can expect to be stretched and confronted, inspired and surprised. This group will be selected and curated for breadth and depth, across geography, identity, and scope of approach. This fellowship intends to weave communities that are working for common goals and in doing so, to bring more resources, capacity, and resilience to all who partake.
This fellowship is also at the center of efforts towards greater alliance building. Cascadia Men’s Alliance and Men’s Healing Network are working together in efforts to organize, coordinate, communicate, fundraise and resource the work of supporting boys and men to heal and whole. Those who aren’t part of this cohort may benefit greatly in the future from what is learned, created, and shared through the fellowship. The fellows who are part of this cohort will have a foundational opportunity to help shape the future offerings and direction of the alliance.
Who Is This For?
These times call for a diversity of approaches to complex challenges. There are many roles inside an ecosystem and they are all important. This fellowship seeks to weave people and gifts together across difference. Perhaps you work with youth, perhaps in addiction, perhaps with veterans, perhaps with incarcerated populations or other system-impacted groups. Perhaps you work with entrepreneurs and CEOs. We aren’t here to evaluate, we are here to cultivate and cross-pollinate.
Whatever sector you work in, we are looking for these characteristics:
Sphere of influence - The people in your circles trust you. You have built up social capital and are positioned to enact positive change either through direct services, organizations, institutions, or living relationships with specific communities who could benefit from the work of this fellowship.
Devotion - You have a track record of working with men or boys for three or more years. This isn’t necessarily how you make a livelihood, or done in a way that could be categorized as “men’s work”. No matter how you relate to healing work, it must be clear that you’ve been making decisions over time to prioritize sharing this work and that you are in it for the long haul.
Commitment to Collective Liberation - You see yourself as part of a larger ecosystem of positive change. You value cultural humility and are invested in skilling up around working & collaborating across difference. You are willing to get uncomfortable in service to this. We are looking for a baseline understanding that we are all in this together.
Growth Mindset - You see challenges as opportunities to grow, and feedback as a gift towards your own evolution. Even when you falter, you strive towards accountability and value the process of learning. You are curious about how to deepen and improve the ways you show up for your work in the world.
Generosity - Your attention, time, and perspectives are deeply valuable, and you are willing to share these things with the other fellows. You are open to sharing your gifts with others. Part of what makes this fellowship unique and beautiful is that each member of the group will have the opportunity to lead at least one session for the entire group.
Program Details
The priority deadline for applications is April 10. If there are still spots open at that point we will keep a rolling application open until the fellowship is full. Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis.
The fellowship will officially begin October 3 and occur from 9am-noon on the first and third Saturdays of each month through March for a total of 12 sessions. Each fellow will have an opportunity to lead or co-lead a session. We will work with you to decide and prepare what you’d like to share with the group. This can be a workshop, a practice, a shared inquiry, or something else we can’t yet imagine. We are open to whatever form most effectively helps you share a bit of your genius with the whole group. These sessions ought to be engaging and interactive.
There will also be open office hours for 1:1 coaching throughout the fellowship offered by the program administrators.
Each fellow will receive a $500 honorarium. The intention of this money is to increase your capacity to show up and increasing access to your offerings. We trust you to use it however serves these purposes best. Fellows will also be the first notified for future project and organizational grant opportunities.
If you have any questions please reach out to cascadiamensalliance@gmail.com
In-Person Opportunities
We are gratefully leaning on digital technologies to make it possible for us to meet regularly beginning in October. That said, we understand that so much magic and embodied depth can only happen in-person. Therefore we will be offering optional in-person opportunities for fellows to share experiences, and encourage fellows to do the same with each other. Some of us will be attending The Big Tent Summit in Denver, CO from May 14-17 and MHN has agreed to subsidize this experience for any fellows who are interested and available.
There will also be opportunities between May and October to come participate in a work party or two for building a sweat lodge. We will start a group thread where all the fellows can begin inviting others to gatherings and get togethers as well.
Who We Are
Elia Serras
I am an EcoSomatic facilitator and guide for individuals, groups and organizations. I am committed to empowering deeper belonging through practices rooted in Truth, Healing, and Wholeness. My work spans the realms of grief tending, rites of passage, conflict transformation, nature connection and somatic trauma therapies.
When I’m not consulting or coaching, I’m facilitating for projects I believe in. I am a cofounder of Great Earth School and Grieving Man, as well as core facilitator for the Manifest Gathering. I have worked on multiple teams with YES! and have been working with men and masculinity throughout the US and beyond since 2018. See more about me here on my website.
I love convening people and watching magic emerge—especially when we throw away the plan.
Co Director
I am a cultural strategist committed to healing-centered leadership and dignity-driven systems change. With roots in experiential education and a deep grounding in equity, I design transformative learning journeys that honor culture, build connection, and spark growth.
I am the founder of La Cima Bilingual Leadership, Rethink Manhood, and the Equity Institute. I collaborate on short-term and long-term initiatives that support school leaders, nonprofits, and communities in cultivating resilience, clarity, and collective well-being. From keynote speaking to coaching, circle work to long-term consulting, I bridge ancestral wisdom with strategy to help people and organizations lead with purpose.
I love learning, and I love people—especially learning that helps people.
Co Director