January 2026

Happy new year, y'all. I hope you got some time to rest and restore as the last year ended and this year began. I hope you have gorgeous aspects of your existence that give you a lovely vantage of a horizon worth looking forward to. I hope.

While I am hopeful, I recognize that hope doesn't feel as accessible to all. Not everyone is beginning this year with the notion that this year will be any better than the last. While some are making those resolutions, there's the inevitable circle of peers that are anti-resolution (data shows that setting resolutions does relatively little to shift behavior), and the incredible Candis Fox shared their intention-setting will be focused on what they're saying "no" to in the new year.

I invite you to hold the complexity of this new year. Conflicting feelings are a fact of life. There is no one way, no one right way. So, whatever your experience is right now, go ahead and relax your jaw. Drop your tongue from the roof of your mouth. Let your shoulders fall away from your ears. Take a breath into your belly. And release.

I am a seriously intentional person. Intention is ritual, and ritual is foundational to the experience of being human. My intentions for starting the biz that is Confluence are clear: to build a business that supports me and my family, while also supporting my communities. Confluence shares the real skills required to build the worlds we desire and deserve- both the emotional/mental/spiritual capacity to vision and the heart work to make those dreams our shared realities.

My intentions this past year in how I went about that work were less clear. Ironic, definitely, but we all wade through the muck of our minds to get to clarity. (Shout out to the people and groups that help me get closer to purpose all the time.)

As someone whose personal theory of change has been that how we do the work matters as much as the work we do, I've spent a year refining and clarifying, adding a brushstroke here and a new color scheme there. Help me celebrate one intentional year of Confluence.

Going into 2026, my intentions are simple:

• I want to grow Confluence as a business. This means working with you, when the time is right. This newsletter and my LinkedIn are the best places to know what's new. Nearly all offerings are able to be tailored to you and your org's needs. And, most of them have been tested with real humans. They are good.
• I want to name my journey. They say the beauty is in the journey. This is true for me, too. This year, I'll be sharing more stories about how I ended up caring about the things I care about, in the ways I care about them.
• I want to increase community good. A lot of my hyperlocal organizing work is totally unpaid but brings me an immense amount of joy. This is where we circle back to growing the business. A successful Confluence means I can continue to do good work in Marshall County, Tennessee.

If you're looking for a space to move through the ritual of intention-setting, please join me on Friday, January 16 for some visioning. This is a rare opportunity to join the Gather circle of the New Leaders Network. Let's get those intentions set in time for the new moon.

"Our Lady petitions you to welcome your own dear heart back. What if you never lack for love, only defend yourself against it? When those walls come down, an unconditional love for all creation, including your perfectly imperfect self, can arise. Love joins with everything; nothing is excluded.. Let Our Lady stir in you...the calling to come home to yourself." - from The Wild & Sacred Feminine Deck by Niki Dewart & Elizabeth Marglin, with illustrations by Jenny Kostecki-Shaw

Curious about how Confluence can support you & the work you're doing? Have feedback or just want to check in?

Connect with Jess

What Confluence is up to & offering

Introducing: High benefit, low-cost access to the New Leaders Network I asked for feedback, and y'all provided! Three new subscription tiers have been added to make New Leaders more accessible to you and more sustainable for the Network. Join at the price point and level of engagement that's right for you. ​This is leadership development for systems change at a rate and pace that works.

January's Grow circle features Jess Limbird with Confluence. Jess is a community organizer, network weaver, and catalyst for systems change. For next month's session, we'll talk about the role of our emotional selves in how we show up and lead.

What are your experiences with feeling? Are there some emotions that are coded as "good" and others as "bad"? What is the role of emotion in our bodies and lives? And how can we increasingly get better at identifying how we're feeling in order to better manage them? These questions are the basis of January's Grow circle, where we'll share framework, story, and practice. Look forward to see all y'all there!

Access monthly Grow circles with network membership

Not ready to be a member but still want to access this Grow circle? Grab your ticket to "What's Emotion Got to Do With It" here.

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In November and December, I worked with a number of coalitions across the state of Tennessee, delivering "Recovering Our Communities: making the case for systems change." During those sessions, I shared that individualized, peer support is a best practice for shifting mindsets and behaviors with accountability.

Wisdom Partnership has grown from an initial desire to connect and share what I can offer in an hour to a spacious, 8-session collaborative journey. If you are ready to explore a leadership style that is aligned with held values of change, collaboration, and transformation, this is the container for you.

Sign up for Wisdom Partnership

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A one-hour session that can be delivered virtually or in-person. Recovering Our Communities tells the story of systems change through the process of recovery. Shifting systems is about recovering from our social addictions to the status quo.

A three-hour session that is best delivered in-person, but virtual is always an option. What is My Why? is for groups who want to deepen trust, understand why we are called to do the work we do, and increase connections within your team.

List of available workshops through Confluence

Partner offerings & collabs

Confluence is one node is a network of movement builders, change-makers, and influential work happening across our country and world. Check out what our friends are up to.

Tamarack Institute: Changemaker Experience 2026 Tamarack Institute is currently accepting applications for their 2026 Changemaker Experience. This is for leaders looking to build their capacity for change. Next year's cohort will explore frameworks, receive expert and peer coaching, apply learning to real community challenges, and ground your work in equity, Indigenization, and decolonial thinking. Learn more and apply here

Building Power with Visuals Social Movement Technologies is offering a 4-week step-by step intensive on using imagery in campaigns to project power and drive action. This program is for you if you're an organizer, in communications, hold a design role or interact with others who do graphic design or visual production, or are interested in deepening your campaign's impact through strong slogans, imagery and action in the streets and online. Registration & Details

What's on the calendar

• Wednesday January 14, 2026 | 2p CT / 12p PT New Leaders Network: GROW: What's Emotion Got to Do With It?​
• Friday January 16, 2026 | 12p CT / 10a PT New Leaders Network: GATHER: Vision Board 2026 Facilitated Session​
• Wednesday, February 11, 2026 | 11-12 CT/ 9-10 PT Radically Rural Roundtable: Using Revenue Based Financing to Combat Climate Change and Build Healthy Regional Food Systems​
• (in-person- Nashville, TN) Tuesday February 24, 2026 | Tennessee Nonprofit Network: Nonprofit Advocacy Summit​
• (in-person- Nashville, TN) Wednesday February 25, 2026 | Tennessee Nonprofit Network: Nonprofit Day on the Hill​
• UPDATE (in-person- Louisville, KY) October 9-10, 2026 | Othering & Belonging Institute: 2026 Othering & Belonging Conference​

read Check out this lovely, short-read article "Resilient By Design: How We Show Up" that's just come out of Kansas University's Social Innovation Lab. Trust is an essential ingredient to change and community work.

watch I have been enthralled with the Walk for Peace. A group of Buddhist Monks are walking from Texas to Washington DC in service to a simple mission- peace. If you are a fb doom-scroller, give yourself some good news to scroll through.

listen In honor of both January's Grow circle theme and my loud and proud love of dance beats that can be turned into flash mobs, here is Carly Rae Jepsen's "Cut to the Feeling."

Mutual aid: where to give your coins

I took time off over the holidays, so I haven't been sourcing nor have I received any mutual aid asks. Please continue to check out our Mega Mutual Aid List 2025. Please also share and donate to Trusted Connections and Resonance Network.

• ​Help Folks on the Frontlines of Unsheltered Anchorage. Trusted Connections is an Alaska-Native led nonprofit facilitating Indigenous-centered trauma healing circles, providing culturally responsive social services for unsheltered neighbors in Anchorage, and acting as safe liaisons for visitors from the village.
• ​Support Resonance Network in Activating a Generous Match. Resonance Network is where it's at. Seriously. Through programming like Mend the Arc and We Govern, Resonance is working alongside practitioners, organizers, and changemakers to shift toward our vibrant futures in community. Your $1 becomes their $3.

These will be updated monthly. If you have a need that folks can help with virtually, email them to me (with links!) by the first Friday of each month.