The WE-Empower Ecosystem
The WE-Empower Ecosystem guides households and students on a connected journey of healing, growth, and leadership. Through culturally grounded transformative coaching, school-based support, and sustained alumni engagement, families build resilience, cultural identity, and the capacity to lead.
Powered by Culture-Based Transformative Coaching® (CBTC)
Rooted in the Five Transformative Life Pillars, the ecosystem offers multiple entry points — from open-enrollment fee-based intensives to grant-funded family cohorts and short-form community workshops. Every pathway leads toward the same destination: transformation that lasts.
CBTC is a transformative coaching model — distinct from life coaching in that it works at the level of consciousness, cultural identity, and community, not just individual goals and behaviors. That distinction is what makes every program in this ecosystem different from anything else in the Bay Area.
3 Tiers of the WE-Empower Ecosystem
Tier 1
10 Week Family Intensive
WE-Empower Family (WEF)
WE-Empower Family (WEF) is Village-Connect's flagship grant-funded 10-week transformative coaching intensive, serving historically marginalized families across the Bay Area at no cost. Caregivers and children build resilience, cultural identity, and stronger family bonds together in a structured, nurturing community.
After graduation, children ages 5–10 continue in the SIMBA/NALA Playgroups
The Sankofa Family Intensive
The Sankofa Family Intensive is a fee-based 10-week transformative coaching experience open to any family or individual ready to invest in transformation.
The Sankofa Family Intensive is an open-enrollment program, with flexible scheduling to meet families where they are.
Tier 2
8 Week Deep Healing
WE-Empower Deep Healing
This dedicated 8-week curriculum serves as the advanced trauma-informed healing track, intentionally designed for Tier 1 graduates who have successfully completed their initial coursework and are ready to engage in deeper psychological work.
The entire curriculum is clinically supported and strictly monitored through a formal, professional partnership with Colette Katuala, LCSW, of Focused Clinical Solutions, who brings specialized expertise to the organization while serving directly as the Clinical Director for Village-Connect.
To ensure the highest standard of trauma resolution, professional services deployed within this track include comprehensive individual therapy sessions, targeted family therapy interventions, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and ongoing clinical consultation.
This rigorous framework establishes the essential clinical backbone necessary for this specific tier, ensuring all participants receive expert, licensed mental health care as they navigate profound layers of personal and generational healing.
Tier 3
Certification Pathway
CBTC® Facilitator Certification
The 22-week Culture-Based Transformative Coaching® (CBTC) Facilitator Certification program stands as both the economic foundation and the philosophical core of the entire WEF model. Upon entering this advanced phase of leadership development, Tier 3 graduates formally matriculate into the CBTC Institute at Level 1 as a recognized Practitioner, where they begin a structured trajectory to systematically advance through all three progressive tiers of certification; Practitioner, Facilitator, and Master Facilitator Coach.
This intensive training pathway deeply embodies the sacred Ubuntu principle: "Those who heal return to help others heal." By operationalizing this cultural value, the certification program creates a direct, sustainable bridge between deep community healing and community economic empowerment.
It equips credentialed individuals with the professional tools to transform their personal healing journeys into viable leadership roles, allowing them to earn a livelihood while actively guiding the next generation of participants through the identical process.
Village Connections: Beyond the Tiers
Youth Curriculum
SIMBA/NALA Playgroups
In the SIMBA/NALA Playgroups — a culturally rooted enrichment space that builds literacy, self-expression, and peer relationships through rites-of-passage activities. Children move through three roles as they grow: Participants (ages 5-7), Helpers (ages 8-10), and Junior Facilitators (ages 11-15+) — learning to lead the experience that shaped them.
Alumni Opportunities
WE-Empower Family Alumni Association (WEFAA)
All WE-Empower Family graduates enter the WE-Empower Family Alumni Association (WEFAA), the backbone of the ecosystem. WEFAA keeps alumni engaged through monthly transformative coaching, peer mentoring, leadership development, and access to licensed mental health support.
WEFAA Leadership Council
The WEFAA Leadership Council moves the alumni community from founder-led to member-led. Through three committees: Circles & Connection, Events, and Logistics & Operations - graduates govern the network, guide peer programming, and mentor incoming families. It's permanent community infrastructure, owned and carried by the people it transformed.
Workshops and Scholarships
The Harambee Workshop Series
The Harambee Workshop Series offers focused, accessible workshops — 30 to 90 minutes, virtual or in-person — open to individuals, families, and organizations across the Bay Area.
Each workshop offers a meaningful entry point into transformative work without requiring a full program commitment. No prior experience required.