ABOUT H.E.R. WEEKEND
Our Mission:
“We create a supportive and empowering community by providing safe spaces and facilitating transformational weekends, circles, and workshops”.
The H.E.R. Weekend has been around for 23 years!
We are a non-profit organization that believes every woman has the power and knowledge already inside them to be their most authentic self and the H.E.R. Weekend can assist in the healing from past traumas and begin a journey of empowerment and releasing all the “gunk” that no longer serves you. We create a safe sisterhood that embraces you and leads you to a sustainable new way of being.
The History of the H.E.R. Weekend and Its Founders!
It all started when a group of people attended a Mystic Warrior Training on May 11-13, 2001. (That is a weekend held through the ManKind Project). During this training, the women talked about the desire of having a training for women as intense as the New Warrior Training Adventure that men experience. A week later, Bobbie Layton met with a woman named Sheila at the Good Earth Restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California to brainstorm and plan out this new training for women. They took notes on a placemat as they tossed ideas back and forth. They both concluded that they needed a bigger team to assistance them with this effort and so they gathered a group.
This group became the co-founders and co-creators of the H.E.R. Weekend (Healing, Empowerment, Release). These were: Peter & Bobbie Layton, Stella and Alan Fisher, Brian Courtney, Ron Neff, Sheila Budin, and Peter Clarke. They met monthly, shared ideas, wrote protocols, and set up the non-profit. They felt like they were truly trailblazers!
3 of the 8 Co-Founders!
Peter & Bobbie Layton & Brian Courtney
In April of 2002, they had a dress rehearsal that included a few friends and the co-creators as participants. Interestingly, this was the only training that the men ever got to experience the H.E.R. processes as journey as participants. They learned a lot, and they had great fun working together!
They had the first official H.E.R. training at Camp Conifer in Arrowbear, California (San Bernardino Mountains) on July 26-28, 2001, with 13 participants. It was wild and fabulous and as intense as they had wished for. They still talk of how they remember the faces of the first women’s group. The power of healing shown through their eyes! And that was the moment they all knew they had created something special for women.
As the years have passed, the H.E.R. organization has grown. At first, it was a leader body of 7, and now it has a full Board and Leader Council to guide and lead the organization and staff to support its mission and purpose. The H.E.R. Weekend has had trainings in Southern and Northern California, Arizona, and Kansas.
H.E.R. Weekend has had numerous trainings over the last 20 years and have helped hundreds of women heal their lives. Some of the co-founders have moved on, and Peter, Brian and Bobbie are still here supporting the community as it grows.
Over the years, what everyone at the H.E.R. Weekend finds most endearing is seeing participants, leaders, volunteers, staff find healing and empowerment in their lives. The Co-Founders of the H.E.R. Weekend are grateful to still be a part of this organization since the beginning and to continue to be a part of the journey in its future. The H.E.R. Weekend may not be nationwide or international yet, though our impact is continuously mighty!
Cultural Awareness
We welcome a diverse culture for both, the women participants and the men and women on staff. Culture can be defined as the shared experiences of people, including their languages, values, customs, beliefs, and more. It also includes worldviews, ways of knowing, and ways of communicating. Culturally significant factors encompass, but are not limited to, race/ethnicity, religion, social class, language, disability, sexual orientation, age, and gender identity. Contextual dimensions such as geographic region and socioeconomic circumstances are also essential to shaping culture.
