Upcoming Events
Increasing Our Interfaith Literacy - Dinner & Panel Discussion
Confluence Rising has a long history of bringing our faith communities together to build bridges and foster dialogue. At this free event, our Executive Director Reena Hajat Carroll will be in conversation with Pastor Wayne Chaney from Antioch Christian Church, Rabbi Scott Fox from Temple Israel, Dr. Rohit Passi and Saima Husain about the role faith plays in harm and conflict from an interpersonal and global perspective. At the event, we'll share Confluence Rising's new Interfaith Literacy Guide as a resource for cultivating relationships across faiths.
Light dinner will be served.
FREE! Space is limited; RSVP by March 19 at https://forms.gle/NuJL4jKqzkSByWMy8
Questions? Contact Jessy Needham; jneedham@ConfluenceRising.org
About our panelists:
Pastor Wayne Chaney: Pastor Wayne Chaney, Jr., is the prototypical contemporary spiritual leader. His relevant teaching style and ability to cultivate spirited worship environments aids in unifying people from diverse cultural, ethnic, and generational backgrounds. Born into a three generation long spiritual lineage, he continues the legacy left by his grandfather, Joe Chaney, Jr., through his work as pastor of Antioch Church of Long Beach. However, Pastor Wayne’s ministry extends beyond the congregation. His determination to influence culture, with biblical wisdom, is evident in his work both inside and outside of the local church context. Pastor Wayne is the visionary behind the Long Beach Gospel Fest, the city’s premier gospel experience. This event brings over 20,000 people from all walks of life together for a day of inspiration. He is also the past president of the Long Beach Ministers Alliance, and continues to serve as a mentor and friend to many leaders across the region and globe.
Rabbi Scott Fox: Rabbi Scott Fox has served as the head rabbi at Temple Israel in Long Beach since 2020. Before joining Temple Israel, Rabbi Fox served as Associate Rabbi at the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation and as the Reform Campus Rabbi at Cornell University. An innovator, community organizer, and practiced leader, Rabbi Fox worked in partnership with congregants, students and community leaders to bring new initiatives and make positive social change with these two large and historied communities. Born and raised in San Diego, Rabbi Fox graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in Modern Jewish Fiction with Highest Honors. He received his ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Rabbi Fox is also a trained Jazz guitarist, he studied with John Pisano in Los Angeles.When Rabbi Fox is not creating new and exciting initiatives with members of the community, he can be seen frequenting guitar stores and jazz jams. He loves to meditate, spend time by the ocean, and go on hikes in and around Long Beach with his partner Dori and their children.
Saima Husain (Muslim community): Saima Husain has over 20 years of experience in social justice movements in a variety of capacities from direct services, organizing, and facilitation to research, writing, and fundraising. Her work has primarily been in the intersecting areas of gender, sexuality, race, class, and immigration. Saima has served as the co-Director of generative somatics, a national organization on the cutting edge of trauma healing and embodied leadership and the Deputy Director at South Asian Network (SAN), a progressive, community-rooted service and advocacy organization. Saima has a B.S from Union College (NY) in Psychology and Sociology and a Ph.D in Human Rights from the School of Human Rights Research, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. She is also a teacher trained with generative somatics (gs). Saima was born in Karachi, Pakistan and raised in four countries. She currently lives in Los Angeles, CA. Saima is a mama to an energetic and creative school kid. Together they find joy and resilience in the ocean waters, impromptu living room dance parties, and discussing the expansive night sky.
Dr. Rohit Passi (Hindu community): Dr. Passi is a dedicated healthcare leader, board-certified neonatologist, and passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in medicine. As the Physician Director for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity and Chief of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Kaiser Permanente South Bay, he is at the forefront of advancing health equity within complex healthcare systems. He also serves on the Regional EID Advisory Council for Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Co-Chairs the CPQCC Ten Point Nine Workgroup, driving statewide perinatal and neonatal quality improvements. An Assistant Professor at the Bernard J. Tyson Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, Dr. Passi’s work centers on maternal and child health equity, systemic change, and inclusive clinical cultures. Beyond his professional roles, he is deeply committed to community justice. He has championed DEI initiatives for local school districts, organized international health camps, and actively advocates for LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse inclusion within local faith communities.
Virtual Interrupting Implicit Bias & Microaggressions
Everyone has biases and assumptions that we may not be aware of, and guide our thoughts, feelings, and actions. In this final training session, participants will explore how these biases form and sustain, and in the form of microaggressions, create isolation, disrespect, and inequities. Participants will also identify real ways to begin to interrupt biases in their own work relationships with peers, partners and communities.
Online Lunch & Learn Series: Giving & Receiving Feedback with Impact
Sharing how we really feel with one another can feel risky and vulnerable while receiving feedback we’re not prepared for can cause similar discomfort. In this session, participants will explore the value of communicating with one another directly and compassionately while practicing a framework for both giving and receiving feedback with others.
Trauma Sensitivity & Restorative Practices
This training introduces basic trauma theory and the embodied effects of traumagenic experiences while providing opportunities to connect with personal and collective resiliency practices. We will explore key principles fundamental to a trauma-sensitive approach and engage Restorative Practices as a responsive modality. This training includes self-reflection, storytelling, dialogue, and concept presentations.
Facilitating Conversations Online Day 1
Whether facilitating work meetings with colleagues or having dialogue with community groups, online facilitation requires planning and care to create inclusive spaces for everyone to contribute. In this series, participants will explore values-centered facilitation and skills to engage people in virtual spaces. Through facilitation practice and feedback sharing, participants will have an opportunity to grow in their capacity and knowledge of facilitation. New and experienced facilitators are welcome and invited to continue leveling up their facilitation toolkit!
Facilitating Conversations Online Day 2
Whether facilitating work meetings with colleagues or having dialogue with community groups, online facilitation requires planning and care to create inclusive spaces for everyone to contribute. In this series, participants will explore values-centered facilitation and skills to engage people in virtual spaces. Through facilitation practice and feedback sharing, participants will have an opportunity to grow in their capacity and knowledge of facilitation. New and experienced facilitators are welcome and invited to continue leveling up their facilitation toolkit!
Virtual Bringing Restorative Justice Values into Juvenile Diversion Practices
Led by Confluence Rising's adult education team, participants will explore how Restorative Justice values naturally overlap with Juvenile Justice work and learn more strategies to put those values into action with young people.
Community Building Facilitator Training Session 1
This 2-day experiential Community Building Training will help you start building your own Restorative Justice practice in your workplace, community, or classroom. We will reflect on our own communication and discipline styles, learn what makes our practices authentically restorative, and engage in skill-building around teambuilding and leading circles. If you are interested in applying restorative practices and leading this work in your own life, this foundational training is for you. Participants leave with concrete activity plans, ready to facilitate on their own. All participants will receive a Community Building Handbook during the training.
Community Building Facilitator Training Session 2
This 2-day experiential Community Building Training will help you start building your own Restorative Justice practice in your workplace, community, or classroom. We will reflect on our own communication and discipline styles, learn what makes our practices authentically restorative, and engage in skill-building around teambuilding and leading circles. If you are interested in applying restorative practices and leading this work in your own life, this foundational training is for you. Participants leave with concrete activity plans, ready to facilitate on their own. All participants will receive a Community Building Handbook during the training.
One Nation Under God? Confronting Christian Nationalism
Led by Confluence Rising's adult education team, participants will explore what Christian Nationalism is, how it affects individuals, relationships, communities, and organizations in the United States, and how this system creates explicit and implicit norms for how people express themselves, relate to each other, and are valued in society.
Online Lunch & Learn Series: Creating High Affirmation, High Accountability Work Cultures
Workplaces that lean too far into strict limits can feel disempowering while workplaces that lean too far into unstructured encouragement can feel untethered. Using the Social Discipline Window, participants in this session will explore how to create high affirmation, high accountability workplaces that don’t compromise on values while still building conditions for high performing teams.
Expanding Your Comfort Zone in Conflict
Led by Confluence Rising's adult education team, participants will reflect on their own conflict styles using Confluence Rising's communication framework. We will explore what can make conflict feel uncomfortable and leave with tools to increase about comfort and ability to engage in healthier conflict with friends, family, peers and colleagues, especially during stressful times.
Online Lunch & Learn Series: Beyond Burnout - The Building Blocks for Healthy Workplaces
As the sociopolitical climate continues to shift around us, our teams bear the brunt of the world’s turmoil on their minds, hearts, and bodies. While our dedication to our organizations is crucial, pushing past our limits without community care can lead to burnout. In this session, we will explore how we can sustain our impactful work by prioritizing our colleagues’ humanity and well-being.
Love Day
To uplift the power of love as a force for justice, we’re hosting a Love Day celebration at our office in Long Beach.
Grounding Ourselves in Uncertain Times
Led by Confluence Rising's adult education team, in this session, we will discuss how our nervous systems get activated by stressful situations, challenging emotions, and activation of our traumas. We will then explore a variety of grounding strategies to soothe ourselves and help us view powerful emotions as a source of generative growth, both for us and our teams.
Motivational Interviewing: A Tool for Empowered Behavior Change
Led by Confluence Rising's adult education team, participants will explore the tool of Motivational Interviewing as a strategy to encourage empowered behavior change. Centered in values of autonomy and possibility, Motivational Interviewing can help us release what's not ours while still supporting others in being their best selves.
Harm & Conflict Facilitator Training* Day 1
*Requires Community Building Training as prerequisite.
Tuesday - Thursday, 6/23 thru 6/25 from 9am-4pm each day.
Our in-depth 3-day Harm & Conflict Facilitator Training will take your Restorative Practices to the next level in situations where harm has occurred. Participants will learn specific strategies to address harm and conflict in restorative ways that center relationships and minimize exclusion. Building on our Community Building Training, this advanced skill-building session will help you unpack conditioned conflict responses, roleplay specific harm scenarios, and lead Harm & Conflict circles to give you firsthand practice with restorative responses. All participants will receive a Harm & Conflict Handbook during the training. This training is especially recommended for all those involved in any aspect of creating policies around or implementing disciplinary practices.
Harm & Conflict Facilitator Training* Day 2
*Requires Community Building Training as prerequisite.
Tuesday - Thursday, 6/23 thru 6/25 from 9am-4pm each day.
Our in-depth 3-day Harm & Conflict Facilitator Training will take your Restorative Practices to the next level in situations where harm has occurred. Participants will learn specific strategies to address harm and conflict in restorative ways that center relationships and minimize exclusion. Building on our Community Building Training, this advanced skill-building session will help you unpack conditioned conflict responses, roleplay specific harm scenarios, and lead Harm & Conflict circles to give you firsthand practice with restorative responses. All participants will receive a Harm & Conflict Handbook during the training. This training is especially recommended for all those involved in any aspect of creating policies around or implementing disciplinary practices.
Harm & Conflict Facilitator Training* Day 3
*Requires Community Building Training as prerequisite.
Tuesday - Thursday, 6/23 thru 6/25 from 9am-4pm each day.
Our in-depth 3-day Harm & Conflict Facilitator Training will take your Restorative Practices to the next level in situations where harm has occurred. Participants will learn specific strategies to address harm and conflict in restorative ways that center relationships and minimize exclusion. Building on our Community Building Training, this advanced skill-building session will help you unpack conditioned conflict responses, roleplay specific harm scenarios, and lead Harm & Conflict circles to give you firsthand practice with restorative responses. All participants will receive a Harm & Conflict Handbook during the training. This training is especially recommended for all those involved in any aspect of creating policies around or implementing disciplinary practices.
Summer Youth Leadership Institute Retreat (SYLI)
This is a 5 weekly session course. Attendance to all sessions is mandatory.
The Summer Youth Leadership Institute (SYLI) offers an intensive training for students becoming Youth Leader staff at Building Bridges Camp. Participating students must have previously attended Building Bridges Camp. This program focuses on developing facilitation skills, dialogue immersions, and deeper exploration of historical and contemporary forms of oppression and movements for justice. A 3-day retreat and 5 weekly sessions are required on Wednesdays, June 25th, July 9th, July 16th, July 23rd and, July 30th from 2-6pm each day.
SYLI Graduation will be held on a separate date following the final SYLI session.
Building Bridges Racial Justice Camp
Building Bridges Camp is a transformative program for high school youth. The Building Bridges program is a three-day residential experience where youth learn about social justice topics in a safe and brave environment. Through interactive workshops, activities, and dialogues, students will come away with knowledge about themselves, ways to be a change maker in their school, and how to be a leader in their community.
Building Bridges Camp is FREE for all LBUSD students this year.
ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE WELCOME TO APPLY.
Weaving Together Retreat
WEAVING TOGETHER: A Restorative Justice Retreat for What Comes Next is a 3 day, 2 night immersive experience for established Restorative Justice practitioners to:
Level up their practices through deep reflection
Rest & reflect
Build a community of care
Plan for actions after the Retreat
Creating Cultures of Accountability Session 3
Establishing conflict as both inevitable and an opportunity for growth, this 3-session virtual training series will support participants in creating a productive, trust-building culture of conflict and accountability. By exploring individual and organizational patterns around communication, conflict norms, and how harm is handled, participants will create an essential foundation to support deeper future engagement with each other.
Roots of Justice Convening
Join Confluence Rising for a day of learning how to create an equitable and inclusive workplace.
Conscious Classrooms Facilitator Training Session 3
Join us for our in-person Conscious Classrooms Facilitator Training this February 2026! If you are passionate about and interested in facilitating student workshops on racial, gender, and social justice, this training is for you!
*Please Note:
This training is for people 18+ who are able to facilitate for our Conscious Classrooms program during regular school hours.
Folks must attend all 3 training sessions to facilitate for Conscious Classrooms.
This training is in-person and FREE. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided for all 3 days.
Creating Cultures of Accountability Session 2
Establishing conflict as both inevitable and an opportunity for growth, this 3-session virtual training series will support participants in creating a productive, trust-building culture of conflict and accountability. By exploring individual and organizational patterns around communication, conflict norms, and how harm is handled, participants will create an essential foundation to support deeper future engagement with each other.
Conscious Classrooms Facilitator Training Session 2
Please note this is a 3-day training: Thursdays, February 12, 19 and 26 from 10am - 4pm each day.
Join us for our in-person Conscious Classrooms Facilitator Training this February 2026! If you are passionate about and interested in facilitating student workshops on racial, gender, and social justice, this training is for you!
*Please Note:
This training is for people 18+ who are able to facilitate for our Conscious Classrooms program during regular school hours.
Folks must attend all 3 training sessions to facilitate for Conscious Classrooms.
This training is in-person and FREE. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided for all 3 days.
Creating Cultures of Accountability Session 1
Establishing conflict as both inevitable and an opportunity for growth, this 3-session virtual training series will support participants in creating a productive, trust-building culture of conflict and accountability. By exploring individual and organizational patterns around communication, conflict norms, and how harm is handled, participants will create an essential foundation to support deeper future engagement with each other.
Conscious Classrooms Facilitator Training Session 1
Please note this is a 3-day training: Thursdays, February 12, 19 and 26 from 10am - 4pm each day.
Join us for our in-person Conscious Classrooms Facilitator Training this February 2026! If you are passionate about and interested in facilitating student workshops on racial, gender, and social justice, this training is for you!
*Please Note:
This training is for people 18+ who are able to facilitate for our Conscious Classrooms program during regular school hours.
Folks must attend all 3 training sessions to facilitate for Conscious Classrooms.
This training is in-person and FREE. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided for all 3 days.
Building Bridges Leadership Academy - Day 3
The Building Bridges Leadership Academy (BBLA) is designed for young adult and adult allies (18+ and out of high school) who are interested in volunteering for our youth programs and who would like to build foundational skills for social justice facilitation rooted in restorative values. Young adults interested in becoming Youth Mentors must attend this program to be eligible to return to camp.
Restorative Accountability
Leaders moving toward Restorative Justice are often challenged with how to address harm in ways that both promote accountability while moving away from punishment and shame. Gaps often exist in our policies, procedures, and practices when we need more structure than the motivational interviewing that Restorative Dialogue offers us while at the same time responding to situations where a full Harm & Conflict Circle process may not be available or the best fit.
This workshop will support participants in defining the differences between punishment, consequences, and accountability, and to reflect on where they can take action in better aligning their own policies and practices with Restorative Justice values.
Building Bridges Leadership Academy - Day 2
The Building Bridges Leadership Academy (BBLA) is designed for young adult and adult allies (18+ and out of high school) who are interested in volunteering for our youth programs and who would like to build foundational skills for social justice facilitation rooted in restorative values. Young adults interested in becoming Youth Mentors must attend this program to be eligible to return to camp.
Where Paths Meet: Camp Lessons, Life Journeys
If you went to NCCJ/Brotherhood Sisterhood/CCEJ Camp, log in for a walk down memory lane with peers across the decades and reconnect with the movement that shaped us.
Diálogo Restaurativo
Este entrenamiento apoya a les participantes a desarrollar sus habilidades y brinda oportunidades de autorreflexión para capacitarnos a responder a los retos con los demás en maneras que centran las relaciones. Exploramos las siguientes habilidades de diálogo que afirman las relaciones positivas y proporcionan intervenciones para cambiar las relaciones hacia la responsabilidad y las acciones autodirigidas: Declaraciones Afectivas, Preguntas Restaurativas, Escucha Activa y Entrevista Motivacional.
Building Bridges Leadership Academy - Day 1
The Building Bridges Leadership Academy (BBLA) is designed for young adult and adult allies (18+ and out of high school) who are interested in volunteering for our youth programs and who would like to build foundational skills for social justice facilitation rooted in restorative values. Young adults interested in becoming Youth Mentors must attend this program to be eligible to return to camp.
Games & Teambuilders for Relationship-Building
Whether you're already an active facilitator or looking for activities to build community with your teammates, this 3-hour session will provide a series of sequenced activities for you to replicate. Designed for those interested in strengthening relationship-building skills, this training will provide opportunities for participants to experience activities as a participant, practice games and teambuilders facilitation, and receive feedback from the group. All participants will receive a Games & Teambuilders Handbook during the training.
Restorative Leadership*
Designed for organization and school leaders, this session outlines how those of us in positions of power and decision-making can center relationships in the ways we lead our communities. Building out visions of restorative workplaces, schools and communities, we will discuss how leadership rooted in Restorative Justice values can support us in interrupting punitive thinking and actions. How we decide on and roll out new policies and procedures is just as important as what those new practices include, so we will review strategies for restorative communication and decision-making.
Creating Cultures of Accountability
Establishing conflict as both inevitable and an opportunity for growth, this training series will support participants in creating a productive, trust-building culture of conflict and accountability. By exploring individual and organizational patterns around communication, conflict norms, and how harm is handled, participants will create an essential foundation to support deeper future engagement with each other.
Grounded Leadership, Stronger Teams
Join executive leaders to discuss the challenges of leading in our current political moment while also learning tools to ground yourselves and support your teams through conflict.
Community Building Facilitator Training Session 2
This 2-day experiential Community Building Training will help you start building your own Restorative Justice practice in your workplace, community, or classroom. We will reflect on our own communication and discipline styles, learn what makes our practices authentically restorative, and engage in skill-building around teambuilding and leading circles. If you are interested in applying restorative practices and leading this work in your own life, this foundational training is for you. Participants leave with concrete activity plans, ready to facilitate on their own. All participants will receive a Community Building Handbook during the training.
Community Building Facilitator Training Session 1
This 2-day experiential Community Building Training will help you start building your own Restorative Justice practice in your workplace, community, or classroom. We will reflect on our own communication and discipline styles, learn what makes our practices authentically restorative, and engage in skill-building around teambuilding and leading circles. If you are interested in applying restorative practices and leading this work in your own life, this foundational training is for you. Participants leave with concrete activity plans, ready to facilitate on their own. All participants will receive a Community Building Handbook during the training.
Building Bridges Gender Justice Camp
Building Bridges Camp is a transformative program for high school youth. The Building Bridges program is a three-day residential experience where youth learn about social justice topics in a safe and brave environment. Through interactive workshops, activities, and dialogues, students will come away with knowledge about themselves, ways to be a change maker in their school, and how to be a leader in their community.
Building Bridges Camp is FREE for all LBUSD students this year.
ALL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE WELCOME TO APPLY.
Cultivating Compassion: Community Mediation Certification Day 4
Strengthen your team’s ability to work through conflict by certifying them as community mediators! This relationship-centered training introduces the core principles and methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Restorative Justice. Our curriculum follows American Bar Association guidelines and meets the standards of the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act (DRPA). Participants will practice skills through discussion, hands-on exercises, case studies, role-plays, and feedback from experienced mediators and trainers.
Cultivating Compassion: Community Mediation Certification Day 3
Strengthen your team’s ability to work through conflict by certifying them as community mediators! This relationship-centered training introduces the core principles and methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Restorative Justice. Our curriculum follows American Bar Association guidelines and meets the standards of the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act (DRPA). Participants will practice skills through discussion, hands-on exercises, case studies, role-plays, and feedback from experienced mediators and trainers.
Cultivating Compassion: Community Mediation Certification Day 2
Strengthen your team’s ability to work through conflict by certifying them as community mediators! This relationship-centered training introduces the core principles and methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Restorative Justice. Our curriculum follows American Bar Association guidelines and meets the standards of the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act (DRPA). Participants will practice skills through discussion, hands-on exercises, case studies, role-plays, and feedback from experienced mediators and trainers.
Cultivating Compassion: Community Mediation Certification Day 1
Strengthen your team’s ability to work through conflict by certifying them as community mediators! This relationship-centered training introduces the core principles and methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Restorative Justice. Our curriculum follows American Bar Association guidelines and meets the standards of the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act (DRPA). Participants will practice skills through discussion, hands-on exercises, case studies, role-plays, and feedback from experienced mediators and trainers.
United Against Hate Community Care Breakfast
On October 22, during United Against Hate week, CCEJ will host a Community Care Breakfast for our community to share compassion for each other and activate our allyship with those who are experiencing harm due to acts of hate. It is imperative that we all work together at this time to prevent Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia and ensure that safety prevails in our communities.
Creating LBGTQ+ Inclusive Workplaces
LGBTQ+ people face many challenges and inequities across society, and all of us can support in creating safer spaces where bias is proactively addressed and everyone's humanity is honored. In this training, participants will explore the barriers and biases many LGBTQ+ people experience, as well as the source of those harmful experiences in systemic inequities like Cisgenderism and Heterosexism. Participants will leave with a foundational understanding of key terms and relevant evolving language trends. The training will also introduce strategies to strengthen equity, connection, and respect for LGBTQ+ community members and colleagues through policies, culture, and team relationships. Finally, participants will practice disrupting anti -LGBTQ+ actions through real-life scenarios.
61st Annual Humanitarian Awards Celebration
Join CCEJ for our annual Humanitarian Awards Celebration honoring community members who have dedicated their lives and careers to promoting equity and justice in Long Beach and Southern California.
All funds raised at the event will support CCEJ’s programs to educate and empower youth and adults to lead change for equity and justice in our communities.
Foundations of Equity
This training strikes a balance for participants between building on existing knowledge & encouraging the integration of new learning which often requires shifting paradigms around power & privilege, interrupting harmful biases & practices, & taking measured risks in service of our values. This training invites us to reflect on our own identities before giving us tools to interrupt bias, including microaggressions.