Leading from Abundance (LFA) is an invitation to help humanitarian providers use the skills of the Community Resiliency Model to shift from survival mode and a scarcity mindset to one of resilience. Compassion fatigue is a real thing; our programming helps humanitarian providers understand that their well-being is not a luxury; it is a best practice. We help providers understand that sustainable leadership doesn't come from a place of burnout—it grows from a place of abundance.

Patrisse Cullors joins Elaine Miller-Karas on Resiliency Within for a conversation about the transformative power of art, imagination, spirituality, and community in creating pathways toward healing and social change.

Cullors believes that art can do more than reflect the world as it is—it can help us imagine and build the world as it could be. Drawing upon more than two decades as a visual and performing artist, author, educator, and community organizer, she will explore how creativity can become a source of resilience, cultural memory, spiritual connection, and collective transformation.

Elaine and Patrisse will discuss Cullors' concept of "abolitionist aesthetics"—the idea that meaningful social transformation requires not only dismantling systems that cause harm, but also creating new images, practices, spaces, and ways of being that embody liberation and community care. They will explore her view of artworks as more than visual objects: they can serve as spiritual guardians, cultural commentary, and what she describes as "spiritual armor."

The conversation will also explore the influence of the Black Arts Movement on Cullors' creative practice, the relationship between art and activism, and themes from her forthcoming book, We Make the World, in which she invites readers to consider aesthetic activism and the essential role of art in movements for social change.

At the heart of the conversation is a question central to Resiliency Within: How can creativity help us move beyond surviving what has happened to us and toward imagining, creating, and participating in what is possible?

This conversation will explore the potential of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM)® to support lawyers and others working in civil legal services (or "legal aid") nonprofits. It will begin by introducing legal services - what the work is, who it serves, and the role nonprofit legal aid organizations play in helping people address legal problems affecting basic life necessities.

Drawing on Julia Wilson's path from practicing as a legal aid attorney to coaching lawyers and nonprofit leaders, the conversation will explore how she found CRM and came to recognize its value for this sector.

The discussion will examine why CRM is so needed in legal services: the unique stressors of the legal profession; the additional demands of legal aid work in nonprofit settings; and the relevance of nervous system awareness and resiliency skills both for the professionals doing the work and in providing direct legal services to clients experiencing legal problems. It will also consider what makes CRM uniquely useful in this context, including its accessible, biology-based framework and practical skills.

Finally, the conversation will look toward future opportunities to use CRM to bring greater resiliency awareness and resources to the legal profession and legal services sector.