Ayni's Self Paced Courses
Social Change Education on Your Terms
Ayni's Self-Paced Courses
Social Change Education On Your Terms
A Note on Self-Paced Courses
Over the last ten years, the Ayni Institute has trained more than 13,000 individuals through online and offline courses. We are grateful and honored to support social change leaders and their movements across the globe. Through the years, we we have seen many individuals who wish to engage with our offerings but cannot attend our trainings in person due to location, cost, scheduling, or other reasons.
To bring about the changes we need in the world, reaching out to millions of leaders worldwide is essential to have an impact. Therefore, we have made a deliberate effort to strengthen our online curriculum by designing a Self-Paced Course format for our most popular trainings and frameworks. We hope this gives you the freedom to enroll in a Self-Paced Course and complete it at your own pace and convenience, accessing and engaging with the content in any way you prefer.
Self-Paced Course Catalog
The Social Movements Course
As movement practitioners and researchers, we know that social movements are complex organisms to understand because of the number of individuals and organizations involved and the many years they take from beginning to end. In our historical research of social movements, we have identified key patterns that reveal the dynamics of how they operate. We believe these patterns can bring the strategic breakthroughs many of us are after.
To overcome the constraints of traditional training in terms of time, space, and capacity, we’ve converted the best concepts and lessons accrued into an accessible online format. Our self-paced Social Movements Course synthesizes complex theories and frameworks into 11 comprehensive modules, now available to share with you.
This advanced course is crafted to provide organizational leaders, activists, and members of issue-affiliated organizations with strategic tools and a deeper understanding of social movements. It delves into the dynamics that characterize these movements, identifying key patterns that can lead to strategic breakthroughs.
Movement Ecology
This self-paced mini-course on Movement Ecology is an introduction to understanding the many different strategies that arise when we are faced with creating social change.
While many of us have tried to create the conditions for social movements where there is collaboration across groups and organizations, we believe that collaboration can only happen when we are clear on the differences between the strategies that live in them. This means that we can only have ecological thinking/action in social change if we know what makes the parts of the movement different in relation to one another.
We call these multiple strategies Foundational Theories of Change and we believe that the key to power that many of us are working hard to harness is found in their collaboration.
In this mini course we dive into the strengths and weakness of each Foundational Theory of Change, and provide answers to some of the common questions that come up when we’ve previously shared the framework:
- Which Theory of Change do I spend most of my time working in?
- What is the role of each Theory of Change within the context of the larger movement?
- How can we relate and support other Foundational Theories of Change?
- How can we build a culture of interdependence and embrace multi-strategic movements?
*Note: Parts of this mini course are included in the Social Movements Course and will thus be offered free of charge with the purchase of the Social Movements Course. If you want to deepen your understanding and learning, you can enroll in the Social Movements Course, linked here.
The Seeds Course
The Ayni’s Seeds Course is a program that is inspired by the in-person Seeds Program, which aims to tackle the triple crisis of our time – ecological destruction, social fragmentation, and a loss of memory. The course is designed to provide guidance to participants in leading a more harmonious and interconnected life by focusing on three key relationships – with Mother Earth, Ancestors, and Community. The creation of this course was informed by the teachings and wisdom of our social movement and indigenous elders.
- Detailed Overview of the Five Books in the Seeds Course:
- Book of Community: Addresses the profound crisis of separation that has arisen in contemporary society. This section provides tools and practices to navigate grief and loss, to move from isolation to meaningful connections, and to foster a sense of belonging that transcends the alienation many feel in today’s world.
- Book of Mother Earth: Initiates a process of reconnection with our planet, urging us to reclaim our relationship with and responsibility to the Earth. It offers pathways to understanding the gifts of nature and the importance of our oldest ancestor, the Earth, in sustaining and nurturing life.
- Book of Reciprocity: Investigates the extensive history and complexity of our social connections. It encourages a return to ancestral relationships, fostering a culture of reciprocity, and provides a critical examination of the historical impacts of empire and domination, as well as the modern-day issues arising from societal accumulation and consumption.
- Book of Ancestors: Focuses on engaging with our oldest ancestor—mother earth herself. It offers a path from being mere consumers to becoming creators and stewards of our legacies, teaching us to honor and preserve the wisdom and memory of our ancestors as a source of guidance and strength.
- Book of Integration: Presents a synthesis that encourages participants to approach their journey with the humility and openness of a novice, exploring the wisdom of the Seeds Course—metaphorically and tangibly —as a source of growth and learning on the path to self and communal discovery.
Participants will progress through 18 modules, each designed to be completed at their own pace. The course includes instructional videos, interactive exercises expected to take between 30-45 minutes, and a wealth of supplemental materials to deepen understanding. These resources include recommended articles, books, and documentaries that complement and expand upon the themes explored in each module.
It is suitable for anyone involved in social change, whether you’re just starting out or have years of experience, and for organizations seeking to cultivate a deeper connection to community, the environment, and their ancestors.
Reciprocity vs. Empire Mini Course
The Reciprocity vs. Empire: The Long View Series mini-course introduces the ancestral concept of Reciprocity and how this stands in contradiction to two of the most important historical processes of the last 5,000 years: domination through empire and accumulation through capitalism.
This mini-course introduces Reciprocity and its different modalities and scales (individually, communally, between communities, etc.) and provides an orientation to the Long View of history, a methodological perspective that allows one to view the roots of our social problems through historical processes over 5,000 years ago and thus grasp the complexity of our social relations today. Through this introduction to the Long View, viewers get a macro and systematic perspective of the origins of some of our most significant societal issues and how to understand them so that we may begin to transcend them and bring about a more reciprocal world.
The Craft of Coordination Course
The Craft of Coordination Course is about what it takes to get projects done, of how to lead a team through running a successful event or program, and how to turn a vision into reality. Coordination is an essential skill of community organizing, but it is also an essential skill in our workplaces, in our personal lives, and in the groups or teams we are a part of. We know we need more resources and support to coordinate teams and projects well. This course offers just that!
Through the 10 self-paced modules, you will get a comprehensive overview of what it takes to be a coordinator by learning how to build your team, create a work plan, and follow through on that work plan.
In our experience within social change work, we have seen so many brilliant ideas never come to fruition. Sometimes, people can have the most amazing ideas and visions for projects and programs they want to build to change the world but lack the nuts and bolts to be able to bring their vision to fruition.
Suppose you work in an organization and struggle with coordinating yourself or your team. In that case, this course is designed to equip you with the tools, examples, and knowledge you need to become a great coordinator and take your organization or volunteer team to the next level to make your vision a reality.
Like so many other skill-based crafts, coordination requires practice and mastery if it is to be done well. Regardless of what you are working on, every team needs coordination – it is at the heart of working together and building teams that can function to become more than the sum of their parts. To take the work of social change seriously requires everyone to prepare and to practice (repeat) the essential skill of coordinating. This course will give you the building blocks for that journey.
Topics include:
- How to build shared purpose and alignment
- How to create objectives & organize your work plan into activities and buckets of work
- How to conduct the project to bring all of your hard work to fruition
Leadership and
Organizational Seasons
The “Leadership & Organizational Seasons” framework is centered around the recognition and understanding of the cyclical nature inherent in leadership roles and social movement organizations. These cycles, or ‘seasons,’ are vital in helping us comprehend, appreciate, and safeguard the natural fluctuations — the ebbs and flows — that we encounter throughout our involvement in social change work.
In our journey, we often oscillate between periods of high external activity and engagement, where our energy is directed outward, fueling actions and campaigns. Conversely, there are phases where our focus turns inward, appearing dormant to those outside, yet internally, we are engaged in reflective, strategic, and restorative activities. This internal focus is not a lack of progress but rather a crucial phase for recalibration and renewal.
Every stage of this cyclical process serves a distinct purpose and comes with its unique gifts and limitations. These stages are instrumental in shaping our approach to leadership, organizational development, and movement strategies. Recognizing and embracing these cycles allow us to align our actions with our corresponding season, supporting our effectiveness and well-being.
In this mini-course, we delve deeply into the concept of leadership and organizational seasons. We explore:
- Identifying Different Seasons: Understanding the characteristics of each season in leadership and organizational contexts.
- Navigating Seasons Effectively: Learning how to adapt our strategies, leadership styles, and organizational practices to the current season.
- Maximizing the Potential of Each Season: Harnessing the unique opportunities and managing the challenges that each season presents.
- Integrating Seasonal Awareness: Applying this understanding to enhance our leadership impact and organizational effectiveness.
By engaging with this course, participants will gain insightful perspectives and practical tools to navigate the dynamic cycles of leadership and organizations. This knowledge empowers leaders and organizations to not only survive but thrive through the changing seasons of social change work.
Enrollment Information
Group Rates
If you are interested in enrolling 3 or more members of your team or group in one of Ayni’s self-paced courses, please fill out this form.
Training Pool
We have created a hub with all our trainings for you to sign up and mark your interest. This will be available soon.