Who We Are
The New England Council Collective is a small but growing body of certified Council trainers and Council facilitators in the New England area. We serve individuals, groups and organizations seeking to learn more about Council and to seed Council practices in their lives and work in and for the human and more-than-human worlds. Our organization is currently based in Putney, Vermont, where certified Council trainers Paul LeVasseur and Bonnie Mennell have been offering Council since 1996. Kirstin Edleglass joined us in 2016 having completed the Trainers Mentoring Circle Trainer’s Path. Kirstin brings years of experience working with youth groups, wilderness programs and Joanna Macy’s The Work that Reconnects. We offer mentorship to individuals seeking to become Council Facilitators and Trainers in the Ojai Foundation lineage, one among the many ancient and emergent circle ways around the planet.
NECC networks with other Council trainers and facilitators in this area and with Centers of Council beyond our region including the Ojai Foundation, Center for Council, Circle Ways (formerly Council in the Schools), School of Lost Borders and the Council on the Uncertain Human Future. Weekend Council 1, 2 & 3 trainings are offered in Putney each year.
Specialized trainings and council sessions for community groups in the local area and beyond are offered upon request in collaboration with schools and universities and organizations. (e.g. Clark University, English Language Institute in the Dominican Republic, Hill Top Montessori School, Berkshire Waldorf High School, Windhorse Foundation, ZenPeacemakers, Vermont Adult Learning, Putney Commons).
Our yearly, day-long Gathering is open to all who are weaving council practices into their life and work in the New England Area.
Nurturing vital, collaborative, inclusive “containers’ for self-directed experiential learning in partnership/community with both the human and the more-than-human worlds have been at the heart of Bonnie Mennell’s 52 years as an educator—teaching, training and consulting in teacher education/mentoring, group dynamics and team/ community building. As an independent educational consultant, she weaves Way of Council both explicitly and implicitly into the work she does in educational settings (both private and public), non-profit and for-profit organizations, and community groups around the US and overseas. Bonnie’s work is also informed her studies of and uses of Psychosynthesis in education, Vipassana meditation, Dialogue practice, her work as a visual artist and the stewardship with her partner Paul LeVasseur of a beautiful 10 acres of hilltop land in Putney, Vermont.
“I seek to create inviting, vital, collaborative, inclusive “containers” for life expanding, self-directed, experiential learning in partnership/community, spaces for all voices to be listened to and heard. Awareness of self, of others, of community, of the communication and group dynamics patterns that contribute to and detract from the type of work relations/human relations we all long for—and blossom in--are fundamental to the way I work.”
Kirstin Edelglass is a psychosynthesis counselor and certified trainer of the Way of Council. She began facilitating councils while guiding wilderness trips 25 years ago and found the practice so effective at nurturing harmonious communities that she brought it with her into classrooms, boardrooms, meditation retreats, staff trainings, and summer camps. Since 2001 she has trained in and practiced “The Way of Council,” teaching college courses in council facilitation and offering workshops to the public. On her homestead in Marlboro, Vermont she co-leads three-week retreats for young adults, weaving together the practices of insight meditation, the Work That Reconnects, and council.
“While each council is unique, I invariably rise from my seat feeling more compassionate, sensitive, creative, empowered, and connected to life.”
As an educator and community activist, Paul LeVasseur explores ways to incorporate Council and other dialogic processes into a broad range of personal and professional contexts to enhance deep understanding across differences and foster vibrant and sustainable communities and relationships. For 40 years Paul has incorporated Council into his work as ESOL teacher, teacher trainer, and manager of ESOL programs at the School for International Training//World Learning. Council has also been a central practice in his work as co-founder of Transition Town Putney, The New England Council Collective, and most recently Trees for Good, a community based non-profit focused on planting trees, promoting healthy forests, and reducing CO2.
