OCF Blog

One Circle Foundation (OCF) has the honor of partnering with incredible women leaders who are ushering in lasting, positive change and making history in their communities from Des Moines, IA to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  OCF has its own history of strong, intelligent, charismatic, and deeply caring women in leadership. These women have been developing and sharing circle programs to ensure that youth and teens get the opportunity to have healthy relationships with themselves and others in safe circle spaces with adults who are properly trained and equipped to be effective facilitators.  We celebrate these women who show up daily to walk the talk, do the work, and make history.

Report after report and a seemingly endless stream of articles have recently been released showing that youth and teen mental health is in crisis. Persistent sadness, hopelessness, and attempts of suicide are up across the board, and the numbers increase for youth of color, LGBTQ+ youth, and ...

I went through Girls Circle Facilitator Training in 2017, and had the privilege of being trained by the wonderful Victoria Mahand. I remember going up to her after the training and asking her, “How do I do, what you do?” I was referring to her charismatic, inclusive, effective facilitation style. What she did next was model what a facilitator does. She didn’t give advice, she told me, “Danielle, go out and do.” So, that’s what I did for 5 years. I ran circles and grew our program within our community. However, I struggled those first few years with

...I attended the Million Man March in Washington DC in 1995. I wasn’t prepared to write anything. But it was a historical event. I didn’t have lined paper nor a pen. I had a pencil and a napkin and began scribbling my verses. That ordeal resulted in the first book of poetry written about the March, titled “Messages from the Historic Million Man March”. I gravitated and graduated to more profound social and political issues as seen in the poem Años de Lágrimas (Years of Tears): I can hear my ancestors They’re being taken away… The screams piercing the air…

A new video was released today featuring One Circle Foundation trainers, staff, and teen circle participants sharing all about One Circle Foundation and showcasing what an actual circle looks like in Aiken, SC. This video gives an introduction to the One Circle Foundation experience, mission, and impact. Share it with colleagues, friends, and family so they can learn about this powerful work that you are a part of and help us to expand our circle around the world. 

Dear Friends and Partners -   I am excited to announce that earlier this month, I joined One Circle Foundation's tireless and devoted co-founder, Beth Hossfeld, in the role of Board Co-Chair.   I have proudly served OCF as a director since 2019, most recently as Vice President during a time of significant change for the organization and the collective world. In partnership with the board, Beth and I grew and diversified our leadership talent and strengthened our policies to adapt to increased demand and our new ways of working. 

16 years ago I was intimidated, excited, nervous, and honored to be given the opportunity to facilitate my first Girls Circle with eight 16-17-year-old girls, all of whom were on probation. They were required to attend as a condition of their probation and we met in a classroom on their high school campus right after school each Wednesday. Going into that first session, I did all of the extra things that I could think of

2022 has been a year of celebration as One Circle Foundations' 25th year anniversary. We want to share all that our team and you as circle and council facilitators and supporters have accomplished this year. Watch this slideshow video of photos from 2022 and below that you'll see a list of this year's major accomplishments. This year we... Trained 1,786 people from across the globe in one of our four trainings: Girls Circle, The Council for Boys and Young Men, Mitigating Gender and Racial Bias: Intersectionality and Allyship, and Mother-Daughter Circle Training. In-Person Training resumed in August, 80 scholarships were provided...

We need to make school FUN again! The finger painting, coloring, playground, and games (inside and outside of class) alongside academics project a light of jubilance in the soul of your child. As they ascend to higher grades, a subtle shadow or cloud can begin to encroach on their amination and desire to go to school and/or continue in a society that has failed them. Of course, there are numerous distractions: social media, computers, and cell phones just to list a few, as there are well-documented after-school extra-curricular activities for students to engage themselves such as sports, chorus, or drama club. Students need to be challenged, academically fed, and entertained.

At One Circle Foundation, we often talk about the dedication and commitment of our facilitators. I want to take a minute and share two examples of this dedication of two individuals who attended Girls Circle training at the end of September. Sapphire was registered to attend our Girls Circle training online. When we began the training, Sapphire let us know that she was pregnant and that she may not be able to attend on day 3 of the training as she had a scheduled doctor's appointment. We let Sapphire know that it was no problem and that OCF could reschedule her third day of training. On day 2 of training, Sapphire let us know that although she had a scheduled appointment she would be attending on day 3 and wanted to complete her training as she had developed relationships with the other facilitators and wanted to finish the training with the individuals she had formed relationships with.  On day 3 we found out Sapphire was going to deliver her daughter later in the morning but