May 2026

Dear ones,

I hope this newsletter finds you well today, in the midst of an active month for many.

We just completed another one of our drop-in book circles yesterday, which dove deeply into the terrain of personal and professional boundaries. Together, we discussed how feelings of frustration and resentment are actually indicators of our own unexpressed or unheard needs, more than being about another's behavior. The work of taking responsibility for our lives as we heal and aspire to become matriarchs is humbling and empowering. The truth is, we need each other to help see these patterns for what they are. Once we have greater clarity here, then we are much more effective in showing up for our community in a way that reflects integrity and dignity. Please feel free to drop in to our next one in July. We would love to have you.

I am getting ready to head out for my first work travels of the year, first, to the Baltic Studies conference in Illinois alongside Kristine Hill, and then in June, to Latvia for the solstice and pirts retreats. I extend a special thank you to all of you for helping support this work in your many ways, so that I may continue to teach on the topics that matter greatly to me, and to keep learning as a practitioner.

With care and respect,

Maija

Announcements & New Resources

DROP-IN: Monthly Book Circle

We hope you'll join us for the next drop-in session on Thursday, July 9 at 12pm. We will weave our community, together, to help illuminate and discover what it means to be a Matriarch during this time.

July topic: The Integrated Self and the Choice to Heal

PRE-REGISTER: Matriarchal Governance Design Course for Practitioners, August 14, 2026

If you've ever sensed that the governance structures you work within — the bylaws, the charters, the MOUs — are encoding a theory of authority you didn't consciously choose, this two-hour live course From the Triangle to the Circle was built for exactly that feeling.

Pre-registration is now open for this session designed for attorneys, mediators, and governance practitioners ready to examine their own documents and draft something more accountable, relational, and rigorous.

Reserve your spot

JOIN US: Baltic Studies Conference (AABS) Circle

Kristine (Krissy) Hill, a peacemaker and respected Indigenous knowledge holder, and Maija will be holding a circle during the conference. Please join us if you are attending. The theme of the roundtable will be: The Thread of Unity: Baltic and Haudenosaunee Lessons on Sovereignty and Peace.

Photo credit: https://giiwedinong.org/treatystories/first-draft-of-the-constitution

Learn more

NEW BOOK COMING SOON: Matriarchal Governance

A groundbreaking governance toolkit for attorneys, peacemakers, and organizational leaders ready to move from hierarchy to circle.

Photo credit: https://www.idsa.org/education-paper/co-creating-matriarchal-design-futures/

Learn more

NEW Free Resource:

The Real Story of Mother's Day — and what it still asks of us

A beautiful reclaiming of what this day was always meant to be, and a tender invitation for how you might honor it differently.

NEW Free Resource:

The Body Knows the Snake

An invitation to slow down, trust what you feel before you can name it, and let sensation become your guide.

NEW Free Resource:

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Change: Retelling the Stories That Shape Our Future

Reflection on why returning to the stories of ordinary people in collective resistance may be exactly what this moment asks of us.

Modern Matriarch Highlight:

2026 Latino Spirit Honorees

This month we're highlighting honorees of the 2026 Latino Spirit Awards: Eli PaintedCrow, Lupe Gallegos-Diaz, Sandra R. Hernández (MD), Tamara Romo Gisiger, and Claudette A. Zepeda.

Whether it's an educator like Lupe shaping the next generation, or an advocate like Tamara amplifying voices that have long gone unheard, each honoree reflects the matriarch's defining charge — to tend the roots so others may rise.

A matriarch doesn't wait for permission to lead; she leads through relationship, through service, through the quiet insistence that her people deserve better. We see that same insistence in a physician like Dr. Hernández fighting for equitable health outcomes, in human rights champions like Eli PaintedCrow standing in the gap for the most vulnerable, and in the cultural stewardship of Claudette Zepeda, who preserve identity as an act of love.

Together, these honorees remind us that matriarchal leadership isn't confined to a family table; it shows up wherever someone chooses to anchor their gifts to the flourishing of a whole community.

Photo credit: https://latinocaucus.legislature.ca.gov/latino-spirit-awards

Learn more

Important Dates

June 20-30, 2026 - Pirts and solstice celebration retreat with Maija, Aija and Anrijs in Riga, Sigulda and Gulbene, Latvia

July 9, 2026 - Book Circle drop-in: The Integrated Self and the Choice to Heal

July 2026 - Seneca Convention Days ~ Mother Law and the 250th Anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence

August 26-29, 2027 - Annual Matriarch Retreat on the California Central Coast

How to Start Your Matriarch Makeover ~

1. Free Resources

Every month we are adding new resources related to Community, Modern Matriarchs, Leadership, and more. Begin your journey by clicking below:

Browse all free resources

2. The Matriarch Member Circle

Our circle is growing! We now have 80+ members in our Matriarch Member Circle. It is becoming a powerful and inclusive place to connect and share resources. Its also the place where new offerings are shared, before public announcements. There are no membership dues or fees for this circle.

Join the Member Circle

3. The Book - 30 Day Invitation

These 20-minute journaling exercises were inspired by my own self-leadership journey. Many of the free resources (Step #1 above) are based on the exercises in this carefully crafted book.

Learn more

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