#UjimaWednesdays | Flipping the Switch: Shifting the Balance of Power

Power, Transformation, and Miracles: Ujima Power Project

The 2025 Ujima Wednesdays Workshop Series theme: Power, Transformation, and Miracles: Ujima Power Project and the programs dedicated to it explore the tension and nuances that power inspires, posing questions about the metaphorical, political, and social dimensions of power. Power, Transformation, and Miracles: Ujima Power Project  examines power as a concept with concrete, material consequences. This workshop series is dedicated to exploring the collective power of communities to transform ourselves and the systems that shape our lives. How is power enacted and performed across histories and institutions? Who holds power, and who resists or rejects its use? How do we reclaim, redistribute, or shift power, and is it ever enough? Can power bring us closer to justice, to liberation, to a more equitable society? How do we learn through power? What are we empowering, and by what measures? When does a shift in power lead to true transformation, to revolution? Understanding these types of power —and the pillars of support that sustain existing systems— can help us become weapons of mass construction. 

Grounding in Power: Grasping at the Root:

This month in February, we are kicking off our yearly theme, Power, Transformation, and Miracles: Ujima Power Project, with Grounding in Power: Grasping at the Root. Join us in an exploration, understanding, and flipping the switch on power. This series workshops will provide participants with an understanding of how power is garnered, harnessed and enacted. We’ll also explore how communities can collectively use their power to strategically move toward a more just and liberated future.

Event Description:

Too often, power is seen as mechanical and transactional, creating barriers to real connections. This week we will be continuing our grounding in power facilitated by movement elder, Elena Letona. This workshop will guide participants in exploring how power operates in our everyday lives and communities, and how we hold, wield, and transform it. Through reflection and practice, we’ll examine power as a shared responsibility, the leadership it requires, and how true solidarity comes from seeing ourselves in each other. Whether you're an organizer, advocate, or simply curious about power dynamics, this session will help you sharpen your skills and strengthen your ability to navigate and shift power in any space. No campaign experience necessary —just a commitment to learning, reflecting, and practicing together!

Facilitator Bio:

Elena Letona, Ph.D., was born in El Salvador. She attended Oberlin College-Conservatory where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in piano performance and music history, and the University of Massachusetts Boston where she earned a Ph.D. in public policy. Elena has 30 years of experience working and serving the nonprofit sector as volunteer, organizer, activist, teacher, director, and consultant. Elena has directed two community organizations in Massachusetts: Centro Presente, an immigrants’ rights organization, and Neighbor to Neighbor, a membership organization of working-class low-income, people of color and immigrants. In both cases, Elena led change processes that deepened their organizing models, transforming the organizations into ones fully in the hands of the communities.Elena was also Director of Philanthropy and Learning at the Episcopal City Mission, where she led the articulation and implementation of a coherent grantmaking strategy aimed at supporting BIPOC-led power building organizations in Massachusetts. In 2005, Elena’s work was recognized when she was selected to be part of the Barr Foundation’s inaugural class of Fellows. Currently, Elena is an independent consultant working primarily with movement organizations in Massachusetts as coach and facilitator.