The Power of Authentic Connection

Featuring the Five Authentic Connection Steps by Author Joni Roberts

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Highlights
  • Author: Joni Roberts
  • Level: Masters
  • Total time: 10 hours
  • eBook Chapters: 25
  • Practice Exercises: 20  
  • Discussion Topics: 20
Note: this course is being updated and will provide additional course material and exercises totaling more than ten hours. The updated course will be released in June 2025.

Inspired by the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Marshall Rosenberg, find your authentic voice and learn how to communicate from a place of love and truth. 

Changing the world starts with changing ourselves, our relationships with one another, and the gorgeous planet we share. Social and environmental sustainability begins with skills in empathy and compassion, connecting to our authentic selves and deep passions, and standing strong in the power of love and truth.

Course Overview
We are living through a transformational time when humanity is evolving from hierarchical structures of power over to collaborative cultures of empowerment. To meet this moment, we need to unlearn the ways of the past and develop new ways of relating that lead to greater harmony with one another and nature.

Expand on the teachings of Cultivating Connection to become an inspiring leader for people and the planet. Go deeper into the practices of empathy-- the number one skill of great leaders, and compassion-- the highest form of human intelligence, to transform workplaces and the world. Find your authentic voice and express it with confidence while adopting the constructive behaviors and mindsets of global, compassion, abundance, growth, and changemaker. This course is designed to be an insightful personal journey as well as an excellent sustainability leadership and team training tool.
What to Expect
This on-demand course allows you to study and apply the practices at your own pace. It includes an interactive eBook with readings, videos, exercises, quizzes, links, an eJournal, and the opportunity to engage in discussions with learners and the instructor, Joni Roberts, who also leads private trainings and retreats.
Mindsets cultivated
  • Global
  • Compassion
  • Abundance
  • Growth
  • Changemaker
skillsets Developed
  • Communication & authentic connection
  • Emotional Intelligence
  • Empathy & openly listening
  • Compassionate action
  • Awareness of self & others
  • Motivation of self and others
  • Leadership & social influence
  • Resilience, flexibility & adaptability
  • Peacebuilding & nonviolence
  • Conflict resolution
  • Storytelling, reading, & writing
  • Ethics and moral responsibility
  • Social stewardship
  • Environmental stewardship
  • Teamwork & Collaboration
  • Curiosity & lifelong learning
  • Analytical & creative thinking
  • Sensory processing abilities
  • Talent management
Certificate of Completion
Spring - Summer 2025

We Rise Series

In these times of divisiveness and contrasting ideologies, join Evolution University's Founder, Joni Roberts, for a special series this spring where we will come together to tap into our strengths, stories, and spirits. Anchored in values for people, for planet, we will explore ways to use our voices to speak truth with courage and confidence while tapping into the regenerative and life-giving qualities of purpose, passion, and compassion.

 Inspired by the We Rise poem by Amanda Gorman and the legacies of nonviolent social leaders.

 Featuring the Five Authentic Connection Steps by the author, Joni Roberts.
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Includes

  • Three 90-minute virtual group coaching sessions
  • Wednesdays, June 11, 18, 25
  • 11:30 am - 1 pm EDT
  • Master's-level online course
  • Certificate of completion

To inspire authentic sharing, sessions will not be recorded. Instead, a summary recording will be shared after the event.
The series of workshops titled "Celebrations & Communications" was part of our institutional professional learning, with a focus on self-awareness to increase cohesion and build productive work relationships among staff. The series was beautifully curated and served to open dialog across the organization that has helped us improve both socially and in terms of our work product.
     

David Shulman, Ph.D.

DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SAYLOR ACADEMY, Miami, FL
Feeling heard, understood and appreciated contributes towards creating an environment in which an individual feels psychologically safe. "The Power of Authentic Connection" course is exceptional at teaching the student the importance of compassion and empathy in fostering meaningful relations with others. The course encourages one to be introspective and evaluate how they approach other individuals, and where to improve. The heart activation exercises were very helpful to me and I can easily use one of the breathing techniques when facing a situation that makes me feel anxious.
     

Bavana Maharaj

Chemical Engineer, South Africa
Having spent a great deal of time in the corporate world/environment, I believe many companies and business owners would most definitely benefit from seminars and courses such as this one. Joni has covered a great deal of material that can certainly help and improve not only working but also personal relationships.
     

Gustavo Barerra

Student Affairs Assistant, Saylor Academy, Washington, D.C.
Advanced Online Course + eJournal

Highlights

Become an Inspiring Leader

Inspired by the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Marshall Rosenberg, learn how to communicate from a place of love and truth. Go deeper into the practices of empathy-- the number one skill of great leaders, and compassion-- the highest form of human intelligence, to transform workplaces and the world.

Cultivate Authentic Connection

Learn how to lead with the Five Authentic Connection Steps practice designed by the author, Joni Roberts, that encourages open, honest, and emotionally responsible communication. Discover more about one another, create a deeper sense of belonging, and build better relationships.

Activate Your Power Centers

Tap into the intelligence of your heart that together with your mind unleashes a superpower of compassion-centered living and leadership. Quickly shift from reactivity to positivity with practices that activate your power centers and allow you to connect with others openly and collaboratively.

Apply the Practice for People and the Planet

Learn a universal language that connects all cultures and genders, as well as animals and nature. Identify root motivators and communicate in a way that is highly effective for promoting peace and finding ways to increase impact for social and environmental sustainability.
Compassion at the core

The Roots of Nonviolent Communication

Truth | Love | Peace | Freedom
Joshua Steib of YOUNGO interviews Former Vice President Al Gore at COP28 in Dubai.. 
If the video is not loading, see post on LinkedIn.

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"We can face the realities of any problems that arise and work together to solve them. Lies and misinformation are not problems to be solved, instead, they create chaos, confusion, hate, and harm. Building better relationships and a better world requires us to be powered by truth and love." - Joni Roberts

What's Included!

  • 5 Star Rated Book: Celebrations, Appreciations & Frustrations plus two more steps of Affirmations and Reconciliations
  • 9 Additional Chapters plus expanded Celebrations book content
  • 40 Interactive Discussions and Exercises
  • Instructor Interaction
  • 7 Educational Videos
  • 3 Music Videos
  • 4 Content Quizzes
  • 1 Life Experience Audit
  • 1 Relationship Quiz
  • 3 PDF Resources
  • Interactive eJournal
  • Mini eBook Download
  • Certificate of Completion
The Power of Nonviolence

Become an Inspiring Leader

1. Draw inspiration from nonviolent leaders to find your authentic voice and communicate from a place of power, love, and truth.

2. Express empathy and compassion for self and others with ease and grace.
3. Supercharge your awareness and understanding by cultivating the three levels of empathy: cognitive, emotional, and sensory.
4. Learn heart activation techniques and compassion hacks to engage your higher self and remain in your center no matter what is happening around you.
5. Connect the universal language of feelings to needs to develop emotional intelligence and gain insights into the drivers of desirable and undesirable behavior.
6. Increase connection by focusing on shared values as entry points for cooperation.
7. Reduce disconnection by editing drama and untruths from the stories we tell.
Become powerful from the inside out

Ignite the Transformational Power of Alchemy

1. Learn how compassion raises the standards of what is possible within ourselves, our workplaces, societies, and nature.

2. Tap into the intelligence of your heart that, together with your mind, unleashes a superpower of compassion-centered living and leadership.
3. Change your inner alchemy and increase play by practicing the power poses of hummingbird, butterfly, lotus, lion, tree, and more!
4. Take the highly insightful relationship quiz designed by Joni Roberts to evaluate the status of your relationships, then discover ways to shift from surviving to thriving.
5. Transform workplace cultures by infusing them with meaning, care, and kindness.
6. Become your highest self by adopting the constructive behaviors and mindsets of global, compassion, abundance, growth, and changemaker.
7. Create positive vibes in yourself that increase your wellbeing and ripple out to the world.
Cultivate Authentic Connection

Integrate the Five Authentic Connection Steps

1. Integrate the universal language of nonviolent communication through the Five Authentic Connection Steps of Celebrations, Appreciations, Frustrations, Affirmations, and Reconciliations, developed by Joni Roberts.
2. Build better relationships by leading and participating in a practice.
3. Integrate the practice in meetings to cultivate connection, happiness, joy, play, trust, openness, inclusion, and responsible communication surrounding difficult topics.
4. Use the practice as a tool to receive open and honest feedback on project development, revealing unseen roadblocks and resistance.
5. Heal deep wounds by entering into forgiveness and reconciliations-- essential steps in overcoming pain from past experiences.
6. Explore multiple ways to apply the practice for people, the planet, and to promote peace.

GaiN Access TO Course and Member Benefits

Engage with Others

1. Participate in our online course discussion forum. Share thoughts and ideas, successes and challenges, and get feedback from participants and the instructor.
2. Gain access to member benefits such as the Community Conversations where you can set up a Changemaker profile and network with members from around the world. Share ideas, inspiration, and find potential collaborators.
3. Find an amazing library of curated resources for personal growth and social and environmental sustainability in the Resource Hub.
4. Bookmark Evolution News, a curated newsfeed with an emphasis on optimism, science, and sustainability.
3. Gain access to special live sessions led by Joni Roberts and other experts that are included with course enrollment. 

Take a Deeper Dive into Your Life Experiences

Bonus eJournal: Write Your Own Stories

Reinforce the practices with journaling. Included is a beautiful 100-page interactive eJournal with inspirational quotes by the author, Joni Roberts. The digital journal offers three months of entries and can be used repeatedly by each enrollee. Once you finish, begin again with a new version.

Preview the Welcome Section

Are you ready to change your relationships and change the world?

Would you like to engage a facilitator to lead groups through the practices, customized to your team's needs?

Meet the instructor

Joni Roberts, Chief Evolution Officer

With a passion for empowering people through education, Joni combines her unique experience in entrepreneurship and higher education with a mission to create a more joyful, prosperous, and sustainable world. In addition to founding Evolution University, Joni is a leadership, organizational behavior, global strategy, innovation, and sustainability professor since 2008 and currently teaches for Kean University in New Jersey. In 2012, she became involved in the work of Marshall Rosenberg, PhD., and nonviolent communication (NVC). Today, this is expressed through her book, Celebrations, Appreciations & Frustrations, and the corresponding online courses: Cultivating Connection and The Power of Authentic Connection.
Patrick Jones - Course author
"Compassion is the highest form of human intelligence." - Joni Roberts
Evolution University is an Official United Nations global goals partner

Supporting the Sustainable Development Goals

The SDGs
Big challenges need bold action to overcome them, and that is where the Global Goals come in. They are a plan led by the United Nations and agreed to by all world leaders to build a greener, fairer, better world by 2030, and we all have a role in achieving them.

Educational content offered by Evolution University aligns with achieving the SDGs by providing people with practical ways to learn, grow, and evolve together and take meaningful action for the goals. The mindsets and skillsets developed in this course support all of the SDGs, and in particular, the ones listed here.
Good Health & Wellbeing
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. We are spending an astonishing amount of money and resources on treating illnesses that are surprisingly easy to prevent. The new goal for worldwide good health promotes healthy lifestyles, mental health and well-being, preventive measures, and modern, efficient healthcare for everyone.

In the workplace, this shows up as more happiness and job satisfaction, higher engagement levels, better health and wellness, and reduced sick days.
Reduced Inequalities
Reduce inequalities within and among countries. Too much of the world’s wealth is held by a very small group of people.This often leads to financial and social discrimination. In order for nations to flourish, equality and prosperity must be available to everyone – regardless of gender, race, religious beliefs or economic status. When every individual is self sufficient, the entire world prospers.

In the workplace, this fits into diversity, equity, and inclusion programs where all people have a sense of belonging and opportunities to prosper.
Quality Education
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Education liberates the intellect, unlocks the imagination, and is fundamental for self-respect. It is the key to prosperity and opens a world of opportunities, making it possible for each of us to contribute to a progressive, healthy society. Learning benefits every human being and should be available to all.

In the workplace, continuous learning and professional development are an investment in people, who in return drive the success of the organization.
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. Compassion and a strong moral compass is essential to every democratic society. Yet, persecution, injustice and abuse still runs rampant and is tearing at the very fabric of civilization. We must ensure that we have strong institutions, global standards of justice, and a commitment to peace everywhere.

In the workplace, this shows up as governance and leadership that is grounded in ethics, compassion, peace, and justice.
Partnership for the Goals
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development. The Global Goals can only be met if we work together. International investments and support is needed to ensure innovative technological development, fair trade and market access, especially for developing countries. To build a better world, we need to be supportive, empathetic, inventive, passionate, and above all, cooperative.

In the workplace, partnering for the goals develops the mindsets of global, compassion, abundance, growth, and changemaker, that represent the top skills for today and the future.
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