RAMP!  Reciprocal Annual Mentorship Program

(Regenerative • Adaptive • Multigenerational • Pathways)

RAMP! is a four-month national pilot offering two ways to learn and connect within the Unitarian Universalist movement:

  • a small, cross-generational Mentorship Cohort for those seeking deep, relationship-centred learning, and
  • a series of Public Skill-Building Workshops, open to all.

Together, these pathways connect Unitarian Universalists across generations to build skills, share wisdom, and strengthen our communities for the future.

Duration: March–June 2026

Why RAMP! Exists

Unitarian Universalist communities across Canada are navigating profound change — social, economic, environmental, and spiritual. Our work as a movement is not only to respond, but to prepare together.

The Canadian Unitarian Council has named two guiding movements for 2026: Turning Toward One Another and Facing the Future Together. RAMP! is one way we practice this work.

This preparation isn’t about having answers in advance. It’s about building the relationships, skills, and trust that allow us to meet what’s coming without losing one another.

RAMP! is one way we are practicing this work — together.

What Makes RAMP! Different

Grounded in reciprocity. Everyone brings knowledge. Everyone continues learning. Wisdom flows through relationship, not hierarchy.

Multigenerational by design. Youth bring insight from navigating today’s world. Elders and long-time UUs bring wisdom shaped by time and resilience. Adults in the middle often hold both. RAMP! creates intentional space for these ways of knowing to meet.

In this work:

  • Elders and long-time UUs are invited to be mentored as well as to mentor
  • Youth are recognized as teachers and leaders now
  • Everyone practices listening, not fixing
  • Wisdom is exchanged, not ranked

This is how traditions stay alive, not by preserving them unchanged, but by sharing them across generations.

Part of a Larger Movement

RAMP!’s monthly themes also shape other CUC programming, including Congregational Conversations and Dismantling Barriers. This creates shared language and multiple entry points. However you engage with CUC programming, you will encounter the same core questions each month.

Two Paths into RAMP!

RAMP! is designed to meet people where they are — in capacity, curiosity, and life stage. You are invited to choose the path, or paths, that feel right for you.

Mentorship Cohort:

⇒ Path 1: Mentorship Cohort (Application Required)

For those seeking deep, relationship-centred learning through cross-generational partnership.
Cohort size: 18 participants (9 mentor–mentee pairs)
Time Commitment: Time commitment: approximately 5–10 hours per month

The Mentorship Cohort offers a supported learning container that includes:

  • Monthly cohort sessions with facilitated reflection and guidance
  • One-on-one mentorship partnership across generations
  • A community-rooted project you design and launch together
  • Connection with others doing this work nationally

Cohort participants are invited to attend two 90-minute cohort sessions each month (attendance of at least one is required), along with partnership time and optional public workshops.

Apply for the Mentorship Cohort by February 15 local time!

Participants design and launch a community-rooted project informed by the Community Archetype Framework (introduced at the 2025 Fall Gathering; but participation in that event is not required).

Projects grow from mapping strengths, gaps, and needs within your local UU or broader community. Examples include:

  • A community garden guide
  • Educational resources on political refuge and advocacy
  • Collaborative visual art shared nationally
  • Youth-led entrepreneurial or community initiatives

Projects are scaled to your capacity and context. They are understood as learning laboratories rather than finished products, with emphasis on experimentation, reflection, and shared insight rather than perfection.

Participants in the Mentorship Cohort commit to:

  • Co-creating a mentorship agreement with their partner
  • Attending at least one of two Mentorship Cohort sessions each month (90 minutes, Tuesdays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT)
  • Engaging with the monthly public workshops
  • Showing up with compassion, curiosity, and openness

Together, these commitments create a learning container grounded in trust and shared responsibility.

In alignment with CUC youth safety guidelines and our duty of care for minors, applicants under the age of 18 must submit a Parent/Guardian Consent Form before their application is considered complete.

Parent/Guardian Consent Form 

⇒ Path 2: Public Skill-Building Workshops (Open to All)

For anyone who wants practical tools, shared language, and connection, with no application or long-term commitment.
Time commitment: 1–4 hours per month
Registration: open to all; no application required

These monthly workshops explore practical skills for sustainable, justice-centred community life. You are welcome to drop in for one session or join us for all four.

Four Months, Four Shared Themes
RAMP! unfolds through four monthly themes, each building on the one before it. Together, they form a connected learning journey — from understanding where we are, to strengthening how we move forward together.

Understanding who we are as communities: our strengths, gaps, relationships, and the wider ecosystems we are part of.

March 28 — Public Workshop (90 min):
You Are Here: Resources, Readiness, and Reality
10:00 am PT |  11:00  am MT  |  12:00 pm CT | 1:00 pm  ET  | 2:00 pm  AT  | 3:00 pm NT

A clear-eyed, practical session that helps UU communities take stock of their real assets and readiness- so next steps are grounded in honesty, shared understanding, and intention rather than assumptions.

Register Here 

Exploring sustainability, financial justice, regenerative models, and shared abundance.

April 25 — Public Workshop (90 min): 
Unitarian Universalism and Social Enterprise
10:00 am PT |  11:00  am MT  |  12:00 pm CT | 1:00 pm  ET  | 2:00 pm  AT  | 3:00 pm NT

Join Shaun Loney, one of Canada’s leading voices on social enterprise, for a compelling look at how underused church property can become a source of renewal, justice, and long-term sustainability- with concrete examples and pathways forward for congregations of all sizes.

Register Here

Developing skills to navigate conflict, accountability, and emotional complexity with care and courage.

May 9 — Public Workshop:
Navigating Conflict (with Necessary Trouble Collective)
10:00 am PT |  11:00  am MT  |  12:00 pm CT | 1:00 pm  ET  | 2:00 pm  AT  | 3:00 pm NT

Learn with Necessary Trouble Collective how conflict can become a source of clarity and connection- building practical skills to engage disagreement with curiosity, courage, and care rather than avoidance or rupture.

Register Here

Strengthening shared leadership, decision-making, collaboration, and transparency.

June 27 — Public Workshop:
Ramped Up: Projects, Partnerships, and Practical Wisdom from RAMP!
10:00 am PT |  11:00  am MT  |  12:00 pm CT | 1:00 pm  ET  | 2:00 pm  AT  | 3:00 pm NT

A candid, inspiring closing session where RAMP participants share what they actually tried, what changed, and what they learned — offering grounded insight and transferable wisdom for UU communities navigating change.

Register Here


An Invitation

If you’ve ever wondered where you belong in this community right now…
 If you’ve ever felt called to deeper connection…
 If you’ve ever suspected that wisdom grows when it’s shared…

RAMP! may already be inviting you.

Whether you participate closely, join a workshop, or engage through other aligned CUC programming, this journey is about all of us, turning toward one another and facing the future together.

Apply for the Mentorship Cohort by Feb 15 or register for a Public Workshop

Quick Reference: Full Schedule

This theme helps participants understand who their communities truly are – strengths, gaps, needs, and the ecosystems they’re part of. By mapping assets and identities, teams gain the clarity needed to design solutions that are grounded, relational, and responsive to their neighborhoods. RAMP! participants will get acquainted and begin to plan their projects in tandem with one another.

  • March 17: Mentorship Cohort Session: RAMP! Orientation
  • March 19 & 21: Congregational Conversations Planting, Pruning, and Bearing Fruit 
  • March 26: Assessment and Accountability as Acts of Love
  • March 28: Public Workshop: You Are Here: Resources, Readiness, and Reality
  • March 31: Mentorship Cohort Session

Participants explore how UU communities sustain themselves through financial justice, regenerative models, and diverse economic engines. This theme moves beyond scarcity thinking, offering practical tools for building stability, scalability, and shared abundance. On April 25, Shaun Loney, one of Canada’s leading voices on social enterprise, explores how underused church property can become a source of renewal, justice, and long-term sustainability.

This theme teaches communities how to navigate conflict, accountability, and emotional complexity with care and courage. Participants learn trauma-informed practices, compassionate dialogue skills, and resilience tools that turn friction into meaningful growth. May 26 hosts Special Guest Presenters: Necessary Trouble Collective.

Participants dive into decision-making models, shared leadership, and governance that actually supports human beings, and not just structures. This theme strengthens collaboration across congregations and equips teams to create transparent, accountable, and interconnected ways of working. The public session celebrates RAMP! projects and relationships.

 

Watch our Ramp Reels

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Questions? Contact the Canadian Unitarian Council at info@cuc.ca

Apply for the Mentorship Cohort | Register for Workshops