The Luminary Brain Trust

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• I feel a specific kind of tired of being the leftmost person in so many spaces. I want a chance to learn too. I really enjoy being in spaces with people who are so far ahead of me in different ways. Not being the parent who has to judge how far to push other members, or bringing in all the resources on how to move forward.”
  – Jillian W., LBT Member
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• Every month, we tackle a real  challenge to troubleshoot together at the intersection of raising a family and seeking social justice.
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• Harnessing our collective wisdom and experience, we share our stories – what’s worked for us, what we’ve learned from past mistakes, and clarify what we need to keep going.
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• Many of us have physical and social disabilities that make engaging in real life or toxic social media groups inaccessible. And most of us live in communities where local families don’t hold the same progressively radical views on anti-oppression and transformative justice.
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• Together, we build a family action resource library to support families like us.
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• “It’s frustrating to try to connect with other parents in my kid’s daycare around these issues because most of them aren’t particularly interested in digging in. It ends up being yet one more place where I feel like I’m working to gently explain and persuade instead of a mutual thing where I get support too.”
  – Alison L. LBT Member
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• The Luminary Braintrust is a coalition of caregivers* raising a young generation of radically progressive leaders to understand and take responsibility for individual and systemic social change.
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• Learn more about our group values & member agreements
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*Including but not limited to parents, guardians, educators, and social workers, with folks from all family constellations and education models welcome.

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• The Raising Luminaries mission is to ignite the next generation of kind & courageous leaders to smash the kyriarchy.
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• To do this effectively, we can grow through community – assessing and determining our lane, capacity, and impact as parent activists to avoid performative activism and focus on impactful transformative parenting. 
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•  We can try to seek brave spaces to do this in social media groups and local community activist spaces – but these often turn toxic and lead to membership burnout without proper relationship-building and scaffolding for member support.
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• In addition to the support resources in the LBT – discussion prompts, open discussions, goofy articles, and hangouts, we discuss how to model and normalize courage, kindness, and leadership both in our families in our communities.
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• This includes accountability initiatives, such as sharing what we intend to do and and whether we followed through, unpacking the bigotry we grew up with and our own mistakes and what we learn through them.
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• We create a brave space to respond and support each other, without coddling or excusing harmful behavior to build relationships through open communication, mutual support, and wanting the best for each other.
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• Members can suggest a specific challenge for us to collaborate on  in the Collaborator Laboratory in the LBT member portal.
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• Once a month, we choose a specific topic to tackle as a community.

• The Brain Trust Portal is always growing with new features and experiments, including revolving and regular series based on member interest.
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• Some staple features of our activities together include monthly Family Movie Night recaps, resisting supremacy discussion prompts, a weekly check-in email newsletter for sharing good news and Friday Failure Parties, and a monthly Choose-Your-Own-Adventure 20-day accountability challenge.
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• As our group grows, we’ll keep experimenting with new features and initiatives.

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• Having that immediate feedback of getting to know each other face-to-face in a real conversation is invaluable – but let’s take the pressure off ourselves to show up in every possible way.
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• The LBT is a shame-free brave space where you can find resources and engage when you’re ready.
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• If what you’re looking for is more active engagement and to connect in real time with like-minded caregivers, check out the Raising Luminaries Seasonal Collectives – annual 6-week virtual programs where we gather for deep connection and guided discussion to fully integrate activism into our caregiving work and everyday lives.
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• Log into the Luminary Brain Trust Portal from your computer or phone, you can search for keywords and topics using the search field in the sidebar to find member-only discussions and articles.

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• Absolutely! Let’s be friends!
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• While Raising Luminaries centers multiply-targeted parents and guardians of young children, we are all linked by a shared values and visions of an inclusive future. 
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• In Raising Luminaries spaces, we’re not playing oppression Olympics, nor do we believe the responsibility of dismantling injustice should fall only on the oppressed. We shouldn’t have to do this without you.
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• Systemic injustice and the kyriarchy hurt all of us to some degree – even those who mostly benefit from the system, and those with more power have more time, energy, and resources to spare when contributing to interdependent communities.
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• And many of us over-focus on our racial and economic privilege and dismiss the barriers to inclusion that come with being ‘the other‘  in social justice and parenting spaces – whether you’re the only primary-caretaking dad in your neighborhood or hiding an invisible disability to maintain custody of your kids. We make space for your challenges so you can show up as your full self.
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• Regardless of our privileges and challenges, each focused on what we can each contribute given the currencies available to us – whether it’s social power, financial donations, an empathetic ear, resource sharing, or whatever  we have plenty of and are willing to share.
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• We don’t do saviorism or allyship here. But we welcome accomplices and conspirators who are willing to show up and actively engage and participate.
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• If you’re joining to virtue signal “I belong to this community” but don’t contribute in any way – through member donations or engagement, ew, no thank you. Please respect our space and find a group that enjoys performative diversity picnics.
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• But if you’re willing to work alongside us in our shared liberation and wield your power to smash the kyriarchy from within, let’s get into some cahoots.
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• Hi, I’m Ashia (they or she), the Head Custodian of Infodumpery at Raising Luminaries.
  
  
• I’m an Autistic, multiracial (Chinese/Irish) 2nd-generation settler raising two children alongside my partner on the homelands of the Wampanoag and Massachusett people.
  
  
• I facilitate our discussions, host our events, write the content, and do all the stuff that keeps our spaces brave, our community inclusive, and our resources accessible.
  
  
• I know you’re busy – but I welcome any volunteers who would be interested in independently or co-facilitating a discussion, hangout, or community resource.
  
  
• Learn more about the Raising Luminaries community.

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• Your membership fee covers my (Ashia’s) labor and expenses providing free and accessible resources for kyriarchy-smashing families on Books For Littles, the Student Ignition Society, and Raising Luminaries.
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• You’ve gotten free access to the resources I create – including our Monthly Resource Roundups, Family Action Toolkits, newsletters, kidlit analysis, podcasts, workshops, etc.
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• So LBT membership fees and our seasonal collectives are how I (try to) fund my expensive habit of providing resources for folks who can’t afford a paywall. It’s not a great business model. I’m working on it.
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• There are a small number of member-only features that supporting members get access to in the Luminary Brain Trust Portal (see What do members get access to).
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• But I’m still uncomfortable with blocking access to anyone who want to be in community with us but can’t afford the full value of the membership. So learn more about our membership sliding scale if cost is a financial barrier for you.
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• If you’d like to pay it forward, apply code CONSPIRATOR in the ‘discount‘ box.
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• Your monthly $50 membership will provide access for members who need sliding scale support.

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• Yes! Thank you!!!
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• You can donate to support these resources and the work I do here:
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• Venmo | Ko-fi | Paypal
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• (Note: Paypal will take a big chunk out for processing fees)