Learn Cultivating Safe Spaces (CSS)

Cultivating Safe Spaces (CSS) is a framework for leading, listening, and staying connected when things get hard.

Most people don’t need more leadership theory, they need tools to stay grounded, honest, and connected when things get tense. Cultivating Safe Spaces (CSS) helps people and systems build those tools.

It’s not about avoiding conflict, it’s about regulating through it, repairing after harm, and leading with accountability instead of fear. CSS teaches us to hold both people and responsibility at the same time.

What CSS Teaches

The CSS framework is built on three parts that support relational leadership in any context.. 

Together, they help people and organizations stay grounded, communicate clearly, and hold each other accountable — even when the stakes are high.

→ Learn About the CSS Framework

For Communities and Small Organizations

Community Learning Experiences

Facilitated sessions focused on connection, healing, and shared responsibility.
These sessions bring people together to strengthen communication, rebuild trust, and practice CSS in motion.

They’re ideal for community groups, Nations, and small organizations that want to begin relational work at a local level. Elaine takes a limited number of these requests, for other CSS Facilitators please browse our CSS Facilitator Directory below. 

Examples:

• Community True Colors + CSS (full-day)

• Community workshops available by request based on availability.

Available by request.

Working with CSS Facilitators

Every CSS Facilitator carries the framework through their own lived experience, teaching, facilitating, and supporting systems with care, integrity, and accountability.

If you’re hiring a CSS Facilitator, here’s what you can expect:

• Each facilitator has completed Train the Trainer Certification (Level 1–3).

• They’ve demonstrated emotional regulation, relational capacity, and the ability to teach the Four Necessary Conditions, Protocols, and Perspectives.

• They are self-governed through relationship, not external authority and they carry their own integrity and are accountable to their practice.

If a concern or misunderstanding arises, we encourage direct, honest conversation. The CSS framework teaches us how to work through discomfort, not hide behind policy or hierarchy.

→ Explore the CSS Facilitator Directory
→ Contact [email protected]  for Facilitator Recommendations

For Leadership & Enterprise

Heard about Cultivating Safe Spaces (CSS) but not sure what it actually is or whether it fits your team? Book a 90-minute virtual session, it's a low-commitment way for leaders to experience the framework and assess whether it’s right for their organization.

It’s a guided session with Elaine Alec, designed for executives, boards, and leadership teams who want to understand how relational leadership and accountability can strengthen communication, trust, and decision-making under pressure.

You’ll leave with a clear sense of where your organization stands and what bringing CSS into your system could look like.

Investment: $3,500 CAD
→ Book a CSS Leadership Experience

Looking to Bring CSS Into Your System Long-Term?

Naqsmist partners with organizations, governments, and enterprise to embed CSS across departments, teams, and leadership structures. Our enterprise pathways include private Train the Trainer cohorts, leadership development, and long-term integration support.

→ Learn More About CSS for Enterprise

For Practitioners & Facilitators

Find out more about the CSS Train the Trainer. For leaders, educators, consultants, and practitioners who want to carry and facilitate the CSS framework in their own work.

Train the Trainer isn’t presentation coaching,  it’s embodiment.You’ll learn to hold space, regulate under pressure, and teach CSS with relational integrity and accountability.

Program Options:

• 1-Day Virtual Intensive: $3,800 CAD

• 1-Day In-Person Intensive: $4,250 CAD

• Self-Paced eCourse: $3,500 CAD (launching January 2026)

Before applying, we recommend completing the Intro to CSS and Enhanced CSS Add-On eCourses to ground your learning. However, the Intro to CSS is the only required course required to qualify for the Train the Trainer

→ Apply to Become a Certified CSS Facilitator
→ Learn More About Train the Trainer

Why CSS Works

CSS isn’t a single training,  it’s a daily practice. When people live the framework, they change how they listen, lead, and relate, and in doing so, they change their systems.

It’s how teams regulate under pressure, how communities stay connected through conflict, and how leaders build trust that lasts.

Learn → Practice → Share → Lead.
That’s how Cultivating Safe Spaces grows, one relationship at a time.