Ayni Collective: The Fall Season
A 6-Week Small Group Experience
Sept 30-Nov 4, 2026 · 90 minutes weekly · Virtual · Limited seats · Registration closes Sept 21
Whether you feel weighed down or simply sense it's time to travel lighter, this is for you.
Some of us are carrying more than we've ever stopped to count: responsibilities we absorbed without deciding to, expectations that were never ours, beliefs we've held so long they feel like facts. The weight may live in our work, in our personal lives, or both. And all of it comes with a quiet cost: the energy it takes to hold everything together, and to make it look effortless.
Nature doesn't carry everything forever. Fall is the season when trees let go. Holding their leaves through winter would cost them their lives. What falls returns to the soil and feeds what comes next. Nothing is wasted.
The Ayni Collective Fall Season is a small, guided group experience designed to help you see clearly what you're carrying, and release what no longer serves you, with gratitude.
This is leadership work, though not the kind that teaches superficial skills. Leaders who stall, or who leave damage behind them, are rarely missing a skill. They are missing inner examination. That is the work in this room, and how you lead follows from it.
Grounded in the latest neuroscience and the Living Ayni philosophy of sacred reciprocity, the program combines reflection, deep connection, and practical tools you'll keep for life.
Limited to 10 participants to preserve depth of conversation.
A space devoted to real conversation
Some conversations need a space built for them. Even the people who love us most cannot always offer this: a room where truth and depth are safe, where speaking and listening are the entire purpose, and where nothing needs to be performed.
That is ayni in practice. We give by sharing. We receive by listening. And in that exchange, something remarkable happens: you discover how much of what you thought was only yours is, in fact, deeply shared.
Why a season
We live inside cycles: day and night, breath in and breath out, the seasons. Yet most of us work and live as if it were always summer. Always producing, always growing, always on. Nothing in nature blooms year-round, and nothing in nature is asked to.
But we are. And there's evidence of what it costs. Too little demand and we disengage. Too much sustained too long, and we start to break down. Most of us only ever hear about the first one, although both cost us.
This program is part of a series aligned with the natural cycles of life. Fall is for release. Winter, a season for nurturing what we value; and Spring, a season of growth and possibility.
We begin just after the Harvest Moon and release as the Hunter's Moon wanes. From trees to the moon, nature will be doing the same work we are.
Who it is for
This space is for people who sense they're carrying more than they need to, internally or externally. They are not looking for advice, but for honest reflection and contemplation in good company.
Participants are often:
Stretched across responsibilities they may not have consciously chosen, at work, at home, or both
Exhausted from being "on," or feeling like a different version of themselves depending on the room
Living by "that's just how I am" or "it's too late for that," without ever having examined whether it's true
Ready to enter the next chapter of their lives lighter
I designed this workshop with these people in mind, from my own lived experience.
What previous cohorts have to say
“Living Ayni helped me navigate a period of career transition with greater clarity and self-trust. It provided a framework for understanding familiar challenges in a new way, helping me recognize patterns and see possible paths forward more clearly. It gave me a deeper appreciation for what it means to move forward with intention rather than certainty.”
Andrea Serra, Director, Capitals Coalition
“The experience is not like any other leadership training I have taken because Ornella bridges the wisdom from our past with our current challenges. Her words of wisdom and what she activates in all cohort members is truly profound and needed in today’s business. Since the program started, others have noticed me being calmer, which is not a coincidence!”
Serina Lesnar, Clean Energy Expert & Yoga Guide
"I was surrounded by folks who are themselves senior leaders, but who didn't come to impart any wisdom. We were all anchored around the philosophy of reciprocity and came to co-learn with fellow cohort mates. That, for me, was one of the most special parts of the experience.
I've known Ornella in her capacity as an influential senior leader within CEBA, and now to experience the space she created for reflection, curiosity and co learning has been so personally moving and immensely special."
Bhakti G., World Resources Institute India
“What I valued most about the Ayni Collective was how much of the real work happens by looking inward. Leadership training so often stays at the surface — this one didn't. Ornella beautifully held space for that depth: an amazing facilitator whose career background lets her weave ancient wisdom into modern leadership in a way that feels earned, not decorative. In this new age of AI, I don't think that's optional anymore — the more sovereign we are, the more human we get to be, and the better we lead."
Sasha, Spring Ayni Collective Cohort
What it looks like
Each gathering includes guided reflection, creative exercises, small-group conversation in a trusted setting, and frameworks drawn from neuroscience and the Andean tradition of ayni.
Between sessions, light practices deepen the work. No homework burden, just noticing.
An optional 45-minute one-on-one conversation with Ornella is included mid-season to go deeper on anything you wish to keep private.
Nearly everyone arrives wondering if they'll have time for this. By week two, the ninety minutes has become the part of the week they protect.
What you’ll leave with
By the end of this 6-week experience, you will have:
A clear-eyed inventory of what you carry: chosen, inherited, and imposed
A repeatable tool for surfacing the beliefs that run your life disguised as facts
An honest understanding of what your load has cost you, and what it has given you
The experience of releasing, with gratitude and love, witnessed by others
Practices for listening to your body and nervous system, grounded in current science
A felt sense of lightness, in how you lead and how you live
About the facilitator
I am a former staff member and current advisor to global organizations including the World Economic Forum and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as climate start-ups.
I have spent over two decades working at the intersection of leadership, systems change, and human development, with extensive experience designing and facilitating workshops for diverse groups.
Group agreements
1. Willingness to reflect
Come prepared to look inward. This is not a space for abstract commentary. It is a space for personal examination.
2. Willingness to speak (within your comfort zone)
No one is required to share beyond what feels safe. You are responsible for engaging at your edge; not beyond it, but not hiding behind comfort either.
3. Willingness to experiment
Between sessions, you may be invited to try small behavioral shifts. Micro-experiments matter. Insight without action rarely leads to change.
4. Confidentiality
What is shared in this space stays in this space, unless you have explicit permission from the person who shared it. This is non-negotiable.
5. Attendance with integrity
Life happens. Flexibility exists. But this is not a drop-in experience. Consistency matters for you and for the group.
6. Mutual Respect
No judgment. Deep listening. Feelings do not require apology. Disrespect does.
Program details
Duration: 6 weeks
Session length: 90 minutes weekly
Schedule: Wednesdays, September 30 - November 4, 2026
Time: 12p-1.30pm ET | 9-10.30am PT | 6-7.30pm CET
Format: Virtual (Zoom), small group
Investment: $1,995 per person*
Early registration: $1,795 per person through August 26 with code EARLYFALL.
*A small number of seats are offered at a reduced rate each season. If the full investment would keep you out of the room, email me and we will find a number that works. No explanation needed.
This workshop is intentionally small and conversational. If the themes on this page resonate with you, you’re likely to find the experience meaningful.
Your seat is reserved immediately after registration. A welcome email with next steps will follow within 24 hours.
Questions before registering? ornella@livingayni.org