Eldering in Times of Transformation

With Cheryl Rose and Special Guests

October 6 - 10 2025 Cortes Island & September 24-26 2025 | Toronto

 

“A human being would certainly not grow to be seventy or eighty years old if this longevity had no meaning for the species.”  – Carl Jung

There comes a time when you find yourself, perhaps to your surprise, in a new land which is unlike any part of the long life journey you’ve made so far. You enter into “the third third of your life” and you’ve got some big questions. What does it mean to grow fully into the elderhood phase of our lives with both deep humility and brave fierceness? After decades of initiation through life’s triumphs and losses, what are our most pressing questions, our strongest intuitions, and our boldest desires for our world as we journey into our 60’s, 70’s, 80’s? And how might exploring those offer us insights into contributions that we might still make, that we must make, as systems of all kinds collapse and are reimagined?

Join with a small group of peers to explore questions together, to challenge ourselves with continued growth and development, and to prepare to move forward now in distinct, heart-centered ways for a future that is not ours but one that belongs to those that come after us.

Program Highlights

Participants Will be Invited to…

  • Identify patterns and insights from your life journey; consider next steps for eldering and meaningful social contributions.

  • Explore concepts of elderhood across cultures – avoid disrespectful cultural appropriation.

  • Manage your ego and develop humility – access other internal sources of knowledge and meaning.

  • Deepen your capacity for compassion; practice open-heartedness in times of stress.

  • Acknowledge and access your unique internal well of wisdom – become comfortable sharing wisdom.

  • Make peace with mortality – expand consciousness of death and grief to enhance gratitude for life.

  • Review and reinterpret a spectrum of complexity leadership skills – commit to your ongoing, relevant development, particularly relevant to elderhood.

Who Will Benefit?

  • Family leaders, community leaders and system leaders who hear a call to grow into roles as mentors, guides, advisors and sages

  • Adults 50-90+ years, curious about their own human development potential in life’s later years

  • Older adults interested in contributing to a better world for planet and people

  • Social change agents who want to explore how to most relevantly stay involved as they age

  • Anyone interested in the concept and potential of positive elderhood in society

Eldering Fall Offerings 2025

Evergreen Brick Works Toronto, ON

September 24 - 26, 2025

  • Cheryl Rose is a leadership educator, a systems coach and an accredited Death Doula and End of Life Educator. She was one of the principal directors for the national Social Innovation Generation (SiG) partnership.  She was the Associate Director of the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation & Resilience (WISIR), the founding Director of the Rockefeller Global Fellowship in Social Innovation, a Senior Fellow at McConnell Foundation and a core member of the design and delivery team for the Getting To Maybe Social Innovation Residency program. Most recently, she co-founded the Wolf Willow Institute for Systems Learning. Cheryl mentors systems leaders and social innovators across the country and is revered for her kindness, her practical wisdom and her capacity to connect and uplift those at the frontlines of change.

    Dr. Zhiish McKenzie is Aniishnaabe from the Temagami First Nation on Bear Island in northern Ontario where she belongs to the Turtle Clan. She has worked to improve health outcomes for Indigenous people her entire career and brings a whole person, whole systems perspective. In addition to her work as a family physician and a MD in the Roots To Thrive ketamine-assisted therapy program. Zhiish brings 25 years of experience as a culturally-centered wilderness guide in programs like Rediscovery and Outward Bound and has a profound commitment to the power of land-based traditions. A traditional healer, ceremony leader, musician, backcountry devotee, lifelong learner and the mother to two beautiful daughters, Zhiish is well known for being good company to those on deep journeys of healing, learning and transformation.

    Juana Berinstein is an enthusiastic nonprofit leader with a wealth of experience in systems change, policy advocacy, strategic planning, and fostering stakeholder engagement. In 2021-22, she was part of a unique cohort that completed the Positive Deviants Fellowship at Wolf Willow Institute. Her role as the Director of Policy and Communications at the Association of Ontario Midwives since 2007 has been instrumental in driving campaigns for reproductive justice, including the renewal of Indigenous midwifery, equitable healthcare access for 2SLGBTQ, immigrant, and racialized communities, the establishment of birth centers, improved abortion care access, intersectional gender-based analysis, and pay equity. Juana holds a master’s degree in Communication and Culture from York University and Toronto Metropolitan University. She is a published author and public speaker, delivering impactful presentations at national and international conferences.

  • $1,350 per person*

    *Includes lunch each day

  • 550 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON

Register by July 15th and use code EARLYBIRD for 10% off!

Hollyhock Retreat Centre Cortes Island, BC

October 6 - 10, 2025

  • Cheryl Rose is a leadership educator, a systems coach and an accredited Death Doula and End of Life Educator. She was one of the principal directors for the national Social Innovation Generation (SiG) partnership.  She was the Associate Director of the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation & Resilience (WISIR), the founding Director of the Rockefeller Global Fellowship in Social Innovation, a Senior Fellow at McConnell Foundation and a core member of the design and delivery team for the Getting To Maybe Social Innovation Residency program. Most recently, she co-founded the Wolf Willow Institute for Systems Learning. Cheryl mentors systems leaders and social innovators across the country and is revered for her kindness, her practical wisdom and her capacity to connect and uplift those at the frontlines of change.

    Dr. Zhiish McKenzie is Aniishnaabe from the Temagami First Nation on Bear Island in northern Ontario where she belongs to the Turtle Clan. She has worked to improve health outcomes for Indigenous people her entire career and brings a whole person, whole systems perspective. In addition to her work as a family physician and a MD in the Roots To Thrive ketamine-assisted therapy program. Zhiish brings 25 years of experience as a culturally-centered wilderness guide in programs like Rediscovery and Outward Bound and has a profound commitment to the power of land-based traditions. A traditional healer, ceremony leader, musician, backcountry devotee, lifelong learner and the mother to two beautiful daughters, Zhiish is well known for being good company to those on deep journeys of healing, learning and transformation.

    al etmanski: I enjoy being a full time dad and step dad to our five adult children, four daughters and a son. I thrive in the company of my grandson. Our specialities are talking about death, Lego dinosaurs, making walking sticks and cracking fart jokes. Like everyone I’ve had my fair share of upheavals. My most recent one has cracked open my heart. As a result I’m falling in love with the world. Every day a little bit more.

    My lifetime as a community organizer has taught me the importance of rallying the lovesick and broken hearted. And the value of that chip on my shoulder becoming compost. 

    I’ve written four books and I’m curating another one about caring in Canada. 

    These days I’m learning to be a sheet pan chef. I’m also a flower arranger in training. Plus I am trying my best to stay away from nouns, the word ‘but’ and far too many adjectives :-) 

    My website is a little out of date. Still it will give you a sense of what I’m about.

    Juana Berinstein is an enthusiastic nonprofit leader with a wealth of experience in systems change, policy advocacy, strategic planning, and fostering stakeholder engagement. In 2021-22, she was part of a unique cohort that completed the Positive Deviants Fellowship at Wolf Willow Institute. Her role as the Director of Policy and Communications at the Association of Ontario Midwives since 2007 has been instrumental in driving campaigns for reproductive justice, including the renewal of Indigenous midwifery, equitable healthcare access for 2SLGBTQ, immigrant, and racialized communities, the establishment of birth centers, improved abortion care access, intersectional gender-based analysis, and pay equity. Juana holds a master’s degree in Communication and Culture from York University and Toronto Metropolitan University. She is a published author and public speaker, delivering impactful presentations at national and international conferences.

  • Package Pricing: Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive pricing. For more information on accommodation types, click here.

    Scholarships : Hollyhock programs are enriched by welcoming a multitude of voices and experiences that reflect global plurality. The Hollyhock scholarship program is one of the key strategies we employ to expand program access to underrepresented and marginalized communities. Click here to learn more and apply.

  • Date & Time Details:
    Program begins: October 6, 2025
    Program ends: October 10, 2025


    Click here to view a sample program schedule.

  • Hollyhock Retreat Centre, Cortes Island, BC