Founders

The Commonality Institute was first envisioned in the Winter of 2017 in a series of meetings in New Orleans between Anya De Marie, a longtime protege of Dr. Grahn and Gregory Gajus, the Director of the My Good Judy Residency that was at that time an independent project. De Marie arranged a series of meetings for Spring and Summer of 2018 at Grahn’s and Kris Brandenburger’s home in Palo Alto. The Summer meetings welcomed the return of Dianne Jenett from retreat in Kerala and the formalization of the Commonality Institute.

Judy’s work has moved out into the world in so many directions, and touched so many movements; our task is to document and hold this impact as a sort of transformational clearinghouse. We aim to continue this social justice work by promoting Judy’s ideas of metaformic consciousness, woman-centered spirituality, queer cultural theory and connection with nature. Our current focus is the establishment of a Judy Grahn archives (physical and online), ensuring all of Judy’s work is in print and available, and connecting folks that make use of Judy’s work in their own work and life.

Pictured from left to right, Gregory Gajus, Kris Brandenburger, Judy Grahn, Dianne Jenett, Anya De Marie