We are convinced that in order to produce real change in the nonprofit sector, all must be willing to check their mindsets, intentions, language, attitudes, and perceptions of partnership.

Volunteers are trained and oriented. They serve. They take the group photo. They leave. The left with no sustainable heart or action change.

Organizations design a direct service program and during implementation, there’s no representative of the community included in the process. Not one.

A volunteer group has an idea for a project and wish to implement it in partnership with a grassroots community organization. The grassroots org uses its valuable time and energy to host and create a project for the group. The group ends up feeling good but contributes no real sustainable impact. They have harmed the community they thought they were helping.

These situations happen every single day in the nonprofit sector.

Connecting the Cause helps organizations create lasting impact by harnessing the power Co-Dreaming to build effective volunteer practices.

I help align organizations to walk alongside community and lead with respect and dignity and not pity and power and ultimately in the work of galvanizing volunteers into engaged and informed advocates for the community being partnered with.

How can we co-dream together?

Speaking Engagements and Workshops:

Inspire Action, Spark Change

My speaking engagements and workshops are designed to ignite deep conversations, inspire collective action, and equip leaders and organizations with the tools to build community care in the now and future work. Regardless of where they are in their journey of centering communities, participants have walked away feeling both challenged and hopeful. Whether in-person or virtual, any training or workshop can be customized by group and intention, and are tailored to meet your corporate team, staff, volunteers, and communities where they are without holding back truth, honesty and accountability.

I have spoken on a variety of topics like the ones below, and are open to dreaming up a different one specifically for your desired outcomes.

Reimagining Volunteerism Through Co-Dreaming
Unpacking Power, Privilege, and Paternalism in Service Spaces
How to Recognize Volunteers Without Centering Them as the Hero
(MLK Day of Service Workshop) From Service to Solidarity: Co-Dreaming with Communities

Investment:

Signature Workshop: From $1,700+
Newly co-designed webinar or training: $2,400+ (could include 2 sessions per topic, for a total of 3 hours)
Keynote: $4,000-$7,000 depending on time limit and audience.
I would love to speak with you and have an open conversation on any budget limitations, as I also understand constraints within the sector, so reach out anyway if you have a real desire to bring this work in front of people you think need to hear it.

Lets chat about a speaking engagement or training

Online Courses and On Demand Resources:

Learn at Your Pace, Transform at Your Core

The online courses and resources empower you to integrate equity and Co-dreaming principles into your everyday work. Designed with your flexibility in mind, these resources meet you where you are, offering actionable frameworks that center the voices and experiences of the communities you serve.

Signature Course: Co-Dreaming: From Pity to Partnership—a transformative journey that reshapes how we engage with communities. (COMING SOON)
Digital Resources: Practical e-books, templates, and toolkits to guide you on your equity and community-building path. This is ideal for volunteer leaders and engagers, community organizers, and nonprofit equity champions eager to create lasting change by sitting with a message in real time that is easily accessible.

Browse the resources

Consulting Services:

Strategic Support Rooted in Co-Dreaming

I partner alongside organizations and their volunteer teams to co-design and implement strategies that reflect their values and center community voice. Together, we’ll co-create systems and solutions that move beyond intention to the community’s definition of success. Here are some signature offerings

Creating Your ‘Philosophy of Volunteerism’: I will help you and your team create and draft a “north star” for your volunteer mission that will ground daily practices, support strategies, and prioritize mutual respect and shared power amongst all partners involved. This will ground and document values that can be shared as an ethos to ground every volunteer that walks through the door. Investment: $3,300+

Volunteer Orientation, Onboarding and Training Redesign: Let me dig deep into how you orient, onboard and train the volunteers you lead to ensure that you are creating spaces of challenge, hope, advocacy and new knowledge.
We’ll work on:
- A clear and refined process
- Impactful reflection questions
- Incorporating root cause and systemic change content to the orientation
- Weaving Co-Dreaming throughout the entire process
  Investment: $5,500
Community-Centric Volunteer Program Redesign: We take a look at the *entire* volunteer journey and shift the volunteer team’s ethos and practices toward ensuring community is at the center every step of the way. This includes assessing, making recommendations, and creating new documentation for:
- The values, ethos and philosophy (What grounds us?)
- The volunteer webpage (What’s our first impression of Co-Dreaming?)
- The application (What information do we need for this to be a successful partnership?)
- The orientation (What do they need to know about this work?)
- The ongoing training (How do we ensure they have what they need to be successful?)
- The recognition practices (How can we recognize them without centering them as the hero?)
- The policies (What policies need to be created or redesigned to support this new approach?)
- The supervision, coaching and sustainability (How can we as a team, and me as a leader deal with the day to day of this all?)
Investment: $15,500 (payment plans available)
Ongoing Retainer Support: Stay equipped with long-term guidance as you implement and grow your impact. Spend one-on-one time with me so you can get some real-time brainstorming and solutions-based advice. If you book more than one, we start to also share stories, lived experiences, and I am known to shed a tear or two because we are doing that good of work together.
Investment: $122 per hour (3 sessions minimum to really do some good follow up work).
- I honor Black and brown leaders in this work with a rate of $85 per hour for retainer support with no required session minimum, because sometimes, you may just need a one-off to vent, be in solidarity, or celebrate. I’m here for it.

Explore Consulting Options

Custom Collaborations: Let’s Co-Create Something Unique
Have an idea that doesn’t fit neatly into a box? THAT is my favorite! Let’s build a partnership tailored to your gaps and opportunities.

Perfect for: Organizations who understand their issues, recognize the need to change, and are willing to innovate and collaborate.

Start a Conversation

Read this testimonial from a recent consulting partnership:

Partnering with Breauna Dorelus, MPA, Founder and Consultant of Connecting the Cause, was a transformative experience for our organization. Her expertise helped bring our strategic Whole Family Approach Framework to life within our volunteerism practices. Working closely with our Volunteer Management Team, she guided us in developing a clear and actionable path for future implementation. Through collaborative coaching, thoughtful feedback, and co-created deliverables, Breauna helped us align our volunteerism practices with our mission, vision, and values. She reimagined volunteerism as a partnership grounded in equity, dignity, and mutual respect, empowering us to more fully center families as the experts in their own lives. Breauna also helped us identify ways to deepen our volunteers’ understanding of the systemic barriers that impact family-driven solutions and the progress of their goals. We are incredibly grateful for her guidance and highly recommend her to any organization looking to turn their vision into meaningful, impactful action.
Shanea Turner-Smith, MSW, LGSW, DEI Manager of Wilder Foundation