consent as a tool for connection.
connecting hearts. connecting minds.
We’re living in the most connected era of human history, where our ability to connect with each other becomes one of our most vital skills.
This project was born out of a growing crisis of disconnection witnessed around us: rising in loneliness, burnout, and unspoken harm in everyday interactions.
The Connection Project is a grassroots, student-founded organization that exists to transform the way we relate to ourselves, to each other, and to the world around us.
We began in response to sexual violence on university campuses, but quickly discovered that the roots of this violence ran deeper: into our systems, our cultural norms, and the way we were taught to relate.
We exist to transform the way people relate: starting with how we connect to ourselves, others, and the world around us.
Through workshops and pop-ups, we create safe, interactive spaces where people can reflect and grow through emotional, relational, and social intelligence, empowering them with the awareness and tools to build healthier relationships.
OUR ORIGIN
WHAT WE DO.
OUR MISSION
We create safer communities, not just by preventing harm, but by transforming how we relate.
We began with sexual violence prevention, but quickly evolved into something deeper: an invitation to reimagine how we relate. Today, we support individuals and communities in building cultures of care, not through checklists, but through emotional presence, relational courage, and collective reflection.
Our approach is rooted in somatics, sociology, and eco-feminist thought.
We work across three interconnected layers of intelligence:
Emotional intelligence – learning to feel what’s alive in us
Relational intelligence – learning how we connect with others
Social intelligence – recognizing how identity, power, and systems shape our relationships
We don’t tell people what to do or who to be. We create spaces where they can reflect, feel, connect, and choose new ways of relating.
Because when people feel safe enough to be honest, growth becomes possible and so does real change.
We believe that people are wired for connection and that social safety begins not with rules, but with relationships.
from protection
to connection
WE OFFER
WORKSHOPS
POP-UPS
Core themes we work with
Disconnection and harm often emerge in the same places: in how we navigate consent and boundaries, how we handle conflict, and how we relate to emotions.
We focus on these three spaces because they are where disconnection often repeats itself. And also where care, courage, and connection can be reclaimed.
embodied consent & Boundaries
What if consent was a tool for connection rather than protection?
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We live in a world where consent is often only discussed after it's been violated and usually only in sexual or legal terms. Many people don’t know how to ask for consent or hear “no” without shame. Boundaries are misunderstood as rejection, and silence is often mistaken for agreement. People say yes while their body is saying no.
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Consent is not just about a yes or no — it’s about whether there’s room for honesty. For someone to feel safe enough to speak their truth. Connection begins when choice is made visible. When someone’s “no” is honored, their “yes” becomes meaningful.
We understand consent as a relational practice rooted in curiosity, presence, and mutual respect. Boundaries are not walls, they’re what make closeness safe.
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When we center consent and boundaries in all areas of life, not just intimacy, we foster cultures of trust, respect, and autonomy. In a world where pressure and performance are normalized, reclaiming consent as a felt, relational experience helps us transform not just harm, but the systems and scripts that perpetuate it.
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Deepen somatic awareness: noticing how desire, discomfort, and boundaries feel in the body
Practice asking for and giving consent in multiple contexts (not just sex)
Develop capacity to receive and respect a “no” without collapse or coercion
Unpack internalized narratives of guilt, obligation, and pressure
Build fluency in negotiating needs and desires collaboratively
NAVIGATING CONFLICT & REPAIR
What if conflict was the beginning of connection, not the end?
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We’re taught to avoid conflict until it explodes or to stay silent and swallow discomfort. People are afraid of being wrong, being blamed, or losing connection entirely. Others have never learned how to take responsibility without spiraling into guilt or shame.
Conflict becomes something to fear or fight, rather than a natural part of being in relationship.
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Conflict isn’t the opposite of connection, it’s one of its most powerful tests. When approached with curiosity, humility, and care, conflict can become a doorway to deeper understanding and trust.
Repair is not just about apologizing. It’s about accountability, listening, truth-telling, and the courage to stay in relationship through discomfort.
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Without tools for navigating conflict, harm goes unaddressed, resentment festers, and relationships break down. At a larger scale, communities fragment and cycles of harm repeat.
Learning how to repair is one of the most important relational skills we can cultivate, especially in a world struggling with polarization, power imbalances, and fear of vulnerability.
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Identify your personal conflict patterns (fight, flight, freeze, fawn)
Initiate and hold difficult conversations with more confidence
Practice listening without defensiveness
Learn to offer and receive apologies that are meaningful and accountable
Understand how power, identity, and systemic dynamics shape conflict and repair
EMOTIONAL & RELATIONAL AWARENESS
What if every feeling carried a message, and you knew how to listen?
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Many of us were never taught how to feel our emotions, let alone how to share those feelings with others. Instead, we’re told to hide sadness, suppress anger, or push through fear. We mistake emotional strength for numbness, and confuse vulnerability with weakness.
Social norms, culture, and identity shape which emotions are allowed and which are punished. This leads to relationships that collapse under the weight of unspoken needs, misunderstood signals, and emotional mistrust.
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Connection begins with awareness. With the ability to recognize what’s alive in ourselves and in others and respond with care. Emotional and relational awareness is not about control, but about presence. About listening to your body, giving your emotions room to breathe, and learning to attune to others without fixing, judging, or disappearing.
This isn’t just emotional “intelligence”, it’s emotional truth-telling.
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Without emotional fluency, relationships stay on the surface. Without attunement, people feel unseen. Suppressed emotions don’t disappear, they leak out through withdrawal, outbursts, resentment, or burnout.
By strengthening emotional and relational awareness, we create the conditions for honesty, empathy, and trust. This isn’t just good for personal well-being, it’s essential for building communities where people can truly belong.
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Identify emotional patterns and triggers without judgment
Practice grounding and self-regulation through body-based tools
Learn to hold space for others’ feelings without over-functioning or disappearing
Build emotional vocabulary and permission to feel fully
Understand how social norms (gender, race, culture) shape how we express and receive emotion.
testimonies
CONSENT AS A TOOL
FOR CONNECTION,
RATHER THAN PROTECTION
A short film by The Connection Project titled “Consent: A tool for connection.”
