Abigail Singer
Tending the Web
GRIEF WORK
Workshops, retreats and ritual to process our grief and participate in individual and collective healing.
FACILITATION
Fostering collaboration; transforming conflict; and finding alignment in vision, values and action.
HERBAL MEDICINE
One-on-one health consultations, herbal medicine and education to support physical and emotional health.
Hi! I’m Abigail. I work at the intersections of healing, grief work, movement building and group process facilitation.
My life has followed a purposeful yet meandering path through social change organizing, direct action, living off the land, practicing herbalism, and working in the nonprofit sector as a community organizer, program coordinator, and development director.
I currently serve as the executive director of a state-wide nonprofit called Rogue Farm Corps, which trains the next generation of farmers and ranchers in regenerative agriculture. I’m based in Portland, Oregon, on the traditional lands of the Multnomah, Tualatin Kalapuya, Wasco, Cowlitz, Clackamas, Molalla, Kathlamet, Bands of Chinook, and many other tribes.
Workbook from a Tending the Web retreat in Vermont; design courtesy of Katelyn Hale.
I’ve been engaged in movement building work since 1998. Some of my past work has included organizing to abolish mountain top removal coal mining in Appalachia, working to shut down coal plants in western North Carolina and on the south side of Chicago, community organizing to stop water privatization, and campaigning for private prison divestment. I’m a co-founder of Rising Tide North America and have been involved in climate justice efforts with a variety of communities both urban and rural, local and national.
Throughout my organizing work, I’ve focused on group process and facilitation because the ways we work together are so foundational to both the success of our projects and to the quality of change we’re able to create in the world. I believe our best hope for a livable future lies in our ability to cultivate strong, resilient communities and grassroots movements for social and environmental justice.
Tending the Web is a phrase I’ve started using to touch on the interconnected nature of change work. Healing happens socially, which is another way of saying we’re all connected. To bring about systemic social change, we must heal our connection with the web of life — with ourselves, each other and the Earth. We must decolonize our minds and dismantle white supremacy and other systems of oppression. We must do our own healing work to build healthy organizations, connected communities and powerful movements. The micro is the macro; change is iterative; the process is also the product.
If you’re part of a group that could use some support in honing your vision, getting unstuck, navigating conflict, or planning your future direction, bringing in an outside facilitator can help.
In recent years, I’ve been facilitating workshops and retreats in the tradition of The Work That Reconnects, a framework developed by Buddhist activist, systems theorist and deep ecologist Joanna Macy. This work is grounded in gratitude and connection, and honors the grief we feel for the Earth and our fellow beings. Feeling the pain of the world is not a sign of weakness, but an indication that we are alive and connected to the web of life.
From climate change to gentrification to mass incarceration to species extinction, we’re losing a lot right now. Many of us struggle to find the time and space to process this loss. We may feel this loss acutely, but lack spaces of support where we can grieve together. Left unprocessed, these feelings of grief and overwhelm take a toll on our bodies and our spirit. Over time, this cumulative toll impacts our vitality, our mental and physical health, and our ability to be effective change agents in the world.
When we make time to feel, sit with, and metabolize our grief, we are able to emerge on the other side with a sense of renewal, with more space for creativity, connection and engagement. Doing this work is critical to our sustainability as change-makers and to the success of our movements. To support our collective health, resilience, and ability to throw down for the long haul, I facilitate workshops, rituals and other explorations in the tradition of Work that Reconnects.
I am also a Community Herbalist. I work with clients to address the root causes of health issues and make herbal medicine under the banner of Spring Creek Herbs. I have taught herbalism classes at the Arctos School of Herbal and Botanical Studies, the Eclectic Institute Internship Program, and the Portland Plant Medicine Gathering.
I’m a co-founder and herbalist at a holistic, multi-modality free clinic called the People’s Health Clinic of Portland, which provides free health care to folks experiencing homelessness in Portland. Herbal medicine provides us with a deeply nourishing connection to the wild, and I’m passionate about bringing the healing power of plants into spaces for healing in the city.
