June 2–23, 2026
Tuesdays 11 AM – 12:30 PM PT
The Five Elements
Fostering Belonging in Turbulent Times
Live Online Course with Kevin Kahakula’akea John Fong
REGISTER NOWAs social divides deepen and collective stress rises, the skills needed to foster connection, trust, and belonging have never been more essential.
This course offers a grounded, relational framework for navigating complexity and change. Rooted in East Asian philosophy and modern organizational science, the Five Elements provide practical tools for building individual resilience, strengthening relationships, and cultivating communities of care.
Dates
June 2-23,
2026
Meeting Times
Tuesdays
11 AM - 12:30 PM PTÂ
Duration
4Â Weeks
90 minutes/week
Format
Live Online with Recordings Available
Cost
$349
Polarization, conflict, and rapid change can leave individuals, teams, and communities feeling unmoored, reactive, and disconnected. This course offers a grounded, relational framework for navigating complexity while cultivating connection, trust, and belonging. Rooted in the Five Elements system from East Asian philosophy and informed by modern organizational science, it introduces a practical way of understanding patterns of balance and imbalance within ourselves, our relationships, and the systems we inhabit.
Across four interactive sessions, participants will explore how the Five Elements — Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal — shape behavior, communication, conflict, and collaboration. You’ll learn to recognize underlying relational dynamics, work skillfully with difference, and design conditions that support trust, resilience, and collective wellbeing. Each session blends accessible teaching, reflection, and experiential practice, offering tools you can immediately apply in communities, organizations, classrooms, and movements for change.
This course is designed for anyone longing for a more humane, connected way of leading and living. Whether you’re working in community spaces, organizational settings, education, or social and environmental movements — or simply seeking deeper self-understanding and more meaningful relationships — you’ll gain practical skills and a fresh perspective for fostering belonging in turbulent times.
This course runs from June 2–23, 2026, with live classes held on Tuesdays from 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (PT) via Zoom. Recordings will be available for registrants who miss a session.
Who is this course for?
This course is open to all — no prior experience with the Five Elements or organizational frameworks required.
This course will be especially meaningful for:
- Community builders, organizers, and facilitators seeking tools for connection, trust-building, and conflict navigation
- Educators and youth workers supporting belonging, resilience, and relational learning
- Organizational leaders, managers, and team members navigating complexity, tension, and change
- Activists, advocates, and changemakers working at the intersection of justice, healing, and collective care
- Anyone longing for deeper self-awareness, stronger relationships, and more humane ways of leading and living
Whether you’re working in formal leadership roles or informal community spaces, this course offers practical tools and grounded insight for fostering belonging in turbulent times.
Course Workshops
This four-part series builds capacity at the individual, interpersonal, and community levels, offering a cohesive pathway for cultivating balance, connection, and belonging.
WORKSHOP 1
Building Individual Capacity
Develop your ability to sense, understand, and restore balance, beginning with yourself. Explore practices that strengthen self-awareness, emotional resilience, and inner steadiness as a foundation for relational work.
WORKSHOP 2
Building Interpersonal Capacity
Learn to navigate differences with clarity and compassion. This session focuses on communication, conflict transformation, and weaving purposeful connections across diverse perspectives.
WORKSHOP 3
Building Community Capacity
Design relational systems that reflect diversity, foster trust, and support shared purpose. Explore tools for cultivating appreciation, accountability, and belonging within groups and organizations.
WORKSHOP 4
Building the Bridge – Being the Bridge
Integrate the Five Elements framework into sustained, relational leadership. Learn how to embody bridge-building practices that support harmonious, resilient communities centered on inclusion and collective wellbeing.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Kevin John Fong is an internationally respected facilitator, speaker, cultural translator and community healing practitioner. As Founder of the Kahakulei Institute, Kevin and his team weave people and possibilities that cultivate communities of belonging. Kevin believes that, under the right conditions, truth can partner with accountability to bring healing and reconciliation.
Kevin’s work is built upon his book, The Five Elements: An East Asian Approach to Achieve Organizational Health, Professional Growth, & Personal Well-Being. Kevin has brought The Five Elements to hundreds of organizations and thousands of people from Silicon Valley to rural Mississippi, from primary schools in New Mexico to the White House.
A graduate of the University of California with a degree in East Asian Studies, Kevin resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, the traditional land of the Ohlone people.
The Five Elements
Fostering Belonging in Turbulent Times
