You were built with the
biological mechanisms to heal and thrive
Cultivating Communities that Heal
The emerging field of Interpersonal Neurobiology shows how our relationships can either deepen trauma or spark profound healing. When applied collectively, it offers evidence-based practices that turn a community into an organically healing, empowering space - one that transforms Post Traumatic Stress into Post Traumatic Growth.
Community becomes a living, breathing balm of Gilead.
And when we discover the social and political context of the biblical text - including Jesus’ life as a colonized Brown man living under occupation — the text reads differently. Power, oppression, resistance, and dignity become central to the story in ways that speak directly to the lived realities of our peoples.
Imagine leaders around the world cultivating spaces with a theology of the “God who loves justice” (Is. 61) and an ethos that settles nervous systems and rewires brains. Such an integration creates Beloved Communities that can heal generations of trauma stuck in the bodies of historically oppressed peoples and set the stage for flourishing.
This innovative, integrative, and boldly interdisciplinary work will change the way you live - and change the way you lead.
Liberative Theology
Understanding and applying Scripture through the lens of its social and political context
Interpersonal Neurobiology
How healthy connection and belonging shape the brain and create the conditions for healing and flourishing
Generational Trauma
The science of how trauma is passed in the body, and how healing can interrupt cycles of harm
Beloved Community
Creating communities where healing, belonging, and human dignity can flourish.
What You'll Gain
You’ll leave with more than profound knowledge—you’ll gain practices for healing, leading, and cultivating communities where people can flourish.
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Build relationships that help people come alive
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Understand how trauma lives in the body—and how healing happens
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Insulate your body from the damage of chronic stress
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Help a community move from collective survival toward collective flourishing
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Learn what makes racial trauma unique
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Activate your biological mechanisms for thriving!
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Create spaces of safety, belonging, and flourishing
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Recognize leadership practices that trigger a threat response
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Develop leadership practices that create the safety essential for healing and flourishing
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Read Scripture through a liberative, historically grounded lens
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Apply interpersonal neurobiology to everyday leadership
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Interrupt cycles of generational trauma
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Cultivate healing-centered, liberative Beloved Communities
You Won’t Just Learn It. You’ll Experience It.
The learning community itself becomes part of the curriculum. Through experiential learning and the kind of collective awakening that changes what you believe is possible, you'll experience firsthand...
...The kind of space you're learning to create.
Is this Program For You?
Designed for us who come from peoples that have endured generations of racial oppression, this program centers our lived experiences and wisdom in the work of healing. Whether you lead from the pulpit, the classroom, the clinic, or the community, there is a place for you here.
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Clergy and faith leaders
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Educators and academic leaders
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Therapists, counselors, and mental health professionals
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Chaplains and spiritual care providers
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Nonprofit leaders
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Community organizers, activists, and advocates
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Healthcare and helping professionals
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Seminarians and theological students
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Lay leaders and others called to the work of healing and justice
Short application • Just a few minutes
Program at a Glance
FULL SCHEDULE
ENROLLMENT
Two semesters
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Sept. 24 - Dec. 1
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Feb. 16 - May 2
Hybrid: Virtual Tuesday Evenings + Two In-Person Weekends (Sept. & May)
Tuesday Evenings • 6:30–8:30 PM ET
Opening Intensive in September
Capstone Intensive & Certificate Ceremony in May
Bachelor’s Degree Required
Official Certificate from Howard University School of Divinity
Limited Enrollment; First come, first served
CERTIFICATE
FORMAT
VIRTUAL WEEKLY SCHEDULE
2026 DATES
TWO IN-PERSON INTENSIVES
Program at a Glance
ELIGIBILITY
Virtual Tuesdays
Oct. 6–Dec. 1 • 6:30–8:30 PM ET
Opening In-Person Weekend Intensive
Sept. 25–27
Fri 6:15–8:30 PM • Sat & Sun 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Fall Semester
Spring Semester
Virtual Tuesdays
Feb. 16–Apr. 27 • 6:30–9:30 PM ET
Capstone In-Person Weekend Intensive
Apr. 30–May 2
Fri 6:15–8:30 PM • Sat & Sun 9:00 AM–5:00 PM
Certificate Ceremony
May 2
Program Leadership
Dr. Gigi Khanyezi
Dr. Gigi Khanyezi
Program Founder and Director
Dr. Gigi Khanyezi is the Founder and Director of the Healing Racial Trauma Certificate Program and creator of its interdisciplinary framework. She is a Certified Historical Trauma Specialist and holds an interdisciplinary Doctor of Ministry in Healing Racial Trauma from Howard University School of Divinity. She is a healing-centered trainer, speaker, writer, artist, and cultural architect with a distinctly Afrocentric Lens.
For 25 years Dr. G has been helping faith communities create a culture that organically heals the generational trauma of the people in them and mobilizes more effectively toward justice. There is a way to lead and engage that activates our innate neurochemical mechanisms for healing and flourishing; Dr. G trains leaders to do just that, co-create organically healing, liberative Beloved Communities.
While cultivating the liberative faith Jesus modeled, Dr. G integrates principles of interpersonal neurobiology in bite-sized pieces so that a justice-centered theology is integrated with transformative collective healing.
Raised in the heart of East Oakland with Brazilian and Amish ancestry, Dr. G is an artist and activist who spent ten years living and serving in Soweto, South Africa. She is the adoptive mama of two beautiful South African boys.
Program Founder, Director
& Curriculum Developer
Distinguished Guest Lecturers
Rev. Nikia Smith Robert, Ph.D
Founder, Executive Director,
Abolitionist Sanctuary
Rev. Harold Dean Trulear, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Applied Theology, Howard University School of Divinity
Rev. Eric M. Brewer, D.Min
Director of Field Education,
Howard University School of Divinity
The Rev. Nikia Smith Robert, Ph.D., is a nationally and internationally recognized thought leader and womanist abolitionist scholar whose work explores mass punishment, Black motherhood, Black women’s experiences with criminality, and religious responses to them.
Harold Dean Trulear, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Applied Theology at Howard University School of Divinity, Director of the Healing Communities Prison Ministry and Prisoner Reentry Project, and is a nationally recognized expert on faith-based re-entry.
Rev. Dr. Eric M. Brewer is Senior Pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church, Director of Field Education at Howard School of Divinity, and Program Coordinator for the Black Congregations Resource Center. His scholarship focuses on healing, resilience, grief recovery, and Black experiences of grief.
Questions and Answers
Are both in-person weekend intensives required?
Both in-person weekend intensives are an essential part of the program and are required. There are dimensions of relational and experiential learning that simply cannot be replicated virtually
How much reading and writing is expected?
Although this is a graduate-level certificate program, it does not carry the reading or writing load of a traditional graduate course. You’ll engage with select books and articles, with an emphasis on experiential learning, collaborative reflection, and application rather than extensive academic reading and lengthy papers.
Who is this program designed for?
This program is designed for us who come from peoples that have endured generations of racial oppression and who want to cultivate spaces where our people can heal, belong, and flourish.
What certificate will I receive?
Upon successful completion of the program, you will receive an official certificate from Howard University School of Divinity.
What if I need to miss a session?
We understand that life happens. Because this learning space is built on real-time participation and experiential learning, we ask participants to miss no more than two Tuesday gatherings each semester, apart from genuine emergencies. Both in-person weekend intensives are required for certificate completion.