What we believe in

  • With hope and inspiration, all things are possible.

    “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” – Desmond Tutu

    "There's no need to be perfect to inspire others. Let people get inspired by how you deal with your imperfections." - Kurt Tasche

    We believe that hope can lead to inspiration, inspiration can lead to inspired action, inspired action can lead to personal evolution, and that enough personal evolution can lead to societal revolution.

  • Life transitions are catalysts for personal growth.

    It seems we grow more during times of change because change shakes us out of our comfort zones and forces us to adapt. Major life transitions can shake us to our core and cause us to grow and evolve in character-defining ways. The bad news is we all go through them. The good news is that we're all stronger than we know and we will find that strength when tested. We believe that if we keep the light of hope burning the fire of change will help us become more of who we're meant to be.

  • New ways, new systems, and new leaders are needed.

    Society as we know it is going through massive shifts right before our eyes - old ways and old systems are breaking down, and some of them can't and maybe shouldn't be fixed. New ways and new systems that are built on collaboration, compassion, fairness, generosity, kindness, and love must arise to replace them, and we need to identify and rally around leaders that embody those qualities. We believe that everyone has important roles to play and that one of ours is to provide a safe place offering people a place to belong and to contribute to something better.

  • Real. Connected. Community. The old way can become a new way, leading to something better.

    What passes for "community" today often seems to pale in comparison with what "used to be". There's a knowing inside us that we've lost a connection with those around us and maybe even with ourselves; that we've traded meaningful relationships with ourselves and others for busy-ness, for things, for distractions, for devices, and for shallow connections online. We believe that compassion, generosity, kindness and meaningful connection are fundamental to our nature and that if we provide a better community then people will choose to join it when they're ready.

Our Core Values

  • Community
    We value all member voices and strive for productive and healthy collaborations between all.

  • Safety
    We behave toward all members in ways that help them feel safe, in all situations.

  • Integrity
    We let our actions reflect our values and strive to meet all commitments. If a commitment can’t be met we will correct our actions in a timely and effective manner.

  • Respectful
    We treat all members with respect at all times and use language that reflects appreciation of their wisdom and perspective.

  • Fairness
    We are inclusive, fair, and equitable in all our transactions and interactions with all members.

  • Supportive and inspiring
    We use words and actions with all members that encourage and uplift them on their individual and collective journeys, encouraging them to be their best, authentic selves.

  • Constructive
    We address disagreements constructively, giving others the benefit of the doubt and attacking problems in collaborative ways rather than attacking the people.

  • Organic
    We interact with all members in a way that allows things to unfold in the most natural way possible.

Get to know us through time

  • 2011
  • 2013
  • 2014
  • 2015
  • 2016
  • 2016
  • 2017
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021

Debut of Peaceful Crossings and Personal Legacy Planning

Helping people live more intentionally & with peace of mind through personal legacy planning tools and services. Peaceful Crossings later evolved into Intentional Legacies and expanded their offerings.

The annual Rising Phoenix Awards take flight

Laying the foundation for a connected community of change agents, we gathered and celebrated local heroes that rose from the ashes to do awesome things in the community, and then used their personal stories to give hope and inspiration to others.

Bringing back ceremony and rites of passage through Conscious Rites(r)

Recognizing major life transitions as opportunities for reflection and growth, we launched Conscious Rites as a program to offer rites of passage programs and personalized ceremonies to help people find depth, meaning, and connection through those major life transitions.

Lifting up the single moms and their kids through the SMILE program

Recognizing the daily struggle that many single moms face, we started the Single Moms Intentional Living Endowment program to create a community of single moms that support and nurture each other and share resources gathered from the community.

Emergence of The Intentional Living Collective

Recognizing we could serve the community more and better as a formal non-profit, we birthed The Intentional Living Collective (“TILC Inc.”) and received 501c3 status in late 2016. TILC emerged as the home of the Rising Phoenix Awards and Conscious Rites and expanded from there.

Rite and Recognition - putting the spotlight on Conscious Rites

An article by the Crazy Wisdom Community Journal exploring rites of passage, organizations that offer them, and people that have received them. TILC's Conscious Rites, Mara, and Cal are all featured in this 8-page feature article..

The TILC Community Gala: a Fabulous Vegas Kind of Night

The foundational member organizations of The Intentional Living Collective came together to host a party to introduce TILC to the SE Michigan and NW Ohio communities and raise funds for early programming. Happy first birthday, TILC!

Introducing The Life Transition Zone: hope, inspiration, and resources when you need them the most

Building on the concept of using major life transitions as opportunities for growth, we launched the Life Transition Zone program to give people a save place to turn to - literally and virtually - for help and resources during life's most challenging times.

Extending our reach: embracing East Lansing and far, far beyond!

As TILC extends beyond the SE Michigan / NW Ohio region to embrace East Lansing, WLNZ's Jack Robbins interviews TILC founder Cal Loo about how the Rising Phoenix Awards and Life Transition Zone help people in the local East Lansing community.

The Rising Phoenix Awards reach even further with 2019-20 Rising Phoenixes recognized across the US and as far away as Africa!

Adjusting to a "new normal" with new services and a new website

As the COVID-19 crisis, financial upheaval, and racial protests combined to turn lives upside-down everywhere, we surveyed our members for what they needed most and responded with new and modified programs to meet their most urgent needs and a new website through which to connect with them in the virtual world.

Coming soon: a whole new way for Community to connect with and to serve each other!

Our goal is to completely change the way that people & groups who need help will connect with and exchange value with people & groups that offer those programs and resources. We've been working on it for quite a while and look forward to finally unveiling our Community Collaborations Portal late in 2021!

Meet the team

  • Callan Loo "The Visionary"

    Founder & Executive Director

    Visionary & Builder

    CallanL@the-ilc.org

  • Elisa Guyton "The Butterfly"

    Community Engagement Director

    Evangelist & Community engager

    ElisaG@the-ilc.org

  • Kellyn Jean "The Connector"

    Social Media Manager

    KellynJ@the-ilc.org

  • Leah Myers "The Artist"

    Creative / CEC Director

    LeahM@the-ilc.org

  • Mara Evenstar "The Priestess"

    Conscious Rites Director

    Ritualist & Creatix

    MaraE@the-ilc.org

  • Kirby "The Oracle"

    UX Director

    Kirby@kirby.fail

  • Mandy Brownholtz "The Prophet"

    Acting Marketing Manager

    Branding & Marketings Strategist

    Mandyb@the-ilc.org

  • Neil Simon "The Coach"

    Board Member

    Executive coach

    NeilS@the-ilc.org

Get Involved

  • Become a Volunteer

    You've risen from the ashes yourself, you know how hard it can be. Fulfill your role as a change agent by using your experiences to help others struggling with like challenges.

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  • Become a Ambassador

    Join our team of change agents and use your own experiences to help others navigate similar life transitions and challenges.

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  • Become a Sponsor

    We do awesome things but we can’t do them alone. Sponsors contribute resources – financial or other – to help us serve more people, better! In return get promotional consideration or brand association.

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  • Donate

    Contribute resources directly to EOS and in return, get promotional consideration or brand association.

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