Schedule A Call

Mija Retreat 2026

The Many Spaces & Faces of Grief

Welcome to the Mija Retreat for Latinas & Friends.

  • 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
  • October 18, 2026
  • MUSKEGON YMCA CAMP PENDALOUAN – MONTAGUE, MICHIGAN
Reserve Your Spot

 

The Mija Retreat is more than a convening. It is an invitation to pause. To breathe deeply. To gather in community. To remember that grief and loss touch every life — and that no one should have to carry those experiences alone.
Set among the woods, water, and quiet beauty of Muskegon YMCA Camp Pendalouan, this retreat creates space for compassion, courage, storytelling, reflection, rest, and meaningful conversation.
Together we will explore the many spaces of grief and loss: the loss of loved ones, relationships, identity, dreams, health, belonging, safety, certainty, and the versions of ourselves we once knew.

Register Early & Receive Exclusive Benefits

Register by September 01, 2026 and enjoy an exclusive early registration benefit: Early Bird Savings. Save $25 on your retreat registration with coupon code:

  MIJAEARLYBIRD

Offer expires September 1, 2026.

 

🌿 First 10 Attendee Bonus

The first 10 registered attendees will also receive a complimentary Mija Circles Discovery Session before the retreat.

Your Discovery Session includes:

• One live virtual Mija Circles experience

• An opportunity to connect with members of the Mija community before retreat day

• A welcoming space to experience Circle before gathering together in October

This one-time invitation must be redeemed by September 1, 2026.

Reserve your spot today to receive both early registration benefits while they’re available.

Reserve Your Spot

Retreat Experience | October 18, 2026

Your Retreat Experience

Each part of the retreat has been thoughtfully designed to help you pause, reflect, connect, and remember that grief is not something we carry alone.

Our storytellers share lived experiences with honesty, vulnerability, and courage—creating space for reflection, healing, and authentic human connection.

These stories are not about perfection. They are about truth and the power of being witnessed without judgment or fixing.

These stories invite us to slow down, listen deeply, and discover the strength that emerges when we witness one another with compassion and courage.

Throughout the day, participants will gather in smaller circles designed for thoughtful conversation and connection.

These are not therapy groups. They are spaces for reflection, witnessing, listening, and shared humanity.

Participants are always welcome to share, simply listen, journal quietly, walk in nature, or participate in the way that feels safest for them.

No one will be pressured to speak.

More to explore

The retreat is intentionally designed to feel spacious, grounded, and emotionally safe.

The Mija Retreat values compassion over performance, presence over perfection, listening over fixing, witnessing over rescuing, and connection over isolation.

Community agreements and facilitated spaces help create an environment where participants can feel seen, heard, respected, and emotionally supported.

Nature is part of the retreat experience itself.

The woods, trails, water, and quiet spaces of Muskegon YMCA Camp Pendalouan are intentionally woven into the rhythm of the day.

Participants will have opportunities to:

• walk in nature
• sit by the water
• reflect quietly
• rest between sessions
• reconnect with themselves away from daily noise and urgency

The retreat protects unstructured time because healing, insight, and connection often happen in the spaces between conversations.

Meet Our Retreat Leaders

The Mija Retreat brings together storytellers and panelists whose lived experiences invite us into conversations about grief, resilience, healing, belonging, and leadership.

pat

Pat Sosa VerDuin

CEO of Mija Leadership Coaching

Certified Grief Educator
Keynote Storyteller
Grief Won’t Be Cheated

 

Learn More
782e81ee d67c 42d9 a5dc fb6e43fdd7ee

Cassandra Kiger

LLM, MSW 
Keynote Storyteller
Building Systems That Rise Stronger

Learn More
mija1

Leticia Gonzalez Ortiz

Community Ofrendas Curator

Learn More
annamija2

Anna Porter

Author
Facilitated Storyteller

Learn More
mija2

Elisa Hoekwater

Mental Health Advocate
Facilitated Storyteller

Learn More
86CA2F36 6690 4931 A3DD 560D6275E8B6

Reyna Orellana

Entrepreneur
Facilitated Storyteller

Learn More
carmenmija

Carmen Meurer

Author
Facilitated Storyteller

Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions

Partial scholarships are supported through generous sponsors through the “Mija Fund: For information on supporting a Latina & Friends go to (insert the Mija Fund) To apply for sponsorship availability please  email PatSosa@mijacoaching.com 

A full refund will be honored 7 days prior to the event. This allows others on a waiting list to attend and it allows for the event to plan with excellence. Those who have not been able to attend after the 7 days have requested/sponsored a person who would not otherwise be able to attend.

We understand life happens. Please be mindful that this is a reflective space. If you arrive late or leave early, consider transitioning in or out at a time that honors the sacredness of the space.

We will be providing several options to those that prefer gluten free. It is not necessary to order in advance.

Please dress comfortably in layers. This event will be held rain or shine. We will be inside and outside. Think flexible and cozy and safe foot wear.  Please bring a water bottle as filling stations will be available.

Proudly Supported By

ymca prpl rgb r

Thank You to Our Sponsors:

Muskegon YMCA Camp Pendalouan

We are grateful for the partnership and support of Muskegon YMCA Camp Pendalouan, whose beautiful setting helps create space for reflection, connection, healing, and community.

4

Consulting for Resilience

As our Lead Sponsor, Consulting for Resilience is helping make the Mija Retreat possible through its investment in creating spaces where leadership, resilience, healing, and community can flourish. We are deeply grateful for their partnership and shared commitment to serving others.

MundiWEstgroup

Mundi Westport Group

Mundi Westport Group, based in the New York City area, was founded on the belief that exceptional men’s and women’s accessories should be available to everyone at an outstanding value.

We are grateful to Mundi Westport Group for generously supporting this year’s Mija Retreat by providing attendee swag. Their partnership helps make this experience even more meaningful for our community.

Cassandra Kiger, LLM, MSW

Keynote storyteller
building systems that rise stronger

782e81ee d67c 42d9 a5dc fb6e43fdd7ee

 Cassandra Kiger is the CEO of Consulting for Resilience and a practitioner rooted in change management, cross-cultural communication, and equity-centered design.

Grounded in the principles of Asset-Based Development, Cassandra believes every group and community already holds the knowledge and tools needed to achieve meaningful, sustainable progress. Her work blends practical organizational strategy with a deep commitment to justice, accessibility, and systems that allow people and institutions to thrive.

A bilingual communicator in English and Spanish, Cassandra brings more than a decade of experience bridging cultural, linguistic, and organizational divides. Her work has spanned government, community-based organizations, nonprofits, and the private sector, always asking the same question:

How do we help people and organizations rebuild after disruption, loss, or change?

At the Mija Retreat, Cassandra will invite participants to explore resilience, leadership, and transformation through a lens of hope, courage, and possibility.

4

Patricia Sosa VerDuin

Certified Grief Educator
Keynote Storyteller
Grief Won't Be Cheated

Mija Retreat Bio 3

Patricia Sosa VerDuin (Pat), an established Latina leader, a powerhouse giving leadership in public, nonprofit and private spaces. Scaling movements and serving as a thought leader and partner to executives and front line leaders. Someone who relates to the head and heart issues that come with leadership. A love and curiosity for the human spirit providing space for mutual learning. Building on the strengths in others that they have yet to acknowledge, realize or recognize in themselves.

Pat is the founder and Principal of MIJA Inc., her dream a day when there is a critical mass of Latinas leading the world with courage, compassion and clarity. Her mission to embolden the minds and inspire the hearts of Latina leaders everyday. By creating the conditions that connect to the leader within so that they can be confident leaders in the world.

Her strengths…courage, curiosity and connection. Courage, because she walks humbly toward fear rather than away. Curiosity, because of her love for the unique story that makes each person an expert of Self. She creates Connection, without it nothing else matters, it’s a companion to trust.

Recognized in 2012 as the Lakeshore Leadership Athena Award recipient. A W. K. Kellogg Foundation Leadership fellow. Named in 2018 by the Michigan Hispanic/Latino Commission as one of the most influential Latina’s. The co-founder of Sisters Who Lead an affinity advancing the wellness and career mobility of women of color to executive leadership.

Pat is a Certified Grief Educator committed to providing the highest level of grief support through education, experience, and insights into the often unacknowledged rocky terrain of grief. Certified Grief Educators complete a certificate program designed by world-renowned grief expert, David Kessler. 

mija2

Leticia Gonzalez Ortiz

Moment of Silence & Ofrendas

mija1

Throughout the retreat, guests are invited to bring a photograph, keepsake, or meaningful object to honor someone who has gone before them. 

Leticia Gonzalez Ortiz will thoughtfully curate the Community Altar, inspired by the tradition of ofrendas- a space for remembrance, love, reflection, and connection.

IMG 7606 IMG 7607 

Elisa Hoekwater

Mental Health Advocate Facilitated storyteller

mija2
Elisa’s professional career has focused on the field of transportation planning, land use, and community design. In 2025 she began Mobility Planning, a transportation consulting firm.
 
Elisa values opportunities to advocate for mental health. She discovered the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) while searching for resources to help a family member who was struggling with mental health. She leads the NAMI Family-to-Family class with her husband, Mark. She is also a trained facilitator for the NAMI Support Group in English and Spanish. She serves on the NAMI West Michigan board and co-founded JUNTAS, an organization that supports Latina women with personal and professional development. Elisa’s grandmother and mother are key role models: Latina women who demonstrated faith, unconditional love for others, strength and resilience.
 
At the Mija Retreat, Elisa will share her story facing grief & loss and facilitate a small group after the Storytelling panel.

Reyna Orellana

Entrepreneur
Facilitated Storyteller

86CA2F36 6690 4931 A3DD 560D6275E8B6

Reyna Orellana has served the Ottawa County Friend of the Court for 27 years as an Investigator, enforcing court orders related to custody, parenting time, and child support. In 2013, she was appointed by the Ottawa County Administrator to chair the County’s Cultural Intelligence Committee (CIC). Through her leadership with the CIC, Reyna has become a passionate advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout West Michigan, with a particular focus on supporting and empowering the Latino community.

Reyna is the co-founder of the Grand Haven Hispanic Heritage Fiesta and the Tri-Cities Puentes Initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a healthy, united, inclusive, equitable, and diverse community throughout the Tri-Cities area.

In addition to her full-time public service career, Reyna founded Aurora International Foods in 2022. Through the company, she developed a line of authentic Michelada products that are currently available at select Meijer stores. Inspired by her Latin heritage, Reyna built the business around the values of culture, celebration, diversity, and inclusion.

Those same values have guided her professional career, community leadership, and entrepreneurial journey, reflecting her lifelong commitment to bringing people together, honoring diverse cultures, and creating spaces where everyone feels they belong.

Carmen Meurer

Author
Facilitated Storyteller

carmenmija

Carmen Meurer is an author and facilitated storyteller whose first book is currently in the hands of her publisher, Abundance Books, with an anticipated release in June 2027.

As details become available, subscribers to her website will receive updates about early reader opportunities, launch team information, and her upcoming book release.

To stay connected and receive the latest updates, visit carmenmeurer.com.

Author & Speaker Contact: author@carmenmeurer.com