Zoë Ackerman is a Ritual Educator and Founder of Runa, a school for teaching and learning at the intersection of ritual design, story, and play. Her work is the convergence of a decade of study in urban planning, collective liberation movements, and ancestral healing. She is dedicated to dismantling internal and external oppression through practices that cultivate agency, especially for communities navigating grief, uncertainty, and systemic challenges. Zoë currently lives in Curitiba, Brazil, on the ancestral lands of the Guarani, Kaingang, and Xetá peoples.

A convergence of practice and policy

Zoë brings a unique lens shaped by both rigorous academic study and embodied, ancestral learning:

• Academic Foundation: Zoë’s M.A. in Urban & Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University focused on how communities facing racism and state neglect reclaim agency through collective planning and networks of care. Her research (published in 2021, 2022, and 2025) explored relationality, power, and participatory education for justice movements.

• The Power of Narrative: Raised by a fiction writer and a science writer, Zoë studied English Literature and Creative Writing at UNC-Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar, deepening her love for language and storytelling that is essential for ritual and game design.

• Embodied & Ancestral Guidance: From 2020 to 2024, Zoë completed several deep mentorships, including a 13-month Dark Goddess Year of Ceremony with Lara Irene Vesta, focused on ritual arts, ancestral connection, and rites of passage. She has also trained in Trauma- & Grief-Informed Facilitation (Shauna Janz) and Embodied Ancestral Inquiry (Marika Heinrichs) to build games and rituals informed by autonomy, reciprocity, and interdependence.