CircleUpSquad · A care innovation company
Care is not one
size fits all.
The people who show up in our lives, waiting rooms, inboxes, and churches don't all need the same kind of support.
To truly meet people where they are, we have to practice person-centered care.
At CircleUpSquad, we help individuals, communities, and organizations put that philosophy into practice through training, organizational support, and technology.
Care as a Collective Practice.
The framework underneath the work
Comfort in. Dump out.
Our training, coaching, and technology all share one foundation: Ring Theory. Picture concentric circles. The person living the hardest thing sits at the center. Their closest people form the next ring, then friends, colleagues, and community beyond that.
Support flows inward, toward the center. Worry, frustration, and grief flow outward, to someone further from it. Nobody vents toward the person with less capacity than them.
It sounds simple. In practice it changes how a care team talks, how a volunteer offers help, and how a patient gets support that actually lands — which is exactly what we teach, coach, and build toward.
We teach the skills.
We support the people.
We provide the tools.
Person-centered care takes more than good intentions. It requires listening, understanding individual circumstances, and responding with practical support.
Our three connected offerings help individuals and organizations turn those intentions into action.
- The Art of Caring: Experiential training that strengthens how we practice care.
- Care Team Lab: Coaching and organizational support that helps put person-centered care into practice.
- CircleUpSquad Technology: Practical tools that help patients and their support networks coordinate care.
Each offering stands on its own. Together, they create an ecosystem for more responsive, connected care.
Three connected offerings
The Art of Caring
Training
Care is something we practice.
Experiential learning that helps professionals, organizations, and communities strengthen their capacity to practice person-centered care.
Audience: Community health workers, patient navigators, healthcare professionals, advocates, faith communities, and organizations.
Designed for
- Community health workers (CHWs)
- Peer navigators
- Volunteer mentors
- Victim advocates
- Patient support professionals
- Community-based care teams
Training topics
- Coaching-informed communication and motivational interviewing
- Collaborative action planning, autonomy, and advocacy
- Professional boundaries, referrals, and support-network coordination
Available formats
- 90-minute experiential workshop
- 3-hour intensive
- Customized modular workforce training
Continuing education curricula are in development. CEU approval has not yet been established.
Care Team Lab
Coaching & Organizational Support
Supporting the people who support others.
Coaching, consulting, and technical assistance to help organizations design, implement, and strengthen their approaches to care.
Audience: Healthcare organizations, nonprofits, community-based programs, and care teams.
Services include
- Program development, implementation, and workflow design
- Coaching for navigators, peer supporters, and team leaders
- Reflective practice, training reinforcement, and evaluation
- Communication and support-network engagement strategies
Our approach
- Professional coaching
- Practical learning design
- Collaborative problem-solving
- Tailored to organizational needs
CircleUpSquad
Technology
Make it easier for people to show up.
A practical care coordination platform that helps patients and their support networks organize and share the work of care.
Audience: Patients, care partners, healthcare organizations, and potential pilot partners.
The platform helps people
- Communicate needs
- Organize offers of help
- Activate existing support networks
- Coordinate practical assistance
For organizations
- Organizational pilots
- Platform onboarding
- Multi-site partnerships
Inside the Room
What this looks like in practice
Real sessions with real care teams — moving, practising, and figuring it out together.
Who We Work With
Different communities.
Shared responsibility.
Our work is designed for organizations and professionals supporting people through illness, caregiving, and experiences that require coordinated community support.
- Healthcare organizations and cancer support programs
- Community health worker programs
- Patient advocacy and navigation organizations
- Nonprofits and community-based organizations
- Faith communities
- Peer support and volunteer programs
- Educational and professional development organizations
Whether an organization is interested in a single workshop or a longer-term partnership, we can explore an approach that fits its community.
Meet the Founder
Shannon Ivey, MFA, PCC
Founder & CEO, CircleUpSquad
Healthcare educator. Professional certified coach. Author. Patient advocate.
Shannon brings together professional experience in education, coaching, facilitation, and patient advocacy with lived experience navigating serious illness.
Her work explores how people communicate, collaborate, advocate for themselves, and build meaningful support systems.
CircleUpSquad grew from a belief that care should not depend on one person’s ability to organize everyone around them. Care is a collective practice. We can get better at it together.
Why I Built CircleUpSquad
When I was navigating cancer treatment as a divorced, solo mother, I learned something about care: people often want to help, but they don’t always know what meaningful support looks like.
For five years—before, during, and after treatment—I was also training professionals in health and social service organizations to make person-centered referrals. How to deeply listen, recognize individual circumstances, and connect people with support that actually fit their lives and desires.
I was teaching person-centered care while experiencing firsthand what happened when care wasn’t person-centered.
When that work ended during COVID, I became an ICF-certified coach. And there it was again: the belief that people are the experts on their own lives.
Care is not one size fits all.
Yet too often, we don’t discover how to show up for someone until we get it wrong—during one of the most painful times in their life.
Ask a cancer patient if I’m right.
It isn’t enough to ask people to show up. We have to understand what showing up actually means for the person receiving support.
That’s why I built CircleUpSquad.
Because care is more than a good intention. It’s a practice. And we can get better at it.
For individuals and families
Need support right now?
The CircleUpSquad app is free during our beta. Create a care circle, say what would actually help, and let the people around you claim meals, rides, and everyday tasks — no coordinating required from you.
Organizational Inquiry
Let’s Build Better Care Together
Interested in workforce training, coaching and technical assistance, or care coordination technology? Tell us a little about your organization and what you’re hoping to strengthen. We welcome conversations about how CircleUpSquad might support your work.
- Workforce training and workshops
- Coaching and technical assistance
- Technology demonstrations and organizational pilots
- Research and implementation partnerships
Direct Contact
Shannon Ivey, MFA, PCC
Founder & CEO, CircleUpSquad