Blog

An Intergenerational Conversation Approach

Communities are struggling with inter-related challenges: social isolation, mental health and addiction issues, lack of affordable housing, and disconnects among people of different generations, races, classes, and political parties. How can we create the spaces in our communities where we can turn to each other to reflect on what is changing, find creative solutions, and… Read more

After the Gathering

Imagine being in high school and getting to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. My podcast guest, Belvie Rooks of Growing a Global Heart, shared how this interaction at a youth conference brought her from despair towards hope and became a seed for her work in the world. I found what happened after the… Read more

Social Networks and Racial Equity

Connecting people who don’t usually talk is an overlooked way of creating change. Donella Meadows, who was a wise teacher of how to change systems, wrote: “Missing information flows is one of the most common causes of system malfunction. Adding or restoring information can be a powerful intervention, usually much easier and cheaper than rebuilding physical… Read more

Conversations Connect Across Siloes

One of the biggest challenges is that organizations and larger systems are siloed: people work in the same organization/community/system or on the same issue, yet they don’t talk to each other or understand how their work or issues relate. The World Café conversational method enables people from these “fragmented” parts of a community/system to meet… Read more

Rethinking Where We Put the Spotlight

Recently, I attended a fundraiser gala event for a local women’s foundation. Picture the scene: people dressed up, sitting at tables of 10, food being served, and a stage with a podium. The evening’s program was designed around giving awards to four women, celebrating their leadership and accomplishments and offering each of them time to… Read more

Questions to Find Emerging Potential

Asking questions and listening for the strategies and ideas embedded in people’s own answers can be the greatest service a social change worker can give to a particular issue. – Fran Peavey Most people who have worked with me know I’m a connoisseur and evangelist about the power of good questions. Questions invite participation and the generation of… Read more

Why Blog?

Another blogger I admire, Chris Corrigan, just wrote a blog called How to Blog stating his intention of trying to “single handedly trying to lift a near dead art form up from a seven year slumber.” He noted that a lot of people stopped blogging around 2015. Chris, I appreciate your impulse and will lend… Read more

Announcing Kinship: a new initiative

And suddenly you know. It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings. –  Meister Eckhart Over the last 10 years, through New Directions Collaborative, Nancy Gabriel and I have partnered with clients to explore how to use networked approaches to align the work of many organizations to change systems. We have worked… Read more