This was my favorite ever snowsculpture from the snowpocalypse that hit Seattle in early Feb 2019.
Rad graffiti in the bathroom one of my favorite coffee shops in the world from late Jan 2019.
Facilitating a trans-inclusion workshop at the American Camps Association conference.
Working on a keynote titled: "I Believe Facilitation Can Change the World." for the Association of Experiential Educators Northeast regional conference (giving the talk in April, working on it now).
Facilitating a Train-the-Trainer. Preparing camp staff (from around the world!) to deliver a DEI training for their summer camp staff.
Working on creating a physical tool for facilitators that I'm really excited about!
Writing up the services I want to be offering to the world.
Starting on a project about social justice facilitation. Possibly called 'Social Justice Educator School' but name not finalized.
How do we keep people in the work and pursuit of creating a more beautiful world when it feels like everything needs to have already changed?
How do we bring people in who think, "this is just the way things are," and they aren't necessarily happy about it, but they also don't know, believe, or have considered how different it could be?
How do we change minds without trying to convince someone with data and facts?
How do we share stories where no one is the enemy except the system? Where there is no 'bad guy' or 'bad people'.
And how do I continue to be part of this conversation and serve the work I want to do.
Facilitating large group workshop focusing on (1) deepening our understanding of the difference between diversity, inclusion, equity (2) understanding how our identities have impacted us throughout our lives (3) investigating privilege.
Creating curriculum for a Train-the-Trainer that will be training camp staff to deliver diversity, equity, and inclusion trainings for their seasonal summer camp staff.
Building a self-guided online course all about how to understand and manage your triggers as a facilitator. When it goes live find it at The Safe Zone Project.
Having a LOT of conversations with people about social justice dogma and the things I'm wondering about detailed below.
I've been doing social justice education for coming up on 10 years now and a lot has changed over those 10 years. One of the things I think that's most dramatically shifted in my world is that the "social justice community" has really gone to some places I'm not excited about. Shame, dragging, voting people off the island for not being "social justice-y enough", contradictory asks, with-us-or-against-us mentality, and a tightening the circle of who is deemed "worthy" of time, attention, compassion, empathy, understanding. And I'm not pointing fingers from the outside, these are all things I've done too.
I'm looking at my work from new eyes, wondering how do I continue to do the work that I love (social justice education) in ways that don't reconstruct or even play on the same field as any of the tools that I think have brought so much harm into the world like dehumanization, isolation, othering, shaming, blame, fear, vitriol. How do I bring more beauty, love, trust, compassion, connection, opportunity, abundance, belonging, knowledge, patience, and understanding into my work and into the world.
If you're wondering the same, let me know :).
Every Friday* I send out an email with what I've been learning from this week. Books, articles, podcasts, videos, and anything else that has helped me grow.
*not actually every Friday, but I do my best!