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At IISC, we believe that networks, love, and power are at the heart of lasting change. That’s why we’re honored to be part of the Knowledge Share Group, a collective of multi-racial, racial equity capacity-building organizations that’s been quietly (and boldly) reshaping how we work, learn, and grow together.
In a new piece published on the GEO blog, “Strengthening the Ecosystem: Resourcing Racial Equity Capacity Building Organizations for the Long Haul,” members of the Knowledge Share Group reflect on what becomes possible when funders invest not just in individual organizations, but in relationships across difference, silos, and time. The post includes powerful stories of collaboration, trust, and shared strategy from the field.
“This group has been willing to share the deep-rooted tensions in their organizations without masking, competing or pretending,” said Kelly Frances Bates of IISC.
This kind of honesty from the piece captures what so many of us are craving in a sector often shaped by scarcity, isolation, and burnout. And it is what allows us to build something new. Whether it’s opening our books to each other, co-creating offerings, or writing love letters to funders, the Knowledge Share Group is modeling an ecosystem rooted in abundance, not competition. It’s a place where racial equity capacity builders can align, dream, and move together for greater impact.
We’re grateful to GEO, the Kresge Foundation, and our co-conspirators in this work for lifting up what’s possible and creating the conditions for this collaboration to grow. We invite you to read, reflect, and imagine what it would look like to invest in the whole ecosystem of justice.
“We are the people who help build the capacity, the imagination, who accompany people when they are beating themselves against the wall,” said Vazquez Torres. “The ecology we represent is essential for the liberation project that’s required in this nation.”
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“Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself, others by first do no harm or take no more than you need. What if the mightiest word is love? Love beyond marital, filial, national, love that casts a widening pool of light, love with no need to pre-empt grievance. In today’s sharp sparkle, this [season’s] air, any thing can be made, any sentence begun. On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp, praise song for walking forward in that light.”
From “Praise Song for the Day” by Elizabeth Alexander
As we help support the weaving of various kinds and scales of networks with focus on different social and environmental issues, one refrain we continue to hear at IISC from those who are at the core of these efforts is that they need more resources and they want more resource providers to understand the power and importance of investing in networks. So, why invest in networks and network weaving now? Here are five essential reasons:
Because We Are Networks. We literally live and breathe because of the many networks we are a part of. “Nobody but nobody makes it out here alone,” Maya Angelou wrote. Social-ecological connectedness and exchange are a baseline determinant of health and wellbeing of all kinds – from our bodies/minds/spirits to our families/neighborhoods/communities to local/regional economies. Think in terms of the mycelial networks that are essential (and until recently, very much under-appreciated) for their contribution to soil health, which translates into nourishment of various kinds for humans and other species. If we do not tend to this foundation, we will see all of our hopes for anything better blow away like so much dust in the wind.
Because Imagination Thrives Through Connection and Exchange. Our overall consciousness and ability to imagine the better is strengthened through warm relationship and generous sharing. To support this, we must invest in convening, different avenues for ongoing communication and grounding our individual and collective nervous systems in a state of relative regulation. These are the key conditions that allow humans to do what we have done for eons: pool information, share understanding, and iterate our way forward through cooperative learning (do, reflect, redo).
Because Our Economies and Ecologies Are Failing Without Them. We need new patterns of connection and flow to ensure equitable wellbeing for all parts of the collective human body and our more-than-human kin. As Dr. Sally J. Goerner writes, “We should care about [growing] inequality because history shows that … concentration of wealth at the top, and too much stagnation everywhere else indicate an economy nearing collapse.” Furthermore, extractive economics that ignore impacts on ecosystems and other species will continue to harm and ultimately kill the host (our Mother) that sustains us all.
Because Movements Are Calling for Them. From frontline movements for human rights, social/climate justice, and Indigenous sovereignty, we’re hearing that there is an ethical imperative to invest in distributed leadership development and right relationship that counters the cult of hyper-individualism, competition, and “doing for and to.” And there is a recognized need among movement leaders to build broad-based solidarity through these trust-bound connections to confront the common enemy of humanity – sociopathic/ecocidal greed and self-serving power.
Because the Future Depends on It. Resilience is no static goal; it is a dance of evolution, reweaving, and collective learning. There is a need to invest in the evolution and reweaving of – and between – truly inclusive democratic institutions that can serve as the anchors for regenerative development, collective learning, and adaptation going forward. Funding network-weaving positions to support these vital processes isn’t just smart, it’s visionary.
There are other reasons that we might add to this list, but honestly, if these five do not grab the hearts and minds of funders/investors, that would seem to further illustrate the plague of disconnection and dissociation that has infected so many of us. Resistance and protest because of concerns about “return on investment” (ROI) is simply short-sighted and narrow in its understanding of system dynamics and the new science of sustainability. What this “energy system and flow network science” tells us is that:
Long-term prosperity is primarily a function of healthy human and more-than-human webs.
The stories we tell ourselves about how the world works are one of our greatest survival tools – so let’s get that (network) narrative right!
The next phase of human evolution is largely based upon our ability and willingness to both learn and reorganize ourselves with more diversity, intricacy, collaborative coherence, robust sharing, and greater resulting collective intelligence.
If you want to step into this light with us, join our upcoming webinar:
“Light Work for Heavy Times: Networks as Fuel for Long-Term Collective Wellbeing” on July 15th from 1:00-3:00 pm EST. Register here.
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“The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light. Gentle work. Steadfast work. Life-saving work in those moments when life and shame and sorrow occlude our own light from our view, but there is still a clear-eyed loving person to beam it back. In our best moments, we are that person for another.”
Maria Popova
These are simultaneously challenging and promising times. These are times in which low vibrations and descendant energies seem to be everywhere. At the same time, offers of higher vibration and ascendant energy exist in many places. In the words of a teaching I recently received from the Brahma Kumaris – “A big old tree coming down makes a loud noise; while the planting and nurturing of seeds goes on in relative quiet. Where are you putting your attention?”
Of course, it is important to defend against efforts that are intended to harm people and to take away their sovereignty. And there is a point at which, if we are all or only responding to negativity, we let that energy set the terms of the conversation and what moves forward. As another teaching goes from Father Richard Rohr – “The best critique of the bad is the practice of the better.”
By now, many of us are on to the tactics being used by those who seek to control the vast majority of humanity that stands for a more just and inclusive society that lives in right relationship with our more-than-human kin. The strategies used by the sick minority include generating fear, which can fuel isolation predicated about threats and misinformation. When these tactics work, people find themselves giving in to the darkness that they sense is growing around them.
But the light is always present, in and around us. What may be required is some fuel. This is where we at IISC see networks and network weaving playing an essential role. To counter forces that would isolate and keep us from one another, we might make and maintain contact with one another. To keep fear from taking hold, we might bring warm-heartedness and generosity to our interactions with one another. To support collective clarity, we might share accurate and timely information with one another and remind each other of what matters most. This is all the work of network weaving, which we might see in our current context as “light work.”
In July 2025, we will host a webinar delving more into all of this with guests who are demonstrating the power of weaving connections, sharing resources, and bringing light and love to places that might surprise you. Stay tuned.
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On Friday, April 4th, Interaction Institute for Social Change was proud to partner with Food Solutions New England to host its Spring Gathering focused on “bridging work” to advance justice, equity, and fairness. Our guests for this gathering included Troy Sambajon, writer for The Christian Science Monitor, and Soma Saha, Executive Director of Wellbeing and Equity in the World. Between them, Troy and Soma focus their work on community-level efforts to create equitable change that prioritizes those who are least served/most marginalized while weaving stronger, more resilient social bonds that benefit all.
Our conversation centered on how certain people and places are defying mainstream media reports about how hopelessly divided we are as a country by reaching out to one another and engaging in creative “solutionizing” to address hunger, poverty, economic decline, and physical violence. The stories that were shared come from people and places that many might assume would be the last to do such work, including Israeli and Palestinian women and rural communities in the Deep South of the United States working with and on behalf of Black farmers. While not easy, there is no question that these efforts are happening. We at IISC also see this in the long-term consulting work we are doing in places like the Mississippi Delta, Fresno County, California (one of the most diverse areas in our country), and western Massachusetts, where a partnership focused on digital equity unites rural and urban communities and residents of all identities.
We might ask ourselves why these stories are not more widely shared. The answer seems to be that the dominant and evermore consolidated mainstream media tends to thrive on outrage (taking advantage of our innate negativity bias) and that wealthy owners maintain their position by fomenting division. Once you start following the money and information flows, the patterns become quite evident. We are being sold a story that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy if we choose to believe it and give in to fear, isolation and ongoing misinformation campaigns.
We might also ask how the places that Troy and Soma highlighted, and where we at IISC are working, are cutting through the media morass and stereotypes. Actually, we did ask that! What we heard and shared is that people in those places are willing to reach out to one another. Somehow, they can see or remember that we are all connected. And they make space for actual conversation to happen. These spaces are characterized by care-full tending to processes that always put relationships first, and where listening is crucial. In many cases, this includes at least some meeting time over a meal where people can break bread together. These processes also emphasize that “seeing one another as the problem” is not going to get people very far. Rather, they invite curiosity about systems and structures that are influencing all of us, and often pitting us against each other.
We did not have time to get into much greater depth about the processes that Troy and Soma see being implemented, but from the IISC perspective, we can share some other tips that can help to make things smooth when engaging people in tense and potentially divisive situations:
Do some kind ofbridging and outreach work in advance so that people are not cold-stepping into a shared space with one another. This could include interviews beforehand characterized by empathetic listening.
Pay attention to power dynamics, including who tends to be more central and more peripheral, can be important in terms of creating conditions for equitable engagement.
Make sure you have conversations in places that put people at ease and that are relatively easy to access. You might ask about this in those outreach and bridging interviews.
Have access to natural light and greenery when gathering in person to help settle people.
Sometimesplaying music can be helpful, provided it does not stir up nervous systems too much and has something that everyone might appreciate (you can crowdsource requests in advance).
As a facilitator, you might invite a few people to share something that is personally meaningful to them at the beginning of a conversation. This could be a poem, a memory, an object, or a short story. See more about “The Welcome Table” that we have done at the beginning of the Network Leadership Institute we have facilitated with Food Solutions New England.
Speaking of story, we often find that having some time at the beginning of a gathering for people to share a bit of their story can help to highlight commonalities and get mirror neurons activated. You can read more about this here.
Move slowly and encourage people to be okay with silence …
Invite people to pause between stimulus and response. This might look like asking people to take a step back and watch their reactions to what is happening in the course of the conversation.
Let people know that you are not asking everyone to believe the same thing or to force agreement. At the end of the day, behavior is what matters most, including how people treat one another. We can respect-fully agree to disagree on certain things and still live well together.
Most importantly, it feels foundational to continue to remember that most people share more in common than they do differences. As Mohawk elder Jake Swamp-Tekaronianeken once said, “In the end, everything works together.”
A black background features an abstract outline resembling the Earth at its center, with bold, vibrant flowers blooming within. Beneath it, overlapping circles in various colors create a dynamic, layered foundation. By Yeti Iglesias via Unsplash+
“Food for us comes from our relatives, whether they have wings or fins or roots. That is how we consider food. Food has a culture. It has a history. It has a story. It has relationships.”
Winona LaDuke
This past week, I had the opportunity to co-create and curate with my colleague Karen Spiller the first ever “food justice track” for the national conference hosted by The Privilege Institute (TPI) in Hartford, Connecticut. TPI has long been committed to helping people understand the systems of supremacy and oppression that continue to harm and marginalize growing numbers of people and our more-than-human kin, and to supporting “solutionizing” our way forward through diverse collaborations. As participants in and presenters at past TPI conferences, and as co-stewards of the Food Solutions New England’s Network’s equity leadership efforts, Karen and I were grateful to be invited by TPI founder Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr. to host this track on food systems and what they have to do with just, sustainable and thriving communities. And we are very thankful for the generous financial support provided by the RWJF Special Contributions Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation for this work.
Our track featured five sessions intended to ground people in historical and current impacts of efforts to control food, land and water in establishing caste systems and hierarchies of human value, as well as to highlight more humane, dignified and eco-logical alternatives for our collective food future. Our flow of offerings included workshops focused on:
“The Love Ethic” and Work for Food Justice, facilitated by Karen Spiller and yours truly under the auspices of both Food Solutions New England and the Interaction Institute for Social Change.
Right Relationship Across Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Class, Age, Geography and Sectors, hosted by Noel Didla and Liz Broussard Red of the Center for Mississippi Food Systems.
For a larger version of this food systems map, go to this link.
“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with them. The people who give you their food give you their heart.”
Cesar Chavez
There was a lot of engaged discussion in and across the sessions, and a common commitment to creating spaces that could hold complexity and honor the multiplicity of our individual and collective selves (one definition we offer for “love”). Along the way, what surfaced was the power of focusing on food to help people understand more about where we are as communities, a country and world, and how we might move forward together. A few related reflections:
Appreciation was expressed in several sessions for helping participants understand food as a system. For even considerably educated people, the complex networks that bring food to our plates can remain largely invisible. Whether we are talking about farm/fisheries inputs, production, aggregation, processing, distribution, eating, or resource recapture, there is an amazing and diverse array of players and interactions providing us with our daily meals. This awareness can be empowering and help us understand that the daily choices we make as eaters really matter, and that some of us have fewer choices than others.
In most of our sessions, we invited people to consider and share stories related to food. Our experience is that this is always connective in a number of different ways. As a species we have long had shared stories around meals, such that there is much about eating that can bring to mind memories of various kinds. Through our work with Food Solutions New England, we have been encouraging people to share stories of joy related to food, which anyone can do through this “joy mapping” link. Even when memories around food are painful, feeling seen, validated and perhaps understood when we share them with others who have had similar experiences can be very helpful.
For some people, the notion of “food as medicine” was very eye-opening and inspiring. Nutritious food that is not simply caloric can be a balm for our bodies and spirits. The way we grow food can help heal the Earth, especially when we adopt regenerative approaches, including agroecological techniques. When we share a meal, it can bring us closer to one another and even heal divides or advance respect for and understanding of one another. And because food is intimately linked to culture, when we reconnect with and reclaim our food traditions and share them with others, it can be tremendously restorative.
It was also very eye-opening for people to understand that the dominant food system we have in this country is grounded in a legacy of colonialism, the plantation economy and extractive approaches that have repressed people’s foodways and controlled their diets. This continues today in many rural and urban communities where grocery chains and “dollar stores” owned by those from outside those communities import overly processed foods (bypassing local producers and more nutritious options), offer low-paying jobs often with challenging working conditions and extract profits from those communities. Furthermore, continued consolidation of food-related enterprises means that the rich keep getting richer while everyone else fights for scraps.
“Eating is so intimate. … When you invite someone to sit at your table and you want to cook for them, you’re inviting a person into your life.”
Maya Angelou
The good news is that there is much we can do as eaters, community members, voters and caring people to support food systems that promote equitable wellbeing and connect us to what matters most in life. This is what we pointed to in each of our workshop sessions, and that we will once again do through the annual Food Solutions New England 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge, which starts on April 7th and for which IISC has been a core partner since its launch in 2015. The Challenge is free and open to all, and requires registration to receive daily emails and links to many resources focused on how we can build a “bigger we” for the more beautiful world we know is possible. There are also opportunities to be in virtual community with others participating in the Challenge. You can find more information here.
P.S. We have been invited to replicate and expand the food justice track at next year’s TPI Conference in Seattle, Washington. Stay tuned for more updates.
“Food is strength, food is peace, and food is freedom.“
“Connections create value. The social era will reward those organizations that realize they don’t create value all by themselves. If the industrial era was about building things, the social era is about connecting people, ideas and things.”
-Nilofer Merchant (entrepreneur, business strategist, author)
Image description: A watercolor illustration of forest filled with mushrooms and trees whose canopies resemble mushroom tops. A winding path, glowing softly in yellow, leads deeper into the scene, inviting exploration. From Allison Saeng via Unsplash+.
Our new Communications Manager, Sandra Herrera, asked a great question the other day: “Why is network weaving needed now?” She wasn’t offering this as a doubtful challenge, but to help us to hone our messaging around why more people should consider the power of tending to connectivity in these times.
The first three things that occurred to me in answer to Sandra’s question were the following:
Isolation is hazardous to our sense of wellbeing; or viewed positively, connectedness is an important social determinant of health.
Crisis demands creativity and to be creative we need connectionsto others, and in particular to do bridging work with those of diverse experiences and perspectives.
Feeding other people with helpful and uplifting informationand resources, and seeking this from those around us, can bring both light and warmth to a world that can sometimes feel is lacking.
It is important to acknowledge that not every connection is necessarily good for us. We can be negatively impacted or harmed by those around us and by some of the information and energies that come our way. At the same time, it is also important to understand that we humans can be driven by a “negativity bias” that makes us overly vigilant about potential threats. While it might be wise to pull back into our comfort zone at times, hunkering down and only being with those who are like us sets up a trap of thinking and acting in predictable and limited ways.What’s more, if everyone pulls back, we lose access to latent potential and abundance.
Innovation happens through encounters with different experiences and ways of looking at the world. Sometimes to see clearly, we must over-compensate for our tendencies to shrink and stretch beyond our comfort zones to test some of our assumptions about the dangers “out there.”
For more on the adaptive cycle, see the work of C.S. Holling
The adaptive cycle (see image above) teaches us that as systems falter, unravel and release energy (which is necessary to remain vital and adapt to changing context), certain “critical connections” (to use the words of long-time community organizer Grace Lee Boggs) must be maintained. In addition, it is very important that investment be made in the seeding of new possibilities. In the human realm, this includes an infusion of positive exploratoryenergy. So-called “positivity” (see the work of clinical research psychologist Barbara Fredrickson, PhD) is not a pollyannish state removed from reality. Rather, it’s a stance of openness and curiosity that provides some balance to our negativity bias, which can help us to see possibility in other people and our surroundings for the sake of renewal and regeneration. In other words, the nature and quality of what we bring to and feed our connections really matters!
“Network theory suggests that what a system becomes emerges from the complex, responsive relationships of its members, continuously developing in communication.”
–Esko Kilpi (sociologist, process management consultant)
All of this is especially crucial right now, as the forces that are consolidating wealth and power attempt to disrupt attempts to build solidarity across movements for justice, fairness and equity. The study of “flow networks” applied to economics shows that we have been in this kind of “oligarchic cycle” before. Oligarchies (rule by the few) and “oligarchic capitalism” (an economic system run by and for the benefit of the elites) maintain themselves in part through the spread of narratives that justify growing disparities driven by sociopathic and extractive practices. Ideas like “the divine right of kings/capital,” “supremacy,” and “survival of the fittest” still have many believing that those who have a lot (not to mention way more than they need) somehow earned/deserve it.
The antidote to this is sharing a different story rooted in the historical view that humanity has evolved over centuries through a sense of mutualism, sharing and pooling information, learning collaboratively and cooperating creatively. The “winner takes all” approach does not stand up to our understanding of what contributes to long-term human thriving. All the more reason to weave more intricate and robust networks of all kinds.
Interested in learning more? Check out some of the hyperlinks above, and search for other posts on our website focused on “networks” and “network weaving.”
And consider joining us for this upcoming training on “Network Weaving for Social Healing in Times of Great Change” (March 27, 3:00-5:00 pm ET) or contact us to learn about other similar and related offerings that might be brought to your organization.
Image Description: Illustration of colorful valleys and peaks with the sun partially visible on the horizon in the distance. Getty Images via Unsplash.
There are many ways to measure time and multiple timelines unfolding at once. As the Year of the Snake begins and Q1 winds down, we (like many others) are juggling various practical, essential tasks: finalizing contracts, submitting reimbursements, and strategizing responses for the shifting funding landscape. We’re balancing these practical tasks with the metaphysical work of connecting with our values, intention setting, and reflection. This balance led us to revisit reflections from our colleagues who attended Race Forward’s biennial racial justice conference, Facing Race. That post-conference debrief quickly bloomed to include the wonderings, longings, and commitments we’re weaving into the months and years ahead.
We offer some of those reflections, takeaways, and questions here. May you also have time to attune to your longings and commitments (individual and collective) amidst the demands of this moment.
Democracy is a tall order, especially in a multiracial context. Post-conference and post-election, folks spoke of a deeper appreciation for the complex task of creating democratic processes when there isn’t a shared history, identity, experience, or geography on which to scaffold our efforts. We ask: How do we redefine “winning” so that all of us get our needs met?
Movement dogma — and the corresponding elitism — has reached a point of diminishing returns. Over the past decade some of our progressive movement practices have calcified into gospel that can’t be questioned without conflict. Additionally, some of our key concepts and tenets – like DEI and inclusion– have been reduced to buzzwords. The meaning behind the words gets diluted. And often the terms are US-centric, undermining our potential for international solidarity. In this moment, shared understanding and deep reciprocal learning need to be prioritized over semantics. We ask: How can we practice rigor without rigidity? How can we amplify true alignment instead of pressuring ourselves to conform to elitist-coded ideals?
“We will rescue ourselves through democracy, not in spite of it,” said Kim Anderson, Executive Director, National Education Association (NEA). We need each other. Connection and attunement are key across our multiple and layered differences, so that we can deepen our understanding of each other’s fears and motivations, needs and desires, gifts and strengths. Democracy doesn’t mean that we always agree, but that we turn towards each other, tune in, and find some agreement. It means that we prioritize ways of being that hold sacred our common humanity and the gift of life on this planet. We ask: How can we listen, collaborate and network to leverage each other’s skills, interests, and capacities for the benefit of all life?
Organizers have been strategizing for this moment. As a whole, IISC operates as a capacity-building nonprofit and is a step removed from front line organizing. Many of our practitioners come from political organizing backgrounds and/or participate in organizing efforts. Even the seasoned among us are working to get clear about how to organize in this moment and in this landscape. Folks who attended Facing Race were energized to hear from organizers who offered strategies and plans to meet this moment, like People’s Action. We ask: How can we infuse our capacity-building with an organizer’s mindset (i.e., amplifying people power, building critical connections, championing principled struggle)? How can we prioritize supporting organizers?
What questions are you and your community holding as you navigate this moment? What answers are emerging as you wonder? If you want to work or wonder together, know that we’re always here.
Over the past few months, three different networks IISC is helping to support have reached what we recognize is an opportunity to jump to the next level of engagement and “productivity.” I want to be clear that this latter term is not meant to be a “churn for churn’s sake” kind of productivity, but is rather about supporting wide-spread activity at the “local level” to create significant change.
These three networks have been around for anywhere from four to seven years, all having navigated the challenges of COVID and other turbulence. All three have been characterized by a core group of champions who are passionate about both the issue they are focused on and the power of broader community in question. These steadfast advovates have served as the glue amidst what has felt like fracturing forces. And now there is an emergence of new energy and interest, in part because of steady weaving activity, and also more opportunities for in-person gathering as well as a sense that they have made it through a real test of their staying power.
In our role as network consultants and coaches, we are given the opportunity to reflect back to these collaborative efforts what we see as critical capacities needed for the road ahead, including how to harness this growing enthusiasm and interest. What is coming up across these three networks is the importance of dedicated investment in core “network leadership” functions, including the following:
(1) Keeping the loop of communication going between and amongst the core and periphery of the network, including creating ways for people to find and stay in touch with one another (using tools such as Slack, list serves, and private LinkedIn groups).
(2) Crafting materials and curating resources to “feed” those most engaged in the network (who can then share these “nutrients” with others), including stories of progress and learning that can be fed back to the network.
(3) Managing and making accessible other information that is crucial to supporting network members and network activity (via network maps, searchable member/participant databases, etc.).
(4) Strengtheningcollaborative capacity amongst those who would like to be facilitators, process designers, network weavers, and group coordinators/project managers. Some examples of what we provide through IISC include Facilitative Leadership and Network Weaving trainings.
(5) Convening people at key moments, virtually and in-person, in care-fully designed and facilitated ways, to keep connections warm and momentum going.
Getting more funders and other supporters to understand the importance of these functions is key not only to these networks being successful, but we would argue it is fundamental to reweaving the social, cultural, and institutional fabric of our communities and country. See more here in the post “Weave Back Better: Investing in Network Weaving as Part of Core Infrastructure.”
Over the past few years, I have had the privilege of getting to know and work with food justice advocates in the state of Mississippi through the Mississippi Food Justice Collaborative and the Mississippi Food Policy Council. On two occasions, as a part of visits to Jackson, Mississippi, I’ve had the opportunity to go on the wonderful civil rights tour provided by Frank Figgers. Mr. Figgers is a graduate of Tougaloo College, where he worked with the Jackson Human Rights Project, founded by Howard Spencer, a SNCC field organizer and former civil rights worker. While working with the Jackson Human Rights Project, Mr. Figgers met, worked with, and developed relationships with other former civil rights workers. He is an absolutely captivating storyteller, who has filled in many gaps in my own historical knowledge, and provided numerous corrections to the education I received.
Touring Jackson, we made stops at a number of different historical landmarks, including the Smith Roberston Museum and Cultural Center (once Smith Robertson Elementary School, the first public school for African-American children in Jackson), the Farish Street Historical District (known as a hub for Black-owned businesses up until the 1970s), the Greyhound bus station at 219 North Lamar Street (where many arrests were made during the 1961 Freedom Rides), Tougaloo College (established by descendants of slaves aboard the Amistad and an institution that has at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi), and Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Historical Monument (where Medgar Evers was fatally shot in 1963). Mr. Figgers narrated key and often dramatic events while those of us in the large van he was driving listened intently and as if we were watching events play out in front of us.
Exhibits inside the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum
A common refrain that Mr. Figgers used, in pointing out how “everyday people” stepped up to fight for their and other’s rights amidst oppression and violence was – “They did what they could, with what they had, where they were.” As he said this, he scanned our faces in the back of the van, his eyes widening behind his glasses, and then smiled as a final point of exclamation. Even in the face of truly terrorizing circumstances, people stood up. They stood up. They did something. So many acts of tremendous courage, large and small. So many people, everyday people, finding ways. Making ways.
“They did what they could, with what they had, where they were.”
Something about those words continued to work through me, and so was the case for others who were on the tour, as we talked about it later. They’ve been echoing in my head more loudly recently, as I feel the strain in my body and mind related to escalating challenges and suffering around us.
*******
Another story recently came to mind as Mr. Figgers’ words have been working on me. Not long out of college, I created and ran a youth service program for middle and high school students in upstate New York. My first summer organizing the program was spent in the most rural and economically poorest part of the county where I was based. We had assembled a group of about ten middle schoolers who were motivated to help others or simply looking for something to do with their time in the summer months. We got involved with the local food pantry, learned a lot about hunger in the county and country, did some painting and cleaning work on a couple of historical buildings needing love and care, and made ourselves available to those in the community unable to do certain things for themselves.
About mid-way through the summer, as more people heard about our work, we received a call about an elderly woman who was legally blindand lived by herself. The town works department was coming to her house to fix some sewage pipes and in the process of digging up a portion of her back yard to do so, they were going to have to take down a few of her young fruit trees out back. Could we come and move them for her, a neighbor who was calling on her behalf wondered? The youth were very eager to assist, and on a blistering hot day we arrived with gloves on and shovels ready. Approaching the house I gasped a little – the structure looked like it was held together by little more than hope. We met the woman outside. She wore darkened glasses and was leaning on a walker. She welcomed us and promptly guided us to the trees out back. After some basic instructions, we got to work and spent a few hours digging holes, moving and watering trees, packing soil, adding some fertilizer, and then – with sweat pouring down our faces – felt satisfied that the job was complete.
The woman was delighted and, smiling behind her darkened lenses, asked if she could give us something in return. Without waiting for an answer she told us to follow her. We went inside her house and she waved us in the direction of the door behind her where we found the stairs to her cellar. We were then instructed to flick the switch at the top of stairs, descend, and “pick anything you like.” The kids and I looked at each other, a little uncertain. I went ahead and led the way. Once at the bottom of the creaky stairs, we looked around to see dust-covered shelves on all sides of a single unfinished room, completely packed with jars. Jars full of fruits, vegetables, jams, and pickled this-and-that. Hundreds of jars.We were completely floored. After taking a few minutes to absorb the incredible array, we each selected a jar that looked good to us and went back up stairs.
“You do all of that?” one of the girls asked once we were all gathered back in her kitchen.
“Yup,” said the woman, matter-of-factly.
“And you gonna eat all of that?” asked one of the boys.
The woman laughed. “Oh no,” she said. “I send most of those to the needy.”
There was silence in the kitchen as we worked that over in our minds.
She continued. “I give them to people in my church to send to people overseas who are hungry or experiencing difficulties like earthquakes.”
The kids nodded, clearly still working that through in their minds.
Well, let’s just say that gave us a lot to talk about during our van ride back to the kids’ homes. Despite all appearances, this elder, officially living at the poverty level, legally blind and physically limited, was doing what she could, with what she had, where she was.
A nice coda to the story is that the kids decided they wanted to learn how to do canning themselves and wondered if the woman would teach them. I reached out through the neighbor, the woman agreed, and we ended up donating what we produced (fruit jams) to the local food pantry where we had begun our summer of service work.
*******
I am not going to lie. There are days when I feel completely overwhelmed. I look at what I see as the challenges we face in this country and world and I wonder, “How on earth…? It’s too much! It’s just too much.” And then I think of Mr. Figgers and the everyday people of the historical and current day civil rights movement in Mississippi and other places. And I think of “The Canning Lady,” (as she came to be called by the kids in our service group), and so many others like her that do what they can everyday with whatever they have wherever and however they are. And that’s enough to eventually right me.
Part of this righting is remembering is that it is not just about me! It is about doing my part, making the contribution(s) that I can make. To riff on a phrase I often use in supporting the creation of social change networks, it’s also about “doing my best, and then connecting to and trusting the rest.” That’s why I am such a big fan of networks, of making more loving links between people and places. Imagine more of us doing what we can, where we are, with what we have, and weaving it all into something larger. Something even more beautiful. As a poet once said, we might just make a world like that.
“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify, simplify!
I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen …
and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Image by Bill Smith, shared under provisions of Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0.
Earlier this week I posted on our blog a piece drawing from lessons learned in over a dozen years of supporting Food Solutions New England to launch and evolve as a network. These lessons were also drawn from other collaborative networks we have supported over the years at IISC, and fed forward into our work with FSNE, not as a way of forcing fit, but seeing if the system/network reacted favorably.
A colleague and collaborator from outside of IISC read the post and fed it to into an AI interface and asked about the top three take-aways (the original post has a list of 25 developmental milestones and lessons). That generated a very interesting summary, which I continued to play with a bit. Collaborating in this way has yielded the following three core elements for long-term collaborative and networked success in our experience, without declaring final victory (which is surely a bit of fiction).
1. **Foster a Culture of Collaboration and Shared Vision/Values**: The importance of working together as a collective rather than as isolated entities underscores the need for a unifying vision and values. The vision and values should bridge real and perceived differences, creating a sense of belonging and purpose across diverse groups. Co-creating a guiding vision and values not only aligns efforts but also amplifies impact through collective action. Engaging in storytelling and shared experiences, like breaking bread together, further solidifies shared vision and values by humanizing the collaboration, making it more than just a professional undertaking. This approach encourages a deeper understanding and appreciation of one other, fostering a more cohesive and inclusive network.
2. **Build and Maintain a Robust, Trust-Based Network**: The call to build networks that are vertical, horizontal, and diagonal emphasizes the importance of creating spaces where trust and accountability can become the foundation. This involves not only bonding within similar groups but also bridging across different ones, ensuring a rich tapestry of connections that are resilient and creative over time. These networks are strengthened by dedicated support for convening, coordination, and facilitation, ensuring that collaboration is effective. Enrolling network weavers or ambassadors to keep the network vibrant and inclusive is crucial through ongoing outreach.
3. **Commit to Continuous Learning, Equity, and Systemic Saluto-genesis**: Recognizing and addressing social inequities within the system is vital for achieving a fair and sustainable future. This involves a commitment to racial and other forms of equity, both broadly and deeply. Leveraging “network effects” for spreading learning, understanding the persistence of dominant systems/power structures, and identifying leverage areas for “collective impact” are critical steps towards systemic saluto-genesis (ongoing health-promotion for all “participants” in the system and the system as a whole). This also highlights the need for integrated policies that reflect the network’s core vision and values, making policy along with financial and other resources more equitably available and relevant to people. It also encourages embracing complexity while striving for simplicity in tools and approaches, preparing for disruptions, being trauma-informed, well-being oriented and dedicated to accessibility.
Recently a colleague and I were invited to present to partners in Mississippi about what we have learned over a dozen years of creating a network in New England dedicated to advancing a just, sustainable, democratic and collaborative regional food system.
It has been quite a journey to date, filled with twists and turns, much joy, and some hard-earned wisdom. Over this time I have done my best to capture insights and developments as they have happened in blog posts. In reflecting on those, along with content that has been curated on the network’s website, I pulled together the list of developmental lessons/milestones below.
This could easily be longer, and if one were to “double click” on any item, a whole story would unfold with other learnings. Some day we hope to capture this in a fuller telling, and for now, here is an offering of 25+ take-aways, some of which might be of interest to others depending on where you are in your own network stories of change.
Co-create a guiding vision to bring people together across real and perceived differences/boundaries.
Build a network and strengthen trust that is vertical, horizontal and diagonal (in network-speak, “bond and bridge“); years from now, we will be very glad we did.
Lean into core and common values (these will help us through some of the hard times and decisions).
Engage in storytelling and breaking bread together, getting to know one another beyond roles, titles and assumptions (this will create more “surface area” for connection).
Identify leverage areas (we now call them “impact areas”) that we can lean into collectively to create the better system(s) that align with our shared vision and values.
“Do what you do best and connect to the rest”– keep focusing on what is ours to do as a network in the region, while respecting, appreciating and linking with what others are doing that aligns with and complements our efforts.
Work for narrative change in and around the food system and messaging that aligns with our shared vision and values.
Create an integrated policy platform across the region and sectors, grounded in our core vision and values, and help make policy more accessible and relevant to everyone.
As Toni Morrison once wrote, “Keep asserting the complexity and the originality of life, and the multiplicity of it, and the facets of it.” Normalize complexity in our shared work, while avoiding making things more complex than they need to be.
With respect to technology tools and platforms, remember that less can truly be more, and that they are as much about sociology as technology. Ask what you really need to facilitate fluid communication, sharing and decision-making.
Ongoing and always, throughout all of the above, practice “fierce love” (deep caring and accountability, for/to yourself and others)
Also, based on where we seem to be heading in 2024 … Help weave together a larger regional “network of networks” and regional infrastructure focused on addressing poverty advancing climate resilience and supporting thriving communities/local people.
Feel free to sign the Food Solutions New England Pledge here, no matter where you are, to support and align with our core values and vision.
This work is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Traditional management has run its course. At IISC and in our network of clients and equity practitioners, we’re trying to create something new in its place. We don’t have all the answers, but we know it’s time to discover another way.
As a Generation X’er who worked “under” bosses trained in traditional command and control leadership, I saw the poor results of “do what I say” or “do as I do” leadership. In the 80s and 90s, management strategies were based on military and manufacturing leadership practices which relied on top-down hierarchies, rigid routines, and long work hours.
Obedience of the workforce was paramount. And it was suffocating.
A natural product of the system of racialized capitalism, management was – and in many cases still is – about dominion over people and making sure they work harder and faster to amass money and resources for those “at the top.” It’s too often about quantity and output over people and quality, rather than what you ultimately accomplish.
Fortunately, collaboration as a critical proposition for team effectiveness, and equity and wellbeing as vital strategies for organizational success, are now in play in more workplaces. And yet, if we’re honest, we’re still churning out work and people like generations before us. The pandemic tried to teach us otherwise, but now that we’ve moved from pandemic panic to endemic acceptance, we’ve fallen back into old habits. We’ve defaulted to management practices that are rooted in the anxiety that comes from living in a world of systems which perpetuate oppression, political chaos, and climate catastrophes. Anxiety compels us to micromanage, remove employee autonomy, and revert to workplace disciplinary practices,
At IISC we’re working hard to stay true to our values and practices by approaching our organizational structure and practices with intention. We’re moving away from traditional management to transformational leadership that is based in shared leadership and the facilitative leadership and equity practices we bring to others.
So what are we doing? Here are three strategies we’re trying:
We’re decentering ourselves as “managers.” We’re developing a new leadership and decision-making structure that envisions each of us as leaders in a network, offering our contributions individually and collectively to move the whole. People closest to their areas of work and the impact of the work will be entrusted with decisions in those domains. Multiracial and multigenerational leadership will be a core principle as we undo work norms that stem from cultures of white supremacy.
We’re creating a workplace that is about preserving dignity and wellbeing. We believe that policies that promote wellbeing help us approach our work with greater focus and creativity. And having more time outside of work to rest and connect enables us to see the world more clearly and better understand our organization’s role in making the world a better place. We have implemented a four-day work week to give people a greater balance between work and personal time, and we’ve launched a compensation pod to explore how to increase our wages through an equity lens. We’re repackaging some of our functions so they fit better within each person’s job and hiring more people to share those responsibilities. We avoid booking meetings before 10am so people have time to plan their days, do solo work, and attend to caregiving responsibilities.
We’re building new practices for holding each other accountable to our work goals and values by navigating the conflict that naturally arises in an organizational setting. We’ve had a dominant culture of “niceness” that allowed tensions to stay buried, leading to work inefficiencies and resentment. To address that, we’ve worked with transformative justice practitioners to learn to step into more radical candor with each other. We’ve learned it’s possible to have hard conversations and hold people with dignity by engaging in truth-telling that emphasizes impact over intent. And, last but not least, we’re piloting mechanisms for sharing feedback that are not based on a supervision model but rather on coaching and mutual accountability sessions.
I’m relieved that future generations may be spared the problematic management practices of the past that treated us like widgets instead of precious humans. But we need a lot more people and leaders who are willing to stand with us and our allies. And who are ready to lead us forward into this new way of working.
We want to hear from you! How are you trying to replace traditional management practices with transformational leadership? How do you want to take a stand?
