Civity is everywhere!
All over the country, people are acknowledging that political and social divides are making it more difficult to address a range of challenging community issues. And all over the country, people are recognizing how civity and the relational infrastructure that civity creates are essential for community resilience.
We are thrilled to announce two new Civity initiatives to support “the conversation before the conversation” on a large scale!
- In August, we embarked on an extensive project supporting U.S. communities in civity work to support economic transitions away from fossil fuel reliance.
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This month we began a project in California, which is facing a stark shortage of affordable housing, to support building civity across economic divides. Special thanks to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and to Facebook/Meta’s Housing Initiative for their support.
We’ll keep you posted as this work progresses!
In addition, we continue to respond to specific requests to bring civity to communities and organizations. Recent highlights:
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A “Bring a Partner” workshop that provided civic leaders the opportunity to put differences on the table at Central Hall Commons in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine
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Training for a group of facilitators, organizers, and community leaders convened by the Center for Rural Affairs to use civity to support diversity and inclusion in communities across Nebraska
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Work with the administration and governance of Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, to integrate relationality into the University’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
We are also in partnership with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to support nonprofit social justice leaders working in the areas of arts & culture, faith, neighborhood organizing, and local journalism.
In all of these places and all of these projects we are connecting with local community leaders who are already building civity, who are eager to deepen and extend cross-cutting relationships, and who seamlessly weave civity intentionality and practice into their work.
Our work is supporting our partners and Civity Champions around the county … new and old friends both. Thanks to YOU for the work that you do. Thanks to YOU for continuing to inspire us and the people around you.
-Malka and Palma
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The Power of 'Power-With' |
By Palma Strand
Civity is all about relationships – creating and strengthening bridging relationships that connect people who are different. These relationships form the relational infrastructure that underlies the civic infrastructure. Together, relational and civic infrastructure make it possible for communities to function.
Civity relationships are relationships of respect and empathy. People “see” each other and share stories to get a sense of walking in one another’s shoes.
Most of the differences that keep people apart in communities are differences that involve one group having power vis-à-vis another group – with the dividing line being race or ethnicity, immigration status, economic status, occupational role, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.
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Participate This Month in America Talks & National Week of Conversation! |
By Gina Baleria
We at Civity have been heartened to see more and more people and organizations engage in bridging work in recent years. Many have come to this work in the wake of increasing political polarization, while others have found their way to bridging in hopes of combating inequities based on race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, immigration status, and other power-based divides.
In an effort to connect organizations and people interested and invested in bridging divides, Civity is honored to support the work of The Listen First Project, including this year’s 5th annual America Talks (April 21 & 23) & National Week of Conversation (NWOC) (April 24-30), which involve more than 150 non-partisan bridging organizations.
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The This Is Civity podcast features people who are building relationships to dismantle inequities and strengthen communities grounded in respect and empathy. In recent months, we've interviewed people working to build civity by bridging divides, grappling with issues in communities, and helping people see each other. Thank you for listening!
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Bridging across Difference in Polarized Times, w/Convergence CEO David Eisner |
In this episode, we speak with David Eisner, CEO of the nonprofit bridging organization Convergence, about the increasing role of bridging organizations in 1) cultivating relationships across difference, and 2) working to preserve and nurture healthy civic spaces.
Convergence convenes people and groups with divergent views to build trust, identify solutions, and form alliances for action on critical national issues.
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How You Can Support Civity's Work |
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Thank you for supporting and practicing civity! To support Civity’s work with a tax-exempt donation, CLICK HERE to donate online or get instructions for sending a check.
Your donation helps fund our communications and enables us to give free workshops to small nonprofits. For example, we recently did a pro-bono workshop for Central Hall Commons, a great organization that engages people and organizations in the Maine Highland region to nurture a welcoming, inclusive, and healthy rural community culture.
Our work is more important than ever, and we can’t do it without you. Help us reach more people and provide more support to leaders across the country seeking to build civity.
Let’s grow our Civity community by reaching out to “others” and bridging across divides. Together, we can create a culture where we ALL belong.
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