Dear Friends,
Oh my, I just looked at the calendar. It’s been awhile since our last email communication – we last wrote to you at the end of June!
And a lot has happened in the past five months. Our country (and most of the rest of the world) continues to be beset by the COVID-19 virus. We are coming out of an unusually fraught and divisive election season that has left many discouraged and tired. And we as a country are still grappling with the systemic racism laid bare by the recent murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many others – a grappling that is painful but that we are encouraged to see. Read our reflections on the pandemic and call for racial justice through a civity frame. For perspectives on bridging divides in our country, check out Gina’s podcast interviews with Marnita Schroedl and Lauren Williams from Marnita's Table, Zina Jacque and Jessica Green from Community Church of Barrington, and John Wood, Jr. from Braver Angels.
Our community partners – many of whom are public agencies and nonprofit organizations – have pivoted to emergency measures to support the people who have been hurt the most. COVID has hit these people, often people who are already vulnerable because of their race, class, or immigration status, extra hard. We salute the hard work our community partners have been doing, on top of trying to keep your own staff safe and healthy. For a closer look at one of our partners, check out our profile of Jordan Feyerherm from the Center for Rural Affairs.
As for Civity, we too have been busy. We have been supporting our partners, retooling, reaching out to new communities and organizations, planning for the future, and learning.
Like many of you, we have shifted much of our work online. We had been talking for years about creating online versions of our workshops, and in response to the surge in demand, we seized the opportunity. We premiered our first-ever national virtual workshop in September during Welcoming Week and were thrilled to see that online interactions also provide powerful spaces for building relationality. Read Reba’s article to learn more.
We also have been working to update our online presence and will be unveiling our new website soon – stay tuned!
These extraordinary times have given us the chance to educate – and learn from -- new audiences. In August, I partnered with Jonathan Lever from the Fetzer Institute to lead a workshop on bettering civil discourse for Exponent Philanthropy (EP), the philanthropic sector’s largest membership organization. Read our interview by EP board member Jeff Glebocki. In September, I was invited to participate in an “Imagination Sprint” sponsored by Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) on the subject of trusted relationships in society. Read my reflections.
And last week, Palma and I, along with our friend and early Civity funder John Esterle from The Whitman Institute, published our second call to action to philanthropy. Seven years ago, in From the Kids’ Table to the Adults’ Table, we called on philanthropy to put personal relationships at the center of its work. Our new piece, It’s All About Relationships: Systems-Based Changemaking, published on PACE's blog, deepens that call with a complex-adaptive-systems understanding of social challenges. Complex adaptive systems are grounded in personal relationships (close and not-so-close) between people, and understanding this dynamic is essential for positive systemic change – whether that change is dismantling systemic racism or minimizing the effects of the latest pandemic.
As we enter the final month of a very difficult year for many, I want to call out those who have brought light and ease into mine: Palma, my Civity co-founder and forever thought partner whose wonderful way with words sharpens and focuses what we bring to others; Gina, our creative and (thankfully) perfectionist communications director, podcast producer, and newsletter editor; and Reba, fellow trainer and community coach, and Civity’s grounding force. A special thank you to Genesis Botello, our summer communications intern who helped us sharpen our communications tools.
Wishing you all a restful end to the year, and hoping you and your loved ones stay safe and healthy.
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Civity Is Now Offering Virtual Workshops! |
Civity is excited to announce that we are now offering virtual workshops! We are thrilled to share this opportunity at a time when pandemic isolation is keeping us apart.
Throughout this year, we’ve been hearing the same thing from our community partners: people are hungrier than ever for spaces.
At Civity, we believe it is important to focus on creating and growing spaces that are intentionally designed to facilitate connection across difference. With this goal in mind, we are expanding access to our workshops to a broader range of communities and partners and adapted it virtually, for an interactive, meaningful experience.
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Civity Stories:
CFRA's Jordan Feyerherm
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Feyerherm works with members of rural communities in Nebraska to increase inclusion and to create a sense of belonging, especially for groups and individuals who may not traditionally be seen as part of the community.
“When I think about what a welcoming community looks like," Feyerherm, “it’s not just saying the right things. It’s coming together and working for your fellow community member when they need it and when someone comes to threaten that sense of community.”
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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 the second half of 2020, we 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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Marnita Schroedl, CEO of Marnita’s Table, and Lauren Williams, Marnita’s Table’s Training Manager & Executive Administrator, discuss how to socially engineer equity. Marnita’s Table has been working in communities in and around Minneapolis, MN and around the world, to authentically connect people across difference, challenge people to have honest conversations, and achieve equity. |
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Community Church of Barrington seeks to have people in their community connect and relate across differences, and it hosts Courageous Conversations in an effort to tackle challenging community issues. Reverend Zina Jacque & Jessica Green are co-hosts of A Year of Courageous Conversations in Barringtonm IL. They discuss how it has helped their community face and grapple with issues that permeate society. |
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John Wood w/Braver Angels |
John Wood, Jr. is national ambassador for Braver Angels, an organization working to build relationships across the divides that fracture Americans - including red-blue, class, and race & ethnicity. Braver Angels works at the grassroots level – in communities, on college campuses, and with local organizations. Braver Angels works to heal the nation in the wake of the 2020 election via direct conversations among people who voted differently. |
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Now It's Even Easier to Donate to Civity! |
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Exciting news! It’s even easier to donate to Civity than before. To support Civity’s work with a tax-exempt donation, CLICK HERE to donate online or get instructions for sending a check.
Our work is more important than ever, and we can’t do it without you. Please consider making your donation by the end of the year. Help us reach more people and provide more support to leaders across the country.
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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