“What makes a network alive is that there is collective learning happening. That’s the glue and the relationships are in support of that. If our goal is to collectively learn something, those are the networks or the communities that keep on going.” – Ria Baeck, on the Living Love Podcast What allows groups to co-create and… Read more
Author: btener
Questions that Open Up 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 Questions invite participation and the generation of new learning and ideas. Our context is shifting rapidly. That means that what is needed and what is possible… Read more
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
Conversations that Seed Collaboration in a Community
In most communities, there are dozens of non-profit and other organizations, each working on a discrete set of goals, yet operating in the same place and systems as others. “We need to collaborate to be more effective and have a bigger impact” is the frequent refrain. The question is how and where do we start? In… 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
Boston Schoolyard Initiative: An 18-year Success Story of Collaborative Structures that Support Transformative Change
“The story of the Boston Schoolyards Initiative is one that needs to be shared and spread!” This was my thought after hearing a keynote speech by Kristin Metz share her story at a conference. Kristin graciously accepted my invitation to interview her for this blog. I first wrote it in 2015 and am reposting it,… 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
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