Hello friend,

I hope that you have the support and resources that you need in this moment.

What kinds of support and resources might those be? For me right now, one of the greatest forms of support and one of the greatest resources that provides me strength is engaging in deep, challenging, explorative, disruptive, uncomfortable conversations. These conversation take a lot of energy, but for me they are equally generative and energizing.

As a young student, I loved being in debate club in part because it gave space, time, and structure to have conversations like these. We can take two sides of an argument (a false binary for certain, as there are never just two sides) and explore them with each other within the debate world. The “winning” of the debate is not about proving a point “right” or “wrong.” The structure acknowledges that neither side is an absolute truth and the winner is chosen based on the rules of the game of debate, not on which side is true. The “winning” of the debate is truly in being able to practice engaging in civil discourse, learning from each other, hearing each other, responding, and then having a beer together afterwards. **Note: debate topics would never be something ridiculous like “is racism ok or is it not ok,” where you really would not want to go have a beer afterwards with the person with whom (not against whom) you are debating. Also, I don’t drink alcohol really unless it is Guiness.

Another wonderful structure for discussion that I’ve been working with is Vent Diagrams. This structure for facilitated conversation gives a space for us to “recognize and reckon with contradictions and keep imagining and acting from the intersections and overlaps.” It is one of my favorite practices for sitting in uncomfortable knowledge and working with others to face that discomfort and to find new thoughts and actions through reflection and discussion. I am excited to be facilitating two upcoming discussions that will include Vent Diagrams as the structure for the conversations, and would like to invite you to them both:

Next Tuesday, Nov. 19th at 10:30am Eastern I will be partnering with the CT Data Collaborative (one of my favorite nonprofits, I’m such a fanboy for their work) to facilitate a Vent Diagram discussion as part of their regular Data Equity Community of Practice sessions. This is a great intro to Vent Diagrams, meant to provide an example and experience of how to use Vent Diagrams for any topic within nonprofit organizations (and wherever else they can be useful to you). You don’t have to live or work in Connecticut to join, and I’d love to have your voice included in the discussion. If you can’t come to this one, still check out CT Data Collab - they are amazing.

Next year on January 24th at 1pmEST I’ll be using Vent Diagrams to facilitate a discussion about social justice work and time. Our missions and the people we serve need the situation to change RIGHT NOW - the urgency in our work could never be greater or more clear. At the same time, systemic and individual change is mostly the result of many years of intense work and relationship building, things that cannot necessarily be “sped up” or made efficient. This apparent contradiction has been driving me crazy and keeping me up at night for years and years. Please consider joining me in a conversation about the role of time and urgency in nonprofit and social justice work.

If you are itching for deep, challenging, explorative, exciting conversations but can’t come to these events, there is plenty more where this comes from. What topics do you or your nonprofit need to discuss? Reply to let me know what you are already talking about or what you would like to talk about.

Peace,

Emily