Podcasts about asset based community development

Welcome to episode 214 with Cormac Russell, who is an author and social explorer. He is the Founding Director of Nurture Development and a member of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute. Cormac has spent more than 20 years working all over the world training communities and professional organisations in Asset-Based Community Development and other strengths-based approaches. In this episode I chat to Cormac about his strengths based approach to community, the four modes of change and how these things impact and support good mental health. We chat about what 'helping' someone really means, the downsides to the traditional approach to supporting people who are struggling and what we can do differently as communities when we take an asset based approach and focus on what's strong instead of what's wrong. And we chat about the role of storytelling, how structural change happens at the speed of trust and why 'we don't have a health problem, we have a village problem'. It was inspiring to chat to Cormac and this is a powerful conversation about what is possible when communities come together and how this approach can change how we think and feel about mental health and mental illness. https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/  https://www.nurturedevelopment.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/we-dont-have-a-health-problem-we-have-a-village-problem8259.pdf You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com. You can support the show and help me to keep it independent and ad free by buying a coffee at www.buymeacoffee.com/propermental Another great way to support the show and spread the word is to rate, review and subscribe on whatever platform you get your podcasts from. If you or anyone you know needs to find support in your local area, please go to www.hubofhope.co.uk Thanks for listening!

In this powerful episode of Bleeding Daylight, Reverend Dr. Alvin Sanders shares his transformative approach to urban ministry as President of World Impact. Drawing from personal experience with poverty and three decades in ministry, Sanders challenges traditional church models by advocating for a "neighbourhood-as-parish" approach where churches become institutional assets to their communities. He reveals how World Impact's "glocally urban" strategy equips untrained pastors in 19 countries through innovative programs like their "seminary in a backpack."   Sanders unpacks the true nature of poverty beyond finances and outlines practical strategies for churches to engage their communities authentically. From creating "third spaces" that combat loneliness to implementing Asset-Based Community Development models, he demonstrates how churches can move beyond paternalistic charity to foster genuine community flourishing. His stories of transformation—from Cincinnati neighbourhoods to closed countries experiencing revival—illustrate how trained urban leaders can catalyse lasting change when churches approach ministry with humility, genuine care, and a commitment to meeting people at their point of need.   WEBLINKS World Impact World Impact Facebook Alvin's LinkedIn

In this episode we are joined by Jennie Watkins, who reflects on her journey from community activist, to city councillor, to senior case worker for the MP for Gloucester, as she starts her new role at Bromford as an Executive Support Manager.   Today's topic, ABCD or Asset-Based Community Development, a methodology for the sustainable development of communities based on their strengths and potential. If you'd like to know more about Jennie and her work before Bromford, you can find out over on her LinkedIn. Links: Gloucester City Council - ABCD Policy Nurture Development - Cormac Russell Gloucester Community Building

Guest: Cormac Russell, Co-Author of The Connected Community: Discovering the Health, Wealth, and Power of Neighborhoods Recorded: May 23, 2024

The Common Good podcast is a conversation about the significance of place, eliminating economic isolation and the structure of belonging.  For this week's episode we partner with April Doner and the Abundant Community to speak with Tim Vogt about an article published on Abundant Community's website called The Five Valued Experiences.Tim is Executive Director of Starfire, a Cincinnati, Ohio, organization which offers programs that address the needs of teens and adults with disabilities.Other referenced works and resources:Judith SnowPattern Language by Christopher AlexanderStarfire Youtube ChannelThe Careless Society: Community and its CounterfeitsThe Ones We Sent Away by Jennifer Senior (Atlantic Article)Corinthians Six Nineteen by Tim Vogt (Poem)April Doner is a community connector, artist, and mother who is passionate about igniting the intersection between re-weaving neighbor relationships, strengthening local economies, and healing / reconciling inequities and injustices. She is a Steward at the ABCD Institute DePaul University and when not practicing neighboring in her own neighborhood, she trains, coaches, and consults in Asset Based Community Development. April also documents local resilience as well as group processes through various creative means including writing, photography, video, and graphic recording. Since 2020, she has curated content for Abundant Community.Abundant Community is a place to visit. To read and hear stories of action. More valuable than your daily newspaper. A way to learn about citizen-led action that illuminates a new direction, away from the dominant consumerist and dependency-producing habits that we thought we had to purchase. Communities forever have known how to produce family and neighborhood functions such as raising children, building healthy local economies and caring for people on the margin. This website invites you into this possibility.This episode was hosted and produced by Joey Taylor and the music is from Jeff Gorman. You can find more information about the Common Good Collective here. Common Good Podcast is a production of Bespoken Live & Common Change - Eliminating Personal Economic Isolation. 

Rev. Chrissy Ruehl and Rev. John Ruehl are dedicated ministers in Savannah, Georgia, They have a passionate commitment to serve their community. They will share their perspectives as a married couple from different faith traditions who share common goals about the possibilities of community change. They will share how they use and integrate the Community Resiliency Model and Asset-Based Community Development. Join us as we discover how you can change your community using what's already there. Listen in and learn how one community used what they had to change the landscape for children, families, and school systems during and after the pandemic and how you can do it too!

Rev. Chrissy Ruehl and Rev. John Ruehl are dedicated ministers in Savannah, Georgia, They have a passionate commitment to serve their community. They will share their perspectives as a married couple from different faith traditions who share common goals about the possibilities of community change. They will share how they use and integrate the Community Resiliency Model and Asset-Based Community Development. Join us as we discover how you can change your community using what's already there. Listen in and learn how one community used what they had to change the landscape for children, families, and school systems during and after the pandemic and how you can do it too!

Rev. Chrissy Ruehl and Rev. John Ruehl are dedicated ministers in Savannah, Georgia, They have a passionate commitment to serve their community. They will share their perspectives as a married couple from different faith traditions who share common goals about the possibilities of community change. They will share how they use and integrate the Community Resiliency Model and Asset-Based Community Development. Join us as we discover how you can change your community using what's already there. Listen in and learn how one community used what they had to change the landscape for children, families, and school systems during and after the pandemic and how you can do it too!

From Starfire, this is a podcast on what's more possible in inclusion, community, building and relationships.

I met today's guest Doctor Jon Massimi when we were both presenting at the Anchor Ministerial Fellowship conference in Cambridge. Jon and his family live in the Kitchener/Waterloo area presently and has worked and ministered extensively in the community space. Jon is an Anglican priest and has developed his thesis on the relationship between Asset Based Community Development and the Faith Base.

When a technology company invited a social worker to join their digital literacy project, it was because they hoped her social work skills would be “nice-to-have” additions to their “need-to-have” skills for teaching people how to use their digital devices.  But Anna Morgan had already been contemplating digital inclusion for a long time.  Anna brought her social work mindset to the project, called on her community development experience and aimed for social inclusion.   Mentioned in this episode: InfoXchange: Connected Communities: https://www.infoxchange.org/au/community-programs/connected-communities  Definition of ‘Digital Inclusion' from the Center for Digital Equity:https://thecenterfordigitalequity.org/digital-inclusion-and-digital-equity/  Asset Based Community Development:https://www.jeder.com.au/what-we-offer/asset-based-community-development-participatory-community-building/  Human Centred Design:https://www.vic.gov.au/introduction-human-centred-design  Acknowledgement of Traditional OwnersThe Australian Association of Social Workers respectfully acknowledges the past and present Traditional Owners and ongoing Custodians of the land on which this podcast is being recorded. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, their ancestors and their families, and to the Elders of other communities who may be listening.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Common Good podcast is a conversation about the significance of place, eliminating economic isolation and the structure of belonging.  For this week's episode we partner with April Doner and the Abundant Community to speak with Yuki Jackson.Yuki Jackson is a Black and Japanese poet, text-based artist and educator. She focuses on empowerment and enlightenment,  specifically seeking to share her perspective and experiences as the divine feminine. Her poetry has been published in literary journals such as Four Way Review and Cream City Review, for which she was nominated for a 2021 Best of the Net Award and the 2020 Summer Poetry Prize. She is a regular contributor for the “Poet's Notebook” column of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay and has been featured as a poet, speaker and panelist at various institutions, organizations and media outlets, including the University of South Florida, Spady Cultural Heritage Museum, Metro Inclusive Health, 88.5 WMNF radio station and WEDU PBS. Among her commissioned work, she has written and performed a poem for the Goodwin-Procter global law firm.Yuki has taught writing classes as a professor at Ringling College of Art and Design and as a freelance teaching artist for community-based nonprofits such as Keep St.Pete Lit, SpaceCRAFT and Cultured Books. Her work as an arts educator includes being the founder of The Battleground, a youth program serving a historically marginalized community in Tampa, Florida. She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing from the University of Tampa and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Criminology from the University of South Florida.The inspiration for all of Yuki's work is based on her Soka Gakkai International Buddhist practice, hip-hop lyricism and the art in daily life.Yuki's recited poems were Power, Rocket Ships and The Sower.April Doner is a community connector, artist, and mother who is passionate about igniting the intersection between re-weaving neighbor relationships, strengthening local economies, and healing / reconciling inequities and injustices. She is a Steward at the ABCD Institute DePaul University and, while not practicing neighboring in her own neighborhood, she trains, coaches, and consults in Asset Based Community Development. April also documents local resilience as well as group processes through various creative means including writing, photography, video, and graphic recording. Since 2020, she has curated content for Abundant Community.Abundant Community is a place to visit. To read and hear stories of action. More valuable than your daily newspaper. A way to learn about citizen-led action that illuminates a new direction, away from the dominant consumerist and dependency-producing habits that we thought we had to purchase. Communities forever have known how to produce family and neighborhood functions such as raising children, building healthy local economies and caring for people on the margin. This website invites you into this possibility. This episode was hosted and produced by Joey Taylor and the music is from Jeff Gorman. You can find more information about the Common Good Collective here. Common Good Podcast is a production of Bespoken Live & Common Change - Eliminating Personal Economic Isolation. 

What do we do when we can't make predictable or ordered decisions? What do we do when things are unordered? How do we approach those decisions in ways we haven't in the past? These questions are just some of what you get to hear about on this episode with our guest, Sherry Johnson.   Sherry, like so many others we have had the opportunity to interview, grew up not knowing she was a person with autism. She often wondered why she felt she was an outsider in the world. It wasn't until her 40s that she was finally diagnosed. By then, she had gone to college and became a teacher of English and the theater.   Now, she is a coach, a course creator and the founder of the company Cultivating Strategy. Our discussion ranges far beyond autism and neurodivergence. We even get into a story from Sherry about her facilitating a church discussion about gun control. Wait until you hear what happens. (Hint: no, the gun control issue is not solved, but diametrically opposed people do learn to listen to and talk with opponents.)     About the Guest: With a background in arts education, community organizing, and volunteer coordination, Sherry likes inspiring folks to experiment with new ways of being together. Sherry enjoys bridging divides between people. She likes helping leaders and experts make complicated information more accessible, while elevating homegrown leadership and expertise.  Sherry leverages her autistic mind to help people see their own assumptions and biases, so that everyone is freer to be seen and heard more faithfully. Sherry blends Technology of Participation, emergent strategy, Asset-Based Community Development, and current brain research—particularly the neuroscience of emotion and mindfulness—into her approach. Her North Star is interrupting linear and conventional thinking, which so often hampers care and innovation in human systems. Most of her clients are in the civic and nonprofit sectors. Sherry's feet touch the ground in St. Paul, Minnesota, her heart's home. She loves her family, most cats, playful dogs, corvids, and a good windstorm.   How to connect with Sherry: My website My Facebook Page My LinkedIn Profile My December training on Adaptive Leadership     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, a pleasant afternoon to you wherever you happen to be. I am Michael Hingson, your host and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Now we get to interview lots of different people who do lots of different things, which really makes it fun, we get to inspire. And I frankly will tell you I love being inspired. We get to talk with Sherry Johnson today who has a company called cultivate strategy, and we'll get to that but a little known fact, except for a close circle around sherry. She had a birthday yesterday. So Sherry, welcome to unstoppable mindset and happy birthday.   Sherry Johnson  01:57 Thank you so much.   Michael Hingson  02:00 We won't we won't give away your age. That's entirely up to you. But I want to tell you, we're really glad you're here. I enjoyed chatting with you and preparing for this. So split start by telling you or asking you to tell us a little bit about your roots, you know where you came from growing up what it was like, and all that kind of stuff.   Sherry Johnson  02:22 Yeah, thanks. I'm happy to be here. And so lucky to get to do this. And so I came from southern Wisconsin and a rust belt town called Janesville, Wisconsin. And my tone really was embodied a lot of what shapes me, deep divisions, we produce Janesville, both Russ Feingold and Paul Ryan to two completely opposite politician, if you don't say, Yes, that's right. And even my own household was a fractal image of that my mother was a union steward and a factory. My dad retired for agent first sergeant first class in the army. And they used to joke how they canceled out one another's boats all the time. So really grew up in a lot of tension. And also a lot of people have lost their jobs during the mid 80s, as so many did, and that rust belt town got a lot rest year, and that kind of sense of loss and some of the family traumas that compounded around that and my family's background, shaped a lot of how I approach my work and who I become and how I relate to those routes all the time. And I think to you know, this will come up later, but I think to Mike family was also impacted, not just from, you know, caste and job loss, but also generational trauma that may have actually come from being neuro divergent in a world in which that is not really created for us to be successful. Right.   Michael Hingson  04:01 So, yeah. Where did the neuro divergence come in?   Sherry Johnson  04:06 Well, you know, it's genetic. A lot of that I actually came had a midlife autism diagnosis. And when I looked back and kind of, you know, the crash that I had, at that time, I look back at a lot of the family trauma that I experienced and, and sort of see started seeing these signs of OCD, ADHD, autism in my family of origin, and how a lot of that sort of set up some, some difficulties and how we were able to approach live view live, get along with others, collaborate or not, and it really isolated us in our town.   Michael Hingson  04:50 So do you think or do you know, were there other people in your family who had neurodivergent kinds of things or are you the one on choosing one   Sherry Johnson  05:02 I dealt my dad was very likely OCD, autistic, possibly ADHD as well. I, my mother was most definitely autistic and really struggled with some depressive issues and that life because of that, I believe my grandfather was I think there were lots of folks on my father's side as well. And so just kind of growing up along around that, and not really being able to trace back some roots about why is my family so different? What is it about us not being able to fit in and really find our places in society? Why are we so sort of isolated? Why do we continue to isolate ourselves? And I feel like I have a lot more answers about that example.   Michael Hingson  05:49 So how old were you when you were diagnosed?   Sherry Johnson  05:52 I was, um, sexually. So I live here in St. Paul, Minnesota now. But for a while my spouse's job moved, and we had to move out to Seattle for a handful years. And having been sort of taken out of my context, and my community that I had built up. In my mid 30s, I had a breakdown. There were days where I was laying on the couch with a, you know, blanket over my head, and I literally could not get up. And I know that my story is not unique. You know, I had to start over that I didn't know how, and it felt very much like a lot of you sort of go through this year or so of reinterpreting your entire life, nothing, why? Why you made certain decisions or not, and what it felt like it again, your family of origin, and all of that. And I took all of that and sort of had to rebuild who I was and how I saw myself as a disabled person in a world that was not necessarily designed for me to be successful. Right.   Michael Hingson  07:04 So when did you get diagnosed?   Sherry Johnson  07:07 That was 3030. I've missed a 38.   Michael Hingson  07:11 Sir. You know, I've talked to a number of people on this podcast, who got diagnosed with autism, or other disabilities, in their 30s ran into into their 40s. I know, several people who were diagnosed with autism and ADH D in their 30s. For her I know one person who we talked with who knew that they didn't see well, but never really got a diagnosis until a little bit later. Wow, how how was it for you when you got a diagnosis and really understood what was going on?   Sherry Johnson  07:55 Um, well, I went again, I went through that year of just kind of reinterpreting my entire life, there was a lot of anger. I remember feeling for a long time that the whole world was hiding something from me, like, there were all these inch implicit rules, that I wasn't in on all these shortcuts to emotions, and it   Michael Hingson  08:16 didn't send you the memo. Right?   Sherry Johnson  08:18 Right. Like and it was entire light bulb feeling like I missed the memo. And by the way, this is part of my executive dysfunction is numbers was actually my early 40s, that I was diagnosed. And, and I remember just feeling that profound sense of grief, of loss time, of not understanding myself of not understanding that there are people like me, that there have been always fuchal, like me, you know, you go through this, you read a lot of books, if you start seeing yourself represented, we talked about representation in mass media all the time. And I'm so excited to be able to see myself and that's what helped me kind of redefine myself from an I'm an outsider, feeling like an outsider all my life to an outlier, someone who has something different to give. And so I started creating a field with the ways that I was approaching training and consulting and facilitation and coaching and allowing my neurology to kind of shape something new.   Michael Hingson  09:24 And really, I'm not even sure I would go so far as to say outlier, because what it allowed you to do was to realize who you were, which allowed you to then move forward and become a real part of and feeling like a real part of society.   Sherry Johnson  09:43 Yeah, yeah. I mean, I always feel like I'm the sauciest one who Pena sees things a little bit differently and kind of is a lot really intense for a lot of people. I'm proud of that difference, and at the same time, it's helped We appreciate even more other's differences, and to try to help people collaborate in ways where we can honor those differences, lift them up, celebrate how those differences are really where innovation comes from there. Those differences are how we move forward in new ways and in healthier ways. Right?   Michael Hingson  10:21 Well, let's go back. So when you were growing up, you went to regular public schools and all that kind of thing, I assume.   Sherry Johnson  10:27 Yeah. Yep. We were, I should say there was these gifted programs that they were experiment, experimenting with back in the 80s. And almost every two a one of us were nerve divergent at sunset. And so we, we had our own different social milieu, some of which was damaging, some of which was healthy. But we were kept together, separated and kept together from about fourth grade. So that eighth grade, and then just sort of thrown thrown out of that program in ninth grade. And so that that even added, I think, to this sense of isolation and difference and outlier ship or outsider ship at the time. Yeah. You're just like, whoa, what just happened? And then suddenly, you're in all these classes where you're breaking the curve, and upsetting upper class people, because you're the, you're the freshman and chemistry getting a plus. Right? And nobody and you just feel you feel ostracized? ostracize, you don't make a lot of friends? Let me tell you.   Michael Hingson  11:36 Yeah, it is tough on when I was in high school, I actually was taken out of our freshman General Science course for the last quarter of the year. Because my general science teacher said, you know, you seem pretty bored. And I said, Yeah, this is all pretty straightforward stuff. And they put me in the senior physics class. Oh, I had this experience, I had that experience, too. As a, as a blind person. I know, I wasn't in most of the social groups, the social cliques and so on. And I was, no one was mean, it just was that I didn't end up associating with, with people a lot directly. I've talked to some of my high school colleagues a whole lot more after graduation, and over the past several years, then, then in high school. But yeah, I know exactly what you're saying. Yeah, I believe it. And at some point, you really have to decide, you can only do what you can do, and you don't have control over how people feel.   Sherry Johnson  12:37 Yes. And, and I think, you know, speaking of how people feel, I think one of the things that's really shaped me, post diagnosis is I got deep, deep, deep into understanding how we construct emotions. I'm a huge fan of this neuro neuroscientist cut aspect of neuroscientists and Risa Feldman Barrett, who talks about the theory of construction, emotion, and the predictive brain model and how that impacts us and impacts our relationships. And thinking about that through an autistic lens. And I've really brought a lot of that Affective Neuroscience work into my work. And it's helped me also kind of reinterpret my past and see why human differences so hard for a lot of us to address in a constructive way. But once you understand it, you can kind of start piecing together some experiments to help us connect better across different.   Michael Hingson  13:36 Well, this whole concept of diversity, which everyone seems to embrace, unfortunately, when you deal with it in terms of their traditional ways today. For many of us, it never seems to affect us. For example, diversity doesn't seem to include disabilities today. Oh, we're a diverse society. We are diverse all the way around. We deal with race and gender and sexual orientation and culture and so on. But you never hear mentions about disabilities. And what's really, what's really unfortunate   Sherry Johnson  14:14 about it.   Michael Hingson  14:17 Yeah, they're, they're trying to get us. What's really unfortunate is that when we when we talk about these differences, and diversity in reality, we are leaving so many people out, which is why I like the term inclusion a lot more than diversity. Because if you're really going to take inclusion literally, you can't say well, we were partially inclusive. No, it doesn't work that way. You either are or you're not. You can't leave people out.   Sherry Johnson  14:50 Absolutely. I had the pleasure of working with the Minnesota Council of disability on disability lately, and they taught me so much about you know, I thought I was doing it pretty good job of making making my documentation accessible? No, that's all their work with them Did I see all these different ways that what I thought was inclusive, wasn't there it you know, it wasn't to their standard, and they really taught me a lot. And so adding that lends to, you know, being neuro divergent as well, and having an idea about lots of different neuro types and how to be inclusive of that. And of course, I've also done other diversity, equity inclusion work around anti racism, and gender inclusion. And I think all of that work, you know, has a lot more commonality than then indifference. I think a lot of what makes something universally accessible, is also what makes something a place fully inclusive of all those things.   Michael Hingson  15:52 Yeah. We, we need to, we need to recognize that there's nothing wrong with being different than everyone else around us. It doesn't make us less or doesn't make us more, which is the unfortunate part about the term disabilities because people just interpret that as well. You're not able? Well. That's why what we really need to do because I haven't come up with a better word. We need to change the definition of disability.   Sherry Johnson  16:24 Read it. Yeah. I Yeah. And whenever I talk about my own, myself being disabled, I tried to talk about disabled in a context disabled because something was not designed for me. And there are barriers to it being designed for me to access it, you know, just the rhythms of everyday life. Honestly, a lot of the organizations I work with right now, for example, we know that there's been this great resignation, and this passive quitting, because we're all sort of overtaxed and traumatized by the last few years. Well, that's how I felt most of my life. So I can kind of bring some of that feeling and some of those adaptations that I've made for myself, and listening to my body and self liberating my values and and being more mindful, I can bring that to groups and help them you know, even folks who've never experienced any kind of, quote, unquote, disability feel like there are steps that they can take to succeed more to be plugged in more, to collaborate better, in healthier ways that is honoring to themselves, their bodies, their communities, one another.   Michael Hingson  17:39 There's an interesting book written by Henry Mayer, entitled all on fire. And it's the story of the abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison from the 1840s. And one of the things that Mayor talks about in the book is a time when garrison was looking for more people to join the movement. And he suggested to his people that they contact two ladies, their sisters, they grim case sisters, and the sisters were very active suffragettes. And of what what happened was that the his his people said, well, we shouldn't contact them. They're not relevant to what we're doing. They're dealing with something totally different than what we're dealing with. And that would just detract. And Garrison said something, which I think is extremely profound. He said, It's all the same thing. And how true it is. The reality is we're all fighting to become part of the same society. And doesn't matter whether it's suffrage doesn't matter whether it's abolition of slavery, doesn't matter whether it's dealing with any kind of disability or whatever, it really is all the same thing. And we need to recognize that and include everyone to deal with the issue.   Sherry Johnson  19:04 Absolutely. And, and also celebrate and lift up and represent those differences, and nonfiction and fiction media, right. Like I said, seeing myself starting to see myself represented was really important to me. And I know that that's been really important to many other colleagues from from different backgrounds. For sure,   Michael Hingson  19:26 well, so what did you do after high school?   Sherry Johnson  19:29 I became a high school English and theater teacher, because that was the role model that I had from the cast. I was from right. As a first generation college student I the whole concept of going to grad school even though I really wanted to be a medical doctor or something like that. I just couldn't understand the concept. And that you went to college. I did go to college. I was I was very lucky to get a full ride scholarship at UW Madison. And I studied education in theater, taught theater and English to high schoolers for about 10 years, and then transitioned into above, I had my kid, and my teenager, they're now 15 was also autistic. Because, again, we're genetic. And that was really tough as an autistic person who didn't know it yet, you know, having had this autistic person with other high needs, and not really having a lot of space or help around that. And so I made some choices, right, I got into community organizing a taught yoga for a while I got into my body, I started working on my own emotional landscape. And mindfulness, started doing community organizing, which brought me into consensus processes and collaboration. And that's why I became a technology participation certified facilitator, I still train that on a regular basis. And then it just started, it kind of led me from there. Now I do strategic planning for nonprofits, I work with local governments to improve their systems. And it's all just sort of taken off where those last, you know, 1015 years, it's kind of put me in a completely different spot. But then I've always been a bit of a polymath, I think that might come from some add tendencies as well in my brain. But I think that all of that kind of like, what you were just saying, from the quote from the book is, like, all is everything. And if you can have your hands and a lot of different things, you can bring a sense of wildlife and plant ecology, and to changing human systems, right. And it can make that process more meaningful and adaptable. So it's stuff like that, that I live for that kind of synthesis.   Michael Hingson  21:55 You said something several times, and I'm not we're not going to get political or anything. But we I hear a number of people say, Oh, my child is autistic, because they had vaccinations and so on, and they don't even look at the whole genetic thing. What do you think about all that?   Sherry Johnson  22:13 It is 100% genetic? And I think that we're gonna find that we've always had autistic people with us, we've always had add people with us. And, and, and I think, and I know that, you know, all the studies are the vaccines have nothing to do with creating, or enabling or turning on any genes when it comes to autism, you know, vaccines. And I think, for the for us in the community, the Autistic community. It's kind of maddening to, to hear that come up again. Because it was essentially a fake study that even started that whole thing. And now that gentleman makes a lot of money selling that story to different organizations and traveling the world and writing books. And it's really unfortunate how much damage he's done.   Michael Hingson  23:05 Well, so you how long ago did you form creative strategy? Cultivate strategy? Yeah. polyphase strategy? Yeah, um, it's another C word. I call it a base. All right.   Sherry Johnson  23:17 And of course, cultivation comes from ecology. But But I, you know, I started my own business when I before even left for Seattle about 1012 years ago. But it wasn't until I came back from Seattle about 533234 years ago that I that I built, called the Bates strategy out of kind of an amalgamation of all these things that I learned. And, you know, it's my third business and was happy to build it in a state of Minnesota. And I just felt like there was this niche I needed to fill. And I've grown to think of myself more and more as a complexity coach, both for individuals and organizations to help us think about just to sort out the different complexities and when we can't make predictable decisions. When things are unordered. What do we do? How do we approach those decisions in ways that we haven't in the past? And that's changed the way that I approach strategic planning and students the way that I've approached leadership orientation, and things like that.   Michael Hingson  24:30 Will Tell me a little bit more about your approach and what you do if you would, please. Sure. So   Sherry Johnson  24:35 I come from this place where you know, it's kind of taken me a long time to kind of define this because I was always about helping people collaborate across Denver. Well, what is that about? It can be about almost anything, but I think where I'm finding my niche is helping people understand when a linear plan a time based linear plan with goals is not always the right frame, it's not always the right way to go. Increasingly, we know that the less predictable our world is, the less predictable the context of an organization, the more experimental we have to be, the more we have to allow things to emerge between humans and within human networks that can be sustainable. It's through changing a system through relatively simple interactions is what one of my favorite thinkers Adrian Marie brown talks about in this changing complex adaptive systems, and thinking about ourselves more as part of nature than something that's imposing order upon nature. And that's, that's what excites me and gets me out of bed every day. So I have a leadership course coming up, for example, it's based on leadership orientations and figuring out what situations you're most gifted to lead in. And when you should really be stepping back and recognizing the leadership orientation of others who are more able to move in that particular context, which is again, about celebrating difference, and was something that always has always bugged me is about just moving and operating in a tip in a neurotypical world is that oftentimes those things that I've been teased about throughout my life was overthinking, you're overthinking. You're anxious, you're trying too hard. Those things have been a gift to me. That's how my brain works. And it's how I do what I do. And yes, I burn hot, I'm intense. But a lot of that is what allows me to lead in a different way. And more effectively in some contexts. And that's what I'm trying to bring into the organizations I work with to   Michael Hingson  26:54 one of the things that I have found about leadership and being part of a team is the best team leaders are the ones who also know how to use your words, how to step back and let someone else take the lead to do a particular thing.   Sherry Johnson  27:10 Absolutely. Yeah. And who knows? Yeah, go ahead.   Michael Hingson  27:14 Because they don't necessarily themselves have all the gifts or they know, who might be better gifted to do a particular thing?   Sherry Johnson  27:22 Absolutely. And we all know that, you know, information doesn't flow through human systems unless we trust and care about one another. You don't, you know, that's where information hoarding happens in systems where care and trust are missing, or deficient. And we know too, that as our systems as our organizations become more and more complex information is everything. Sharing information is everything. So how do we meet this moment and figure out how to care for ourselves and one another, even as we're working on these harder and harder problems?   Michael Hingson  27:59 Yeah. And it isn't just information, it is absolutely sharing information. We we grow up in a world today where trust is so much under attack, which is what's so unfortunate to me. Because in reality, we trust in so many ways, and we should be more open to trust than we tend to be.   Sherry Johnson  28:22 Yeah, in fact, I had the most one of the most beautiful situations I've been in in the last few years is the day after Donald Trump was elected in 2016. You know, I remembered it was one of the most divisive. It was the Sunday after rather, one of the most divisive times I can think of even even more so than now just this sort of everybody holding their breath. And I was hosting a conversation at my suburban Seattle church on gun control, can you imagine, are you and we had a very heated, we had all kinds of people in that room. There were there were 2530 people in that room. And we had a very heated, very intense high conflict, but but carrying, because we were all part of this same community carrying conversation that I was able to facilitate within some good boundaries. And that was one of the most effective situations I've been in because we realized, I think in that moment, that we needed to find a way to care about each other, we needed to leverage our care to have a conversation together about something that is just so high, high conflict, right. And that can be a lot of hope for even where we are now and how we can move forward with the right good boundaries around conversation and collaboration. And I want more of that.   Michael Hingson  29:56 So what was the main bone of contention or the main conflict since you all came from a church environment. You were you were all there. And as you point out, people really cared what was the main issue that was hard to address or deal with?   Sherry Johnson  30:15 It just there were, you know, again, suburban, mainline, you know, Methodist Church, about half of the folks in the room were very pro Second Amendment, NRA members, and about half of the room were very sort of liberal Moms Demand Action types of folks who were very, very frustrated with the state of gun legislation in the country. And, you know, even even in that context, those tensions exist. And in fact, I think churches, mainline churches, particularly, are one of the last places where you can find that level of difference, even in a caring community. And those differences, by the way, often are under the rug, and we'll talk about when pretend everything is okay. Until we can.   Michael Hingson  31:11 Well, was there any room to discuss things like does the the idea of gun control? Since we're talking about it? Is there any, was there any room to discuss? Does gun control really mean you're gonna lose your guns? I mean, that that's, of course, the the whole argument the NRA makes, and that people say when they talk about the Second Amendment, we ought to have the right just to have our guns. And that's all there is to it. But there is there was there any room to say? Well, wait a minute. Is it really that black and white?   Sherry Johnson  31:47 Absolutely. I think one of the best. One of the best things about being a facilitator, and the longer you do it, is that you start to be able to ask the right question. And you notice that you're working with the group, and they stop talking to you, the facilitator and they start talking to each other. And that doesn't always happen. But when it does, it leads to situations in which that did happen in this group. I remember the look on there were two really passionate people, and it was toward the end of the conversation. And they just stood and faced each other they stood up. And there was people were a little bit afraid, I was feeling pretty good about it. But she just said, Look, I don't want to take your guns, you know, and he said, You want to take my guns, I don't want to take your guns. And it was, and I was just about to interrupt. And then there was a pause. I'm Scott Peck, one of my favorite thinkers talks about this where we're in this sense of chaos. We live in pseudo community most of the time, and then we get this sense of chaos when we realize our differences. And it's only after a period of emptiness that we become a community. And what I watched was this emptiness, this period where no one said anything. And then I think one of them asked the other the question, I don't remember it. I wish I did. But she got a real answer. And then he asked her a question. And she gave him a real answer. This is the trust piece. And they never, they did not agree with one another walking out of that room. And meanwhile, everybody else is sort of watching this happen. But I think we all learn something about emptying ourselves of that need to control the situation and be right. And really just get curious and see what's behind this. This person's thinking.   Michael Hingson  33:34 Yeah, we, we spend so much time hearing the shallow sound bites and so on. And then we just buy that rather than thinking more about it. You know, of course, we could talk about Donald Trump. So many people say I'd vote for him again, because I trust him. And what I always wonder, and I would wonder it about any politician really is, what do you really trust? You hear words, but do you dig down to look at the actions behind the words? Do you look at all the things that they do or not? And unfortunately, we don't tend to allow ourselves and I think we also don't teach our children nearly enough to be curious,   Sherry Johnson  34:30 right? Yes. Yes, Curiosity is so key. And that that negative capability of being able I love this concept of negative capability, have you heard this, the neuroscientific concept where basically, you're allowing about it? Well, sorry, you're allowing yourself to realize that you don't have the answer in the moment. Our society is so obsessed with having the right answer, usually a simple answer, right? And the moment that something's needed And unless you're in a true crisis, potentially really bad to make a decision really? Yeah, it's really good to step back and employ this concept of negative capability. You see how long you can wait in that space of unknowing to have an answer. And you'll find that people with a higher negative capability, make better decision? Because it allows them to consult others be curious, fill that space in their brains of even what they done that unknown unknowns like, what do I not know? Let's find out what I don't even know that I don't know. And that that, that can really bring us way beyond where we're at with our relationships. And I think too, that's one of the strengths of being an autistic person is that I have? I think, a lot of negative capability, because I've spent my entire life sort of going, why did they just do it? What was the assumption behind that? I don't have those simple rules that I think neurotypical culture has. And it's always led me to always take a step back and ask, why did that happen and get curious. And I love sharing that, that negative capability, the father's   Michael Hingson  36:15 interesting concept, I wasn't really familiar with it. But the other part about it is you also said, The only really good time or the necessary time to make a fast decision is when there's a crisis, right. But I would also add to that, that making a fast decision in a crisis also comes down to as much preparation ahead of time. So of course, for me, the example is the World Trade Center, and all the things that I did to prepare for an emergency, not necessarily ever expecting one, but at the same time, needing to know information. I had a discussion just yesterday with someone who asked me the question about, well, was it? Or could it be an advantage in a situation like the World Trade Center, not to see as opposed to being able to see? And what I pointed out was, that you're still basing that question on having eyesight, and comparing more or less eyesight? And that's not really the question to ask or the issue to discuss. The issue really is what do you do to prepare for different situations in your life. So for me, going out and, and exploring, learning what to do in the case of an emergency, was something that I felt really necessary and required for me to do as the leader of an office. It also prepared me for an emergency. And it gave me information that sighted people would not normally get because they just rely on the science to tell them what to do and where to go, which only works if you can see the signs. And if you have time to read the signs. So it's it's really not site versus not site. It's preparation versus not preparing.   Sherry Johnson  38:21 Yes, absolutely. And in the autism community, we talk about the concept of social story that is very similar. A lot of times autistic people aren't said like, Wow, you really know what to do in a crisis. And we can turn off all our feelings and be these heroes and crises. And we may bring that with us and a lot of PTSD, we now are much more kin kin we are much more susceptible to PST, PTSD. But with our neuro types, but we're really good in a crisis. I think it's exactly what you were just talking about when the world I don't know about you, Michael, but I think when the world is sort of designed for not you, yeah. You, you have to take that extra step to get curious about your own planning, your own approach to things that the rest of the world takes for granted. And I think that that's a richness that those of us who bring that bring these various lenses can bring into the greater world like, Hey, have you ever thought about it this way? And they were really, you know, I'm really glad that that served you well and that situation?   Michael Hingson  39:30 Well, the other part of that is the world The world may not be designed with me in mind in some way for help preparing and doing what I do. Can I help the world become a little bit more designed for more of us than less of us? And the more of us may not be the majority, but can the world be made to be more designed for more of us than less of   Sherry Johnson  40:01 us. Absolutely.   Michael Hingson  40:02 That's great. And I think that that is an important part of it. It isn't just learning. It's then utilizing that information. And in reality, it is my belief that everyone should learn what to do in an emergency. And very frankly, I would say, for most people learn what to do as a blind person, because you rely way too much on your eyesight much too often. And you don't learn nearly as much as you can learn by utilizing some other skills, which isn't to say, don't use your eyes. But don't limit yourself to your eyesight.   Sherry Johnson  40:45 Yeah, I think that's brilliant. And it forces you to just sit just regard your surroundings differently, I would imagine to this reminds me to of another of my favorite thinkers, Duncan green, has this wonderful book, how change happen. And he talks about that preparation piece. And he said, you know, working for an NGO, the idea was that if you really wanted to change systems, you would figure out your entire plan for changing something. And you would present the entire plan when the crisis happens. The moment the crisis happens, if you're the first one to plop down the plan for moving out of that crisis, you've just changed the system forever. I love that concept.   Michael Hingson  41:33 And it makes perfect sense. The reality is that we should be doing more of that we shouldn't just be moving around as robots which we do way too often.   Sherry Johnson  41:43 Absolutely. Yeah. mechanization and expertise. Have no person that points for sure. So   Michael Hingson  41:50 I, you know, I have a wife, who we've now been married almost 40 years, it will be 40 years next month. And I've had to learn what eyesight is all about. And I've learned to explore that and learn what she sees how she sees how other people see. And that helps me be more part of that world. But at the same time, then I can use that to say, okay, but here are the limitations of that. Now, take that another step. And really look at what if you don't just use your eyes? And what are the advantages of expanding your horizons as it were?   Sherry Johnson  42:36 Yeah. Yeah, I like that.   Michael Hingson  42:39 So it's a challenge. So you started your company? And what do you do? What What exactly does the company do today?   Sherry Johnson  42:50 Well, we like I said, we moved from sort of doing strategic planning into more organizational change, work, leadership work. And I spell into doing this work around looking at large systems, to now taking that into the city of St. Paul, we did a constituent services study, and we looked at equity implications around who is who can access constituent service and who can't? And what is the quality of that service? And what's the experience? What's the user journey, like? And how can you improve it? And how can you improve the system, looking at all those different more and less predictable ways of working, and looking at all those different ways that people can lead from anywhere in the system and the types of things that they can do. And then I'm hoping to get some new work, knocked out of wood, where I get to do more of that, but also employ narrative ethnography. I'm very excited about this. Do you remember Cambridge Analytica in 2016? Yeah, basically, worked through Facebook to try to find the narratives that were shaping the culture and shift them so that they would get what they wanted out of the election, I kind of want to be the good guy and use that technology for good it is be able to trace the narratives that a culture is telling itself and look for narratives that are positive that would help emerging narratives that will help lead that organization in the right direction and in the direction of its values, and try to move a system by studying those things. So that's the next horizon for me. And it's a project I've been hoping and planning for for the last five years. So I'm hoping that I'm really the one that's putting my book down full of steps and that I'm the first one. I'm not the first by far but I'm excited to do this new work at a larger scale.   Michael Hingson  44:46 You'll be the first to do it the way you do it. I   Sherry Johnson  44:48 spa and slow state.   Michael Hingson  44:52 Tell us more about this concept of narratives.   Sherry Johnson  44:55 Yeah, um, so narratives are the stories we tell ourselves of that shape our behavior, they shape our behavior, they shape our emotions, they shape our relationships, our culture on a grander scale, right. And a culture can believe a set of narratives individuals do. And these can be good or bad working with human narratives, the stories we tell ourselves can be good or bad. Like I said, Cambridge analytic, a bad example of something where you can harness what people believe the predictions that their brains have made about the world way the world works, and make them more afraid, make them do things that are more reactive. But you can also find those hopeful narratives and a culture those narratives that will lead you toward more connection more care, and amp those up, repeat those tell those stories, and lead a culture in a different way. And this works for individuals too. There's a lot of different facilitative frameworks where you can work with an individual or a small group to help them kind of shift their image of themselves and move them in a new direction. So it's that level of change work that is really harnessed in this concept of narratives, because our brains literally predict every moment. And if you can help people predict differently, you can help people change.   Michael Hingson  46:19 How do you incorporate mindfulness into the things that you do? And what is mindfulness? How would you define it? That's a broad subject, isn't it? Yeah. No,   Sherry Johnson  46:29 I mean, that that's about awareness and curiosity, right? That's about, um, you know, being as much as you can be in your body, knowing what's happening within your body, knowing what that says, for you in, in your context about how you're feeling about things. What is your what is good for you? What is bad for you? What feels good or bad? I think a lot of us are so caught up in this sort of perfectionist gogogo culture of, you know, and even in my family of origin, how will you work your way till your next paycheck? You're working more out of competition, fear. Sometimes perfectionism. I know, that was me before my autism diagnosis, I still struggle with it. But what mindfulness does that helps you just kind of check in with yourself and be able to read what is what do I actually need in this moment? What am I actually desiring in this moment? And it's only then when you can help folks feel bad about their own selves that you can help a group be more mindful of one another culture, be more mindful of it. So   Michael Hingson  47:44 how do you teach people to do that?   Sherry Johnson  47:46 playfully. I used to be a theater teachers. So there's a lot of improv involved, sometimes in a more playful sense. With more serious groups, it's just about inviting people to close their eyes and check in with our bodies before virtual I'll say, you know, feel free to turn off your camera, we're just gonna take a few breaths, taking pauses when a group would normally speed ahead, you remember what I said about emptiness? Right? Yeah, we need to be able to take those moments of silence emptiness, to check in with ourselves to see where we're really at. And that, you know, brainstorming works much better when you can take some time of pause, take a break, go on a walk, come back. That's that net negative capability thing again, pausing before deciding, pausing before gathering, pausing to consider, those are all things that I would consider to be mindfulness. And you can do their exercises to do that. Certainly, I taught yoga for a while. And I could do that with certain groups. For the most part, it's much simpler than that. It's about just pausing.   Michael Hingson  48:56 It's also about giving yourself permission, and hopefully encouraging yourself and changing your habits and mindset to doing it. So often, we we just hear excuses. I don't have time to do that. Yeah,   Sherry Johnson  49:12 yeah. Yeah. And it doesn't have to be meditation. Meditation doesn't actually work for everyone. And it works for me, I love it. But I've know a lot of folks who really struggle with it, particularly in the ADB community, but I think it's just about taking time. And for some people that might be taking a walk, for some people, it might be spinning something in their hand. For some people, it's sitting and breathing and feeling the weight of gravity, right. But whatever it is, I try to help people find that. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  49:46 So when you say meditation, what do you mean by that?   Sherry Johnson  49:49 Um, I, you know, that's a tool. That's a highly cultural concept, right? It's different across cultures. For me, I I think of the sort of the Desert Fathers in Christianity and just sort of being silent and sitting in the presence of God, you know, others would say, it's about being silent and just sitting in the presence of nature, or whatever it is, or checking in with our chakras, or whatever it is. Different cultures have different definitions for what it means that it's about taking time. And, you know, we know that some some folks believe that meditation is only just sort of freeing your mind and not thinking about anything. But I think what I've noticed is a pattern, at least in my own small way, is that so much of it is about self compassion. It's like, No one starts out being able to meditate perfectly. But a lot of us can benefit from it, if we have self compassion, and just, you know, keep trying.   Michael Hingson  50:58 And, of course, the whole idea of meditation sure, is being silent, and possibly emptying your mind. But the whole idea behind mindfulness, in a sense, is meditation, it's taking time to not just go forward and confront the day. And it doesn't really matter how you do it. But you do need to take time mentally for yourself, or to slow down. It's something I think that's as much a concept of meditation as is anything else. Absolutely. There's always transcendental meditation where you say a mantra. And that can be very helpful to people who do it. And it may help more people, then think that they could do it. But still, it's all about taking time to slow down and disconnecting from just what goes on in the world.   Sherry Johnson  51:52 Yeah, yeah. But really just noticing more, right? Taking it more with more of your senses, what is actually happening? Yeah, because that predictive brain of ours, we actually don't see, we don't hear, we don't taste we don't smell we don't touch most things. In the moment. We've already predicted those things. If we only really sense what we predicted, we would sense, we actually have to slow ourselves down to truly sense of what's happening around.   Michael Hingson  52:25 So what's next for you?   Sherry Johnson  52:29 Well, I'm like I had this project that hopefully, I'll get to do some narrative ethnography and what we call sensemaking. I've got a course coming up on adaptive leadership on December 3, sign up for that at my website, cultivate strategy that calm slash events, be teaching today, my Two Day technology participation facilitation course, if you want to learn about how to facilitate and collaborate better, I teach that about once a quarter either in Seattle are online, hopefully will start to teach teach that in Minnesota too. And, you know, someday, you would ask me about this earlier, Michael, before the show. I am hoping to complete my musical about growing up as an autistic kid and trying to fit in. So working on that, too.   Michael Hingson  53:21 There you go. Are you going to write the lyrics? Are you going to write the songs? Or are you going to write the words around them? And let let somebody else come in and do it?   Sherry Johnson  53:30 You know, it's going to be I think it's going to be a jukebox musical. So it'll be just hits from the 80s and 90s. Ah, you know, moving moving through my own experiences middle in early high school with the dialog that I'm right. Yeah. Have you   Michael Hingson  53:49 thought about taking a lot of the content of your courses, and putting them into a book? And using that as another mechanism to teach?   Sherry Johnson  54:00 Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of existing books, particularly on the technology of participation. I do write blogs pretty regularly. And I've started to do some video logs as well, on tic tac, and Facebook, but someday, I might start to gather some of that stuff together and make a compendium or something that makes sense, but I'm a little too random, maybe to make that full nonfiction book for resale. I'm always fine. It's nothing new to talk about and work on instead.   Michael Hingson  54:35 And, and that's valuable. And as you said, so your courses will be online as well. And they are online.   Sherry Johnson  54:42 Yeah, yeah. The deciding how to decide is online. And there's both an in person and online version of that top facilitation methods which is actually through top trading dotnet you can sign up for courses in that all over even the world   Michael Hingson  54:59 top training dotnet A   Sherry Johnson  55:00 trained dotnet as the US arm of the Institute for Cultural Affairs, is the purveyor of that that particular band of training. Cool? Yeah.   Michael Hingson  55:14 Well, so you've sort of said it, but if people want to reach out to you and maybe learn more about you talk with you, and do you do individual coaching?   Sherry Johnson  55:23 I do. Yeah. So yeah. So   Michael Hingson  55:26 how do they reach out to you and learn, but all of that   Sherry Johnson  55:29 they there is a website, there's a form on my website, cultivatestrategy.com. And you can also just email me at Sherry at cultivatestrategy.com S H E R R Y. I'm happy to respond.   Michael Hingson  55:41 And strategy singular, just to make sure everybody understands. Yes. Well, Sherry, this has been fun. I've enjoyed it. I really appreciate you coming on. And my dog has stayed awake over here, so you must be happy with it. There you go. That's awesome. Alamo pays attention to everything I do. I can't get away with anything. We do have the door closed. So the cat doesn't get to come in. And I understand why cats.   Sherry Johnson  56:10 I adore cats. I have two of them, including the best get in the world and then kissick,   Michael Hingson  56:16 we have a cat we rescued seven and a half years ago. We thought we were just going to find her a home. And I learned that the cat's name was stitch. And my wife is a quilter Do you think that cat was going to go anywhere?   Sherry Johnson  56:32 Oh, it adopted you.   Michael Hingson  56:37 Oh, it took over us? Yeah. He's a great and and she and Alamo get along very well. So we're happy with that. That's great. Well, thanks again for being here. And I want to thank you for listening. And wherever you are. Please give us a five star rating. We appreciate it. That's another thing share. You could do a podcast.   Sherry Johnson  56:57 Oh goodness, I've done I've done it. I've done something like it. We'll see someday.   Michael Hingson  57:05 But wherever you are, please give us a five star rating. I'd love to hear from you. Please reach out to me at Michaelhi at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com. And Sherry will have to talk about your website and see how accessible it is.   Sherry Johnson  57:21 Oh, I'm working on it. It's not it's not there yet.   Michael Hingson  57:26 Checkout accessiBe it can help and it's not expensive. It's a way to really help. And I'll be glad to help you with that. But we hope that wherever you are, you'll give us a rating and you'll reach out I'd love to hear your thoughts. And we'll be back of course again very soon with another episode of unstoppable mindset. We're inclusion, diversity. And my favorite part the unexpected meet and again, Sherry, thank you for being a part of this.   Sherry Johnson  57:51 Thank you for having me, Michael, this was fun.   Michael Hingson  57:58 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

"There's this really interesting untapped potential within the threshold of your neighbourhood and if you could have a pair of special glasses to see all the invisible stuff that modern life blinds us from seeing, you'd see the gifts of your neighbours, you'd see the possibilities in your associations, you'd see all of the things that never get reported." This week's Survival of the Kindest podcast sees the return of Cormac Russell. Cormac has a new book out, The Connected Community: Discovering the Health, Wealth and Power of Neighbourhoods, written with John McKnight, co-originator of Asset Based Community Development. It is written for people who want to better understand how communities can come together and transform their neighbourhood, from within. Cormac Russel is the Founding Director of Nurture Development and a member of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute, at DePaul University, Chicago. His previous book Rekindling Democracy – A Professional's Guide to Working in Citizen Space focussed on the how professionals can reorientate their work to fit within the context of community. On this episode, Julian and Cormac talk about the themes of both books, maps of misery and treasure maps as ways of seeing our communities, the building blocks to a good life lived with our neighbours, and the wisdom of indigenous ways of being. You can listen to their previous conversation on the podcast here.

In this episode of Means of Grace, Jesse Enniss and Kim Ingram talk with the Rev. Dr. Cathy Davis and the Rev. Dr. Heather Kilbourne about their DMin learning connected to community engagement.  Our guests introduce us to Asset Based Community Development and Community Organizing as similar ways to connect disciples with the needs of the community in order to create change.  The conversation is rich with examples of how leaders can encourage their congregation to turn outward to their community, identify needs, and build partnerships.      Show notes: Leadership Engagement Live Webinar Series   Book recommended by Cathy Davis: Fresh Expressions of People Over Property | Cokesbury by Bishop Ken Carter and Audrey Warren   Heather Kilbourne's organization:  NC Rural Center | Building Vibrant Rural Communities Faith in Rural Communities | NC Rural Center   The Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference is in Charlotte, beginning Nov. 2. https://ccda.org/train-connect/ccda-national-conference/registration/?goal=0_7f6c34a2a5-9917f54ecc-300446160&mc_cid=9917f54ecc&mc_eid=fd8dfc8828

Here at State of Inclusion, we are working on a capstone project of sorts. We are using all that we've learned from our conversations and research to suggest an approach, a practice for building a more inclusive world one community at a time. We will initially publish these ideas as a podcast series. We've created a new page on our website, which will house these episodes along with other assets and resources we will share. New episodes in this series will be released over the coming months. We've started by sharing two introductory episodes that provide an overview of The Practice of Building a More Inclusive Community.   Link to Introduction Part 1 and Part 2 of The Practice of Building a More Inclusive Community We are very interested in hearing your feedback on these episodes. Also, we are actively looking for a few communities that might be interested in exploring these ideas further and perhaps working with us to help test and tune some of these concepts. If you have comments, feedback, or are interested in learning more - email us at info@stateofinclusion.com      

Sarah sits down with Sarah Buffie of Soul Bird Consulting and they discuss ongoing topics in the field of IDD. Specializing in trauma-responsive care, she helps organizations and individuals disrupt current models of thinking by building empathy and understanding around the effects of trauma. Sarah has worked in community organizing- specifically, Asset Based Community Development, for over a decade and has a deep passion for her work. Her focus is to spread awareness about how trauma affects the brain and body, and teach effective approaches for developing resilience within the people organizations strive to serve, and the people closest to the work, caregivers, and direct providers. More Friends for Life Here: https://bit.ly/3m0Pec7 

This week on CLD Talks Stephanie speaks to Brian Keenan. Brian is currently project manager at Saltcoats Link Up, an asset-based community development project in Ayrshire. Brian shares his CLD journey from working with the homeless community in Dublin, his time in Govanhill in Glasgow to his current role at Saltcoats Link Up. We also chat about his PHD studies exploring the community of Parkrun and much more. We hope you enjoy this episode and for further information you can visit the following websites: Link Up - supporting communities throughout Scotland (inspiringscotland.org.uk) home | parkrun UK To keep up to date with future CLD Talks episodes and join in the conversation you can follow us on Twitter @CLDTalks

Do people come to the conversation with an expectation that they will be doing some good work? Great to see coach Steven Jenkins picking up the word thinker in a LinkedIn post recently (and thank you for the shout out!). So Claire invited him to join us at The Coaching Inn for a chat. We regularly share invitations through social media to join these conversations. Steven comes from the world of commerce and advertising and Julia Hill responded to our Twitter invitation. Julia works for the Church of England and has experience of working in an organisation that uses Asset Based Community Development.  That's quite close to coaching.   We talk about building people's assets, de-powering and more   Contact Steven Jenkins through Linked In Julia Hill through Twitter  Claire Pedrick through info@3dcoaching.com

In this episode, I interview Joshua Hearne from the Grace and Main Fellowship, an intentional and ecumenical Christian community located in Danville, Virginia. We discuss what it means to be a community for the poor and marginalized, rather than being a community that merely serves the poor and marginalized. We also talk about community life, organic growth, Asset Based Community Development, urban farming, and hospitality. The History of the Community The Grace and Main fellowship started as a bible study group in Danville, Virginia. It was very simple; just five people meeting once a week to discuss Scripture. They had no real intention of doing anything more than that. Over time, however, the members started eating with one another, praying together, and generally spending time together. They started to discuss the possibility of reshaping their lives around a more radical commitment to the Gospel. As Joshua put it, they eventually stopped and said “Maybe this isn’t a Bible Study like we thought it was! Maybe God is trying to do something more here…Maybe we’re one of those intentional community things we’ve heard about…Or maybe we could be one, anyway.” From this small beginning, the community has grown and evolved and changed over time. But the members are still eating, praying, and working with one another, and are still committed to living life in solidarity with the marginalized. Ecumenism in The Grace and Main Fellowship The Grace and Main Fellowship is an ecumenical community. Joshua said that in one sense, that’s just a statement of fact; the community has included members from many different Christian backgrounds. At the same time, it is also an aspirational statement. The community is united by some basic commitments and tries to focus on that unity regardless of the diversity of thought on other subjects. It is important to keep in mind that when Christ portrayed the Last Judgement, he didn’t describe it as a theology quiz! Instead, he described the judgment as being focused on a basic question: how did you treat the least of these? While searching for the truth is important, it is even more important to seek unity with fellow Christians and to give one’s life to Jesus without reservations. A Spectrum of Participation There is a wide spectrum of commitment among those who participate in the Grace and Main Fellowship. At the center, there are those who have discerned membership as a vocational way of life, and who have committed to sharing resources and leading an intentionally simple way of life. At the other end of the spectrum are those who occasionally drop in for events. Between these two extremes, there is a whole range of different commitment levels. These levels are fluid; they can change over time, depending on individual availability. This forms a porous barrier between the “inside” and the “outside”. Such a porous barrier can help to keep a community healthy and integrated into the wider local community. Commitments and Formative Influences Despite this range of participation, the core members do share a set of commitments; they hold the Apostle Creed as a basic statement of belief and are committed to non-violence, solidarity with the marginalized, sharing life, and practicing radical hospitality. Some of the most important formative influences for Grace and Main are the Catholic Worker movement and the writings of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, Koinonia Farm, Rutba House, the writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Asset Based Community Development. A Shared Life The core members of the community live in a network of houses, all within walking distance of one another. Some of these houses are owned by the community, others by individual members, and others are rented by the community. The community also maintains a common fund to make sure that all the members have a place to stay and enough to eat. Core members are expected to donate to this fund in a sacrificial way. The members of Grace and Main are committed to practicing radical hospitality, opening their homes and lives to others. They open their homes to others for meals and community building, and take in those who need a place to stay. They try to provide true hospitality; not just a bedroom, but a family for those who need one. Christian Hospitality Joshua said that hospitality is sometimes seen as merely providing physical shelter. Too often, institutions “care for” the poor by providing for their material needs, but in a cold and mechanical way. Dorothy Day condemned this kind of bureaucratic “charity”. On the other hand, hospitality is sometimes seen as a sort of exaggerated politeness; but neither of these things represents true hospitality. Hospitality happens whenever we open ourselves to another and provide a place for them: in our lives, our thoughts, our prayers, but also in and among our possessions. It is taking what God has given to us and making it available to others who need it. In the deepest sense, hospitality is a commitment to sharing life with others. It is a way of life grounded in the Sermon on the Mount: an expression of fully loving God and neighbor. Such love entails pursuing the good of the other, rather than attempting to cast the other into our own mold. This is difficult, overwhelming, and heartbreaking, and yet very good. To truly practice hospitality, we need to exercise solidarity. We can’t love the poor without living with them in solidarity. Asset Based Community Development Practitioners of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) have a particular approach to community renewal. Too often, when an individual or institution sets out to renew a neighborhood, they focus on the negatives, what the neighborhood does not have. But this is a mistake. If you focus on negatives, you will be focusing on a void, on something that is not there. This void will not provide a firm foundation, and so whatever is built will fail. Instead, the ABCD model focuses on the positive. What does the neighborhood have? Who are the people of the neighborhood? What do the people care about? What are they already doing? Then, one should build on that, on what is working. Negatives are more obvious; we’re all more likely to complain about what is going wrong than to give thanks for what is going well! By focusing on the positives, you will eventually address the negatives, but in an organic way that may not look anything like what you initially envisioned. The Urban Farm The Grace and Main Fellowship maintain a large community garden. Like many of their other projects, it started very simply. They were planting gardens in their own yards, and other people in the neighborhood were interested. So they ended up planting gardens for others, and these gardeners started sharing the produce. The neighborhood started to come together around this network of gardens. Eventually, a local organization offered the group the use of an acre and a half of vacant land. It had been being used as an illegal construction waste dump. But the community cleared away the junk, cut down trees, and built garden beds. Half of the space is maintained by the whole group, and half is divided up into plots for individual gardeners. Their tool library was started by a man who had experienced homelessness and addiction. He had worked as a carpenter before he fell on hard times; after the community helped him get his life back on track they helped him to get some tools and find work. Working with these tools was so beneficial for him that he wanted to make them available to others. He opened their first tool library in an old shed that he had slept in while he was homeless. Now they’ve moved the tool library into a much larger building, and they offer a wide range of tools. People can borrow them to improve their houses and the neighborhood or use them to make some money. A Community of and for the Marginalized There is all the difference in the world between being a community that serves the poor and being a community of and for the poor and marginalized. Joshua said that Grace and Main would not continue to exist if it was merely a community that “cared for” the poor. By now, half the community members have direct experience with poverty; the formerly marginalized become leaders within the community. Joshua explained that it isn’t just that his friend Bruce needs a place to stay; rather, it is that he needs Bruce in his life! Being able to receive something back from the marginalized is important, or the relationship becomes one-sided and patronizing. Be a Cilantro Plant! Every community will be different. Those trying to form a new community shouldn’t try to replicate existing ones. Large, long-lasting and highly structured communities tend to receive all the attention, but small informal communities are always more numerous. You don’t have to change the world; maybe that is not your calling! As Joshua said, God created all sorts of plants. There are redwoods, which are huge and impressive and long-lived; and everyone wants to be a redwood! But God also made rose bushes—and cilantro plants. You should be happy to be a cilantro plant if that’s what God is calling you to be! This highlights one of the inherent tensions of the Happy Are You Poor project. We’re trying to provide inspiration for those seeking community. By necessity, however, we have to focus on communities that are organized and formalized enough to have a web presence. Just because I have to focus on the more formal communities shouldn’t obscure the importance of informal, organic community among neighbors and friends! For more about The Grace and Main Fellowship, visit their website. Header photo: the Grace and Main neighborhood, by Joshua Hearne

Asset-Based Community Development is a powerful movement that has shifted the paradigm of so many attempting to work for social change. In reflecting upon my experiences in this framework, I realized the subtle ways the market and the vocabulary of capitalism infiltrate such beautiful values. In my conversation with Dr. Agnes Thomas, the Executive Director of Catholic Cross-Cultural Services, we work through these important questions to discover the discrete ways community development has been commodified to maximize impact in the social arena.

“People coming together to celebrate what they have and what they can do - together.” ~Darryl Answer on what is asset based community development.  So often when we have a need, a service or institution is available with a “fix-it solution.” The solution is determined by the service and we can fit in - or not. Take it or leave it.  Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) is different. ABCD starts with the strengths and contributions of community members.  This week on the podcast Darryl Answer, Stephanie Answer, and April Doner talk about ABCD in their lives and the lives of people with disabilities.  “There is nobody that we don't need.  The greatest need is to be needed.” This episode includes vulnerability, strength, power and promise.  You don't want to miss it. 

His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:15b-16) And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17b-19) Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:3)   Our devotion yesterday mentioned the letter of Ephesians, grace, and the gift of already being a part of God's people.  A gift we have only to receive and live congruently out of to find ourselves in touch with God's blessing.  Well: I feel like I have been living in this gift and these texts this past week, and even though it might mean a slightly longer devotion today, I would love to share the story with you so that you too can be encouraged. Wednesday afternoon, a group of Calvin Seminary students gathered in Hamilton to see what “CRC ministry” looks like here.  I was able to serve as one of the organizers and tour guides for their time.  And, rather than show them around a church building to see the Sanctuary, Fellowship Hall, and GEMS closet, we took them on a tour of TrueCity to see the gift that it is to be a part of the reconciled family of God. We started at 541 where they got their food, bought their buttons, and listened in to a young Anglican in roughly the same spot in the ordination track as they are.  “What keeps a place like 541 running?” it was asked.  “It couldn't happen without the support, community, and patronage of folks and churches in the TrueCity network” came the reply.  This place wouldn't be here without the churches working together for the good of the city. Next we came to New Hope Bikes, a ministry that has expanded and generated a deep and broad community and hub of activity.  Tammy greeted us there, talked about how this ministry grew from the prayerful presence of the church and Asset Based Community Development principles incubated at Diaconal Ministries Canada.  “Is there a TrueCity thread running through this place?”  “Most of our board members, supporters, and funding partners are people from the TrueCity network” was the reply. Then we visited Indwell at the Perkins Centre where New Hope meets.  Again, CRC incubation (by Immanuelites especially early on) of a ministry that's now deeply supported, staffed, and integrated in Hamilton within the TrueCity Network. An example of which is the three or four TrueCity churches that have Indwell projects integrated into their buildings or will soon. Then we visited GOHOP, the new monastic prayer movement in Hamilton where not a few of our Young Adults and Redeemer Students have done internships or taken shifts with the prayer teams and where I myself get spiritual direction.  They were the ones who began praying for the churches and pastors in Hamilton a few years before TrueCity sprang up, and they have been the prayerful anchor for the movement ever since.  Never does a TrueCity Conference happen without the churches coming together in GOHOP facilitated 24/7 prayer stretching for a week or two after. I had to leave before Katie shared about Open Homes Hamilton and all the newcomer support that happens here, also through places like the Micah House, but that too is a TrueCity network story through and through.  A thing that may never have existed if the churches weren't together for the good of the city. The hostility between our churches and denominations has been put to death in the cross of Christ here in Hamilton as we live together in this one new humanity of the church.  And together with all these TrueCity saints, I have begun to grasp a little more fully how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.  I think by the end of our tour, our visiting seminarians did too.   When the church lives in the “unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” that was forged between us through the cross of Christ—a whole city can be transformed.  Structurally, physically, relationally.  It's happened, friends.  It is happening.  And whether you knew it or not: you're already a part of it!  In these ways and so many more.  

This week, hosts Adam and Matt are joined by Kristopher Swanson for a new Neighboring Tip. This tip is more of a brainstorm on how we can be a welcoming presence in our neighborhoods, not necessarily to new neighbors, but the neighbors we know and have established a relationship with.We would love to hear your ideas on how you can be more welcoming to your neighbors! You can share your ideas with us and find more information about the Neighboring Movement on our website, www.NeighboringMovement.org.

This week on the podcast, hosts Matt and Adam are joined by Rev. Donna Thompson who hails from the crystal coast in North Carolina. Newly appointed to a church in the community, Donna shares with us her experiences of meeting the 8 front doors around her new home, her excitement in finding the gifts of the people in her new community, and her vision for neighboring moving forward.To find out more about the Neighboring Movement, go to www.NeighboringMovement.org.

For our 100th episode, it's appropriate that we have the Chairman of the Neighboring Movement's board of directors on the podcast, Trevor Hinz. Trevor has been with the Neighboring Movement since the very beginning and this week he sits down with hosts, Matt and Adam, to talk about our humble beginnings, some of our pivoting moments, and where we are now.To learn more about the Neighboring Movement, go to www.NeighboringMovement.org.

"A gift is not a gift until it is given." In the final part of our mini-series which has been focusing on how and why our social health has impacts on our physical health Julian talks to Cormac Russell. Having described the how and why social relationships are so important to human health and wellness, in so many different ways, the next question is what on earth can we do about it. There is no better place to start than with Cormac's work, Asset Based Community Development. Cormac describes how community building works, how it must be built on relationships and what is strong in communities and how professionals need to prioritise this over their services. It is only through the relationships that are built through community can we hope to solve the many, many problems the world faces. Transcript available here on our website This week Julian talks with Cormac Russell, student and expert practitioner at the same time of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) and founder of Nurture Development. Cormac grew up in rural Ireland, embedded in the warmth of his community. He studied psychology and philosophy to doctoral level, working in the field of child psychology. His ambition to do what is helpful to his fellow citizen, combined with clear insight into what he was doing, led him to believe that institutions were not the way to best help the children contained within them. As Cormac quotes ‘it takes a village to raise a child'. Children are in need of security, physical and emotional nourishment and a sense of belonging, much of which is best provided by communities. He researched different initiatives that might help develop this approach and when he came across the work of John McKnight he instantly recognised that this approach provided exactly what he was looking for. Cormac spent the next few years communicating with, learning from and implementing the work of ABCD, initially within child psychology. But he knew his time was up and that ABCD had so entranced him, he started Nurture Development to spread it more widely. Over the last 20 years, he has travelled the globe supporting communities and professional organisations, whether this be healthcare, social care, political bodies and others, to start using community development. The starting point of this, as Cormac says, is to find out what is strong, not what is wrong. It is also to discover the gifts we all have that can benefit our community. And a gift is not a gift without a receiver, so we had better work out how we can give this gift and who it might benefit from it. Communities are built from there. Cormac's latest book, Rekindling Democracy: the professional's guide to working in citizen space', highlights the journey for professionals and community members alike on how to become community builders rather than community disablers. Nurture Development now have a training platform, The Community Renewal Centre, for anyone who is interested and willing to dip their toes into the world of Asset Based Community Development. Things mentioned on the podcast: Cormac Russel - Rekindling Democracy Cormac Russell Twitter Centre for Community Renewal Asset Based Community Development Angela's Ashes John McKnight Building Communities From the Inside Out Peter Macfadyen Flatpack Democracy Blog about Pokot Holly Prince episode of SotK Parker Palmer Peter Block Jody Kretzmann Tom Dewar The Littlest Hobo Julian Abel can be found on Twitter Follow Survival of the Kindest on Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you like to listen to get our episodes as they are released. Email us on sotk@compassionate-communitiesuk.co.uk

In the final part of our mini-series which has been focusing on how and why our social health has impacts on our physical health Julian talks to Cormac Russell. Having described the how and why social relationships are so important to human health and wellness, in so many different ways, the next question is what on earth can we do about it. There is no better place to start than with Cormac's work, Asset Based Community Development. Cormac describes how community building works, how it must be built on relationships and what is strong in communities and how professionals need to prioritise this over their services. It is only through the relationships that are built through community can we hope to solve the many, many problems the world faces.Transcript available here on our websiteThis week Julian talks with Cormac Russell, student and expert practitioner at the same time of Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) and founder of Nurture Development. Cormac grew up in rural Ireland, embedded in the warmth of his community. He studied psychology and philosophy to doctoral level, working in the field of child psychology. His ambition to do what is helpful to his fellow citizen, combined with clear insight into what he was doing, led him to believe that institutions were not the way to best help the children contained within them. As Cormac quotes ‘it takes a village to raise a child'. Children are in need of security, physical and emotional nourishment and a sense of belonging, much of which is best provided by communities. He researched different initiatives that might help develop this approach and when he came across the work of John McKnight he instantly recognised that this approach provided exactly what he was looking for. Cormac spent the next few years communicating with, learning from and implementing the work of ABCD, initially within child psychology. But he knew his time was up and that ABCD had so entranced him, he started Nurture Development to spread it more widely. Over the last 20 years, he has travelled the globe supporting communities and professional organisations, whether this be healthcare, social care, political bodies and others, to start using community development. The starting point of this, as Cormac says, is to find out what is strong, not what is wrong. It is also to discover the gifts we all have that can benefit our community. And a gift is not a gift without a receiver, so we had better work out how we can give this gift and who it might benefit from it. Communities are built from there. Cormac's latest book, Rekindling Democracy: the professional's guide to working in citizen space', highlights the journey for professionals and community members alike on how to become community builders rather than community disablers. Nurture Development now have a training platform, The Community Renewal Centre, for anyone who is interested and willing to dip their toes into the world of Asset Based Community Development Things mentioned on the podcast:Cormac Russel - Rekindling DemocracyCormac Russell TwitterCentre for Community RenewalAsset Based Community DevelopmentAngela's AshesJohn McKnight Building Communities From the Inside OutPeter Macfadyen Flatpack DemocracyBlog about PokotHolly Prince episode of SotKParker PalmerPeter BlockJody Kretzmann Tom DewarThe Littlest HoboJulian Abel can be found on TwitterFollow Survival of the Kindest on Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you like to listen to get our episodes as they are released. Email us compassion.pod@gmail.com

This week on the podcast, hosts Adam and Matt re-examine our 3nd ingredient in our Good Neighbor Soup: Joy. At the Neighboring Movement, joy isn't just another word for happiness. To live and neighbor joyfully and authentically, joy must encompass happiness as well as emotions like grief and gratitude. If you haven't listened to the first two ingredients, Relationship & Abundance, those were aired September 14 & September 28.Find out more about what we are doing at The Neighboring Movement by visiting www.NeighboringMovement.org.

This week on the podcast, Matt and Adam continue to interview members of the Neighboring Movement board of directors. Myrna Craig has been a part of the Neighboring Movement since the beginning and recently joined the board again. In this episode she shares some of her stories of moving onto a new block, what it is like to neighbor as an introvert, and following your gut instincts on how to neighbor in a way that you are comfortable with.To learn more about the Neighboring Movement or to find our Block Map Magnet, go to www.NeighboringMovement.org.

Informal settlements, such as Rio de Janeiro's favelas, are not new and they're not rare. Today, one in three people in cities lives in an informal settlement and 85 percent of all housing worldwide is built illegally. By 2050, nearly a third of humanity will live in urban informal settlements. How can we value informal settlements around the world and integrate them on their own terms into our urban planning practices? Could this search lead to a sustainable urban future? This talk will introduce strategies employed by grassroots NGO Catalytic Communities, in over twenty years supporting Asset-Based Community Development together with Rio de Janeiro favela organizers. In addition to this audio, you can watch the video and read the full transcript of their conversation on Shareable.net, and while you're there get caught up on past lectures. Cities@Tufts Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor Julian Agyeman and host Tom Llewellyn.  Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and Shareable.net with support from The Kresge Foundation. Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistants Meghan Tenhoff, and Perri Sheinbaum. Robert Raymond is our audio editor, Zanetta Jones manages communications and editorial, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn. “Light Without Dark” by Cultivate Beats is our theme song.

This week on the podcast, Adam and Matt are joined by Cara Mattson and Dylan Ewalt. They have been knocking on literally HUNDREDS of doors in the South Central Wichita area over this past summer, encouraging people to get to know the neighbors in the 8 front doors closest to them, sharing ideas and what the Neighboring Movement is all about.  Listen in to hear a bit about their work and what happens next!To learn more about the 8 front doors challenge, visit our website at https://neighboringmovement.org/8-front-doors-challenge/.

This week on The Neighbor Next Door, hosts Adam and Matt begin a three part series as they re-examine our Good Neighbor Soup ingredients: Relationship, Abundance, and Joy. While these ingredients haven't changed over the years, Matt and Adam want to add in what they have learned and discuss the nuances of the word "relationship."Quotable Moment: "I heard a definition for the word society as "society is the sum of all relationships"... We are not powerless to society and the societal norms that we don't like about society right now. We have the influence to change it one relationship at a time- one neighbor at a time."- Adam Barlow-ThompsonFind out more about the Neighboring Movement at www.NeighboringMovement.org

This week, hosts Matt and Adam are joined by our newest employee, Elizabeth Ramirez, who is heading up the Kansas Animator Network (KAN) Program. In this episode, she shares some of her background and discusses what she excited about getting started with!Elizabeth just recently published on our blog as well! You can find that here: https://neighboringmovement.org/abcd-application-blog/

This week on the podcast, we have an energizing episode on one of our favorite topics, JOY! Hosts, Matt and Adam, are joined by Jaime Junker, another member of the Neighboring Movement's Board of Directors. She is the Principle at Harry Street Elementary School and in this episode, Jaime shares her wisdom about the simplicity and practicality of joy and how to prioritize it in your life and even in your work environment. Quotable Moment: "...if you prioritize that joy and find that and just be conscious of those moments in the midst of your most challenging times, there are moments of joy, there are silver linings, there are things to celebrate... if you get lost in the challenges, you will not be successful."- Jaime JunkerEditor's Note: I hope you all enjoy this episode as much as I did! The last year and a half of pandemic has been exhausting and in so many ways it has been a thief of joy. So, grab the jumper cables! This is the episode for you if your joy battery needs a recharge!

In our new series, we'll be exploring the wider question of how we reshape our economy based on what really matters, and why we think attachment to place should be at the heart of how we think about this new economy.  We're interested in helping to create an economic system that is fit for the 21st century, one that counts more than money, more than GDP, more than profit.  So, what do we mean by social value - and how can we support organisations and communities to embrace social value as a new system of accounting for value?  We'll be talking to thoughtleaders and changemakers across our region and around the world, about credible alternatives to a global form of capitalism that extracts value and wellbeing from people, places and the planet.  Starting here in South West Wales, and looking outwards, join us on a learning journey to understand the new economy, and what's needed to create resilience for the future that's coming down the line. Talking points in this new series will include: Wellbeing Economics; Doughnut Economics; Attachment Economics; The Foundational Economy; The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act; Asset Based Community Development; Co-production, empowerment and collaboration; Changemakers and communities of purpose; Capitalist Realism; And changing perspectives on hope and politics. Hosted by Dawn Lyle & Zoe Antrobus from 4theRegion, www.4theregion.org.uk 

This week, hosts Matt and Adam are joined by Kristopher Swanson for a new Neighboring Tip! Hosting a "Get Together" AKA a block party! But don't be afraid! They have some great suggestions for how to keep it simple!"Move away from, "did I entertain my neighbors?" which is the trap that block parties fall into... You don't need to entertain your neighbors. You need to help them know each other and know something about each other." -Adam Barlow-ThompsonIf even two neighbors that didn't know each other before, walk away from the event knowing one thing about the other, then it was a success! If you decide to give this neighboring tip a try as the weather cools down a bit, let us know! You can find contact information and more about the Neighboring Movement at www.NeighboringMovement.org.

This week, Adam and Matt are joined by their AmeriCorps VISTA intern Lydia Chappell Deckert. She shares her memories of neighboring, how her travels have impacted her experience of neighboring, and her excitement about what she is doing at the Neighboring Movement as we are growing!Quotable Moments: "...living a whole life includes other people.""My advice for most things in life is to stay curious. When you interact with anyone or anything, if you can go in with a question instead of a judgment or an assumption, then you're probably set up to have an awesome conversation with an unlikely person or friend."

This month, Jaydene - the newest Belonging Brant team member - hosts their first podcast episode! She sits down with Kirley, co-founder and owner of The Devil's Bench gaming hub, to discuss the "nerd-o-sphere" community, how gaming brings people together, and ways to get started on your imaginative journeys. Listen to the episode and get inspired to start making friends and playing games!

Greetings, neighbors! In this episode, hosts Adam and Matt return to the front porch for a second conversation with the President and CEO of Thrive Allen County, Lisse Regehr.If you have not yet listened to Adam and Matt's first conversation with Lisse, we would encourage doing so before listening to this episode. In that first conversation, Lisse tells the story of her organization and their approach to community development, which provides a perfect foundation for the stories you are about to hear. The episode with the first conversation is titled, "Lisse Regehr (Part 1): The Story of a Thriving Organization".Now, welcome to Part 2! In this conversation, Lisse tells some amazing stories that have blossomed forth from the Allen County community before giving advice on how you can continue to work to make your community a better place. We hope you enjoy! And, if you have not yet had a chance, check out Thrive's website to learn more about their amazing work!

This week we are revisiting a great 2-part episode from 2019! Hosts Adam and Matt sit down on the front porch with the President and CEO of Thrive Allen County, Lisse Regehr. Lisse is an excellent storyteller, and she brings to the front porch a ton of community development experience. Her organization, Thrive Allen County, is a health, wellness, and economic development coalition located in Allen County, Kansas, and her team does incredible work! In this first episode, Lisse tells the story of her organization and what their work looks like throughout Allen County. Check out Thrive's website to learn more about their amazing work, and stay tuned for next week's episode, Part 2: Story's of a Thriving Community.

This week on the podcast, Adam and Matt continue to talk to members of the Neighboring Movement's Board of Directors. Today, you will hear from Ashley Beck, our accountant, and her experiences of neighboring both growing up and in our Wichita community. Neighboring can look a little different depending on where you live (rural/urban/apartment/cul-de-sac) but in all settings, a good place to start is by sharing your gifts!Quotable Moment: "Take your gift, whatever your gift is, and build a bridge with that to your neighbors."To find out more about what we do in the Neighboring Movement, check out our website at www.NeighboringMovement.com

This is the second episode of Talent Matters Remix, our three-episode series in partnership with ProInspire, co-hosted by Monisha Kapila and Rusty Stahl. In this episode, Monisha and Rusty talk with Stephen Bauer about supporting a diverse and inclusive next generation for the nonprofit workforce. Steve reflects on the article he wrote about developing leaders who are both value-based and results-driven, which was part of the Talent Matters series on the Stanford Social Innovation Review blog. He discusses how his experience and thinking has evolved in the seven years since the piece was published in summer 2014. We also discuss Steve's extensive journey through the nonprofit sector, including his experience as an AmeriCorps alum, his impactful work at the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (and specifically the Nonprofit Workforce Coalition), and, finally his decade long career at Public Allies, where he now serves as Chief of Staff. Other topics discussed: Public Allies Program, its values-based curriculum and impact on organizations. Asset-Based Community Development and how it helps build up the capacity of any community to lead itself. Changing and influencing the nonprofit organizational culture by hiring people from the communities that they work for. The need for a common set of values in the sector. Navigating the racial reckoning and pandemic as a white man. How Public Allies managed to go virtual and thrive during the pandemic. His experience as a Chief of Staff and why two Chief of Staff jobs are not the same. Possible impact of the CORPS Act on AmeriCorps. Lessons learned as Interim CEO and making decisions based on values. What would be Stephen's “encore career”. This episode is part two of Talent Matters Remix. We're partnering with ProInspire to bring you this 3-part series of episodes on the Fund the People Podcast. Talent Matters Remix, which will be released throughout July, will revisit Talent Matters, a 2014 series of essays on the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) blog. These special episodes will be co-hosted by yours truly and Monisha Kapila, ProInspire Founder and Co-CEO. Monisha helped to curate and write the Talent Matters blog series, and our conversations will feature three of the other authors of those posts. A lot has changed in our society in the seven years since 2014, when those blog posts appeared. We've had seismic changes in our politics, economy, society, and the nonprofit sector and philanthropy. It's time to revisit, reflect, and remix it! *All resources & links mentioned in the show can be found here at fundthepeople.org/podcast.

This week on the podcast, Matt and Adam are joined by NaQuela Pack, Director of Engagement for Wichita State University and now one of the newest members of the Neighboring Movement's Board of Directors.  NaQuela found the Neighboring Movement through this podcast, contacted us, and we put her to work! We are excited to have her curiosity and enthusiasm!To learn more about the Neighboring Movement, go to www.NeighboringMovement.org

This week on the podcast, Matt and Adam are joined by writer, Alicia Snyder, who talks about a project that she did with the young people in her neighborhood that met their interests and discovered gifts so that everyone could learn from each other.To check out the video project discussed in this podcast, check out the links below.https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI37NAxj6aFtOvJidg0ogcQhttps://bunaziua3.wixsite.com/websiteTo learn more about the Neighboring Movement, go to www.NeighboringMovement.org.

This week on the podcast, Matt and Adam are joined by Blanca Soto, a member of the Neighboring Movement's Board of Directors. Blanca is also the newest City Commissioner of Dodge City, KS and works in ESOL & Diversity with Dodge City Public Schools. We are very excited to have Blanca on our board and on our podcast!In this episode, Blanca talks about the diverse culture of Dodge City and references videos that were created to showcase the stories of the people of Dodge, where they come from and what their dreams are. Those links are here so you can see what makes the local business owners and people of Dodge City so special!https://fb.watch/5K3ChFW6hR/https://fb.watch/5K4WIIihM_/https://fb.watch/5K4XM0kQDZ/https://fb.watch/5K4Z3WvK0P/

In this episode of Masters of Community, we speak with Richard Millington - Founder of FeverBee. Richard knows a LOT about community, in fact, he has published three books on the topic… in this episode we dive deep into how to create a community, a data driven approach to improving your community and how to design your community strategy. Richard also covers how you can grow engagement, how to create content and how to uncover gaps and opportunities for growth. Richard shares an intriguing approach to creating unique experiences for members by introducing members to experiences specific to where they are in their community member journey as opposed to engaging all members at the same time with the same experience. On top of all this, Richard shares a ton of practical advice, data and insights on community technology, causation versus correlation and how to tie community metrics back to business results. Who is this episode for?: Community Managers! 3 key takeaways: 1. The Community Manager Magic - Richard shares that the true magic of the community manager is their ability to get people to make useful contributions to a community. Richard consults with businesses that want to give out swag or offer some kind of reward… but actually Richard shares that this motivation is often intrinsic for a community member - they want to know they are making a contribution 2. Working for free - Richard believes that a community is a wrapper that motivates people to do things that they would never typically do. Richard states that none of us would go home and plug into a support line for business, but we would all head home and answer dozens of questions for others if we feel like we're making a difference to people or a cause we care about. 3. Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) - Richard shares that not all community members will be able to make the same contribution. For example, a brand new community member may not be able to write an expert blog post for the community. Instead, Richard urges us to make requests to community members for assets that they will be able to produce based on the stage of their community journey Notable Quotes: 1. “None of us would go home today and then plug into a customer support line to work for free for an organization. But we will go to an online community and answer dozens of questions to help someone else.” 2. “So I think the whole magic of what we do. The real skill in building online communities is being able to persuade every single person to make unique, useful contributions to the group, or at least feel like they can make a unique useful contribution to a group.” 3. “And so often I go to organizations and we talk about how to motivate people to engage in communities. And they start talking about rewards. What can we pay them? What swag can we give them? Or how can we feature them on a billboard or something just like this. But the reality is this is far more subtle, nuanced. Like people don't want their name on a billboard. It's weird. Like if someone offered me to have my face on a billboard in London today, I think probably not that I'm insecure about my face, but it's kind of weird basically, if I can just feel like I'm helping some people in a unique way... that is the most rewarding thing.” Rapid-fire question answers: 1. What book has had the biggest impact on your life? Permission Marketing by Seth Godin and also Endurance by Alfred Lancing 2. If you had a magic wand and could get any data about communities that you can't get today, what data, or what insight would you most want to get? Really clean data that matches buying behavior with member behavioral data 3. What's a go-to engagement tactic or conversation starter that you like to use in your commute? Instead of asking “One interesting thing about yourself?” ask “What is the one thing you did for X?” 4.What's your favorite video game? Counter Strike and chess! 5. Who in the world of the community would you most like to take out to lunch? David, Rachel and Jim from Roundtable and Brian, Erica John and Carrie… you know who you are! 6. What's the community product you wish existed? The “ice breaker” tool that was used at CMX a couple of years back, icebreaker.video which is now: gatheround.com 7. If you were forced to go in house and work on community for one company, what company would you choose? CMX, so I could bring it down from the inside :) 8. What's the weirdest community you've ever been part of? A community for psychopaths... 9. If you were to find yourself on your deathbed today, and you had to condense all of your life lessons into one Twitter-sized piece of advice for the rest of the world on how to live, what would that advice be? Just go and do interesting things. Nothing is ever as good or bad as you think it will be...

In this episode of Masters of Community, we speak with Richard Millington - Founder of FeverBee. Richard knows a LOT about community, in fact, he has published three books on the topic… in this episode we dive deep into how to create a community, a data driven approach to improving your community and how to design your community strategy. Richard also covers how you can grow engagement, how to create content and how to uncover gaps and opportunities for growth. Richard shares an intriguing approach to creating unique experiences for members by introducing members to experiences specific to where they are in their community member journey as opposed to engaging all members at the same time with the same experience. On top of all this, Richard shares a ton of practical advice, data and insights on community technology, causation versus correlation and how to tie community metrics back to business results. Who is this episode for?: Community Managers! 3 key takeaways: 1. The Community Manager Magic - Richard shares that the true magic of the community manager is their ability to get people to make useful contributions to a community. Richard consults with businesses that want to give out swag or offer some kind of reward… but actually Richard shares that this motivation is often intrinsic for a community member - they want to know they are making a contribution 2. Working for free - Richard believes that a community is a wrapper that motivates people to do things that they would never typically do. Richard states that none of us would go home and plug into a support line for business, but we would all head home and answer dozens of questions for others if we feel like we're making a difference to people or a cause we care about. 3. Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) - Richard shares that not all community members will be able to make the same contribution. For example, a brand new community member may not be able to write an expert blog post for the community. Instead, Richard urges us to make requests to community members for assets that they will be able to produce based on the stage of their community journey Notable Quotes: 1. “None of us would go home today and then plug into a customer support line to work for free for an organization. But we will go to an online community and answer dozens of questions to help someone else.” 2. “So I think the whole magic of what we do. The real skill in building online communities is being able to persuade every single person to make unique, useful contributions to the group, or at least feel like they can make a unique useful contribution to a group.” 3. “And so often I go to organizations and we talk about how to motivate people to engage in communities. And they start talking about rewards. What can we pay them? What swag can we give them? Or how can we feature them on a billboard or something just like this. But the reality is this is far more subtle, nuanced. Like people don't want their name on a billboard. It's weird. Like if someone offered me to have my face on a billboard in London today, I think probably not that I'm insecure about my face, but it's kind of weird basically, if I can just feel like I'm helping some people in a unique way... that is the most rewarding thing.” Rapid-fire question answers: 1. What book has had the biggest impact on your life? Permission Marketing by Seth Godin and also Endurance by Alfred Lancing 2. If you had a magic wand and could get any data about communities that you can't get today, what data, or what insight would you most want to get? Really clean data that matches buying behavior with member behavioral data 3. What's a go-to engagement tactic or conversation starter that you like to use in your commute? Instead of asking “One interesting thing about yourself?” ask “What is the one thing you did for X?” 4.What's your favorite video game? Counter Strike and chess! 5. Who in the world of the community would you most like to take out to lunch? David, Rachel and Jim from Roundtable and Brian, Erica John and Carrie… you know who you are! 6. What's the community product you wish existed? The “ice breaker” tool that was used at CMX a couple of years back, icebreaker.video which is now: gatheround.com 7. If you were forced to go in house and work on community for one company, what company would you choose? CMX, so I could bring it down from the inside :) 8. What's the weirdest community you've ever been part of? A community for psychopaths... 9. If you were to find yourself on your deathbed today, and you had to condense all of your life lessons into one Twitter-sized piece of advice for the rest of the world on how to live, what would that advice be? Just go and do interesting things. Nothing is ever as good or bad as you think it will be...

Sarah talks about growing resilience - and how it happens in relationship. She calls it relational resilience and says that along her own learning journey she has found that the true entry point to the work - begins when we begin to notice in what shows up in our bodies, and cultivate a sense of safety in ourselves so that we can bring that to others. Sarah believes that this mind body connection work done in relationship with others is what's next in the work of trauma informed care. Sarah Buffie MSW, LSW, founding director of Soul Bird Consulting believes that nothing has the power to heal like supportive relationships. Specializing in trauma responsive care, she helps organizations and individuals disrupt current models of thinking by building empathy and understanding around the effects of trauma. Sarah has worked in community organizing- specifically, Asset Based Community Development, for over a decade and has a deep passion for her work. Her focus is to spread awareness about how trauma affects the brain and body, and teach effective approaches for developing resilience within the people organizations strive to serve, and the people closest to the work: caregivers and direct providers. Sarah received her Masters in Social Work from Northern Kentucky University with a focus in trauma, positive psychology, and mindfulness. With years working closely in her Cincinnati community through her Americorps service as well as abroad with her Peace Corps service in Namibia, Africa, Sarah brings a unique community building lens to her work. www.soulbirdconsulting.info

Season 1, Episode 15 — 26 November 2016 About this episode Mona Fuerstenau of Bethesda Lutheran Communities and Anthony Armitage of One-Classroom discuss a breadth of ways for faith communities to become agents for greater inclusion for people with disabilities, including advocating for inclusion in parochial schools, how faith communities can be networks of natural supports, and how places of worship can leverage their networks to help people with disabilities in areas such as employment. This is a preview of the “Faith and Inclusion: Embracing Inclusion for People with Disabilities in School and Community” Wednesday Workshop at the 2016 TASH Annual Conference. About the presenters Mona Fuerstenau worked as Speech Language Pathologist for 13 years in multiple settings; early intervention, schools and with veterans. Her passion as a disability advocate stems from the inequities witnessed in all of these arenas. She is passionate about communities of belonging and is working primarily in faith communities at this point. Her current role with Bethesda Lutheran Communities is Director of Ministry Partnerships. She is a parent of two young adults who are very diverse learners. A fan of Asset Based Community Development, she regularly encourages thinking “outside the DD bubble”. Her vision includes communities who become places of sanctuary, belonging, meaningful participation and mutual support with families experiencing disability. Anthony Armitage and his wife LeeAnn Armitage are the founders of One Classroom, parents of two children and members of Mary Queen of Peace Parish in Webster Groves, Missouri. Their youngest child Christopher was born with Down Syndrome. After extensive research to determine the optimal educational pathway for their son LeeAnn and Anthony were inspired by inclusive education and the many Catholic schools around the country implementing inclusive programs. The opportunity of inclusive education, a strong belief in Catholic education, and the desire to educate their children together in one school created a passion to help all families of children with special needs and to serve Christ's church by helping the St. Louis archdiocese schools offer a new option for educating children with special needs. One Classroom is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating inclusive educational opportunities for children with special needs. We believe every child deserves a Catholic education in their local parish school in full community with their peers. One Classroom creates awareness, promotes and supports inclusive education by providing funding, training, expert resources, sharing of best practices and connecting parents. Donald Taylor is the Membership Manager at TASH and the producer of Amplified. Transcript Complete transcript forthcoming You can receive updates from TASH on this podcast and our other activities by following us on Facebook or on twitter at @TASHtweet. This has been a sample of the colleagues and conversations available through TASH. It is only because of the excellent work that our members do that we can bring you this information. For more resources such as this and to become a member, visit tash.org/join. We'll hear from another outstanding advocate again in two weeks. Musical coda This interview was originally […] The post TASH Annual Conference Wednesday Workshop Preview: Faith and Inclusion appeared first on Tash.org.