Today is Friday AND…I am still carrying a glow from the two days we spent together this week. My mind is swirling with the wonderful ideas and questions that our group generated to help us think through how Forward Together can sustain our work with agency and autonomy. And my hope is that participants left with new insights, questions, and…
Category: Blog
It’s Wednesday, and …
I’m tired, grateful, and excited. I’ve spent the past two days in Oakland with the most wonderful group of people you’ll ever find in one room, investigating the question: How might we generate resources differently to enable Forward Together to evolve sustainably, with agency and autonomy, toward a future in which all families can thrive? You could see and hear…
Taking on a big and important question together
“How can resources be generated differently to enable Forward Together and the social justice field at large to evolve sustainably, with agency and autonomy, toward a future in which all families can thrive?” It is definitely not an easy question. And I certainly don’t have the answers. But I do think new ways of resourcing this work is a one…
From Fixed to Flexible Reality
Picking up on some of the great thoughts that Holly shared in her post about Spaciousness and Experiments in Abundance, I want to share how the Future Forward process has helped me move from a mindset of: “Fixed Reality: Reality is fixed. There aren’t enough time or resources” TO “Flexible Reality: Reality is what you make of it. If we…
A Think Tank That Acts
I’m excited to be embarking on this innovation stage of Future Forward, the heart of our project which we’ve been working toward for many weeks. For me, preparation started last fall when I was just beginning to learn about Forward Together and the reproductive justice movement. Stories from Ferguson, New York, Cleveland were warning all who would listen that the…
Softening a skeptic
I entered the Future Forward process with a skeptical mind – while I am usually a process friendly person, I was worried about whether the focus on process would distract from Forward Together’s inquiry into new strategies to support and scale its work. There were the concerns about getting funders too mucked up in a grantee’s inner workings; then there…
On Storytelling
I am a reader. I love novels—from murder mysteries I buy at the airport to pass the time to more nuanced stories that push me to pay attention and explore new ways of being and understanding. So, I’ve been intrigued by the workouts we’ve been doing in the past couple of weeks in Future Forward about storytelling and my relationship…
Slow Down to Speed Up
I am a person who thinks fast, walks fast, and talks fast. I guess I am a quintessential New Yorker. I sometimes want answers fast. But one answer I haven’t been able to get and that has been gnawing on me for last 15 years in philanthropy is why isn’t there be a better way for organizations such as Forward Together to get…
Letting go
I’m a planner. And a preparer. Which means I’m usually really hesitant about agreeing to do things that I feel totally unfamiliar with, especially if others have expectations of me that I need to meet. But in getting involved in Future Forward, I’m happy to say that I’ve let all of that go, and have willingly and optimistically jumped into…
Sabbaticals, Spacious Days and Other Experiments in Abundance
It all started with a sabbatical. Two years ago the General Service Foundation offered me a rare gift – the chance to step away from my work for three months. I returned from my sabbatical with new eyes, a different sense of possibility, and renewed energy. I did not anticipate how jarring that return would be. I came back to…