November 2012
The Center’s mission encourages creative partnerships to design and implement initiatives that use collective leadership to address critical issues in our community. We have been honored to be part of the formation of Nourishing Networks, in which community members self-organize to fill the gaps that leave community members hungry. The Center is delighted to be the fiscal sponsor and welcome the Nourishing Network Institute as a program of the Center. In this newsletter, we describe the power of working in networks, introduce Linda Benson, leader of the Nourishing Network Institute, and share the experience of a recent gathering. ~ Karma Ruder
The Center’s mission encourages creative partnerships to design and implement initiatives that use collective leadership to address critical issues in our community. We have been honored to be part of the formation of Nourishing Networks, in which community members self-organize to fill the gaps that leave community members hungry. The Center is delighted to be the fiscal sponsor and welcome the Nourishing Network Institute as a program of the Center. In this newsletter, we describe the power of working in networks, introduce Linda Benson, leader of the Nourishing Network Institute, and share the experience of a recent gathering. ~ Karma Ruder
Working in Networks
When Hurricane Sandy hit the U.S. coast, it wreaked incredible damage and illuminated the power of networks. In her wake, all sorts of networks came into play – on-the-ground response networks formed to deploy in such emergencies; networks of neighbors watching out for each other; new social media networks kicking in to connect local volunteers and resources to local needs; and national networks sending funds to their regional arms. When disaster hits, crisis often brings out the best in us. People jump in to offer their time, their talent and resources because they are called to respond to the suffering and needs of others – whether they personally know those who need help or not. What would it be like to create community-wide networks that stay engaged when the level of need is about living, day to day, rather than the explosive impact of a rare storm? |
The Thanksgiving Summit
This month, one hundred people came together at the second Nourishing Networks Thanksgiving Summit to celebrate the work of the last year and to learn about network principles and roles. They formed small groups to share learning and plan action around specific topics. Over the last year, the five Nourishing Networks have supported community gardens that provide harvest for food banks; community members filling hundreds of backpacks weekly with weekend food for hungry students, providing meals when school is out; community kitchens; students working in a high school to reduce the stigma of being hungry; and networking organizations that care about addressing hunger. |
Introducing Linda Benson
Linda’s work is grounded in her passion for the infinite capacity of human potential and an unwavering belief that we have the ability toimagine and elicit a different kind of community. As a result, she has devoted much time on the boards of organizations that develop greater community leadership capacity and solutions to changing the face of poverty. |
October 2012
The Center for Ethical Leadership has long believed we need to connect with each other across boundaries and to be responsible to one another. We often focus on issues of disparity and inequity because it is essential to identify them in order to advance the common good. This newsletter highlights the tension between charity and justice, describes our recent work in using the powerful circles process to foster healing in community, and introduces our newest affiliate staff member, Saroeum Phoung. ~ Dale Nienow
The Center for Ethical Leadership has long believed we need to connect with each other across boundaries and to be responsible to one another. We often focus on issues of disparity and inequity because it is essential to identify them in order to advance the common good. This newsletter highlights the tension between charity and justice, describes our recent work in using the powerful circles process to foster healing in community, and introduces our newest affiliate staff member, Saroeum Phoung. ~ Dale Nienow
Charity or Justice? Which Will Guide our Lives Together?
In this intense political season, personal attacks have become a staple of US politics. But beyond the attack ads, there are two primary viewpoints – one telling people to take responsibility for their own lives and another encouraging people to take care of each other. Both seem to be good ideas – taking care of each other and taking care of ourselves, but these positions are presented as diametrically opposed. Why should we have to choose between these ideas? |
Community Healing -
the Power of Circles The US has not moved into the “post-racial society” some have suggested arrived when Obama was elected President. Race continues to be an excuse to treat people differently. Our institutions and systems such as education, banking, and health continue to produce unequal access and opportunity for people of color. There are numerous worthy efforts to undo the institutional structures that keep inequities in place, but there is also a need to build deeper relationships across race. When relationships are nurtured, healing and renewal can take place and people can talk honestly about the work needed to build a more just and equitablesociety. Through the Community Learning Exchange network, the Center has promoted healing through peacemaking circles, providing a process and container for cultivating trusting relationships to bridge community divides. |
Introducing new Center Affiliate, Saroeum Phoung
Saroeum Phoung is a masterful circle keeper, teacher and spirit leader. He has many years of experience leading circles process to provide healing and transformation for individuals and communities dealing with the challenges of violence, racism, and inequity that are present in many of our communities. Saroeum learned to lead peacemaking circles from the Tagish Tlingit First Nation as a way to share power, include more community voices, and build relationships that foster healing and hope. |
August 2012
The United States is a nation of great promise – of the opportunity of people to better their lives. This is a fantastic promise, but we often trip ourselves over the recurring challenge of how we treat others who are different. There is a need for an important national conversation on how we deal with our fear of each other and the pain it causes. This month, we share the experiences from a recent Community Learning Exchange relating how Native American communities are healing themselves by understanding community pain and transforming it into positive action. ~ Dale Nienow
The United States is a nation of great promise – of the opportunity of people to better their lives. This is a fantastic promise, but we often trip ourselves over the recurring challenge of how we treat others who are different. There is a need for an important national conversation on how we deal with our fear of each other and the pain it causes. This month, we share the experiences from a recent Community Learning Exchange relating how Native American communities are healing themselves by understanding community pain and transforming it into positive action. ~ Dale Nienow
Can We have the Conversation Necessary To Living Together as Americans?
The US is in the final stages of an intense political season as the 2012 presidential election nears. The national conventions of the major political parties promise a better future via their platforms. However, the solutions put forth are often too general and simplistic to be meaningful. Americans cannot figure out how to have honest conversations with each other about how to live together in this society. If clear and effective change is to occur, how should the pain and fear of the people be addressed? What are the honest conversations we need to have? |
Reclaiming Education as a Tool for Healing
How do you heal a community? The recent centuries have been harsh to Native American tribes and they have suffered great trauma. Many people in the United States know that Native Americans were forced to give up ancestral lands and move onto smaller reservations. Fewer people know how education was used as a tool for destroying traditional Native life through the boarding schools movement. From 1861 to 1984, many NativeAmerican children were separated from their families and brought to residential schools. The purpose of this education was to assimilate these youth into the dominant US culture. In the process Native identities were destroyed including languages, traditions and families. The resulting historical trauma and collective grief passed from one generation to the next. |
Sharing Identity to Support Healing
Identity is often used by dominant cultures as a way to treat others differently. Identity can be used against people to deny them equal opportunities. In community healing work, the Center has found it powerful when people claim their identity, particularly around culture, as a core strength and asset. At the Montana Community Learning Exchange on healing from historical trauma, the hosts introduced anidentity box activity. Participants were asked to to bring three items from home to place in the identity box and to take time for self-reflection before decorating a box that visually suggested their personal identity. |
July 2012
We struggle over the issue of immigration and how it impacts the common good in the U.S. We hear many of the negative views about immigrants, but we don’t hear as much about what they add to our society. In this newsletter, we discuss how immigrants renew us, describe what we can learn from a public school in an immigrant community, and share a tip on how to weigh actions that contribute to the common good. ~ Dale Nienow
We struggle over the issue of immigration and how it impacts the common good in the U.S. We hear many of the negative views about immigrants, but we don’t hear as much about what they add to our society. In this newsletter, we discuss how immigrants renew us, describe what we can learn from a public school in an immigrant community, and share a tip on how to weigh actions that contribute to the common good. ~ Dale Nienow
The Promise of America - Immigrants as Life Blood
President Obama recently announced that he would halt the deportation of undocumented, immigrantyouth who are good students, law abiding, and who have been in the U.S. for five years. He explained that it "makes no sense to expel talented young people" who have essentially grown up here and see themselves as American. The decision has prompted two general points of view. Some people view this as a great humanitarian gesture, working to give young people who are American in every way but on paper a path to citizenship. Others see this as a step towards amnesty, giving these undocumented individuals unfair advantages. But is it, as the President remarked, the right thing to do? During a recent trip to New York, Center for Ethical Leadership staff got a different view from inside an immigrant community. |
The Promise of an Educated Citizenry - the P.S. 24 Experience
To have a thriving common good in the U.S., we need both the people who became citizens by birth andthose who chose to immigrate to the U.S. to become engaged in democracy. Public schools are essential to this process of engagement as they were created to provide an educated citizenry that makes our democracy work. So how are public schools doing in immigrant communities? In a recent trip to New York, Center for Ethical Leadership staff witnessed the best of America’s promise at P.S. 24, a public school in Brooklyn. They have found a way to engage their predominantly-immigrant community to work with their school to offer a quality public education. And in doing so, they remind us of some important lessons. |
Who do you include in the common good?
The Center frequently engages in conversations about the common good. People understand the general concept of the common good, but find it a challenge to define it in practical terms. Real issues bring to focus the differing views of the common good. Immigration is one of those issues. We find it helpful in these discussions to ask a basic question - "Who is included in your view of the common good?" This often leads to a defining conversation, particularly when people need to explain whether or not others can enjoy the benefits they receive from the common good. Regarding immigration, some want law enforcement officers to be able to ask people they stop to prove citizenship. This raises the concern that this policy is meant, not for those of European descent, but the more recent immigrants of color. Is this just another way to divide people into those who we assume belong and those we question? |
June 2012
Race continues to play a powerful role in U.S. society. It is critical for anyone working to advance the common good to address the disparities of race. This month, we highlight the structures that perpetuate racial disparities, the multiple small ways people experience daily marginalization around race, and the way the Center develops the leadership capacity in organizations and communities to have these important conversations. ~ Dale Nienow
Race continues to play a powerful role in U.S. society. It is critical for anyone working to advance the common good to address the disparities of race. This month, we highlight the structures that perpetuate racial disparities, the multiple small ways people experience daily marginalization around race, and the way the Center develops the leadership capacity in organizations and communities to have these important conversations. ~ Dale Nienow
Race Still Matters
When Obama was elected as President, pundits began speculating that we were entering a post-racial society – where race wouldn’t matter. Electing an African-American President was clearly a milestone of progress toward equity in our society. However, the experience of many people of color is that systems and institutions still treat them differently, leading to fewer opportunities and harsher treatment. Kwesi Rollins, a board member for the Center for Ethical Leadership, points this out in a recent blog. He cites that “Black youth were more likely to be incarcerated than non-Black peers” and “Native American youth are over-represented in the juvenile justice system.” Or consider the banking system. In the past, people of color were denied mortgage funding more often than their white peers, and, during the recent financial meltdown, they were disproportionately targeted for predatory loans. While Obama serves as a symbol of hope, race still matters in determining fairness and opportunity. |
Race and Leadership Dialogues
Major stories appearing in the news prove that race continues to create division in our society. The strict Arizona law empowering local police to stop people they suspect of being illegal immigrants has led to the concern that Hispanic residents can be stopped for “driving while brown.” The killing of Trayvon Martin, a young African-American man, who was shot by a Hispanic neighbor who considered him “suspicious looking,” led to concerns of racial stereotyping of young black males as threatening. These stories can trigger strong memories of personal incidents, particularly for people of color who wonder why they have been stopped by a police officer while driving or where store security treated them with suspicion. Navigating daily life can be quite different depending on our race. |
Experience Being Different
So many of the problems of human experience come when people treat difference as deficient or as a basis for diminishing others. This has been evident with race in our country. The Center for Ethical Leadership believes that our differences should be viewed as sources of wisdom – the assets we need to create healthy, just and inclusive communities. When we work with organizations and groups in community, we often use the Gracious Space framework as a way to open honest, and supportive conversations about race. We defineGracious Space as a spirit and setting where we invite the stranger and learn in public. |
April 2012
Each of us matters to advancing the common good in society. This month we look more closely at three questions about the common good: What is our role in raising the compelling questions for our society? How do individuals make their unique contributions? What are ways to help community groups define the common good? ~ Dale Nienow
Each of us matters to advancing the common good in society. This month we look more closely at three questions about the common good: What is our role in raising the compelling questions for our society? How do individuals make their unique contributions? What are ways to help community groups define the common good? ~ Dale Nienow
Finding Our Role in Shaping an Ethical Society
Desmond Tutu was in conversation with a young man who was passionate about addressing the inequities of the world. But, the daily tragedy and injustice presented in the news overwhelmed this young man, and he asked how Tutu knew what to do and how he stayed so hopeful. The Archbishop responded, “ I am comforted because I know I am not in this alone, and the daily news is God’s to-do list for me delivered to my front door!” Today, we are immersed in a constant stream of news that delivers our “to-do list” to us. Consider some of the major stories of the past month. While walking home from a convenience store, an unarmed teenage boy was shot and killed in Florida. A Goldman Sachs executive confirmed that the culture of the corporation was dominated by greed and self-interest. The former governor of Illinois began serving a 12-year sentence for attempting to sell an appointment to the US Senate. Each of these stories presents a set of ethical choices. |
Pathways to the Common Good: When Good People Step Up
How many pathways are there to the common good? Each year, the Center for Ethical Leadership hosts the Legacy Event, honoring ethical leaders of the Puget Sound region with the Bill Grace Leadership Legacy Award. It is an evening that celebrates inspirational people who dedicate their lives to advancing the common good. This year, we honored three people who are bringing healing and health to neighborhoods, children, and the earth. Each award recipients’ work is different, but they are united in their dedication to doing their part to increase the good in our communities. |
Questions to Define the Common Good
The common good isn’t very common any more. It is easy to feel this way when you are part of the 99%. At the Center, we sometimes describe what we do as “working to make the common good both common and good.” Not all of our societal norms, policies, or practices serve people broadly. Sometimes the benefits go to so few people, it is like there is an exclusive club where the decisions are made, but from which the bulk of the community is excluded. As a result, large swaths of the community can be negatively affected by a policy, with no way for them to share ideas, needs and wisdom. |
March 2012 Newsletter
Stories and place are powerful influencers on our lives. This month we highlight how stories can remind us of the deep values that guide how we live together in society; how experiencing different contexts can shape our thinking about our own communities; and how the Center uses stories of place to shape community change work. ~ Dale Nienow
Stories and place are powerful influencers on our lives. This month we highlight how stories can remind us of the deep values that guide how we live together in society; how experiencing different contexts can shape our thinking about our own communities; and how the Center uses stories of place to shape community change work. ~ Dale Nienow
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Returning Dignity To Discussions in the US
- by Dale Nienow My mom passed away recently. As my family recalled stories of her life, I was reminded how important relationships are in society. Mom was an active community volunteer, and I remember delivering food in the “Meals-on-Wheels” program with her, bringing meals to those who were “shut-in” or unable to get out to pick up food. As we drove around the area, we saw many different living conditions. Occasionally, I would see a dilapidated house that had a color TV – less common in those days—or a snowmobile out front. I remember asking Mom about this, wondering how they could spend money on these items if they couldn’t buy their own food. She responded, “Who are we to judge others?" We didn’t know the story of their lives. She taught me that every person deserved to be treated with dignity and that we needed to extend respect to others, not judgment. |
Using Stories and Places of Social Transformation to Inspire Community Action
The Center for Ethical Leadership and partners recently held a Community Learning Exchange (CLE) at Texas State San Marcos, the alma mater of Lyndon B. Johnson. As an undergraduate, he took time off to teach full time in the town of Cotulla, in south Texas, to earn enough money to finish college. He taught poverty-stricken fifth-, sixth-, and seventh graders at Welhausen Mexican School. In later years, he reflected on the impact of this experience. “I shall never forget the faces of the boys and girls…and I remember even yet the pain of realizing and knowing then that college was closed to practically every one of those children because they were too poor. And I think it was then that I made up my mind that this nation could never rest while the door to knowledge remained closed to any American." |
Looking to the Stories of Place for Inspiration
Community stories are an important source of wisdom for anyone committed to promoting social change. When the Center works with communities, we often draw out the context or the power of place. We ask questions such as: ~What is the unique story that arose in this place and continues to shape the community? ~Who is left out and needs to be part of the community’s new story? ~What is the new collective story that will support your entire community? |
January 2012
Our communities need residents and leaders to work together collaboratively if we are to solve problems in a way that works for the whole community. This requires courage. This month we highlight sources that can inspire this courage, a story of how the Center had to model the collaboration it teaches, and how to assess readiness to collaborate. ~ Dale Nienow
Our communities need residents and leaders to work together collaboratively if we are to solve problems in a way that works for the whole community. This requires courage. This month we highlight sources that can inspire this courage, a story of how the Center had to model the collaboration it teaches, and how to assess readiness to collaborate. ~ Dale Nienow
Finding Courage in the Voices of Ancestors
In our nation’s capital, the congressional buildings are perched on a hill overlooking various monuments to our great leaders and veterans on the National Mall. It is strange to look at the Capitol buildings knowing that the approval rate for Congress is hovering around 8% while some of our greatest leaders – Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, and now King – are sitting outside their windows. We live in a challenging time, one that insists we define yet again how we will live together as a society. Challenging times brought out the greatness of the leaders we memorialize on the Mall. What would they have to say to us today? What speaks to us from their lives? |
Courageous Collaboration
Judgment is easy, collaboration is harder. It is common to critique others and to find justification in our own views. It is natural to take care of our own interests before considering others. It can be instinctual to latch on to initial hurdles and make them insurmountable barriers to partnership. As an agency that teaches collaboration to others, it is often easier to suggest how others can collaborate than it is to model the principles ourselves. At the Center for Ethical Leadership, we have had many occasions where we were tested to see if we would step up with courage to collaborate with others. What do you do when life offers you the choice to collaborate or not? |
Assessing Your Readiness to Collaborate
The Center for Ethical Leadership wrote the book Courageous Collaboration with Gracious Space to help people increase their capacity to collaborate on important issues that move our society forward. When engaging in partnerships with others, one important aspect is to assess your readiness to collaborate. How open are you to sharing leadership with others? To what extent are you willing to share power? How open and willing to be vulnerable are you? |