Blog
LLC Network Spotlight | Ari Sahagun
Submitted by LLC Staff on Tue, 09/03/2019 - 12:41C
As an organization, we believe deeply in the power and importance of network and shared leadership. LLC is made up not only of dynamic staff members, but also hundreds of folks collaborating across state lines and issues to share skills, co-create projects, and learn from one another. In our LLC Network Spotlights series, we interview active members of our network and make space for them to share their own experiences engaging in the practices of network leadership.
This month, we interview Ari Sahagún, a movement network ecologist who supports social and climate justice movements through network building and open-source technologies. Ari is a part of the WEB Network, having designed its website, and has a deep commitment to using the innovation of networks to support cultural shifts. We hope that you learn something new from Ari’s story, and share it with your networks as well!
- LLC Staff's blog
- Login or register to post comments
What Does it Mean to Center Love?
Submitted by Ericka on Tue, 09/03/2019 - 12:36
When I was first introduced to the concept of love-centered change work, I was actually quite skeptical; something about the idea felt discordant, almost disconnected from the struggle for change that I was accustomed to. So when the topic came up, I would nod appreciatively in a socially appropriate way, but for a long time, I held a pretty sizable kernel of doubt. While I still have many questions about how to best execute this approach in efforts to change concrete conditions and recalcitrant oppressive structures, I have definitely observed an evolution in my thinking.
- Ericka's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Guest Blog | Risk-Taking for Racial Justice: Building Networks That Support Us
Submitted by LLC Staff on Tue, 09/03/2019 - 12:29
By The Minneapolis St. Paul Network Weavers Community of Practice
This June, the Minneapolis St. Paul (MSP) Network Weavers Community of Practice hosted our semi-annual day long gathering. The topic was Risk-Taking for Racial Justice: Building Networks that Support Us. Our facilitation team collaboratively wrote this blog to share some of the learning and insights we gained from the event – we hope you enjoy!
Mishel House, Kirsten Johnson & Sindy Morales Garcia – Wilder Center for Communities
Scott Labott – Bush Foundation
Terri Thao & Chalonne Wilson – Nexus Community Partners
Susan Schuster – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota
Amanda Ziebell Mawanda – Propel Nonprofits
- LLC Staff's blog
- Login or register to post comments
What We are Learning from Our Work with Networks: Part II
Submitted by Deborah Meehan on Tue, 08/27/2019 - 11:26
In an earlier post I began to share our reflections as we asked ourselves at LLC, “How are we applying what we are learning from our work with networks to our own effort to become a network?” I described three key take-aways from our network building work: Support Self-organizing; Focus on Place; and Create a Communications Ecosystem. In the last post, I talked about Self-organizing, and this week I am going to talk about Focus on Place.
Focus on Place: In a number of our network building projects we have developed a healthy respect for place. Leadership programs that focus on specific regions or localities have an easier time organizing alumni networks for several reasons: the participants have greater access to each other and can meet up more easily; even when working on different issues, and for different organizations people and groups are more likely to intersect with each other around citywide issues; people are able to bring their local connections to a network effort in their own city; and participants share a sense of place that is often enriched by different perspectives and histories. In a recent network building project, we found that local meetups brought more energy to the network, and were more likely to activate self-organizing. When you are trying to shift systems, bringing people together across a city can also create more opportunities to work at the intersection of issues.
- Deborah Meehan's blog
- Login or register to post comments
LLC Network Spotlight | Kiara Nagel
Submitted by LLC Staff on Thu, 08/01/2019 - 13:09
As an organization, we believe deeply in the power and importance of networks and shared leadership. LLC is made up not only of dynamic staff members, but also hundreds of folks collaborating across state lines and issues to share skills, co-create projects, and learn from one another. That’s why we’ve begun this new series of LLC Network Spotlights, where we interview active members of our network and make space for them to share their own experiences engaging in the practices of network leadership.
We’re excited to share our first interview with Kiara Nagel, a strategist and trainer, who is also a facilitator in the WEB Network. We hope that you learn something new from her story, and we encourage you to share it with your networks as well!
- LLC Staff's blog
- Login or register to post comments
How do we know if leadership programs are making a difference?
Submitted by Deborah Meehan on Wed, 07/31/2019 - 13:27
This is a question that people who fund and implement leadership development strategies grapple with, and there are no easy answers. Afterall, it’s tricky to isolate the leadership supports as the thing that made a difference when there are so many other things happening in people’s lives, and in the world. Still, for all of the time and resources we invest in developing leadership as a critical strategy for advancing equity and justice, we want to know that this is a good investment, and that we are doing our best.
- Deborah Meehan's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Get Ready For Creating Space 2019: Six Emerging Themes
Submitted by Ericka on Wed, 07/31/2019 - 13:00
LLC is excited to share with you our developing plans for Creating Space 2019. This year, rather than having one large national convening, we are instead planning three regional gatherings followed by a large national convening.We're currently planning to have convenings in the Bay Area, California, New York City, NY and Detroit, MI, September through November 2019.
After joining LLC as Co-Director in March 2019, as part of my ongoing process, I began holding stakeholder conversations with members of the LLC network. One of the most common needs articulated was a desire for LLC to recommit to regional convenings. It was clear to me that people missed the intimacy and connection generated in smaller regional settings. Given the importance of place, it became obvious to LLC that regional convenings allowed those in the LLC network to center their work in context, in ways not reproduced in national gatherings.
So for 2019, we are hoping during the regional Creating Space events we'll dig into the theme of exploring how leadership development can support shifting power for justice. We imagine that each regional convening will approach the larger question differently, reflecting the unique conditions of each community.
- Ericka's blog
- Login or register to post comments
LLC Webinar Series | Everyday Equity: Practices, Principles, and Perspectives
Submitted by LLC Staff on Tue, 07/30/2019 - 17:18
Everyday Equity: Practices, Principles, and Perspectives with Renato P. Almanzor, PhD
August 14, 2019
10:00 - 11:30 PST | 1:00 - 2:30 EST
- LLC Staff's blog
- Login or register to post comments
The Staple Foods Network Project | Lessons Learned from a WEB Network Innovation Seed Fund Project
Submitted by LLC Staff on Fri, 07/19/2019 - 11:37
By MaryAnn Martinez
MaryAnn Martinez is a non-profit director and interdisciplinary food systems scholar. She is currently aPhD candidate at Antioch Graduate School of Leadership and Change. Her work is in place-based food systems, and community-based food networks as catalysts for social innovation and transformative change. In addition, MaryAnn has over 10 years of experience as a vegetable and livestock farmer, in both for-profit and social enterprises -http://maryann-martinez.
The History
In 2008, the Appalachian Staple Foods Collaborative began to assess what was necessary for a regional organic staple grain and bean value chain in Appalachia. Michelle Ajamian who, along with her partner Brandon, runs Shagbark Seed and Mill in Athens, OH, had the vision, and began to reach out and form relationships with others interested in staple foods. Ten years later, this informal collaborative had grown from a handful to several hundred farmers, bakers, millers, and others around the country who are focusing on local, heirloom and organic grains and beans.
Now a for a bit of a necessary segue.....
Why a staple foods network?
- LLC Staff's blog
- Login or register to post comments
LLC Webinar Series | Confronting Wicked Problems: 5 Strategies for Reimagined Leadership in the Social Sector
Submitted by Kyle on Mon, 07/08/2019 - 11:28
Confronting Wicked Problems: 5 Strategies for Reimagined Leadership in the Social Sector with Lynn Fick-Cooper
July 23, 2019
10:00 - 11:30 PST | 1:00 - 2:30 EST
- Kyle's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Recent comments
3 years 21 weeks ago
3 years 21 weeks ago
3 years 21 weeks ago
3 years 22 weeks ago
3 years 33 weeks ago
3 years 35 weeks ago
4 years 18 weeks ago
4 years 18 weeks ago
4 years 27 weeks ago
5 years 44 weeks ago