The Situation The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has been a leader in the fight for TANF reform. Their leaders have presented at national congressional hearings related to the necessity to reform the welfare system, with emphasis on the TANF Program. Currently, the TANF Program is marked by historical and systematic racism. Recipients […]
Ever since Susan Cain’s Tedtalk and book Quiet: Being an Introvert in a World that Just Can’t Stop Talking, I have become more attentive to introverts in my meetings, learning events and other gatherings. I work to include solo time and diverse activities to ensure individuals feel valued and heard. While it is true that […]
Safety and respect are key to ensuring community engagement. This is as true in rural Ghana where I work, as it is in most places in the world. Here are some tips that I have found helpful for the African context: Understand the cultural dynamics. It is important that while entering a community the facilitator […]
At the end of our graduate class “Community Development: The Art of Facilitation and Design” with Jeanette Romkema we reflected on how principles and practices of Dialogue Education could also help ensure more effective and efficient meetings. It was eye-opening! Most of us are involved in or will be involved in way too many meetings. […]
While facilitating a day-long or week-long learning event, setting aside some time for a “check-in” can give participants the pause they need to process and prepare for what’s next. It allows them to reflect, re-energize, and reconnect before jumping back into a challenging sequence of learning tasks or agenda items. Yet too often, check-ins drift […]
A while ago I had the joy of reading a fascinating theological book called Copious Hosting: A Theology of Access for People with Disabilities. In that gentle and prophetic text, Catholic disability-advocate Jennie Weiss Block sets out to define disability and accessibility theologically, explore the history and the concerns of the American disability-rights movement, and […]