Fall 2023 - Love & Rigor
Dear Movers and Shakers,
L’shana tova - wishes for a sweet and powerful New Year for us all.
Social justice organizations are the lifeblood of winning movements for change. Yet, we often hear of organizations that have toxic cultures that demoralize staff and members and get in the way of winning. Values in theory aren’t enough - we need to concretize them in our personal and organizational practices to make them matter. I think of these patterns as a lack of clarity and intentionality about values, strategy, practices, structure, roles, and/or working conditions. What we need is some framing to build both philosophical and practical change to make strong organizational cultures.
In your organization that can look like many things.
Your organization might have mission drift - working on projects that are funder driven, or taking on work outside of your capacity or theory of change. Your dreams and plans may be fundamentally mismatched to the current capacity of the organization.
There might be clear values that drive your external work that aren’t practiced internally. Working conditions might need improvements to ensure that staff can bring their whole selves to the work and be a place where they are valued for their contributions.
Or, staff might not always receive (or collaboratively build) clear plans and methods of transparency and accountability. Lack of clarity on role definition may leave staff confused about the scope, direction, or decision making approaches of their work.
Rest assured, these patterns are not your, or any individual’s, “fault.” Our organizations exist in the crucible of systematic oppression, white supremacy, violence, and climate disaster. We might see the problems, but not know how to address them - which can lead to more hopelessness and burn out.
Here’s the good news - there are incredibly smart and visionary leaders that are providing both hope and solutions. If you haven’t read it yet, check out this incredible piece by Maurice Mitchell, the Executive Director of the Working Families Party, on building resilient organizations. At JFREJ, we were rooted in the principles of “Love and Rigor” (h/t to the brilliant Dove Kent for this framing). What this means is building organizations that are rooted in love first and foremost - for each other, our communities, and the preciousness of our work. And - the rigor that is needed in our internal practices and quality of our work to truly build organizations and movements that win.
And, not being able to see solutions yet doesn’t mean they aren’t there. Even in that crucible of oppression and suffering, we have the skills and knowledge to take a step back, analyze the problems, and generate creative solutions. Social change organizations are rooted in bringing people together to invoke our collective genius - this principle and skill is what will make internal change collective and possible.
And, I’m here to help! In my consulting work on organizational dynamics and change management, I have supported my clients to build safe, loving, and forward-thinking containers in which to build on their strengths and successes to establish clear goals on clarifying roles and values, and change practices and structures. I provide organizational assessment, facilitation, and board and staff development from which your organization will emerge stronger and with more clarity. I lift up a mirror to where you are bravely working* and the reasons behind your challenges, and lead you to co-create and believe in potential solutions. I also provide grassroots fundraising support so you can build the resources that build capacity and ease the stress of how to find and secure funds to keep the doors open.
My work is always rooted in joy, belief in change, and the deepest love and respect for what you are trying to accomplish.
I would love to talk with you about the ways we might be able to work together! If you would like to schedule a (free) consultation, please use my calendly to schedule a 30 minute intro call that works with your schedule.
*This phrase is taken from my favorite poem - Birdwings by Rumi.
CLIENT PROFILE - ALIGN NY
Over the last year, I have had the distinct pleasure of working with ALIGN NY, an amazing organization bringing together unions and community organizations to fight for city and state policy change to address climate disaster and worker justice. (Come to their Movement Builder Awards on October 11th to see their work in action and celebrate WGA and SAG-AFTRA, among other fantastic honorees!) They went through a leadership transition as well as a period of instability with limited capacity. As they righted the ship, I supported them through facilitation and improvement of internal processes - now they are emerging stronger than ever!
