A question of size ;-)
Irv Sheffey
irv.sheffey at sierraclub.org
Wed Jun 30 19:53:51 PDT 2010
Thank you Peggy. As a community organizer, living in the community I serve,
I've found all that you've shared of value. I've got an awesome planning
team of people from the community where we will be opening space this fall
and I'll share your thoughts with them.
I've receive feedback from my query from others on the list, some directly,
and I want to thank all of you.
Irv
_________________________________
Irv Sheffey
Associate Field Organizer - Washington DC
Environmental Justice & Community Partnerships Program
Sierra Club
3101 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE No. 314
Washington, DC 20020
tel: 202-575-1469
cell: 202-299-6503
e-mail: irv.sheffey at sierraclub.org
_____
From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of Peggy
Holman
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 7:40 PM
To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
Subject: Re: [OSLIST] A question of size ;-)
Hi Irv,
You ask an important question about a key aspect of working with
communities! I find the biggest difference between working in an
organization and working with a community is the nature of reaching the
people you wish to attend.
With organizations, you've got a clear sense of who belongs. Even if you
want to reach beyond employees to include other stakeholders - customers,
suppliers, community, family, or others -- defining who makes up the system
and reaching them is pretty straightforward.
For communities, given your theme, how do you define the whole system? What
roles need to be in the room? For example, do you want public officials? Or
certain types of expertise? How important are factors like race, class,
gender, generation, geography, political perspective, or other dimensions?
I've done a lot of work over the last 10 years in bringing together
increasingly diverse communities. Inviting is the most important and
challenging pre-work of doing an OS on behalf of a whole system. I consider
it vital because of the connection between diversity and innovation. Change
the mix of who's in the conversation and the conversation changes. The
likelihood of original responses to whatever issue you're facing goes way
up.
All that said, I am a strong believer that "whoever comes is the right
people". AND I am also deeply committed to being mindful and deliberate in
the work of inviting a diverse group when the intention for coming together
is served by it.
BTW, I've never found myself overwhelmed by people from the historically
neglected areas showing up. It's just the opposite: it takes a dedicated
effort -- a clear and welcoming invitation -- to attract their
participation.
I strongly suggest forming an outreach group reflective of the mix of people
you wish to invite. You see, if the community group who is hosting the
event are principally white and middle class, chances are they won't be the
best folks to reach those you described as historically neglected.
One key caveat: inviting folks to join you to help with outreach from
different communities also means being open to their influence on framing
the theme. Part of the reason people from the communities you wish to reach
don't show up is the purpose you've stated for coming together doesn't
attract them. So find out what does.
Another, perhaps even more important, reason they don't show up is that you
don't have a relationship with them. So cultivate one. Show up where the
people you want to reach hang out. And listen. Learn. Connect.
This isn't one-off work. It's about cultivating a larger sense of who "we"
the community is. And I've found each time I learn to define the system in
a larger way, another aspect of who has been left out shows up. It's great
because it continues to grow the mix of unlikely connections with each
subsequent event.
One logistical suggestion: if you're not sure how many people will be
coming, you can ask people to register in advance. You can even give away
some sort of thank you gift for people who register as an incentive. On the
day of the event, its important to welcome whoever shows up, but
pre-registration gives you some sense of how many to expect.
best of success,
Peggy
_________________________________
Peggy Holman
peggy at peggyholman.com
15347 SE 49th Place
Bellevue, WA 98006
425-746-6274
www.peggyholman.com
www.journalismthatmatters.org
Coming in September
Engaging Emergence: Turning Upheaval into Opportunity
www.engagingemergence.com
For the second edition of The Change Handbook, go to:
www.bkconnection.com/ChangeHandbook
"An angel told me that the only way to step into the fire and not get burnt,
is to become
the fire".
-- Drew Dellinger
On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 12:05 AM, Irv Sheffey <irv.sheffey at sierraclub.org>
wrote:
I'm working with a local community group to organize a one day forum on
creating local sustainable neighborhoods, here in the District of Columbia.
We want the forum to be inclusive of a wide range of perspectives from
environmental NGOs, local government, civic leaders and most important,
folks from the community at large, namely the "grassroots". The theme is
"Getting from here to there, creating sustainable east of the river
communities." We are targeting people who reside in a part of DC that is
geographically separated from the other, two-thirds of the District, by the
Anacostia River. This part of DC is the home of over 140,000 people, many
who have been historically neglected socially and politically. We envision
the forum to be a place where their voices can be heard
This brings me to my question and I hope someone out in the network has some
suggestions. How do we open space such that we get a good representation of
people from these neighborhoods, without overwhelming ourselves? Whereas
it's relatively easy to work in a context of a given organization, i.e., a
company, a school, a profession, since affinity is defined and numbers
limited but what do you do when you're seeking a broad cross section of the
public? We have a modest budget and a venue that could accommodate upwards
of 200 people. How can you be "open" while reasonable as to how many people
can be logistically accommodated?
The forum is scheduled for late October and we will begin outreach efforts
over the summer.
I hope that this doesn't sound like a "duh" question for you more experience
facilitators. I could truly use your insights. I've taken the liberty of
copying my co-organizers of this event. It would be great if you can hit
"reply to all" in responding, so that they can be directly informed.
Thank you,
Irv
_________________________________
Irv Sheffey
Associate Field Organizer - Washington DC
Environmental Justice & Community Partnerships Program
Sierra Club
3101 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE No. 314
Washington, DC 20020
tel: 202-575-1469
cell: 202-299-6503
e-mail: irv.sheffey at sierraclub.org
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