WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY OF ACTION: YOU ARE THE LEADERS BLOG!
During May and June, 2009, six regional forums will occur across Washington State to brainstorm ideas for bettering the lives of people with developmental disabilities in the next three to four years. People interested in this conversation are invited to post comments on this blog.
Here is the invitation we sent out:
Dear Colleagues:
While often rewarding, building inclusive communities is difficult. Ironically, in these challenging economic times, there could be unforeseen opportunities working to our advantage; and with things changing ever so rapidly, it is critical to spend more time thinking collectively with our community allies about how to move forward. While only for one day, these follow-up gatherings in each region have the potential to build upon our energy from Tacoma and help us further re-align how we think about our responsibility to our work and our communities. They promise unique, challenging and rich conversations with people who do similar work to ours, as well as those who do not, but are guided by similar values. These conversations are not only about people with disabilities or how we can do our current jobs better. In the spirit of our Tacoma experience, You are the Leaders challenges us to focus on collective and personal growth: What might our roles be in a forward-looking community? Am I ready for new relationships and alliances? What’s required? The conversations are totally about how people can work differently and together for the betterment of our communities as a whole. What you give is as important as what you get.is a series of one-day follow-up events to last spring’s leadership conference in Tacoma, to be held in all six regions throughout May and June. By nearly all accounts, what we experienced in Tacoma last April was special. Several of us have made bold moves during the past year and many of us continue to ask the question that became the theme of the conference, “What time is it?” One answer that we’ve been hearing lately is “it’s time to get back together to check in with each other.” So, we are convening activists interested in inclusive communities to explore at six regional events, our common values and potential actions around leadership and responsibility. Our goals are clear: solidify our commitment to our vision and values, seek new community partners, and further clarify our individual and collective leadership roles as we work to create healthy communities.
A Community of Action: You are the Leaders
From the standpoint of design, the gatherings will be a conversational brainstorming and planning experience for the breadth of participants expected to attend. By emphasizing a Community of Action we are encouraging groups of people from each county/community interested in working together differently to attend, so there is greater potential for subsequent collective action. By focusing our conversations on leadership and action, there will be plenty of opportunities for exploration of new ideas during each gathering and beyond.
We would be honored if you could join us.
