How Change Happens: Stories & Insights from Social Justice Changemakers

I intended to release this episode back in January but switching podcast editors (welcome, Jessi DiBartolomeo!) and a few life detours threw a wrench in that that timeline. However, re-connecting with this conversation this month has been a joy and I am very grateful to have crossed paths with these two beautiful humans...

Join me as I think out loud with Amanda Navarro (she/her) and Michele Silver (she/her) of Convergence Partnership. We open with an interconnected discussion about listening, exploring what scares us, and different approaches to bridging in social change. From there we touch on topics including:

• What it takes for people to share their stories and hear other people's stories;
• De-centering whiteness as an active, ongoing practice;
• Family and community relationships as key influencers of social change practice — and honoring everyday activists and movement leaders; and
• A both/and approach to disruption and bridging rooted in love and respect.

You'll hear two stories of what Amanda and Michele learned from their early experiences of social change work that ended up perpetuating harm. And we'll unpack what Convergence Partnership is learning about what it takes to bridge philanthropy and frontline activism.

If you appreciate this podcast, please consider sharing it with a friend, colleague, or network, and/or leaving a review. I'm also always happy when people reach out to share feedback with me directly.

If this episode resonates with you...

• Subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast app,
• Support How Change Happens with ratings, sharing feedback with me, and/or by sharing it with a friend, colleague or network, 
• Learn more about Convergence Partnership at www.convergencepartnership.org and hear directly from their inspiring grantees via their podcast episodes (funded by Convergence Partnership instead of requiring final grant reports!), and/or
• Learn more about my (Kai's) change work at www.createknowledge.org, on Substack, and/or on LinkedIn.

References

• Healing Resistance by Kazu Haga
• Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea by Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor
• Facilitating Breakthrough: How to Remove Obstacles, Bridge Differences, and Move Forward Together by Adam Kahane
• Convergence Partnership's grantees:
  • CoNECT
  • Heart of the City Neighborhoods (HOCN)
  • PUSH Buffalo
  • Elevated Chicago
  • Leadership Counsel
  • Destination Innovation
  • Hutch in Harmony
  • Omni Circle Group
  • The Community / La Comunidad
  • Grand Caillou / Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw
  • United Houma Nation

Appropriately timed for the holidays, this episode was a gift — an opportunity to reconnect with an old friend about something that matters deeply to both of us: social change.

Join me as I think out loud with Chi Nguyen (she/her) — Member of Parliament for the Spadina–Harbourfront district in Toronto, Canada, the first woman of Vietnamese descent ever elected to political office in Ontario, and mom of two kiddos: Sam and Ellis. Our conversation starts with Chi's literal keys and the importance of unlocking access to decision-making spaces. From there we touch on topics including working inside vs. outside systems, the challenge of governing for the many, learning across constituencies and working with tensions, and the impact of representation and centering diverse voices on policymaking.

You'll hear the story of Women in House — a program Chi co-created as a student at McGill University (where we met!) that works to increase female representation in Canadian politics and is open to all students who identify as female, regardless of gender assigned at birth. And you'll hear us chat about how becoming parents has informed our change work.

If you appreciate this podcast, please consider sharing it with a friend, colleague, or network, and/or leaving a review. I'm also always happy when people reach out to share feedback with me directly.

If this episode resonates with you...

• Subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast app,
• Support How Change Happens with ratings, sharing feedback with me, and/or by sharing it with a friend, colleague or network, 
• Learn more about Chi's change work at https://linktr.ee/officeofmpnguyen and on their Instagram, and/or
• Learn more about my (Kai's) change work at www.createknowledge.org, on Substack, and/or on LinkedIn.

References

• Transformative Mediation
• Women In House

This timely episode is, in many ways, a love note to Chicago. 

Join me as I get to know Shannon Downey (she/they) — an artist, activist, craftivist, community builder, general instigator, founder of Badass Cross Stitch and Seriously Badass Women, and proud Chicagoan. Among other things, our conversation explores community-building; creative practices as entry points into activism; local organizing and what it takes to identify as an "activist"; how to navigate political violence; and how to grow our capacity for risk-taking.

You'll hear some of the stories that inspired Shannon's book Let's Move the Needle: An Activism Handbook for Artists, Crafters, Creatives, and Makers (how Shannon thinks change happens!) — as well as Shannon's inspiring account of how Chicagoans' across the city are organizing right now to resist ICE and protect each other, and how she and other local organizers are helping them build the skills to do that.

If you appreciate this podcast, please consider sharing it with a friend, colleague, or network, and/or leaving a review.

If this episode resonates with you...

• Subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast app,
• Support How Change Happens with ratings, sharing feedback with me, and/or by sharing it with a friend, colleague or network, 
• Learn more about Shannon's change work at www.badasscrossstitch.com, follow their Instagram, and subscribe to their Substack, and/or
• Learn more about my (Kai's) change work at www.createknowledge.org, on Substack, and/or on LinkedIn.

References

• Badass Cross Stitch
• Seriously Badass Women
• Rita's Quilt
• Everyone Leads: Building Leadership from the Community Up by Paul Schmitz (correction: Paul Schmitz is the former CEO of Public Allies, not one of the founders)
• Deepa Iyer's Social Change Ecosystem Map
• The Feeling Wheel by the Gottman Institute

In this episode I reconnect with my friend and colleague Miko Lee (she/her) — an activist, storyteller, educator, and Director of Programs at Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality. Miko and I roam through a conversation about ancestry and intergenerational patterns; transformative justice, personal responsibility, and self-care; how the U.S. government is disappearing Bhutanese American Refugees; the power of story and the danger of stories going "MIH (missing in history)"; plus some creative ways she and her collaborators are experimenting with cultivating intergenerational connections.

You'll hear the stories behind the gorgeous embroidered artworks Miko shared to illustrate how she believes change happens (view images of them here!). And you'll learn about Miko's "change lineage": past and present movement leaders who energize her, and how her parents' civil rights era activism and ethos continue to inspire her own.

If this episode resonates with you...

• Contribute to the GoFundMe campaign to Help Mohan Karki Reunite with His Family — and learn more about Bhutanese Americans here,
• Subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast app,
• Support How Change Happens with ratings, sharing feedback with me, and/or by sharing it with a friend, colleague or network, and/or
• Learn more about my (Kai's) change work at www.createknowledge.org, on Substack, and/or on LinkedIn.

References

• Ancestral Mathematics
• Asian Americans for Civil Rights & Equality
• Asian Law Caucus
• Asian Refugees United
• 'Borges and I' by Frank Bidart 
• Calling In: How to Start Making Change with Those You'd Rather Cancel by Loretta J. Ross
• Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
• Transformative Justice

This inaugural episode features a wide-ranging conversation with my long-time collaborator and friend Aisha Rios (she/they) — a community organizer, "reluctant anthropologist-evaluator," and Learning & Change Strategist at Coactive Change. Aisha and I reflect on a poem she wrote that represents how she believes change happens, their "change lineage" and how it's inspired them to integrate their organizing and consulting, and the practice and impact of centering deep, authentic relationship-building in change work.

We both identify as weavers so of course our conversation connects various people and resources that have influenced our praxis, the full list of which is included below. My AuDHD brain was having an ADHD-forward day when we recorded this episode, so apologies in advance to the folx whose frameworks and book titles I remixed or failed to recall live!

If you enjoy this episode...

• Subscribe to the podcast using your favorite podcast app!
• Support How Change Happens with ratings, sharing feedback with me, and/or by sharing it with a friend, colleague or network. 
• Learn more about my (Kai's) change work at www.createknowledge.org, on Substack, and/or on LinkedIn.
• Learn more about Aisha's change work at www.coactivechange.com and/or on LinkedIn (and read the poem she wrote here!).

References

• The Undercommons Poetry Collective
• Spring Up
• The "Four Rs" Framework: Reform, Resist, Recreate, Reimagine (credit: Mattice Haynes, Coach & Facilitator)
• Loving Black Single Mothers
• Aja Imani (the person Aisha collaborates with to support Loving Black Single Mothers)
• A bunch of books, in order of mention:
  • The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, Edited by INCITE!
  • Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by adrienne maree brown
  • Collaborating with the Enemy: How To Work with People You Don't Agree with or Like or Trust by Adam Kahane
  • Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems: The Catalytic Power of Radical Engagement by Adam Kahane
  • Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail by Frances Fox Piven & Richard A. Cloward

How Change Happens: Stories & Insights from Social Justice Changemakers is a podcast for those committed to creating a more just and liberatory world.

When you tune in, you’ll hear conversations with changemakers who work in all kinds of spaces: organizing, DEI, healing justice, learning and evaluation, philanthropy, narrative change, and so on. We’ll explore the thinking behind their practice, and discuss real stories of the complexity, challenges, and joys of creating change — in the world and in ourselves.

In short, this is a show about the messiness of praxis and what emerges when our theories meet our day-to-day lives.

Credits

• Music: https://www.marmosetmusic.com/artists/romane-gael
• Cover Art: Create Knowlege