Unleashing Social Change

This episode's guest, Nina Simon, Founder of Of/By/For All, knows that what looks like a "welcome" sign for some people can be a "keep out" sign for others, especially in civic and cultural spaces (think libraries, theaters, parks, & museums). Nina and her colleagues at Of/By/For All are turning cultural elitism upside down by changing the representation of stakeholders in cultural institutions and working with the people who have been most excluded to address systemic barriers and make real changes together.

Nina Simon is deeply committed to the principles of inclusion and is working with hundreds of civic and cultural organizations worldwide. In this episode, you will find inspiration and practical pointers for making your organization and programs more equitable and inclusive, too. We hope you'll get a lot of of this episode where our host, Becky Margiotta, interviews Nina.

Show Highlights:

• Creating all-inclusive spaces for communities
• Utilizing parks to connect people
• The importance of integrating culturally relevant elements
• Making institutional changes to create a sense of belonging for everyone
• Looking for invisible "keep out" signs that others may see
• What participatory design looks like and the community process
• Taking advantage of crises and making large-scale change
• Tools and concrete practices to become more of, by, and for your community
• Courses focusing on making inclusion something you do instead of something you talk about
• Providing a framework to amplify an organization's ability to achieve success
• Integrating digital media and using technology to reach people
• Socializing practices and getting organizations involved
• Self-assessing organizations to evaluate how representative they are of the community
• Inviting people to share what they have to contribute and engaging new people
• Breaking free from oppressive spaces and getting outside of our comfort zone
• Navigating personal insecurities and using our humanity to make space for others
• How to create firm connections and acknowledge when others are whitewashing
• Counterbalancing between using the right language and taking action
• How to address the harm that organizations cause communities
• Establishing clear expectations across the board

Links:

Get $100 off Impact with Integrity

Contact Nina:

https://www.ofbyforall.org

The Participatory Museum

The Art of Relevance

Follow Nina on Twitter

Finding unique and effective ways to get students involved and excited about their education is more important than ever. Today Mari and Michelle, co-directors of the Deeper Learning Hub and the Deeper Learning Hub's Share Your Learning campaign, discuss their tactics for spreading educational awareness and designing experiences for students to grow. Both are faculty members at the Graduate School of Education and are strategically working to improve the overall learning experience for teachers and students. To hear more about their work and the amazing campaigns they're organizing, tune into this episode of Unleashing Social Change with Becky Margiotta.

Show Highlights:

• What the deeper learning hub is
• What a student led conference looks like and preparing students to take responsibility for their learning
• Examples of good exhibitions of learning
• Providing students with opportunities to share their learning with others
• Integrating projects into daily work to motivate students to learn content
• The differences between an exhibition of learning and a presentation of learning
• What the sharing learning campaign entails and creating a community
• Reaching rural schools and helping them utilize their resources
• How to effectively spread change and assigning roles
• Strategically working with others and finding joy in your roles

Links:

Get $100 off Impact with Integrity

https://www.shareyourlearning.org

http://www.deeper-learning.org

Books Mentioned:

Leaders of Their Own Learning:

https://eleducation.org/resources/leaders-of-their-own-learning

After all of the tragedies that have occurred throughout the past decade due to gun violence, there have been multitudes of communities, activists, and media platforms dedicated to spreading awareness and working to end senseless gun violence.

One of these organizations is Sandy Hook Promise.

Today's guest, Nicole Hockley, is one of the founders and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise. In this episode, Nicole shares a behind the scenes look at the mission of the organization, the curriculum that's being implemented in schools to identify red flags, and tangible actions people can take to prevent gun violence. To learn more about Sandy Hook Promise, tune into this episode of Unleashing Social Change with your host, Becky Margiotta.

Show Highlights:

• Becoming more aware of gun violence and taking action
• Different strategies practiced to fight gun violence
• Taking a different approach than other foundations
• Identifiable signs and signals that occur before someone commits mass violence
• The program and practices getting implemented into schools' state wide
• The transition from working small to large scale
• Recognizing when things aren't working and how to let those programs go
• Raising the bar for schools and requiring them to integrate new programs
• Having a freemium business model
• Finding a way to help yourself and others be comfortable in the unknown
• Using transparency to accurately display your mission
• Having a team that builds and challenges each other
• Why open conflict is necessary and productive
• The importance of self-care and taking time for your personal life
• Ways to stay hopeful and how you can make a difference

Links:

Get $100 off Impact with Integrity

Contact Nicole:

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8syQeFtBKc

The importance of human connections tends to get overlooked, but the reality is that without community, we have nothing. Although, the solution to finding collective unison amongst diverse people throughout the United States and even globally is much more complex.

Today's guest, Andrew Hanauer, is the Director of the One America Movement and shares the motivation behind combating toxic polarization. We're all prone to be entrenched in our own predispositions, but Andrew shares more insight on the neuroscience behind polarization and how to combat it. To learn more about what you can do to make an impact tune into this episode of Unleashing Social Change with your host, Becky Margiotta.

Show Highlights:

• Understanding that fighting toxic polarization isn't exclusive to one side
• How focusing on divisions diverts progress
• Working from a value system and staying open to conflicting values
• The issues that can arise from over engrossing yourself in your own perspective
• Not making our view of conflict the foundation of ourselves
• Being self-reflective and questioning your beliefs
• Breaking down meta-perceptions and correcting misconceptions
• How the One America Movement works across the country
• Training leaders to effectively navigate divisions
• Keeping people connected through religion and through pre-existing communities
• What makes having these conversations with family more difficult
• Having the ability to reduce threat levels and be more inclusive
• Why social media isn't the same as taking action
• Finding hope in bleak situations
• Releasing biases and showing support of others individuality

Links:

Get $100 off Impact with Integrity

Contact The One America Movement:

https://werepair.org/oneamerica/

Large scale social change doesn't happen by accident. It happens when you follow the formula - and Becky Margiotta has the formula. Join her as she introduces you to the world of driving social change!