One of my notes from February’s bystander training sticks with me all these weeks later: Often your first intervention will not work. Try another.” The maxim suggests to me patience and persistence with experiment. Focusing on results and using outcomes to assess people or programs won’t always make room for that. It also implies the […]
Join the Intersections family as executive director
One of my partnering organizations, Intersections International, is actively searching for its next executive director. With a philosophy of recognizing and respecting individual identities and diversity, Intersections brings individuals and communities together to find shared humanity and expand shared interests and understanding. This uniting of those who are parties to a tension or conflict is […]
Three ways to preserve the innocence of giving
Ever received a hand-made card from a child? The drawing might be bright and the handwriting might be inscrutable, but neither of those things are why we display children’s notes on our fridges or treasure the gifts they make. There’s an innocence in the act of open-hearted giving and receiving, and that innocence is worth […]
Get Lit: Pro-Literacy Poetry
“The greatest lessons you will ever teach us will not come from your syllabus. The greatest lessons you will ever teach us, you will not even remember… “There are things missing from our history books. But we were taught that it was better to be silent than to make Them uncomfortable.” —The Get Lit Players, […]
Time to Speak Up
As I wrote last year, the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has planned a global summit on gender and sexuality for March 21-24 this year. The summit falls under the planning authority of Elder Pardon Mwansa, a GC vice-president and chair of the committee on “alternative sexuality practices” [sic] that will report to the church […]
In the Absence of a Culture of Philanthropy
CompassPoint, a non-profit management consultancy, recently released a report on non-profit development and fundraising. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported on some key findings about professional fundraisers this week. Under Developed: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising What determines whether an organization has a culture that supports fundraising success? Experts point to a range […]
