Healthier Jupiter joined Everyday Democracy for their Inaugural Institute for Community Change Leaders

Staff and committee members from Healthier Jupiter and other Healthier Together neighborhoods were selected to participate in Everyday Democracy‘s Inaugural Institute for Community Change Leaders in December 2018 in Southbury, Connecticut. From Healthier Jupiter, our Executive Director Carrie Browne along with two Steering Committee Members Satu Oksanenand Betzy Rega were chosen among 47 diverse community leaders from 15 states through a competitive application process.

The Inaugural Institute for Community Change Leaders sought to build community engagement and dialogue-based expertise toward achieving positive outcomes in their communities. The Institute provided a unique experience to deepen their leadership in engaging community, in using a racial equity lens, and in leveraging the power of voice and participation as a pathway to equitable change on the issues each community is facing. The one-week training included the following focused topics:

Day One of the Institute focused on answering the question “Why Now?” Why focus on developing and connecting emerging and seasoned change leaders?  How do we lead in ways that promote equity and inclusiveness it the 21st Century? Day one also began the process of building relationships across age, gender, geography, and perspectives.

Day Two concentrated on leadership in the 21st Century and challenged participants to think differently about what it means to be a leader. How do we lead from a place of courage? A place of service?  A place of advocacy? Or how do we experience leadership as a journey?

Day Three allowed participants to dive into racial and intergenerational equity and outlined the structural barriers in place that need to be overcome. Participants explored what it means to lead multigenerational groups where issues of power, decision making and equity are central to collaborative work.

Day Four provided an opportunity for participants to share their work through both their successes and challenges. They shared different ways of engaging the community with emphasis on issue framing, organizing and facilitation, as well as planning for “what’s next?”

Day Five was spent celebrating connections, defining personal commitments, discussing Phase Two of the Institute and identifying a series of actions the attendees will take toward progressive change in their communities.

Carrie Browne, Healthier Jupiter’s Executive Director, is excited to continue this ever important work and share the message they learned at this training with the greater Jupiter community.

More information about the actions these participants are taking in their communities, and upcoming learning opportunities will be shared on an ongoing basis, so please visit everyday-democracy.org to stay connected.