Dearest Intentional Gatherers,

 

I was blown away by the enthusiasm from last month’s inaugural newsletter.

 

Thanks to each of you for reading, sharing with others, and providing encouragement. It means the 🌎 to me.

 

And now, on to edition #2!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

🧪 Gathering Experiment of the Month: Opening Rituals

 

At the start of a gathering, there can be a tendency to dive into logistics (“bathrooms are over there”) or right into a meeting agenda.

 

Your gathering experiment of the month is to leave logistics for later and instead incorporate an opening ritual that brings more intentionality to the beginning of your gathering (be it virtual or in-person).

 

My favorite opening rituals include:

A few other ideas that surfaced in a recent Gather ‘Round brainstorm session (PS: learn more about Gather ‘Round further below):

YOUR TURN:

 

📚 Resource Rec 

 

adrienne maree brown (she does not capitalize her name, in case you were wondering 🤔) is one of my biggest professional and personal inspirations. She distills Afrofuturist writer Octavia Butler’s exploration of human relationship to change into five pillars called emergent strategy. My favorite = fractals, the relationships between small and large and that “small is all,” i.e. how we do small things is how we do big things. 

 

She brings those pillars to a facilitation context in Holding Change: the way of emergent strategy facilitation and mediation. One of my biggest takeaways = exploring opportunities to practice “less prep, more presence." It's an ongoing work in progress…!

 

For an adrienne maree brown primer, check out her interview one of my favorite podcasts, On Being with Krista Tippett here.

 

Let me know what you think once you read or listen.

📆 Upcoming Get-Togethers

VIRTUAL: 3/27/24 from 10-11 am MST / 12-1 pm EST on zoom

See how recent attendees felt leaving the space, as shared in our closing “chat waterfall.”

Spotlight: I recently had the joy and privilege of co-hosting a gathering for Denver nonprofit leaders to share and receive thought partnership on one of their biggest 2024 challenges and then create an action plan to tackle the challenge head-on. The best part: co-planning and hosting with two powerhouse women: Mackenzie Langley, founder of Lighthouse (a hub for nonprofits to share resources and develop strategic partnerships) and Emma Nicotra, a high school senior who I met through a CO Young Leaders volunteer event.

 

As one attendee shared, “The best part was the enlightenment, energy, and passion from the community. I enjoyed the breakouts to both give and receive valuable feedback.” 

 

Read more in Mackenzie’s recap here. And Denver nonprofits: learn more (+ sign up for!) Lighthouse here.

Lesson learned: The power of infusing intentionality into every facilitation decision.

 

In the spirit of “small is all,” I want to highlight how small, intentional decisions add up to one meaningful gathering experience:

 

We asked attendees to share their biggest challenge of 2024 in advance. While we planned time for breakouts with others facing similar challenges, we tried something new for the initial breakout conversation. Per Emma’s terrific suggestion, we organized a “four corners” icebreaker where folks grouped together by role type, amount of time in role, and then organization size. Then we split groups up by org size, recognizing that a 1-person org has different resources/opportunities/challenges as compared to a larger one.

 

The breakouts were a huge hit (another valuable lesson learned: put people in intentional groupings with thought-provoking questions and it’ll be hard to bring them back together!). I’m convinced that a large contributing factor was the time we took to be deliberate about how they were organized.

 

 

For your next gathering, identify ONE place to incorporate an extra dose of intentionality into a facilitation decision.

 

Please share what you try out and how it goes!

 

🌟 Gathering Spotlight + Lesson Learned