News
IISC partners with IA at the Greater Than Conference in Portland, Maine
Nearly 200 leaders, innovators and “doers” from all sectors gathered on the coast of Maine in July 2009 and made it very clear — the time is now to break down barriers and work together to make big things happen. IISC Senior Associate Curtis Ogden joined Ashley Welch and John McGah of Interaction Associates jointly presented about the Accelerator Expedition and process design for cross-sectoral work. Learn more at greaterthanconference.com
IISC Senior Associate Curtis Ogden speaks at Antioch New England's 2009 commencement
IISC Senior Associate Curtis Ogden spoke at Antioch New England’s commencement on May 3, 2009. A popular adjunct faculty member in ANE’s Department of Organization & Management, Curtis teaches Change Models and was nominated as commencement speaker by students. Curtis called on everyone to bring their full selves to the work of social change. “This is not just about responding to need in the world, it’s about bringing ourselves fully to life,” said Curtis. “If we lead like that, who wouldn’t want to join us?” He continued by asking if the graduates were ready and willing to bring it all, mind, body, and spirit to the work ahead. “I can assure you that we need more of you, more of your full-bodied brilliance. It will take nothing less…” Read more here.
2009 Indiana Nonprofit Town Hall Meeting Leveraging the Lean Times: Building Community
IISC Executive Director Marianne Hughes was a featured presenter at a recent gathering of nonprofit leaders in central Indiana. Leadership Ventures, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing collaborative leadership and developing organizational capacity in the not-for-profit sector, hosted the event in partnership with the Central Indiana Community Foundation, the United Way of Central Indiana, and the Indiana Grantmakers Alliance. These three presenting sponsors share with Leadership Ventures a commitment to strengthening nonprofit services in central Indiana, supporting a message of collaboration, consolidation, and cooperation to survive a tough economic climate.
Marianne spoke about the magnitude and gravity of the challenges we face in today’s world – from the economic meltdown to the global climate crisis to the sheer extent of human suffering at the hands of war and poverty. She spoke of how the social safety net in the U.S. is unraveling right before our eyes: state and local governments are slashing services; foundations have lost large portions of their endowments and nonprofits are cutting programs and jobs. In this context, Marianne raised up the question, “How do we leverage the lean times and build community?” In response to that question, she explored these four core ideas in her remarks:
- a social justice framework creates coherence and lays the foundation for restructuring our work and our sector;
- a new more collective definition of leadership is needed;
- networks not organizations are the “unit of action” in the 21st century; and
- in the words of Cornel West, “justice is what love looks like in public.”
The full text of Marianne’s remarks can be found here.
Gibrán Rivera invited to join Web of Change Hollyhock planning group
IISC Senior Associate Gibrán Rivera has been invited to join the planning group for Web of Change’s flagship annual retreat: Web of Change at Hollyhock, scheduled for September 23-27, 2009. Web of Change has become the leading convenor of North America’s social change and technology community. The retreat connects senior technology and social media leaders with some of the most exciting social change campaigners and provides them with the opportunity to share their world-class work, ideas, and inspiration with a powerful community of deeply committed peers. IISC is honored that Gibrán will participate and we look forward to having this opportunity to contribute to the inspiration and learning that takes place at this transformative event.