HORIZONS AT SFFS LAUNCHED A COMMUNITY LEARNING SERIES in FALL ‘21!
This past year, Horizons at SFFS has committed to the philosophy of Community-Centric Fundraising in an effort to ground our development strategy in racial and economic justice. This philosophy emphasizes that time is valued equally as money and encourages us to have transparent and sometimes difficult conversations with our supporters to further the understanding of the complexity of our work.
In service of this effort, we’ve launched a Community Learning Series entitled Words Matter to explore these concepts through community conversations. Throughout these learning sessions, we hope to facilitate engaging discussions that explore community-centric ideas and how these can be incorporated into our everyday practices as we work towards equity and advocacy.
Learn more about each of the three sessions below.
Session #1: Building Equity Through Language
In our first session in the Words Matter series on October 19th, we discussed the importance of shifting language to an asset-based approach, as opposed to a deficit-based framework that is often seen used in the nonprofit space. We had an open and honest conversation as a group about the difference between these approaches and suggested some tangible ways to practice strengths-based messaging in daily life. If you missed it, check out the recording here!
Session #2: Storytelling for SOcial impact
On December 14th, we came together for a second time to discuss the nuances of using strengths-based storytelling for social impact. We were joined by Elissa Yancey of A Picture's Worth, who shared her expertise around inclusive storytelling and approaching difficult topics in a way that promotes healthy dialogue, unity, and healing. We're grateful to have shared this learning space together where we authentically explored the concept of storytelling for social change. Watch the recording here!
Session #3: uplifting youth voices
In our third and final session on March 15th, we were joined by three phenomenal young speakers: Diego Villegas, Emily Nguyen, and Joanna Lam. We heard directly from these youth leaders about their experiences representing and lifting up voices of their peers. We're so thankful to have had the opportunity to come together and explore how to better incorporate youth voices into our work. Watch the recording here!
Thank you to everyone who was able to participate in these sessions and learn and unlearn with us. Together we can reimagine the status quo and what it means to work towards social justice and change through our words and actions. It starts with conversations like these!