Deeper Relationships

Deeper Relationships Workgroup

Purpose: Working to build relationships that are meaningful and trust-filled across our community and within the Belonging Initiative workgroups.

Activities & Ideas

Community members have the opportunity to share stories on Othering and Belonging to foster a sharing of perspectives and life experiences

Create processes for building relationships and bridges between people, calling people in

Build capacity among community members and community leaders to facilitate storytelling and deep conversations around Othering and Belonging

Instill values of deep connection and listening across the Belonging task force workgroups to ensure relationships remain a core focus and that all voices are heard and valued before group decisions are made

Facilitate bridge-building across groups in our community, fostering both small and large bridges (Definition: Bridge Building)

Contact

To learn more about how you can engage in work around Belonging in Rockford, please email NICNE Associate Director Billie Callahan at nicne.niu@gmail.com

Indicators of Success

Indicators of success are being developed. Initial indicators are:

Stories are shared and made visible across the community
Replicable process created for building relationships and bridges
People are called into the work around Belonging; Belonging is for everyone
Ambassadors lead community work, utilizing and modeling bridging skills
Work complements the work of existing community groups, fortifying efforts
Courageous Conversations facilitators and other trained facilitators foster conversations around Othering and Belonging, deepening our shared understanding of our community and what it means to Belong
People become part of data collection; data for them, by them
People with lived experience give data meaning

Tools & Resources

john a. powell on how bridging creates conditions to solve problems | Othering & Belonging Institute (berkeley.edu)

Social Justice Toolbox » Privilege for Sale

Home – Diversity Lab Diversity Lab

National Equity Project

NICNE Program Resources –

DEI for Nonprofits – 2021 Session Recordings and Resources:

DEI Toolkit: Access the Toolkit here. This toolkit is designed to be self-paced for independent professional learning and can be used to facilitate DEI related group discussions. The ideal way to utilize the DEI Toolkit is discussed on page 3.
February event recording: DEI Foundational Concepts & Skills
March event recording: Equity Mindedness
April event recording: Cultural Competence
May event recording: Antiracism