April Practice: Community as a Verb

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This month, we look to Scherto Gill, a research fellow at the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace to help us reframe our cultural assumption of community, moving it from something outside ourselves to an active process we live into. Watch Scherto in the video below!

Join us as we experiment with the practice of “we-ness” that Scherto speaks of. How might you live as if community is an action, a verb? Share your observations and experiences below.

Provocative Encounters Increase Appreciation on College Campuses

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Groundbreaking new research from our partner, Interfaith Youth Core (now Interfaith America), finds that a high level of trust and goodwill—despite deep differences—emerges when college students have positive and provocative encounters.

Grantmakers for Education Annual Conference

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12 years 6 months
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Amy Ferguson
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Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
Biography

I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

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“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

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Internal Communications Officer
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Selections from the We the People Book Club.
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Supporting Students in Overcoming Adversity: Agency, Justice, Equity. Grantmakers for Education takes this inspiration from the students who lived through Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent overhaul of the education system. Local successes and challenges will stimulate national conversations about transforming education, from birth through post-secondary success. Drawing on brain science and the latest evidence, we will explore the social, emotional and academic dimensions of learning.

Social and Emotional Learning Exchange 2019

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12 years 6 months
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Amy Ferguson
Cover Photo
Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
Biography

I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

Quote
Quote

“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

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Internal Communications Officer
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Selections from the We the People Book Club.
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aferguson@fetzer.org

This national gathering is for all  those seeking to understand, experience and apply the latest developments in social and emotional learning. The conference will help participants forge new alliances and gain new insights, empowering and inspiring their future efforts to ensure that education in America focuses on developing the whole child.

Fetzer is proud to celebrate this 25th anniversary of CASEL as a sponsor of the Founders Dinner.

Learn more about CASEL.

Courageous Pluralism on College Campuses

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15 years
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Gillian Gonda
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Paper cranes
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Gillian
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Gonda
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My work in global outreach includes supporting programs and partners that use storytelling and public engagement to support human connection and belonging. I appreciate the ever-expanding opportunities online and face-to-face and through media of various kinds to create relationship with individuals and communities who are part of a shared vision for a loving world. I am enlivened daily by our partners—inspiring champions of this mission—as we work together to meet the needs of the world and imagine how our collaboration can serve a movement of transformation. 

I am passionate about restorative narratives and helping media makers and storytellers of all kinds see the transformational potential of their work. These efforts in support of human flourishing come alive when we are in deep relationship, seeking change through the creative process, collaboration, integrated learning, and bold action.

I have worked my entire career in the nonprofit sector, spending much of that time in public media and philanthropy leading communications, program strategy, community outreach, and public engagement. I have a BS and MA in Communication from the University of New Mexico.

I love both indoor and outdoor living, from jewelry making, reading, and good TV to kayaking and camping. Add in a music festival and my life is complete. My three kids are everything to me, and I thrive living vicariously through their island living, nature education, and drum solos.
 

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Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) has devoted his life to the promise of a pluralistic American society, a potluck of flavors to nourish us all and stimulate taste buds beyond a bland melting pot of assimilation. Community and collaboration are at the heart of this vision, Patel asserted at the close of a recent IFYC training for campus leaders. Their schools will be paired for an 18-month exploration of “courageous pluralism,” supported by the Fetzer Institute and the Charles Koch Foundation.

Beyond Boundaries and Borders: Ashoka U Exchange

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12 years 6 months
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Amy Ferguson
Cover Photo
Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
Biography

I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

Quote
Quote

“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

Job Title
Internal Communications Officer
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Selections from the We the People Book Club.
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Staff Department
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aferguson@fetzer.org

A learning lab, testing ground, space for celebrating innovation, and spark for the collaboration of 700 of educators, students, and other higher education professionals from across the world.

Featuring Working Across Differences, a 4-session track co-hosted by Fetzer and Ashoka:

Teachers in Residence

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12 years 6 months
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Amy Ferguson
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Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
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I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

Quote
Quote

“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

Job Title
Internal Communications Officer
Cover Caption
Selections from the We the People Book Club.
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Staff Department
Email
aferguson@fetzer.org

Ten one-week residencies provide the opportunity for selected preschool through fifth-grade teachers to spend a quiet week of reflection, writing, reading, and planning for the following school year. 

This teacher residency program is sponsored by the Nancy M. and Douglas M. Yeager Family Foundation in partnership with the GilChrist Retreat Center of the Fetzer Institute.

Rumi on helping others heal

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6 years
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Katy
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Listwa
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Designer
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It doesn’t have to be overwhelming to “be a lamp or a lifeboat or a ladder.” Sometimes a smile and a kind word is enough to shift someone’s day or outlook. Sometimes we can do more, like serving our communities and overcoming cruelty with compassion.

Practicing Democracy with Children

Member for

12 years 6 months
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Amy Ferguson
Cover Photo
Book stack
First Name
Amy
Last Name
Ferguson
Biography

I am part of a web of writers, editors, videographers, communicators, and ambassadors who help shine a light on how we can all contribute to a loving world. For me this comes through in three simple words: reveal, serve, and inspire. It means researching, listening, sleuthing, writing, connecting, and conspiring for good. 

Our teachers in this work are numerous. I have learned so much from others' fine "translations" of the need for love in our world--epidemiologists, neuroscientists, and public health specialists, artists, clergy, and various lifelong practitioners of compassion--who carry this work into realms of our social life like schools, prisons, and law enforcement circles.

My background is deep in the humanities, and my family tree is of full Catholics (faithful and lapsed), skeptics, and librarians. I have a master's degree in literature and am drawn to volunteer with arts-related organizations and projects. 


 

Quote
Quote

“We are all born with 200 bad poems in us.”  —Billy Collins

Job Title
Internal Communications Officer
Cover Caption
Selections from the We the People Book Club.
Engagement Results Display
On
Staff Department
Email
aferguson@fetzer.org

Nine ways to help children engage democratic values. Children come naturally to some democratic values, like pursuit of happiness and love of freedom. Other ideals—like recognizing that we are all equal and seeking the common good—need practice. This guide encourages children's democratic engagement at home and in their communities.

Developed with Spirituality & Practice as part of the Practicing Democracy Project.

Our Work

 

Our work today is in collaboration with inspiring partners as we all work to reveal, inspire, and serve a more loving world. Learn more about our priority initiatives below and engage with the work through stories, events, resources, and other opportunities to add your voice.