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Igniting the Power in Community

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Igniting the Power in Community

What does ‘community’ mean to you? Is it a specific place or neighborhood? Or a group of people with whom you interact, or share a common belief or purpose? What are the actions or values that bind communities together? 

As collaborators in the social sector, community is at the heart of what we do and how connect to each other, yet the concept of community evokes different ideas for each of us, shaped by our own individual perceptions, experiences and aspirations.

As we prepare for the 2019 SPARX Conference on October 31, we asked members of our Conference Planning Committee to reflect on the theme, Igniting the Power in Community, what the concept of community means to their philanthropic work and what they’re most looking forward to at #SPARXconference 2019.

REPONDENTS

AD | Aminata Diallo, Manager of Learning and Community Impact, Scattergood Foundation
ML | Meg Long, President, Equal Measure


1. What does the 2019 SPARX Conference theme, Igniting the Power in Community, mean to you?

AD |"Igniting the Power in Community" means engaging with communities and within communities to address barriers and cultivate resources to advance the quality of life for children, individuals and families.

ML | Recognizing the expertise of community members, ceding power of solution generation and implementation to those that have the most knowledge and experience with the issues we are trying to address.

 

2. How do you incorporate the concept of community into your philanthropic work?

AD | I incorporate the concept of community in my work by being intentional about using participatory and co-productive practices when I conduct my work. My priority is to ensure that knowledge is not only learned from one another, but that it's also co-created with one another. 

ML | Centering the expertise and lived experiences of community members in the work, looking to community for what works for them and what does not.

 

3. What conversations and/or connections are you looking forward to having and making respectively at the 2019 SPARX Conference?

AD | I look forward to creating new partnerships and continuing the work beyond the SPARX Conference.

ML | Connections to other funders that are looking to learn with and from community.