Accelerating collective #socent impact? @ci2iglobal is born in the afterglow of #we_b

Below is a lyrical personal story of what recently happened when I invited some worldshaping women friends to Brussels in January 2012, to co-host an experimental co-creation lab for accelerating global social impact and innovation.

I compiled these images and wrote this story (without twitter handles or links) for a Pecha Kucha evening in Brussels on 25 January, which means I had only 20 seconds to speak about each image - that's  6 min 40 sec total to tell the whole story of what was an extremely transformative experience. It didn't go perfectly, but all in all, a great learning by doing experience I can highly recommend for sharpening your changemaker presentation and storytelling skills.

I would also share that collaging and then turning the story lyrical in the days following these events were both very intense, even catalytic ways, to distill and harvest what really happened for me. I have mindfully told this from a very personal perspective, because I can't say at all that the deep shift which happened for me is representative of what everyone at the #we_b event experienced.

I do know that the whole @ci2iglobal group, however, continues to be deeply moved by what we experienced together with the amazing #we_b participants, and in our debrief and planning session after the event (not to mention dancing together until 4 in the morning in between those!).

Enjoy the story ~ I'd love comments on how it makes you feel.

(You can click on each image to see a larger version, if you need to.)

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This is a story about a mosaic 

of social entrepreneurs, changemakers and worldshapers. 

In my belief system, they are the living angels 

in which the hope of our planet currently lies. 

It’s a her-story.

that’s becoming 

a history of WE-stories.

It’s a story about accelerating the work of “changemakers” around the world.

And since I am one of them, it’s also my story. 

I first fell in love with the simple word “WE”

when I was using it to catalyze 

Webbed Empowerment 

in an East African warzone.

I'd been amazed when 

an organization “labelled” me 

a “leading changemaker” 

because of essentially personal passions 

I was pursuing.

But I became aware in those days 

that there were other people like me, 

who were driven to serve the world 

by something different inside. 

My passion for WE 

moved with later me to Brussels, 

where I’ve explored & found 

work for myself in the emerging 

global changemaker scene.

There’s lots of us now! 

At the start of this year (2012), I invited five friends 

- fellow women changemakers -

to gather from 3 continents at my home.

Each in unique ways they are my angels, and

We see eye to eye on many things.

our plan was to have a conversation

and to host a conversation 

about accelerating collective 

global changemaker impact and innovation. 

We invited a few people we knew

to join us for an experiment in Brussels. 

that we called in the invitation "#we_b."

We also committed ourselves 

to moving a conversation forward

around the world in the next 2 years. 

Worldchanging folks heard the call 

and gathered with us for this first ever WE_x co-creation lab. 

The inspiring space filled with awe inspiring people 

Their uniquely powerful energies 

humbled us 

as we bumbled through 

our group’s first time working together as a team

Round 1 of group introductions confirmed 

it would be a very exciting day

We were 20 changemakers

from 9 countries

with work on 5 continents

and unlimited passion in the room

into this pool of empowered people 

we unleashed systems thinking content

and co-creative processes

and personal reflection.

With ease the group sparked and taught each other

about how the changemaker space is emerging today, 

and explored what that could mean for each of us.

For 12 hours we conversed, we played, we ate, and made plans.

It was exhausting and exhilerating at the same time.

I learned so much. 

One framework that cut naturally across

many of our conversations was

the @Thrivable action spectrum, 

proposed by Jean who was there to share from Chicago 

Seeing our actions as changemakers 

through the lens of 

what we can control

what we can guide

and what we can nurture

was so grounding.

a collective sigh of relief

seemed to ripple through

this group of often 

over-committed over-achievers 

as we got this.

Christelle from Paris

provoked us to think about impact 

in terms of social risk and opportunity 

How might we invite 

new conversations with old system institutions and corporations,  

that re-frame the story of why social inclusion matters? 

What if 

creating social impact 

was valued in terms of 

reducing social risk? 

Bonnie from Chicago and Carolina from Buenos Aires

led discussions about scaling impact which left us wondering:

Must we all scale our impact?

Or can we find ways to work together 

to achieve the impacts we seek at scale? 

There is only so much each of us can do, 

to control, guide, & nurture 

the world’s current transformation.

But collectively

We are a new landscape 

that’s daring to emerge

and through modeling with clay we learned:

We each define the impact we seek to create in this lifetime,

We each bring our own dynamic to the landscape,

and We each determine the direction we face 

as we keep moving forward to serve 

Our group included changemakers 

at every stage of the European talent pipeline. 

we were students and start-ups,

consultants and thought leaders and 

directors from globally operating organizations

We’re still developing the basic language 

to talk about what we do,

and why we do what we do. 

Our simplest shared truth is that 

we exist as a real community of human beings 

who feel called to live our lives in service to the earth’s 

transformation today. 

It might sound to some of you

like our heads are in the clouds.

But as an angel who joined us reminded me, 

each of us sees something different in the clouds. 

and learning from what we all see

is the essence of the magic 

that tapping into our collective wisdom offers. 

The perspective we gain when we gather 

helps all of us to see how to reach higher

another nugget from her, and this frilly doodle 

that floated in from one of the many flipcharts

have given me a new appreciation for ginger lately

Did you know that ginger is a rhizome? 

I’m told it’s a unique biological concept, 

that needs no beginning or end to grow

the nodes grow where they are called to grow 

without any perceptible effort

like the conversation that #we_b became

So people left us inspired, 

some embarked on new paths of commitment and collaboration

The conversation moved online

with #we_b angels like @ladyniasan and others

organizing themselves to connect and 

to share all their many thoughts. 

But although this first #we_x lab was done

we knew, 

the real harvest was yet to come.

In the afterglow 

a warmth of women’s wisdom infused my Brussels home,

where we debriefed and distilled, 

seeking meaning in it all

for another 12 hours.

With a renewed sense of common purpose, 

but still without clarity on what we’d actually done, 

we pondered ci2i logo options and 

discussed and discussed and 

asked ourselves, 

again and again

Where does the #we_b conversation lead us? 

For me personally, clarity came

once everyone else had finally gone.

In the house all empty and reflective 

The silence started rumbling 

as an organized unjumbling

of the many thoughts in my head

began to crystalize 

and spill itself 

onto the screen. 

It was our ci2i group’s mosaic 

of content and tools and process and future plans. 

It that thing that drives me on this path.

Forming a clear picture
where there hadn’t been one before

of an approach - our collective approach - 

to nurturing the changemaker’s call 

to learn and become

who we are and what we can do

in this emerging new landscape 

we're co-creating. 

Working together to guide this discovery

in ourselves and in others, 

is a natural way forward 

my angels see eye to eye on 

and I love it 

since there is nothing else we can control. 

For each changemaker carries our own cross for change

and follows our own integrated personal and professional development path,

that leads us toward the kind of impact on this transformation that 

we are each here to make.

And every day, 

more and more brilliant and 

driven people 

are picking their up their own crosses for change

and pursuing journeys in service to the earth's renewal, 

toward humanity's higher good. 

Look around and see us everywhere, 

gathering in places like Brussels every day.

Are you one of us?

I’m glad they like ginger in Thailand,

since Chiang Mai is the next step in my own unique journey

Now preparing for new projects in the orient 

I feel oriented. 

#we_b was a powerful affirmation for me

of the the thriving existence of a global tribe 

to which I know I belong.

I can only wonder 

at what we’ll see 

at #we_c !!

===== end =======

Special gratitudes to @appliedwisdom, @bonniekoenig, @christellevh @carolinatocalli @nurturegirl and the #we_b participants for all the amazing inspiration.

Thanks to you as well for reading and commenting if you feel so inspired. Feel free to share.

Follow us collectively at @c2iglobal

I'm at @ChristinasWorld

What is a Changemaker? Reflections on Ashoka's EACH Vision and the Changemaker's Campus at #ACW2011

During the second quarter of this year, I had the honor of working with Ashoka Paris and a global team of professional group conversation facilitators in hosting a 3 day set of dynamic dialogues at the first ever Ashoka Changemaker's Campus.  Our theme was building Ashoka's Everyone A CHangemaker or "EACH" Vision.

Months before June's global event, when I had just signed on to help the Paris team and was presenting some ideas for feedback from the rapidly growing Ashoka Belgium group, someone from a local company asked me "but what do you actually mean by the word changemaker?"

I remember winging an answer that most of the room seemed to feel comfortable with at the time, but today - yes, even after helping to organize and attending the Changemaker's Campus in Paris, I am still not 100% sure that my definition of a changemaker is the same as how others in my professional space use it. If I have learned nothing else in my years of exploring the emerging "changemaker space," it's that we tend to have lots of issues with semantics. In the end, that might not be such a bad thing.

Are you a Changemaker? 

Of course you are - even if you're not calling yourself that yet.... and no, you actually don't have to participate in a changemaker campus to be one!

As I see us, we changemakers are a rapidly growing global tribe of hearts with minds who dare to accept and embrace that we actually can have a world where EVERYONE has the means and incentive to contribute to a thrivable human existence on this planet. We are the Blessed Unrest that Paul Hawken writes of - the largest movement in the world that nobody saw coming.

When I close my eyes and allow myself to see the EACH Vision as we embody it now, we are a beautifully gleaming mosaic of social innovators, social entrepreneurs, social investors, social enterprises, social ecosystem builders, socially engaged corporations, community based initiatives, NGOs, Foundations, LC3's, community action networks, government agencies, informed & engaged consumers, philanthropists, volunteers, moms, dads, kids and grandparents ALL OVER THE WORLD who have already decided and who will eventually decide to work together more and more, in big and small ways, to turn the world around, and set our planet's human development on a sustainable course for a thrivable future.

There we were at the Changemaker's Campus. 1000 of us with power networks, ready to reach across sectors and silos and backgrounds to start thinking big about growing the number of changemakers everywhere. We were bankers and policy wonks, practitioners and investors, corporations and consultants, and cutting edge social innovators from every corner of the globe tackling complex human challenges in incredibly exciting ways. We lived on campus at HEC, one of France's most prestigious business schools. We ran into each other to linger over serendipitous conversations in the long halls, outside of state of the art classrooms, where we learned from each other about our collective potential to build a world where the EACH vision could become real. 

The Changemaker's Campus main 2 day "EACH program," with 3 cross-cutting collaboration tracks (which followed a special sectorally themed cluster program), turned out to be a delightfully gooey and messy banana split of an event experience (with drums sprinkled on top!), where the many flavors present worked wonderfully well together.  For three days, we experienced the special magic that happens whenever changemakers gather. Idea sparks flew, mountains moved, foundations were built, and our collective sense of resolve and direction was sharpened. 

There was a collectively intoxicating giddiness in the sudden knowing: 

• that we are many; 
• that we are powerful; 
• that we are very real and growing daily in our reach.

Changemakers are everywhere among us, already playing your parts to make the world a better place in large and small ways - many of us only beginning to understand the power of the impact we can have on the world with our personal choices about how we spend our time and money. Some of us are driving change from within the towers of industry, some of us are generous in helping out with crowdfunding and online votes for projects our friends send us links to. Some of us are driving innovation from within communities of likeminded people; some among us will influence new national policies, and millions of others of us are influencing the economy through spending habits that we are increasingly linking to the kind of impact we want our households to make in the world. 

Ashoka's Founder, Bill Drayton, proposes that teaching empathy in elementary schools would create a next generation of changemakers that would really kick the building of a more peaceful society into overdrive. I couldn't agree more. But frankly, I also don't think we'll need to wait for those kids to grow up before we start witnessing an intense acceleration of Changemaker activity in the world. I personally sense that the most important "big thing" we must begin doing together is to work harder at measuring and showing the collective impact of the (billions?) of Changemaker actions that are now happening 24/7, all over the planet.

My call to all of us is what are we all measuring, and what can we start measuring together? Which indicators, which targets, which micro-level actions and trends can growing groups of us commit to measuring together, in ways that can help all of us more clearly see and understand the new world that is emerging through our collective actions?  How wonderful it would be if we could figure out how to use our networks of networks to build bridges to a shared new perspective on what our unique pieces of the global change puzzle look like, when we are able to look at them together. 

Co-creating a world where Everyone is a Changemaker involves all of us who believe in a better world taking a frank look inward, at our own personal values and potential value to society, and making choices in our lives that reflect the kind of human beings we want to be, and the kind of change in the global human condition that we want to be a part of.  It is up to each of us, the world's people who choose to work and buy and invest in the part of society that believes in the betterment of humanity, to build our own bridges to a thriving new reality, and personally choose to walk over them. 

Finding your own comfort zone within the Everyone A Changemaker vision is a transcendence of all political dogma; it's not a passing new age fad. It's about choosing to identify yourself with the growing global tribe that knows the world’s best kept secret: that alongside the armageddon of crumbling global economic and political systems we all see in the news lately, other kinds of widespread positive change in the human condition are possible and increasingly real today, thanks to the growing millions of individuals, families, organizations and institutions that are engaging in new kinds of dynamic alliances across silos, across boundaries, and across dogma to co-create it. The world we are building holds empathy for the human condition at it’s core.


There is hope. 

Look around you, people. See the bridges to a more just society around you everywhere, and choose to walk into the reality of building and being the better world you believe in. We changemakers are the anti-conspiracy movement that’s opening up new possibilities for each and every person on the planet to thrive, in an inclusive, cooperative and a thriving world. 

Trust me, even if reading this blog post is the first time you’ve ever thought of yourself as a changemaker in whatever position life finds you, I can assure you it won’t be the last time in your lifetime that you will be called upon to reflect on the impact you can make in building a better world. We are taking over the world's leading business schools. We are infiltrating old institutions and (not so covertly) co-creating some new ones. We are sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, parents and grandparents from all over the world who are embracing this life’s large and small opportunities to redress local and global imbalances.  

Surely if you have access to the information today that leads you to this post, you are already  powerful beyond measure in what you know you can do with a few simple searches or clicks to support your favorite cause, social action or concern. What I guess I’m really saying Paris gave me is a certainty that more of those kinds of easy choices, on many levels in our lives, are yet to come. Changemakers at all levels of society are conspiring to create a world where all of us doing our part is as easy and natural as breathing.  If you don’t think you are a changemaker yet, you will be... we are making sure of that :-)  

#gratitude to Ashoka for allowing me to play such an active role in thinking through HOW to host the amazing event that the Changemaker’s Campus became, and to the amazing group of facilitators who lived up to the trust I place in them to help make the event "anything but a conference." I loved the experience and feel transformed in my thinking about my own potential value as a Changemaker because of it.


Feeling inspired? Share this post with some budding changemakers in your life and pass the positive energy along :-)

Part 4/4: A Social Business Plan for Serving the #socent Community - Transition support for late stage & serial social entrepreneurs

Earlier this year, I shared an idea for serving the #socent community on these blog pages. To my delight, an exciting group of allies, most of whom I have had the honor of working with in the past, formed and settled into a core group of 5 initial "builders" who are committed to working together to see the concept move forward. Our common objective is to support late stage social entrepreneurs, primarily through identifying opportunities to deploy their unique changemaking skills on cross-silo consultancy assignments for the Corporate sector, NGOs and multilateral institutions.

Amazingly, four of the 5 wonder-women in our initial group were able to meet up at the Ashoka Changemaker's Campus in Paris in late June.  It was awesome!

The #socent skills collective that Bonnie Koenig, Cheryl Cooper, Christelle van Ham, Jean Russell and I have been imagining together since February was on the program in the Alliances for Change track on the last day of the Changemaker's Campus event, which gave us an invaluable opportunity to get some early stage feedback on the concept from a live group of social entrepreneurs and consultants active in the social change space. Facilitator Alycia Lee from the HUB Amsterdam's "Collaboracy" initiative led us through a group dialogue and working group session with 17 participants entitled "Leveraging Professional Changemaker Values."

Gratitude abounds - not only for the session group's ability to "see" the utility and do-ability of what we were proposing, but especially for their willingness to help us start thinking through some of the aspects that merit the most careful thought.

My 3 main takeaways:

- The need for a professional support "bridge" to help social entrepreneurs transition between projects resonated very strongly with the social entrepreneurs in the room. Specifically, we learned that guidance from "others who have been there" would be welcome in transitioning out of the leading role in the structures they have created, and on toward developing the confidence to reinvest of themselves in building new initiatives that capitalize on what they have learned. The potential financial opportunity involved in consulting was important but not obviously the most important motivation for participating.

- There will be important work to do in helping social entrepreneurs to recognize and self-assess the concrete skills they have acquired during the course of careers which can be transferable to other professional contexts.

- On the flip-side of defining what social entrepreneurs have to offer, we will also have some interesting work to do on framing the deployment of their unique expertise into a (collaborative?) methodology based practice that can consistently offer unique and high quality value to the clients we consult for.

By the end of the session in Paris we had acquired some lengthy lists of names in 2 separate groupings. Not only did many of the changemakers in the room sign up to be informed when we start developing our database of deployable expertise, but a good number of participants also expressed an interest in exploring ways to work with us in helping to build it.

And voila - new minds gather, new hearts open, and a big idea moves forward toward co-created action. We will be exploring next steps with the expanded group of builders in the coming weeks.

If you have been following the development of this concept and would also like to explore becoming further involved, please let us know using the form the follows. As always, comments, questions and additional feedback most welcome in the comments section below.

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Radical Real Time : Evolutionizing Transparency

In early June I participated as a virtual facilitator of a breakout session at Radical Real Time - a virtual unconference on redefining collaboration. I chose to host a conversation about transparency in collaboration for social change using skype text group chat.

Below is a transcript of the very rich discussion, reposted here from http://radicalrealtime.pbworks.com/Transparency-in-collaboration-for-social-change (which also includes transparency-related reading materials I posted before the session).

[15:24:35] Christina Jordan: Sitting outside in my garden, on possibly the warmest, sunniest day in Brussels so far this year. Getting ready for our chat on transparency in collaboration for social change in an hour. Welcome!

[15:25:02] Sari Stenfors: beautiful!

[15:25:30] Christina Jordan: Where are others chiming in from?

[15:27:30] Raj: Good morning to Sari and good afternoon Christina

[15:28:42] Raj: I am Raj from Kathmandu, Nepal

[15:31:00] Ron Davidson: Hello everyone - it is good be here. I'm Ron in the UK.

[15:31:07] Christina Jordan: Hi Raj! How's your internet connection in Nepal?

[15:31:28] Christina Jordan: Welcome Ron - how's UK weather today?

[15:31:46] Raj: It is fairely good today, Christina

[15:32:08] Ron Davidson: Hah - warm with some clouds..very pleasant..

[15:33:19] Ron Davidson: @Christina - just got your email - Skype is faster...

[15:33:24] Christina Jordan: Just to let you all know, I decided to make this session text chat only - not voice - so that you can dip in and out of other sessions at the same time, if you'd like to. There's a lot of great sessions going on during our time slot!

(idle chit chat deleted)

[15:48:59] Christina Jordan: While waiting for the opening plenary...

To get some thoughts flowing around some of the issues that "transparency" evokes, there are a couple of links/articles up in the documentation session herehttp://radicalrealtime.pbworks.com/Transparency-in-collaboration-for-social-change

[15:49:23] Christina Jordan: oops - section, not session

[15:49:34] Christina Jordan: (chuckle)

[15:57:54] Christina Jordan: The opening plenary will start in about 3 minuteshttps://sites.google.com/a/radical-inclusion.com/rrt-auditorium/home

[16:19:07] Wendy E Brawer joined the chat

[16:19:13] Mats Lönngren joined the chat

[16:20:16] David Marsilia joined the chat

[16:24:05] Wendy E Brawer: Wendy E Brawer set topic to " please click the chat button! "

[16:25:42] Tony Mann: lot of typing?

[16:27:03] Wendy E Brawer: click the chat button

[16:27:03] Tony Mann: please click thr chat button to get in the chat

[16:27:35] Christina Jordan: hmmm are you talking to me?

[16:28:02] Tony Mann: no somehow I'm in a chat conference as well???

[16:29:01] Joitske Hulsebosch joined the chat

[16:29:29] Christina Jordan: Christina Jordan set topic to " Transparency in collaboration for Social Change "

[16:29:39] Joitske Hulsebosch: Hi Christina

[16:29:54] Christina Jordan: Hi Folks - this is the Transparency in Collabroation for social change TEXT chat

[16:29:58] Wendy E Brawer: 97 old state, 01011 usa

[16:30:12] Wendy E Brawer: tell us how to find it

[16:30:16] Christina Jordan: had decided to do this one text only to allow you to join other sessions as well

[16:30:29] Christina Jordan: Wendy, are you in the right place?

[16:30:43] Wendy E Brawer: is this the right place

[16:30:53] Wendy E Brawer: ?

[16:30:59] Joitske Hulsebosch: I thought someone was trying to call me :)

[16:31:02] Christina Jordan: Wendy where do you intend to be?

[16:31:26] Wendy E Brawer: this is fine

[16:31:41] Christina Jordan: ok everyone sorry for the tech difficulties

[16:32:06] Christina Jordan: Can we get some introductions going maybe?

[16:32:22] Joitske Hulsebosch: Sure

[16:32:23] Christina Jordan: My name is Christina Jordan - I am a “serial social entrepreneur” and a global gypsy. I currently live in Brussels, having recently moved back here after 10 years in Uganda, East Africa.

[16:32:53] Joitske Hulsebosch: I'm Joitske Hulsebosch also lived 10 years in Africa :)

[16:33:04] Joitske Hulsebosch: Kenya, Mali, Ethiopia and Ghana

[16:33:28] Joitske Hulsebosch: Now in the Netherlands working on facilitating learning and km

[16:33:50] kathie wallace: Kathie Wallace Vancouver Canada Hello! I am a community engagement facilitator passionate about bringing everyone to the table as equals ona level playing field.

[16:33:52] Joitske Hulsebosch: Moved back in 2003 already

[16:33:54] Raj: I am Raj, lecturer at Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal. TEaching management courses

[16:34:03] Wendy E Brawer: Wendy Brawer, founding director of Green Map System, which has a network of locally led Green Map projects in 55 countries - i live in NYC amd have a coop organic farm where i am now. Have lived in Asia and US

[16:34:05] Tony Mann: Tony, Living in England, working across Europe and the Middle east

[16:34:27] John Stephen Veitch joined the chat

[16:34:31] Ron Davidson: Hi I'm Ron Davidson. I live in England. Full time work is engineering governance, also developing a consultancy supporting SMEs. I'm interested in OD, transformation and change.

[16:34:41] John Stephen Veitch: John Stephen Veitch is using an older version of Skype that does not support multi-person chats and therefore can't join

[16:34:41] David Marsilia: David, USA Texas in transition currently looking for opportunities

[16:34:50] Christina Jordan: Welcome John - we're introducing ourselves!

[16:35:29] Christina Jordan: ok so I wanted to chat about Transparency... here's a bit of background on why that topic:

While in Uganda I engaged in an experiment in organizational transparency - connecting local communities of beneficiaries I was working with directly to groups of global supporters online. Sometimes that worked really well - sometimes it was really challenging to manage the organization’s operations and image.

[16:35:44] Wendy E Brawer: I hope some of you can visit http://GreenMap.org later and see if our approach to connecting community and sustainability will work for your home place....

[16:35:57] Mats Lönngren: I am Mats and i live in Switzerland and Finland. Lived in in Germany and France. Recently graduated industrial designer

[16:36:06] John Stephen Veitch: John Veitch, New Zealand. 2.30am here.

[16:36:49] Mats Lönngren: nice to meet people behind greenmaps..been there before

[16:37:29] kathie wallace: what does "really challenging to manage the orgs operations and images" mean? with reference to transparency?

[16:37:46] Christina Jordan: Looking forward to learning more about greenmaps!

So personally, I believe in the value of transparency, but have learned that we shouldn’t treat it dogmatically. There are parts of transparency that are good, useful, necessary. But sometimes we need to know where the lines need to be drawn

[16:37:48] Wendy E Brawer: thanks Mats! we are growing fast - now over 600 projects, and it's harder to collaborate so I want to learn more from this session and group

[16:38:23] Christina Jordan: @kathie with beneficiaries talking to supporters directly there was a whole lot of messaging that became uncontrolled

[16:38:47] Christina Jordan: which can sometimes be really great, and sometimes be tricky when people start talking about each other

[16:39:06] Heidi Massey joined the chat

[16:39:19] Christina Jordan: Hi Heidi!

[16:39:27] Heidi Massey: Hi Christina!

[16:39:48] Heidi Massey: How do I see what everyone is chatting about or the history...have you started?

[16:40:11] Christina Jordan: So that's just some background to say that transparency is really interesting, but can be challenging. I'll give you a few scenarios later

[16:40:32] Christina Jordan: but first, I wanted to toss the question out there: When you hear the term transparency, what does it really mean to you?

[16:40:50] Christina Jordan: TRANSPARENCY = what?

[16:41:02] kathie wallace: does transparency have to do with who has the control of the scenario? is it being mediated?

[16:41:18] Joitske Hulsebosch: No hidden agendas

[16:41:19] Hempal Shrestha joined the chat

[16:41:42] kathie wallace: transparency for me means no hidden agendas, no middle man mediating and controlling the experience

[16:41:48] Heidi Massey: Transparency is making things clear for people to see what is happening...input into the process

[16:42:09] Joitske Hulsebosch: Being clear about your assumptions and ways of working

[16:42:20] David Ewaku joined the chat

[16:42:34] John Stephen Veitch: Transparency is openness, a willingness to let other people see what you are dibng, no hidden agenda, sicerity of offers, willingness to trust.

[16:42:39] David Marsilia: Availability to information

[16:42:49] Heidi Massey: Clear about goals too...why doing certain things

[16:43:12] kathie wallace: if the people who hold the power are the only ones in the discussion what does that mean?

[16:43:53] Ron Davidson: The norms, control, rules working processes are visible and accible by all involved, but also to other interested parties

[16:44:23] Christina Jordan: Hi David! we're asking what does Transparency mean to you?

[16:44:30] David Marsilia: Unobstructed with equal capabilities shared amongst all parties including stakeholders in the public domain

[16:45:29] Wendy E Brawer: also sharing the perspective and views of others without judgment

[16:45:35] Heidi Massey: I love what David said about unobstructed with equal...SO important in low income communities. We block transparency sometimes by making things inaccessible!

[16:45:41] Mats Lönngren: Transparency is honestly..honestly in what you do and how you treat people

[16:45:55] Ron Davidson: For those holding the power - it is been able to see or understand where their power comes from

[16:45:55] Mats Lönngren: sorry honesty

[16:46:08] Joitske Hulsebosch: Not in every situation there is equal capabilities? I wonder about that

[16:46:30] Christina Jordan: Here's a different take on the question... Is transparency good for the world? WHY?

[16:47:17] Heidi Massey: Joitske, sometimes even lack of internet access blocks access to the process and thus transparency

[16:47:30] Raj: Transparency is good. But, to what level/extent

[16:47:53] David Marsilia: Context for contribution comes from richness and depth of information shared. You can only add value if you already know whats been done and what the goals are.

[16:48:00] Heidi Massey: I think that it depends on the situation...but we tend to err on the side of too little transparency in our organizations and too much in our personal lives!

[16:48:21] Christina Jordan: That's a great point Heidi!

[16:48:35] John Stephen Veitch: Transparency allows other people to more correctly understand what their real options are. So they can participate as equals. Transparency allows them to ne peers. Surely that's good.

[16:48:37] Heidi Massey: David, another awesome comment! So true...easy to keep people out by withholding info

[16:49:10] Raj: Everything can be transparent everywhere? In certain cases people do not want to disclose the reality

[16:49:35] Christina Jordan: Is there a mandate for organizations in the social change space to be more transparent than traditional corporations?

[16:49:36] Ron Davidson: @Heidi good point considering all the information that is available on each of us, but the intimate details of some companies operations is very hidden

[16:49:52] David Marsilia: The organization weakens itself if it cannot or willnot share

[16:50:12] Heidi Massey: I know there is a LOT of fear of transparency...what might happen if people know the truth...but I think the truth sometimes, the vulnerability draws people in, instead of repelling them

[16:50:36] Joitske Hulsebosch: @Christina I think it should be yes for nonprofits

[16:50:56] Ron Davidson: @Christina

[16:51:01] Joitske Hulsebosch: but I think it is almost less

[16:51:03] kathie wallace: if you have nothing to hide, no problem being transparent...re having no defenses...only people/orgs holding power and controlling others struggle with transparency and have to have defenses

[16:51:16] Raj: Another point to consider is 'to what extent to be transparent to whom?'

[16:51:29] Joitske Hulsebosch: Good point!

[16:51:42] Heidi Massey: I just read about how we are drawn to vulnerability and repelled by those people/organizations that seem powerful...Oops, gotta pick up daughter...bbl. Sorry!

[16:51:44] Christina Jordan: Yes, Raj - that's my next question - how far does transparency have to go?

[16:51:47] Joitske Hulsebosch: Can't explain everything all the time

[16:52:03] Joitske Hulsebosch: Bye Heidi!

[16:52:10] David Marsilia: Nobody, no organization is perfect. To claim otherwise sets up barriers to potential contributors.

[16:52:22] Ron Davidson: @Christina - sorry do you know of any study/research findings on how much social organisation have as opposed to private ones?

[16:52:25] Christina Jordan: By Hiedi!

[16:53:03] Christina Jordan: How much transparency? no I don't know of any research on that, only know thet it's a huge buzzword that seems very ill defined

[16:53:20] Christina Jordan: Does it mean open decision-making?

[16:53:29] Christina Jordan: does it mean sharing financal information?

[16:53:41] Raj: In my opinion, to that extent that does not kill the secrecy of doing it, and again does not affect in sustaining the business/operations

[16:54:13] Christina Jordan: does it mean acknowledgement of stakeholder opinions?

[16:54:19] Christina Jordan: Does it mean pleasing everyone?

[16:54:21] Joitske Hulsebosch: There has been a study in the Netherlands from foreign affairs about transparency in development cooperation

[16:54:46] Joitske Hulsebosch: Was very much about sharing the results of your work and the process

[16:54:52] Raj: no, no. In most of the cases stakeholders do not know all about, specially in social change process

[16:55:06] kathie wallace: is transparency not required for true collaboration?

[16:55:19] Ron Davidson: @Christina yes and there is transparency as far a accounting goes, but as for intentions of the organisation's.. transparency can bre a very different matter

[16:55:31] Raj: Pleasing stakeholders, sometimes against the mission of the organization

[16:56:19] Joitske Hulsebosch: There is a role for intermediaries too, to interpret information

[16:56:21] Christina Jordan: Right, so that's where issues of "controlling" the messaging come up

[16:56:25] Joitske Hulsebosch: like journalists

[16:56:36] Christina Jordan: Contolling is a word I don't like much

[16:56:56] Christina Jordan: Kathie, in collaboration I think transparency is really key

[16:57:06] Christina Jordan: But not all partners will

[16:57:09] Raj: I mean, we all know that change is different than usual. Very few people understand and acknowledge the benefits/change need in advance

[16:57:33] Mats Lönngren: Me too Kathie. In order to collaborate you need to evalutate the extent of trust that is built between people / organisations.

[16:57:44] Joitske Hulsebosch: Are you talking about transparency as organisations or individuals? I'm a little lost

[16:57:54] Christina Jordan: Here's a scenario:

[16:57:56] Christina Jordan: You are leading an initiative that involves several players from around the world, working together in a collaborative space online. One of the key players refuses to discuss things openly, but insists on only private conversation with you. How do you handle that?

[16:57:57] kathie wallace: I find current buzz words like collaboration and self-organizing are used by orgs/groups while they hold the power and run the show themselves which adds to the confusion as we shift to a more level playing field at this time

[16:58:59] Joitske Hulsebosch: I think there is nothing wrong with one on one (private) conversations

[16:59:21] Joitske Hulsebosch: Thanks not necessarily counter-transparent - what do others think?

[16:59:49] John Stephen Veitch: I'd ask the the individual who acts in that way to put his point in the public space.

[17:00:13] kathie wallace: that key player is pulling the energy from the group experience to her/himself=control so solution it to name it

[17:00:15] Mats Lönngren: But there is a problem in case the "rules" of the collaboration involves discussion and knowledge sharing..

[17:00:35] Raj: It is very normal and usual. It happens even in face to face conversation and in physical settings. We cannot ignore the role of informal relationship. One way could be bringing the outcome of the private conversation in front after a while

[17:00:44] David Marsilia: In Christina's scenario: it can be important to allow for moments of side conversations as long as the purpose is to draw the outsider in towards transparency. This allows for expression of doubt that any one party may feel about the process or organization. The goal is full disclosure not necessarily the starting place

[17:02:08] Christina Jordan: So "safe space" could be really important in moving toward transparency?

[17:02:18] Joitske Hulsebosch: there may be good reasons for one of one conversations

[17:02:39] Christina Jordan: What should stay private, what should be shared among collaborators? What should be public? Where are the lines?

[17:03:15] Joitske Hulsebosch: I guess you have to see when it becomes detrimental to the trust

[17:03:32] Joitske Hulsebosch: undermining the process

[17:03:40] Raj: There is varieties. Common interest could be the bottom line

[17:03:43] Christina Jordan: good point - does trus build transparency or does transparency build trust?

[17:04:37] John Stephen Veitch: There may be excellent reasons for one on one conversations. To clarify a point, to make it clear why full details cannot be made public. Toprotect the privacy of someone else. None of thses cases requires public disclosure.

[17:05:02] Joitske Hulsebosch: (or a simple helpdesk :)

[17:05:10] Joitske Hulsebosch: not to bother the whole group

[17:05:21] Christina Jordan: Great perspectives folks. I appreciate your involvement in this discussion.

[17:05:22] Hempal Shrestha: trust makes the environment for transparency

[17:06:13] David Marsilia: This is why it is so important for the organization to have the highest level of tranparency from the outset. No limitations beyond propritetary (sp) or copyright information.

[17:06:53] kathie wallace: what prompted the question? the most difficult and critical thing for us to do on the planet at this time is open and be vulnerable to each other and lower our defenses=transparency

[17:06:57] Ron Davidson: @Hempal is tha ttrusting someone to be open about their thoughts, ides, poiont of view...?

[17:06:58] Mats Lönngren: Christina: good question..in a relationship for example, trust is something that builds upon experience and time and some kind of access to your real self: transparency?

[17:07:24] David Marsilia: @ John Yes you've got that about right

[17:08:01] Christina Jordan: ok, so talking about trust... here is another scenario to consider:

[17:08:03] Christina Jordan: Your NGO/project is in partnership with another well-known organization for a project you are implementing together. You find out over time that the partner organization is dramatically mismanaged - there is corruption. What is your obligation to transparency in this case? To whom? What do you do?

[17:08:31] Hempal Shrestha: @ Ron, may be not exactly the case, but it developes an situation which creates a comfortability for transparency,

[17:09:19] Ron Davidson: @OK where the other person feels they can be open..

[17:10:22] Joitske Hulsebosch: Well transparency means not saying everything all the time

[17:10:22] David Marsilia: In any case were a partnership organization is breaking the law and you become aware of it any and all information should immediately be passed on to the appropriate authorities.

[17:11:08] Joitske Hulsebosch: So be open about what you observe and feed it back

[17:11:19] kathie wallace: i answer only to myself and my personal integrity...in the past i have named the corruption...and been fired ;- )...I spoke to the person in control who had the responsibility to admit and change and didn't...other times I have spoken to other entities in charge o/s of the org...what i have found is people who want to hold power don't want to hear about the corruption because they themeslves are complicit

[17:11:50] Christina Jordan: Unfortunately that's been my experience too, Kathie

[17:11:51] John Stephen Veitch: Been there @Christina. First of all you have to try to verify your information. Good record keeping is critical. Your FACTS will be challenged. What appears to be will keep changing. When you approach the organisation direcly and put your cards on the table, they will try to make you look like a traitor.

[17:12:17] Christina Jordan: and they will fight back

[17:12:24] Raj: Kathie, I had got life threat in the similar case

[17:12:45] Wendy E Brawer: we had a situation... we sent a letter to them and the funder with suggestions to the partner on how to remediate, and that if they would make the changes please contact us again. But until then our relation was over. yes we kept all the records.

[17:12:51] Ron Davidson: @Christina in the scenario, some care may be needed in disclosing something you discover about the other organisation made in confidence. Maybe in the extreme you have to walk away from the project to maintain your integrity.

[17:12:52] Christina Jordan: Which goes back to what @Kathie said, yes I think it is so important to lower the defenses and be more vulnerable to each other. But the flipside is we may get hurt

[17:12:58] kathie wallace: there is a limit to what we can do within the power structures themselves...now i work outside those structures to address these problems

[17:13:21] Christina Jordan: Can you elaborate on what you mean by that @Kathie?

[17:14:05] Christina Jordan: Sounds like many have had similar experiences. what is the obligation to other stakeholders in this case?

[17:14:29] Joitske Hulsebosch: a project lowered corruption by increasing transparency about forms and costs

[17:14:29] Christina Jordan: Do you let other partners/beneficiaries/donors know?

[17:14:34] Christina Jordan: or only authorities?

[17:15:13] kathie wallace: it is a huge topic...my session is the start of an elaboration...first we have to understand power dynamics...letting others know=many still choose to buy in bec' they don't think they have a choice e.g. will lose their jobs

[17:15:22] Joitske Hulsebosch: I think you should talk to the people involved first ...

[17:16:43] John Stephen Veitch: @Kathie. Power structures. For instance a board meeting, which can exclude staff. Or a board meeting that's open for staff to attend, them chooses to go into committee. Or the Chairman comes to a meeting with the decision already made and the votes in his pocket. Before you've put your case.

[17:16:47] Raj: In most of the case, it relates to the presence of government/good governance. We have to explain the case differently in different situation

[17:16:55] David Marsilia: The power of integrity with transparency creates greater collaboration with higher value parties. What may seem good in the shortterm because of time and resources already commited can all go to ruin when corruption is discovered down the road. Even if the corruption never becomes public the mission is cheapened.

[17:17:39] Joitske Hulsebosch: I know a case where an NGO used money 'creatively' on different budgets and the peace corps volunteer reported them as corrupt to the donors, this damaged their image, whereas it was a case of more flexible use and accounting than we are used to

[17:17:52] kathie wallace: is not corruption perhaps always about people holding power, taking from others, and abusing others in that?

[17:17:57] Joitske Hulsebosch: ( in my opinion :)

[17:18:23] Joitske Hulsebosch: What is abusing to some, may be normal practice to others ..

[17:18:30] Heidi Massey: So Joitske, if they had been more transparent about their budgeting, maybe they wouldn't have suffered after...

[17:18:55] Joitske Hulsebosch: Sure, that's the importance of transparence, fully agree

[17:19:10] Christina Jordan: Indeed @David. For me it's about mission. @Kathie, yes, I think corruption is usally about power.

In the time we have left, I want to move on to some slightly different angles:

1. What keeps more organizations from operating transparently?

and

2. What are the tools that organizations in the social changer space can use to increase transparency in concrete - visible - ways?

[17:19:30] David Marsilia: Transparency prevents shocks of misunderstanding to crop up later in relationships.

[17:20:03] Joitske Hulsebosch: I think organisations want to look good and start with small lies and it grows

[17:20:11] David Marsilia: That's the way its always been done mentalities

[17:21:19] Joitske Hulsebosch: depends also on the culture in the sector?

[17:21:30] Joitske Hulsebosch: like banking sector

[17:21:38] David Marsilia: tools: social media participation, wikis attached to web space

[17:21:56] Christina Jordan: 1) I think organizations in the social change space deal with issues where there are really tough challenges, and few easy answers. They make mistakes, and may fear that disclosing mistakes will result in loss of the support they rely on... but I also think there's ways to flip that and make it positive

[17:22:08] Joitske Hulsebosch: tools: sharing more work through social media

[17:22:10] kathie wallace: Those of us who want a new world have to model it, without attachment to preaching a "better way" yet showing that the new way is so cool and fun and powerful anyone would want to be part of it!

[17:22:14] Raj: To the first question, in my opinion- we have to develop 'culturre' by meeting basic requirements; and in case of second question- I have a concept of 'What is with it"

[17:22:44] Christina Jordan: what is with it? what do you mean Raj?

[17:23:06] Christina Jordan: Kathie, do you know Hildy Gottlieb?

[17:23:25] Joitske Hulsebosch: I know Hildy from cpsquare!

[17:23:44] kathie wallace: no, I don't know hildy yes, social media has the power to change everything if

[17:23:51] Raj: We have to start from what is known/available/familier......

[17:24:19] Joitske Hulsebosch: Raj, can you give an example?

[17:24:28] Christina Jordan: I love her take on transparency! She talks about "gardening in the front yard"http://hildygottlieb.com/2009/11/30/transparency-community-engagement-part-1/

[17:24:58] kathie wallace: social media done with awareness of what the power dynamics are and how they have to be changed=delete the middle man between people communicating with people to change eveything

[17:25:27] Joitske Hulsebosch: tools: countervailing power

[17:25:36] Christina Jordan: So kathie, does that mean deleting organizations from the equation?

[17:25:57] kathie wallace: oh...so...yes... to life!

[17:26:10] Joitske Hulsebosch: Kathie who is your middlemen?

[17:26:18] Raj: We have to answer a question- how do we make a person understood about curruption, if he/she has ever heard it in his/her life?

[17:26:36] David Marsilia: The organization morphs into a conduit instead of existing as a barrier

[17:26:40] Raj: I mean not heard

[17:27:01] kathie wallace: i don't have one...I am a sovereign being bec' i live on welfare :- ) suffering for FREEDOM

[17:27:36] Joitske Hulsebosch: :)

[17:27:39] Christina Jordan: yes, David - that's exactly what I tried to do in Uganda - let the organization serve as a conduit instead of a barrier

[17:27:53] Joitske Hulsebosch: I meant I didn't understand your phrase Kathie

[17:28:15] kathie wallace: invisible structure and background facilitator=equality and tranwsparency

[17:28:27] John Stephen Veitch: LOL @Kathie - Ben there too. Connect to more people -You are doing that. Find me on LinkedIn, or Ryze

[17:28:38] Christina Jordan: so the challenge came when WE as a group would get support for a project WE as a group had defined together, but then ONE person would disagree and be very publicly loud about it

[17:28:42] John Stephen Veitch: Been there too.

[17:28:53] kathie wallace: [8:28:15 AM] kathie wallace: invisible structure

<<< sstructure="">

[17:29:11] David Marsilia: excellent question Raj, this is how transparency works as an energizing and educating phenomena. What isn't known becomes known. What was misunderstood becomes apparent.

[17:29:55] Christina Jordan: being transparent is great when it works, but without 100% consensus the risk is that there will be individual disruptors who channel their anger into the public arena

[17:30:23] Raj: Therefore, Christina, 'what is with it'

[17:30:24] Christina Jordan: @David your comments are so insightful

[17:30:33] kathie wallace: people need to be taught a new way of communicating in groups/orgs that ends the dominator energy

[17:31:02] kathie wallace: deep thanks everyone

[17:31:11] Joitske Hulsebosch: is that social media?

[17:31:20] Christina Jordan: I can't believe it's been an hour already!

[17:32:12] Christina Jordan: A huge thank you to everyone for joining in here! Feel free to keep sending thoughts into this space

[17:32:14] John Stephen Veitch: This process has worked very well Christina, well done, and congratulations.

[17:32:27] Joitske Hulsebosch: Yes, good luck

[17:32:37] David Marsilia: Very energizing

[17:32:44] Christina Jordan: Thanks John - I've done twitter chats before but this was the first one on skype - a very different experience!

[17:32:44] Joitske Hulsebosch: Intriguing

[17:32:51] Raj: Congratulations to all of us!

[17:33:05] Ron Davidson: @Christina thank you Very interesting and rewarding

[17:33:17] Christina Jordan: Indeed @Raj - congrats to all... hope to see you in some of the sessions later

[17:33:20] Wendy E Brawer: thanks to all!

[17:33:20] Joitske Hulsebosch: Are you going to summarize ?

[17:33:38] David Marsilia: Yes, thanks to everyone

[17:33:44] Christina Jordan: There will ba a transcript of the chat in the documentation section later

[17:33:47] Raj: See you again

[17:34:25] Christina Jordan: @joitske I will attempt to summarize a bit in an intro, but in the interest of transparency will include all the comments :-)

[17:34:45] Hempal Shrestha: i was the bumble bee, will follow in the chat archive, thanks

[17:35:00] John Stephen Veitch: Hope you will also correct the spelling.

[17:35:10] Christina Jordan: not a chance @john!

[17:35:14] David Marsilia: Indeed as Thomas L Freidman says, The World is Flat

[17:36:29] Joitske Hulsebosch: We have a break now?

[17:36:45] Christina Jordan: Yep - reconvening for session 2 in 24 min.

[17:37:33] Christina Jordan: Thanks for being here everyone! Off for a coffee break now

[17:37:48] Raj: Thank you David