A lightbulb moment at a Resetting the Table training

I attended a Resetting the Table training led by Eyal Rabinovitch and Leah Reiser at the Council on Foundations’ Building Together conference. During an exercise designed to strengthen understanding between two people, I had the task of summarizing what I heard from my conversation partner. After a few rounds of practicing and not accurately capturing what my partner had shared, Eyal asked what assumptions I may have inserted in my recap. With his coaching, I realized I unintentionally incorporated my own perspectives and experiences into her story. Now, when I am in deep listening mode, I have Eyal’s critical question at the forefront of my mind, “What assumptions are you inserting here, Jenn?”

President Obama’s Keynote at the 2024 Democracy Forum

Watching President Obama deliver a speech about the principles and function of pluralism in a healthy democracy brought tears to my eyes. With our commitment to the work of social connection and social cohesion across lines of difference for nearly two decades, it was uplifting and affirming to hear President Obama and many of our partners on stage talk about the real opportunities and challenges of pluralism and how we can embody this way of working and living in our everyday life.

“Seasons of Love” Performance at Park Avenue Synagogue

One of my favorite Broadway songs was performed during Rosh Hashanah services at our synagogue back in October. How do we navigate a difficult year? With love.  

“Step Into Your Power” by Ray LaMontagne

Thank you, Christine, for sharing this song. It was on repeat during a difficult time, giving me much needed hope and strength.

Now listen
Don’t be afraid
Don’t be afraid to fall
It’s the getting back up
That’s gonna make you strong
God only made one like you
So c’mon baby
And just do what you were born to do

A box of elephant paper clips

While cleaning up a desk in our office, I found a small box of elephant paperclips, which I immediately shared quietly with my colleagues. It reminded me to find delight in small things.

“Welcome Home” drawing in our front yard

It was on our driveway when my son, Shaan, came home from the hospital. A crew of neighborhood kids chalked our driveway. There was a sign on our front lawn, and there was a mini parade complete with the fire department, rescue squad, and police department to welcome him home.

A week-long residency at Domaine de Boisbuchet

In September, I did an artist-in-residence program at Domaine de Boisbuchet, an architectural park and workshop in the South of France, with my husband and daughter. It’s rare that a residency allows artists to bring their family, so it was a treat to experiment with new materials, weave, and make art with our three-year-old. We spent our days exploring the different elements of awe – from making kites to having communal meals to harvesting dye materials from plants. The residency gave me a moment to pause, let go of creative inhibitions, and sparked a new path for my art practice.

All Fours by Miranda July

You may be shocked that I would include this book in a work list, but please let me explain. It’s true that I love Miranda July as a writer and appreciate the topics explored in the book (a woman’s experience with perimenopause), but All Fours is much more than that. Its resonance ignited group chats, which quickly turned into merch on Etsy, internet posts from people sharing similar life experiences and advice on Miranda July’s Substack, and themed book club meetings. For me, All Fours comes back to the power of art – it holds up a mirror, provokes, and helps people find a place of belonging, no matter how alone or singular one might feel about their beliefs and experiences.

“These Are the Days” by Lyndsay Rush

Ira introduced me to A Bit Much, a poetry collection by Lyndsay Rush. Upon reading “These Are the Days,” I immediately took a photo of the poem and sent it to a WhatsApp chat of mom friends.

When my pants barely fit and
I fall asleep every night at 7:45 P.M.
When I entered my Donut Era and
started wearing a bra to bed
When you won’t let me carry anything and
the dog refuses to leave my side
These are the days when everyone will tell us about
the long days
and the short years
and how we should sleep while they sleep
and cherish every moment because they grow up so fast
These are the days of Big Opinions and long lists of must-haves
and stacks of books we will never read
And on days like these
        when we manage to focus on
        the only day we’re promised (today)
we can’t believe our luck
that these days are even ours
in the first place

Group Living and Other Recipes: A Memoir by Lola Milholland

I joke with my girlfriends that we will one day have a compound, where each of us has our own tiny home centered around communal spaces like a huge kitchen and gardens. Each contributes our talents to the health of our homestead while beautifully balancing independence and living in a community that fosters well-being. Group Living is a wonderful memoir that gives the reader a sense of what it’s like for cultures to blend, compromise, and live in agreed harmony.

Tracy Chapman’s surprise performance at the 2024 Grammys of her hit “Fast Car” with Luke Combs

One of the best collaborations in Grammy history. Period. Up until then, Chapman hadn’t performed publicly in over 15 years and was now being watched by millions of viewers. She sang her Grammy-award winning 1986 hit with country star Luke Combs, whose cover of the same song was a recent Billboard country success. The compassionate lyrics about wanting to escape our circumstances and “be someone” didn’t leave a dry eye in the audience or at home.

“Recipes for Connection” from the Office of the Surgeon General

I think Dr. Vivek Murphy wrote this with me in mind. I am a huge champion of bringing people together for Sunday Supper just for the sake of human connection and no other agenda. The brightly colorful booklet shares tips on setting the table, deepening relationships, and building social connections through gathering. Bonus points for including a Mad Lib sample!

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

As someone who likes to solve problems, I needed to hear this, so I could let go of things that are outside of my control – and not let that stop me in my tracks, sour my mood, or ruin my day. Like Patti LaBelle, I have a New Attitude.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Like another of my all-time favorite books, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, I stayed up extra late to finish Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and then was sobbing at the end. While the two books are quite different, they are united by the story of friendship, connection, disconnection, and repair over the years from youth to adulthood – lessons for all of us as we interact with families, friends, and neighbors.

A story about Charmin Toilet Paper with wavy lines

Small changes can often make a big difference — even if not in practicality but in how you feel. When I see the wavy lines on my roll of Charmin, I smile. But those small changes might not be as easy to make as they seem on the surface. There may be years of work that goes into them, including changing entrenched systems that have been around for decades. FIVE YEARS to make the wavy perforation a reality?! There is a lot of change that we all want to see in the world. Some changes seem big and impossible. What small changes might make a difference? And when those small – or big – changes take time, let’s support each other in the process, knowing that the long effort will pay off.

“How To Fight Prejudice with Betsy Levy Paluck” on Worklife by Adam Grant 

I am always engaging with research that relates to bridging work. I am also an avid podcast listener. Sometimes those habits collide. In this episode of his ReThinking podcast, Adam Grant interviews social psychologist and Macarthur Genius Betsy Levy Paluck. They talk about her groundbreaking work on prejudice and conflict reduction, including field experiments in contexts as varied as post-genocide Rwanda and addressing bullying in NJ middle schools. A central insight from Levy Paluck’s work is to treat prejudice as a social phenomenon. Rather than trying to change people’s attitudes and beliefs – which rarely works – we can change people’s perceptions of social norms in ways that lead to more positive behavior. A fascinating and thought-provoking conversation. 

“Five Thought Experiments Concerning the Underlying Disease” by George Saunders

I have read many takes on the 2024 election by journalists, politicos, and academics as I try to better understand what happened and what it might mean for our work. This piece by the brilliant fiction writer George Saunders has stuck with me more than all the post-mortems on the exit polls. In a series of short thought experiments, Saunders cleverly reveals how we are manipulated by conflict entrepreneurs and an information ecosystem that render us perpetually angry, overwhelmed, and at odds – but also how we have an innate capacity to work together on practical issues of shared concern and even come to like each other amidst our differences.

“Beethoven Blues” Album by Jon Batiste

Jon Batiste is one of the most talented musicians out there. I love his new album, in which he improvises at the piano on famous Beethoven works like Fur Elise, Ode to Joy, and the Fifth Symphony. Batiste inflects these classical masterpieces with the sounds of jazz, blues, gospel, and other genres. For me, this mash-up of musical languages reflects the beauty of bringing different cultures and perspectives into conversation with each other and how that can create something new. I also had the good fortune of seeing Batiste in concert this year, and it was such a joyful experience. I was not only awed by his artistry but also inspired by his message of love, hope, and shared humanity.

“The Dragon Prince” series on Netflix

I recently finished season six of The Dragon Prince: Mystery of Aaravos, a show I discovered during the pandemic. If the title didn’t give it away, yes, this is an animated series! There are dragons, elves, magic, and plenty of adventure. The show wrestles with relationship rupture and repair, trust building, emotional connection, holding complex points of view, and multi-species cooperation. Very few of the cartoons I watched as a kid had these complex messages, and it brings me a bit of joy to see how our work can show up in multimedia.

Welcoming Veronika Breton and Fanta Diop as our summer interns

This summer, we welcomed two college interns, Fanta and Veronika, through the Posse Foundation. Along with constant laughter and keeping the team up to date on how differently Gen Z uses emojis (for example, 😭 can signify laughter), they also developed an insightful capstone project. The project involved interviewing 50 of their peers to help our team better understand the sentiments and attitudes of young people born 1995-2012. Two findings have stayed with me: First, many participants expressed a deep sense that their generation lacks role models to guide their collective moral and behavioral direction. Second, despite the challenges in society – what some young people described as a “hot mess” – most participants remained “cautiously hopeful” about the future.

Generation Citizen Civics Day

I was privileged to attend a Generation Citizen Civics Day in New York City. As part of their coursework, students collaborate with teachers and classmates to develop a civic project addressing specific community issues, which they present at the event. A student whose school gym ceiling was crumbling began his presentation by stating, “I should be able to throw a ball in gym.” This simple yet powerful declaration has stayed with me. Thanks to the dedication of his teacher and the Generation Citizen team, this student not only articulated his concerns but also gained the tools and confidence to advocate for change.