The past eight-and-a-half years at Einhorn Collaborative have profoundly shaped who I am. This moment of transition allows me to reflect on the gifts and the lessons learned that I’m bringing to my next role.
As an eternal optimist and tinkerer, I thrive on being at a fork in the road. I love knowing that lessons can be learned from reflection and that beautiful opportunities are right at our feet, waiting for us to take the next step. And the truth is, we don’t need to wait for the new year to do it.
While there is much talk within philanthropy about bringing people with diverse experiences to the table, it’s clear more still needs to be done to ensure that community members are given opportunities for participation and decision making equal to the so-called traditional experts.
It is easy to see how a gloomy outlook on the country and a cynical view of humanity conspire to stifle our collective imagination. Yet that capacity to envision and work toward better futures is most needed in times of upheaval and rapid change; that is, now.
It’s in moments of reflection, when we take a step back to look at a cross-section of our own “trunks,” that we can see a concentric pattern of rings emerge, giving us clues about the conditions and magnitude of emotions we attach to formative experiences over our lifetime.
The majority of Americans across the political spectrum support more funding to ensure every child receives an adequate civic education, yet over the last twenty years, 44% of school districts reduced how much time educators spend on social studies in elementary schools.
What is something that you believe is not working in our society today that you could help tend to and maybe even solve by building something better?
Small moments of connection are what we need to build trust, a core element in any healthy relationship, before we can come together to solve bigger societal challenges.
Our Building Strategy Lead Jonathan Gruber spoke on a panel with New Pluralists' Executive Director Uma Viswanathan and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Senior Program Officer Sharon Roerty at the Foundation for Social Connection's 2022 End Social Isolation and Loneliness Action Forum.
In addition to toxic polarization, threats of political violence, the divisive effects of social media, and other oft-cited forces – loneliness is a lesser-known factor that subverts democracy.
