University of San Diego: site of first Global Dialogue

The University of San Diego has extended its full hospitality and support to the Global Dialogue. Some sessions will be held at the School of Leadership and Education Sciences (above), others at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (middle and top). USD is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

University of San Diego Via Scholars

The USD Via Scholars met for the first time as a group to get to know one another and to meet with Via International staff. Left to right: Jennifer Case and Elisa Sabatini of Via International; Elaine Elliott, USD Director of Community Service Learning; Kelsey Johnson, Celisse Ruiz, Patrick Oliveri, Ruth Soberanes, John Loggins, Assistant Director of Community Service Learning; and, Hannah Evans.

Virginia Tech Via Scholars

The Virginia Tech Via Scholars gathered at the Institute for Policy and Governance to begin preparing for the Global Dialogue in San Diego. Left to right: Lakshmi Jayaram, Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention; Deepu George, Lyusyena Kirakosyan, Emily Barry, Maria Bocanegra, Brendan Jon Brink-Halloran, Laura Boutwell, Max Stephenson, Director Institute for Policy and Governance; Jim Dubinsky, Director Center for Student Engagement and Community Partnerships.

Seeing from the Future

So what does it all mean?  Perhaps that what we can do in the face of an unknowable future is to be prepared as individuals and as communities, able and fit enough to respond in ways we cannot know ahead of time that we will create together.  How then will we prepare? Perhaps by looking in the least likely, most distant corners of our country.  These will be rural places, ignored and neglected pockets of resilience and endurance that have sustained ages of neglect and maintained presence, retained a vision of what it means to be a human being. Perhaps in these places we will find voices speaking, that have never stopped speaking, if we would but listen closely, attentively to learn how to reclaim what it means to be human, what it means to live in harmony with the earth and sky, what it means to live as though every person matters, every voice counts.  

Elisa describes the Global Dialogue, Part 2

Elisa describes the Global Dialogue, Part 1

Global Dialogue for Responsibility: more than a name change

Elisa, Jennifer, Kabir and Andy met  January 29th while in Albuquerque  to continue planning for the Global Gathering.  They realized that naming the event the Global Dialogue for Responsibility more accurately described the purpose and timeliness of the convening planned for October at the University of San Diego.  

The next day, Elisa described the project background, provided brief descriptions of the transformational leaders who will gather, and shared thoughts about the process thus far.  A video presentation of her talk will appear here shortly.  Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are some photos from the planning session.  Jennifer captured our thoughts in graphic form with imagination and verve.

NOTE: Click on a photo to enlarge for detail.

convergence

And so it comes to pass... energized and enthusiastic travelers on a journey to ever deepen the love embrace with transformation in friendship and community will gather in New Mexico on the 27th of this month to continue the evolution of this exciting community dialogue. Planners from Virginia, California, New Mexico, and? Will gather to discuss face-to-face the next steps in birthing this dynamic cohort.

I for one am grateful in advance.

Background Reading

As background reading, this brief narrative, "Global Gathering Enrollment," is an early piece by Elisa Sabatini, Executive Director of Via International (formerly Los Ninos).  Included as an attachment is an article by Meg Wheatley on networks and emergence ("Using Emergence to Take Social Innovations to Scale"). 

Increasingly, it feels to me there is something quite remarkable emerging around and about the Global Gathering.  This morning, at a meeting of the Foundation's distribution committee, I learned that Paul Farmer will be at Virginia Tech for two days this Spring.  In October, he will be speaking at USD's 20th Social Issues Conference.  Our Global Gathering is being hosted at USD in the context of the Social Issues Conference.

The photo was taken from the Tijuana side of the border at San Diego-Tijuana: an iron fence running to the sea that separates us.  In our thinking, in my thinking, how often I run into iron fences like this. How can I overcome my iron fences?  The Gathering promises to be a convocation of exceptional leaders preparing the next generation of leaders for whom fences are no longer needed.

This morning in conversation with a young colleague, I had a glimpse of this new, emerging leadership that sustains relationships, builds teams and cohorts, values connections more than personal fame.  

I see in her a leadership that is about *us*, instead of about being The One.  I find this inspiring and hopeful and gives the Global Gathering clearer meaning.