Praxis 2021 Q3 Newsletter

 
 
Reflections...
The Praxis team had the pleasure of spending two days together last week in beautiful Tucson, AZ (and remotely) for our annual retreat. It was powerful to connect and be in community with each other. We took the opportunity to center our work and collective values and engage in adaptive planning. There were many thoughtful reflections throughout the retreat including:
  • Our commitment to name what needs to be named and be bold in our language and approach.
  • What it means to take care of ourselves while moving the work forward, particularly for those who are most impacted. This includes naming and combatting anti-Blackness explicitly and practicing healing justice.
  • What it means to be a place of practice that deeply values continuous learning, transparency, and co-creation in partnership with all of your incredible organizations. Committing to give 100% and be in service of and to each partner. 
  • A recognition of stillness—holding and believing; sustaining.
We curated some songs that were on our minds or that we were loving during our retreat last week.
Centering Community...
The Praxis programs team has been working to center community in rural policy and power-building efforts.
  • As part of Toward Better Rural Futures, a project in partnership with ChangeLab Solutions and National Governors Association, Praxis recently held a rural policies Learning Circle with organizers advancing racial and economic justice in rural communities.
  • In November, Praxis will host our first Rural Community Power Building Advisory Working Group meeting. The Rural Community Power Building Project will focus on BIPOC rural organizing. This Learning Circle will provide opportunities to support authentic engagement between organizers, organizations, champions, allies, and funders.
  • Praxis recently launched a Policies for Action project in partnership with Berkeley Media Studies Group to investigate the impact of local declarations of racism as a public health crisis. 
  • October is National Co-Op Month!  Later this month we'll be hosting a tweetchat with community partners using cooperatives and democratic workplace practices to build community power and liberation. Stay tuned for the release of a Learning Circle Brief on this topic, in partnership with the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and Sustainable Economies Law Center.
Our Team...
We are thrilled to welcome Catherine Labiran and Danielle Lucero, Program Managers - Training and Research. Catherine and Danielle bring their multifaceted perspectives as researchers, advocates of their communities, and their lived experience to our team. We can't wait for you to meet them.
 
We said farewell to our extraordinary 2021 Summer Health Justice Interns and Dileep Gopal Bal Fellow: Ileana López-Martínez, Uma Nagarajan-Swenson, and Raquel Motachwa. Praxis is also excited for Kourtney Nham as she embarks on a new chapter in her life pursuing a Ph.D. Kourtney, Program Assistant, was a phenomenal and instrumental team member to our programs and communications teams over the past year.  We are deeply grateful to each of them and will miss them!
 
Don't miss our Health Justice Intern blogs:
Movement Building Fiscal Sponsorship...
Have you been curious about our fiscal sponsorship work? Our fiscal sponsorship program is one way that we are supporting capacity and power building within movement work by enabling community power building organizers and organizations to focus on and prioritize their resources into addressing pressing priorities on health, justice, and racial equity. Check out the refreshed pages on our Movement Building Fiscal Sponsorship program to learn how we practice fiscal sponsorship that is sustainable and mutually supportive.
Praxis In Praxis...
Praxis's Research and Training team has had the honor of collaborating with a number of partners to create shared spaces for learning an action. 


The Praxis Project is a values-driven national nonprofit organization that seeks to improve health justice through partnerships to build community power. Our Centering Community Quarterly Updates & Announcements Newsletter features news from The Praxis Project. If you'd like to stop receiving emails from us, simply click here to unsubscribe.