One measure of our impact is the spaces where you find our staff: Two weeks ago CEO Elder Suzanne Kelly spoke at a thought leader exchange for West Central Initiative's Rural Democracy Summit; Last week Co-Director of Racial Justice Jim Bear Jacobs was a panelist advocating for reparative actions at the Minnesota Multifaith Network conference; This afternoon Director of Strategic Relationships Jerad Morey shared learnings from the Strengthening Democracy Field Test award with the Listen First Project Goals and Measures group. Whether in greater Minnesota, the Twin Cities metro or online, MCC staff are restoring belonging and building bridges through justice, healing and reconciliation; creating a more connected Minnesota.
It was great to share about how Minnesota Council of Churches Respectful Conversations used the Strengthening Democracy Field Test Award with our partner Mark Brandt, and to highlight Civity's Storytelling Intervention, in an evaluation-focused Listen First Project Zoom this afternoon. My main applications for other bridgers were: 1. Positive indicators may not need to be statistically significant for an evaluated add-on to be worth incorporating into your practice. 2. Evaluate however you can, but research buddies are awesome. 3. Be curious about the other measurables that your process might impact and apply them to expand the bridging ecosystem and find new deployment opportunities. 4. Letting potential partners know there's an experiment going on can be a marketing plus, earning more enthusiasm and buy-in from leaders who value invigorating the common good. A bonus was learning more about Kristina Becvar's adaptable Better Together hub evaluation system! Joining regular meetings of community peacebuilders like this, especially when <waves hands to indicate everything else>, has turned out to be a grounding practice for me. It's nice to feel a shared mission and purpose with the other bridging and belonging folks.