Executive Director Named

We spoke with Rudy about his vision:
 

Q.  What inspired you to begin this non-profit?

A. At the heart of it is a deep desire to create a restorative culture in our ways of working and being in community. Something more than rhetoric. I believe we can create a way of serving where wellness for all is truly prioritized. I’m talking staff, volunteers, community members -- the whole village. Of course, a part of our human condition is being imperfect so, even with the best of intentions, we will fall short. However, when a community is restorative it takes moments of harm and conflict and converts them into spaces of deeper relationship, wisdom, and healing.

Q.  What is the impact you are working toward?

A. I hope that the impact is shaped by the needs and dreams of the village. Responsiveness is our aspiration so a lot will depend on the calls of the communities we partner with. With that, I hope we can support the elimination of silos while building and sustaining healing hubs rooted in liberation.

Q. How can entrenched silos be eliminated?

A. I do not pretend to know the full answer to that. I will say that it is really important to choose cooperation and collaboration over competition. Traditionally, nonprofits and other institutions that serve the community have been pitted against each other to vie for resources. We will need to check this instinct within ourselves and each other. This in itself will strengthen our service to the community.

Q.  How has your life experience led you here?

A.  My answer will seem never-ending. In short, I would say that my own wounds remain my GPS system, sort of my North Star. I often speak of healing because my soul yearns for it and my proximity to it makes it more possible for me and others to experience it. When I am in a position to serve, to sow love and be a source of healthy communal energy, I am also inviting those things into my life.

Q. Any final words?

A: Just gratitude for everyone who has poured love into the Village in all of the ways. The Village grows and we all grow stronger. i am We. 

Community Building in Progress

Collaboration with Dane County Juvenile Reception Center (JRC)*

i am We Global Village continues to partner with Madison Metropolitan School District teachers and staff at the Juvenile Reception Center to support young people who are residents of the JRC. Rudy and the teachers have listened deeply to the students and are identifying ways in which to use non-traditional methods to connect and work with students.

As Rudy, the teachers, and the JRC staff listen and collaborate, they are lifting up the power of We. Using the information and inspiration from both adults and students, Rudy and the teaching team are co-crafting a holistic curriculum that centers on healing, academics, art, identity, and joy. Key components include professional development for the adults and relevant and responsive pedagogy for the students.

* The JRC is a secure, residential/holding facility for court-involved Dane County youth.

Middleton-Cross Plains Area Programs

Building Restorative Communities of Care Virtual Series

The Building Restorative Communities of Care Virtual Series for parents and community members in the Middleton-Cross Plains Area School District is underway. This series is made possible with funding from a Dane County Mental Health Grant. We are excited for youth circle keepers to be contributors to community learning in these sessions. At the heart of these gatherings is intentional community building and reflecting on restorative values as guides for personal and communal relationships. If you would like to bring conversations about restorative justice values to your community please email us at iamweglobalvillage@gmail.com.

YWCA Racial Justice Summit

Intergenerational Generative Dialogue with Erika Huggins, Linda Sarsour, Rudy Bankston, and Jennifer Garcia-Mendoza

"The system will try to co-opt our resilience to avoid accountability. And I think about that in young people, where young people are encouraged to be resilient when they shouldn't have to be. No one's talking about why [they] have to be resilient. What are we doing to let them be kids, too? To let them be youthful and playful and experience joy and experience life without everything being controlling and punitive."

- Rudy Bankston

Story, Freedom, Art, and Healing Workshop

Embracing identity and deepening our knowledge of self is critical to justice-centered work and liberation. Personal storytelling, in particular, and creating art, in general, is a potently medicinal blend that can transcend our way of seeing, understanding, celebrating, confronting, and commenting on life in this current moment. Oftentimes, these unscripted and impromptu conversations elicit stories and experiences that uncover the crushing underbelly of institutional and interpersonal oppression.

Yet, because of the complex nature of these moments, our stories often lie dormant. How can we claim agency to deepen awareness of injustices? How can we convert the energy from our lived experiences into tangible, concrete actions? What does it mean to assert our right to heal despite raging currents that war against our wellness and try to destroy us?

On Friday, September 30th Rudy led a workshop taking on these themes and sharing his own journey while inviting others to reflect on their own stories and ways of healing through art (poetry, music and narrative).

Staff at Creekside Elementary School in Sun Prairie began the 2022-2023 school year with a professional development session with

Rudy Bankston, Executive Director, i am We Global Village.

Meet the Global Village Team

Tina spent several years tutoring in the county jail and served in leadership positions in a local criminal justice reform organization. She is a member of the racial justice committee at her church.

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Tina is the author of a children’s picture book entitled The Place Where Love Lives, has published a book of haiku poetry entitled Everyday Haiku: small moments that make a life, three lines at a time, and she a second book for young children entitled Feelings Come and Feelings Go is soon to be published.

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