Happy summer solstice yesterday (in the Northern hemisphere). The longest day of the year; the exact moment when Earth’s north pole is most tilted towards the sun. But it's an especially big deal this year, as it hasn't happened this early since 1796. Tonight, we have a full moon known as “Strawberry Moon,” and I happily think back on the strawberry moon of my wedding just over one year ago.
Reflections on Hope
These days, I am thinking about the topic of hope. Early this morning, I met with a meditator community I am part of through a Plum Village Course that I recently completed. We discussed the question of what gives us hope or what are our hopes? I thought my answer would come easily, but I found it more complex than expected. Reflecting on my relationship with hope these days, I felt quite mixed. On the one hand, I was flooded with images of the islands of healing I encountered on my journey around the world and those I regularly encounter back at home. It felt easy to think of all the many people, projects, and communities that inspire me. On the other hand, a voice of doubt and cynicism yelled out in my mind: “Those are small examples, compared to the enormity of the destructive examples out there! You’re just kidding yourself if you think those are making enough impact.” Sitting with both of my sides, I thought of the parable of the two wolves- that we all have two wolves inside of us- the one of evil and the one of good- and the one that wins is the one we feed. I think there’s absolutely a place for moments of hopefulness and sitting with our despair. I want to be wary of inauthentic or saccharine hopefulness. But I also think cultivating “active hope,” as Joanna Macy teaches, is such an important skill of our time, and helps us keep going in our good enough efforts to make positive change in our lives, communities, and the world.
I encourage you to take a pause sometime this week and truly ask yourself, what gives you hope or what are your hopes? You might be surprised with what emerges!
Finding Your Role in Social Change
One of my favorite topics to discuss and coach people on is finding your role in social change. When we talk about social change, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and not know where we fit. I recently facilitated a retreat with twenty families from a particular school to wrap up their school year and reflect on their role as leaders. I’ve witnessed many of them transform this year from being oriented primarily to the needs of their own child and family, to being fired up and motivated to work for the collective wellbeing of all students, families, and educators in the school. Now that they’ve been awakened to the power of being interconnected, the next step is to hone in on the role each person can take in the collective action. I shared with them some models or tools to assist one in finding your role in social change, based on what gifts and tendencies you most naturally possess or those you want to cultivate. There’s the “Artists, Meditators, or Warriors” model, as well as the “Blocking, Building, Being.”
Take a peek at these models and see what resonates with you in terms of your role(s) and where you might like to grow!
Prospera
For the past year and a half, I’ve been a coach and trainer for clients served by Prospera, a non-profit organization based in California that does incredible work supporting Latina immigrant women who already run businesses or are in the process of becoming entrepreneurs.
So far, I've had a great time coaching a Colombian woman in Palo Alto who runs a gluten free baked goods company, a Salvadorean woman in San Jose who runs a coffee education company, and a Guatemalan woman in San Francisco who runs a sustainable real estate janitorial business. I've seen wonderful growth in each of them, and Prospera gives them amazing support. If you know someone in this demographic who could benefit from business education and coaching, feel free to refer them to Prospera!
Blue Heart
I’m loving my part-time role as Bay Area Program Director for Blue Heart, a wonderful organization that finds other under-the-radar organizations who are doing transformational social change work on the ground, and builds a membership base of donors to fund those organizations. I’d love the opportunity to speak with you about Blue Heart if you’re curious about joining or have ideas for how I can access partnerships with individuals, groups, tech companies and other potential funders. Let me know! The amazing volunteers and I will be planning a big Blue Heart event in Oakland on October 15th, so let me know if you’d like to help out by offering something for the raffle, donating, or just want me to invite you!
Supporting Individuals, Organizational Leadership,
and Team Cohesion
I’m continuing to grow my coaching and consulting practice, and have recently been enjoying partnering with several Bay Area schools to offer consulting around their family engagement and community organizing strategies.
I’m continuing to offer coaching on a range of topics. Check out my website to see examples. I have a new offering of coaching for people seeking support around their relationship with the topic of Israel/Palestine. One client recently shared, "Eva has the capacity to hold space for all viewpoints, and helps me feel safe enough to explore my feelings, which I've been cut off from.”
I’m continuing to work with a great collective of organizational consultants called Altus Growth Partners. Altus is a global consulting and coaching firm working with leaders and teams to become more collaborative, effective, inclusive, and productive. Altus’ new book, Growing Groups Into Teams, is great, as well as their “Missing Conversations” podcast. I interview guests on the podcast, so if you’re interested in being a guest or have an idea for one, reach out! If you work for or know another company or organization that might benefit from a conversation with Altus, let me know!
Reporting Back from my Jewish Music Festival!
Running my third annual Jewish Music Festival was an absolute joy and a deep learning and leadership experience for me and my team. Here’s a clip of a band I pulled together to perform a powerful song that’s been helping me feel my feelings about Israel/Palestine for months- “Ayeka,” by guest artist Aly Halpert.
We had 120 people attend the weekend and experience a variety of music learning, playing, and community building experiences. One participant shared:
“Attending Kol was a transformative experience. Not only did I immerse myself in beautiful music, but I also found a warm, welcoming community. The retreat provided a space for healing, learning, and deepening my connection to Jewish traditions. I left feeling inspired and uplifted, with a renewed sense of joy and purpose. I highly recommend this retreat to anyone seeking spiritual growth and meaningful connections.”
Corner of Hopeful Resources
My friend Alicia’s Introduction to the Enneagram workshop is coming up this June 29th. Alicia is the person who first shared the Enneagram with me, which I’ve found to be a helpful tool of self awareness.
I shared this last month, but encourage you to keep listening to my brilliant friend’s podcast We Are the Great Turning, which focuses on love, courage, and connection in the climate crisis.
Looking for a way to make an impact during this coming U.S. election season? I’ve been fundraising for these organizations as I believe in their work funneling funds to the most impactful progressive grassroots voter engagement groups: Movement Voter Project and Airlift. If you donate to MVP on this link, my friends have secured up to $10,000 in matching funds so your donation will be doubled!
With gratitude and love,
Eva
P.S. Want to connect on social media?
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