Throughout the past two years, the impact of COVID-19 has affected all of us in different ways. With quarantining and social distance orders, the pace of life has changed. It has also provided a space for thoughtfulness, reflection, and reevaluation regarding what's really important: health, wellness, and mindfulness. Spring also makes way for a new day, new life, and renewal. So, who better to focus our Spring Pop-Up on than the lifeforce of our Upswell community – you!
Independent Sector's first Upswell Pop-Up of 2022 will provide wellness resources and self- and community-care tools to help you recharge, refuel, and refocus as we continue to tackle the challenges of building a healthy and racially just nation.
The event will feature a main stage session, two workshops, and a reflective exchange:
- Prioritizing Wellness in Service to Others (Main Stage) with presenters Maryam Ajayi, CEO and Founder of Dive in Well; Dr. Simran Singh, Executive Director of the Religion & Society Program at the Aspen Institute; Dan Cardinali, CEO of Independent Sector. They will discuss the importance of wellness and collective healing to community leaders and advocates who do equity and justice work in their communities. They’ll also explain how working together and using skills to refocus and heal within can help us collectively set a course to heal our nation.
- You are Not What You Produce: Honoring Labor and Rest (Workshop #1) with presenters Kelly Pattermann, Director of People and Operations at Chicago Cares; and Cheyenne Shelby-Petersen, Senior Manager of Programs, Volunteer Engagement at Chicago Cares. We'll explore the concept of honoring labor, rest, and the individuals who put forth hard work every day. They'll share their ongoing journeys to recognize and honor employees as whole people. Together, we will explore how nonprofits can use an anti-racist and equity analysis to transform organizational culture and human resource policies and practices to reshape the nature of work for greater impact, stronger staff commitment, and retention.
- Time to Clean Out Your Side of the Street: Self-Care in Racial & Social Justice Work (Workshop #2) with presenters Ebonie Freeman, Site Director for AlphaBEST Education; and Dr. Christine Balarezo, 2020 NGen Fellows Alumni and Founder of Christine Balarezo LLC. Participants will take a different approach to self-care – we’ll focus on self-healing and doing inner work that requires you to hold space for others. In other words, have we really worked on healing our traumas, as well as the known and unknown biases, especially when some of these may be what is triggering us in the work we do? We have learning and healing to do!
- Upswell Exchange facilitated by Dr. Cheryl Hall-Russell, President and Chief Cultural Consultant of Black Women Wise Women, LLC. Immediately share your reflections on what you heard while it is fresh in your mind.