Learn new ways to connect, amplify voices and draw on the strengths of those most impacted so that, together, you can address your community’s priority social problem.
The success of any community change effort is deeply interconnected to supporting the voice, dignity and leadership of those most impacted by the social problem you are working on. Social change also requires an ability to foster collaboration between people with lived experience and champions within the systems that impact them. A successful social change strategy starts by building a robust culture of belonging.
The challenge of how to engage diversity and foster collaboration within the context of deepening disconnection and increasingly turbulent times remains at the main obstacle for many social change efforts.
For example, did you know that:
After all, they know how they were “pushed out” and what values were eroded in the process. Yet, surprisingly the voice and leadership of those most impacted are often missing from social change efforts or are tokenized.
Many social change leaders, organizations, and social-profit organizations are struggling, too. Those involved in social change efforts are finding long-drawn-out strategies without immediate results are irrelevant and a waste of time and money.
Communities are experiencing rapid and continuous change. Community problems are increasing and intensifying. And everyone is tired, including social change leaders. Issues that in the past were difficult, yet manageable, are now impacted and intensified by local, national and global crises.
When redesigning or building social change strategies, it is essential community initiatives are agile, responsive and immediate.
The good news is, we have solutions that can help.
If you’re tired of cookie-cutter facilitation, this won’t feel like another “off the shelf” flavour of the month process where community members are spoon fed. From start to finish, this program is designed and delivered around your community members’ specific and emerging priorities, strengths and needs.
Every community is unique. Imposed programs or approaches and “one size fits all” strategies are not the way to go with social change.
That is why I created the Belonging Matters framework and have tested it with social change efforts such as communities dealing with the opioid crisis, seniors’ affordable housing, poverty, disability awareness campaigns and building bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
After facilitating this approach around the world with diverse cultures and social change initiatives, I can say with confidence that when community members are part of the process, they generate innovative solutions and are more committed to those solutions. Our proven method demonstrates this time and time again.
In this facilitated process with conversations about belonging and real community issues, people with lived experience build skills and confidence that empower them to be collaborative problem-solvers for transformative change.
Belonging Matters Conversations For Communities can be delivered live online, in-person, or a hybrid of both. Throughout the process, we create space for insights and ah-ha moments, laying the foundation for both personal and systems change with lasting results.
Luka Garvin shares how participating in Belonging Matters Conversations helped her discover her self-worth, build community and grow her attachment to life.
Talk to Jessie to learn how you can build a supportive community culture within your social change effort.
Book a call with Jessie to explore where to start and how Belonging Matters Conversations For Communities can be customized to help address your social change efforts, issues, needs and goals. For organizations and leaders who move forward, Jessie will work directly with you to create and communicate the process for Belonging Matters Conversations in your community.
Typically, Belonging Matters Conversations involve:
Jessie walks you and your social change team through the Belonging Matters Conversations process from start to finish. It is customized to your group and community’s structure, values and goals. There’s no guesswork or trying to figure it out on your own.
The costs of losing social change ambassadors and people with lived experience involved in your projects are high. The Belonging Matters Conversations process helps build group and leadership capacity and fosters retention for the social change initiative participants so they remain committed and engaged in the process. This also provides participants with personal growth experience where they gain the skills to be the change and work together to facilitate change.
A visual legacy is co-created with the participants to synthesize key insights and commitments for ongoing reflection, awareness, learning and action. Groups choose a visual legacy medium (e.g. posters, videos, social media, etc.) based on their collective talents. This is a powerful tool to share back with funders, system leaders and community.
People issues, disconnection and group breakdowns can cause strife and contribute to increased mental health issues among the social change effort participants. These stresses can ultimately lead to both financial loss and dwindling support for the initiative. Together, we will help address these issues and ensure all those involved feel happier, healthier, and more engaged in the process of building a collaborative culture.
The Belonging Matters framework lends support to your organization's and community’s policies, procedures, team charters and the internalization of attitudes and behaviours. We prioritize fostering a respectful environment to welcome and collaborate with diverse community members and stakeholders.
Working in collaboration with your social change group/team, we customize a reflective learning tool that will assist leaders and system influencers and your team to internalize agreed upon values and practices.
Learn how Patrick Aleck feels more confident with making change and shifting minds.
We start with an initial planning meeting to review your customized Belonging Matters Conversations program and ensure all the supports are in place for lasting success.
During this time, we’ll discuss the program, roles, responsibilities and timelines as well as conduct an inventory of support within your community that your social change team can access.
Session #1: Why Belonging Matters
In this session, the social change working group/team explores what belonging means, shares stories and discusses their key challenges. By the end of this session, the group will have prioritized their key challenges in preparation for Session #2. This first session is engaging, interactive and encourages high participation in identifying issues the group can work on collaboratively.
Session #2: Addressing Our Priority Challenges
We customize Session #2 based on the priority challenge identified in Session #1. Here, the group will explore their priority challenge through the sharing of stories, exploring root causes and coming up with their own tips and strategies.
Session #3: Building Our Supportive Network
Next, your social change team will learn about organizational and community resources they can access to address their priority challenge as well as build their own supportive network as individuals and a team.
Session #4: Co-Creating Our Visual Legacy
Here, your group or team will review and finalize a visual legacy that represents their journey, the process and the key insights they generated during the previous three sessions.
Session #5: Generating Ideas and Action Planning
In this conversation, the group generates ideas for action planning and comes to a consensus on how they will move forward together to build or strengthen a culture of belonging and facilitate community change.
Your plan will include recommended next steps to foster collaboration between those most impacted by the social problem you are working on in partnership with decision-makers and system influences.
Senior leadership support of desired outcomes is critical. With that in mind, Jessie will work with you to ensure your system influencers, senior leadership and the team have the information and tools to support the voice, dignity and leadership of the Belonging Matters Conversations participants. Working collaboratively, you’ll move the solutions forward, leveraging all your organizational strengths for transformative and lasting change.
We will facilitate a 6-month check-in with you and your group to see how implementing agreements is going. Think of this call like a booster session. This opportunity reconnects your group to the lessons learned, solutions created and the action plan agreed upon by leadership and team. The booster session check-in supports solutions moving forward.
You will access a culture of belonging reflective learning instrument to help you focus your social change efforts for greatest impact.
Your group will receive a copy of Jessie’s bestselling book, Worldview Skills: Transforming Conflict From The Inside Out for your library.
Jessie Sutherland's book synthesizes cutting-edge scholarly research from around the world on the most promising practices for transforming deep-rooted conflict into peaceful co-existence. You will read about real community change stories that illustrate the skills needed to engage diversity, build belonging across diversity, and generate innovative solutions for lasting change.
An international speaker, trainer, and consultant, Jessie Sutherland works with organizations and communities to engage diversity, build belonging and ignite intercultural collaboration.
Recipient of BC Community Achievement Award (2023), her approach creates sustainable community change that effectively addresses complex social problems.
Benefit from skill development that equips your group or team with transportable and transferable skills and tools they can use when other issues arise in your social change efforts. Participating community members will build and strengthen connections with each other and your organization.
Through the process of these conversations, community members share stories and generate increased trust and empathy, while also building bridges for a sense of agency and collaboration.
Build a supportive leadership team comprised of people with lived experience.
Close the communication and understanding gap between community, people with lived experience and system influencers.
Increase respect and mutual understanding.
Generate actionable innovative ideas and solutions.
Transform “people problems” into collaboration.
Build a supportive culture in your community.
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The Belonging Matters framework creates a process in which the indicators for belonging truly emerge from the needs and expectations of the group of people or individuals that work with the framework. In this sense, it is a highly adaptable and responsive framework that does not apply a "one size fits all" approach but walks people though the process of inquiring and finding its own parameters for belonging and its own pace for advancing in the process.
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What Belonging Matters Conversations do so remarkably is to open the inner voice to better understand what promotes quality of life.
I was touched by how simple, yet how profound responses were to topics such as isolation and safety.
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Jessie Sutherland’s Belonging Matters framework is one of the best approaches I know of. It builds a sense of belonging and inclusion for everyone, laying the foundational building block for reconciliation on the political and economic levels.
There is not much they will need to do. The process will be explained and facilitated by Jessie, and she will provide any information that is needed ahead of time and/or between sessions. There are no pre-reading or pre-session assignments.
The process sets people up for success. Having Jessie (a highly skilled facilitator who is external to your team and organization) allows the opportunity for her to engage participants. We’ll work together so that your team has the information and skills to engage participation.
Diverse viewpoints are encouraged and explored. In doing so, participants will have a greater understanding and compassion for each other. Oftentimes, when stories are shared, views soften and shift to build greater unity.
You can use visual legacies as an awareness and educational tool for the working group, community or organization on issues important to them. Many participants find they provide a great summary and reminder of key insights to build their confidence when they make presentations or share their stories with the goal to create change.
This program is the result of more than 25 years of research and working with individuals, teams, and communities around the globe delivering training, facilitating processes and building cultures of belonging in groups. I continue to be inspired by the solutions that people create together when stories are shared, understanding is built and solutions are co-created.
It would be an honour to work with you, your team, and your community. I look forward to our call to learn more about your organization and where Belonging Matters Conversations For Communities could help support the work you are doing to facilitate lasting social change.
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