Will the World Listen to Women?

Ann Manning wrote in to share this article on the efforts of international women leaders to make the case for the relationship between gender equality and sustainability at the Rio + 20 conference.

“The only way to respond to increasing human numbers and dwindling resources is through the empowerment of women,” said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway and former director-general of the World Health Organization"

Thanks for sharing, Ann!

Women and the "Having it All" Fiction

Kimberly Berg wrote in to share this provocative article  Why Women Still Can’t Have It All by Anne-Marie Slaughter - a high-level policy maker in Washington DC who stepped down to care for her family.

Here's a blurb from the article to give you the sense:

IT’S TIME TO STOP FOOLING OURSELVES, SAYS A WOMAN WHO LEFT A POSITION OF POWER: THE WOMEN WHO HAVE MANAGED TO BE BOTH MOTHERS AND TOP PROFESSIONALS ARE SUPERHUMAN, RICH, OR SELF-EMPLOYED. IF WE TRULY BELIEVE IN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL WOMEN, HERE’S WHAT HAS TO CHANGE.

Thanks for the share, Kimberly!

Caring Economics Comes to Armenia

I've just heard from Molly Freeman, who is currently in Yerevan, Armenia.

Molly Freeman, Conversation Leader
(Cohort D)

Mollly wanted to share that she's presenting a workshop on Caring Economics at the Caucasus Resource and Research Center in Yerevan TODAY!  She promises a full report on how it goes - which we'll eagerly await!

Molly also wanted to share with us an article about Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius's remarks on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of Title IX.

"Sebelius spoke about the huge progress achieved in 40 years toward a more balanced education system, particularly in the world of sports. But she also noted that women still face some discrimination, both in how they are currently treated at schools, and how they may be de-prioritized because of underlying sexism..."

Read the whole article

Thanks for staying in touch Molly, we send good wishes for your workshop today, and look forward to hearing all about it!

- Sara

Glitch Fixed: Comments Now Open on CLIC Posts!

Have you ever tried to leave a comment on a CLIC post, only to be blocked by annoying fields that ask you to share your profile?

Well, that's all in the past - THE GLITCH IS FIXED!!!!

So, if you are moved to comment on a CLIC post, please DO - we love to hear your voices (don't let that Go To Training "mute" button fool you :)

Let the commenting begin!

(And thanks to Ann for bringing to my attention that the comment feature was not set up correctly!  It takes a village to climb the learning curve that I know we all face when it comes to technologies - I always appreciate help.)

- Sara

Details on "99 to 1" Event in Minneapolis

Earlier, I shared that Conversation Leader Ann Manning would soon be hosting an event in Minneapolis, and now we have details!

The event is a benefit for Ann's organization "Wealth for the Common Good"  which is a network of business leaders, high income individuals, and partners working together to promote shared prosperity and fair taxation.  "We are 'the 1 percent' that wants an economy that works for everyone."

Chuck Collins, Author of 99 to 1:  How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It will be the special guest.

If you are in Minneapolis or can get there on Wednesday, June 27th - Ann warmly invites you to check it out!

Again, here's the link to the Event description and details.

Book Recommendation and Beautiful Quote from Sacred Economics

From the fabulous Kristen McKee of Cohort J comes the following recommendation...Thanks Kristen!:

********

Kristen McKee,
Conversation Leader

Here is the link to Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein. The book itself offers some genuine and practical ways in which we might transfer to a more caring economy while embodying partnership. The following excerpt made me think of all of us somehow, and about leading and teaching about caring economy, while remaining in partnership with ourselves and others:

"To enter more deeply into right livelihood, bow into service each day. Trust your desire to give, remember how good it feels, and be open to opportunities to do so, especially when they are just at the edge of your courage. And if they are beyond the edge of your courage, don’t torment yourself. The fears that block your givingness are not an enemy. They form a cocoon of safety. When we grow, the fears that were once protective become limiting; we become impatient with them and seek to break free. That impatience bears new courage. Today, this growth process is happening to humanity generally. The program of Ascent** that once seemed good and right to us — pushing the frontiers of science, conquering the universe, triumphing over nature — seems right no longer, as the consequences of that ambition become painfully hard to ignore. Collectively we have entered a crisis moment, in which the old is intolerable and the new has not yet manifested (not as a common vision, though it has for many individuals).

So, when it comes to right livelihood or right investment, let us be gentle. For ourselves and others, let us trust the natural desire to give, and let us trust the natural growth process that propels us toward it. Instead of attempting to guilt ourselves and others into it (and generating resistance to our sanctimony), we can offer opportunities and encouragement to give, and we can be generous with our appreciation and celebration of the gifts of others. We can see others not as selfish, greedy, ignorant, or lazy people who just “don’t get it,” but rather as divine beings who desire to give to the world; we can see that and speak to that and know it so strongly that our knowing serves as an invitation to ourselves and others to step into that truth."

** This, from his previous book, is essentially his way of referring to the dominator paradigm.

Kimberly Berg Encounters a Mini Teachable Moment

Hey all,
Kimberly Berg (now graduate of Cohort J) sent in this lovely thought piece about a fascinating encounter she had in an unlikely place..

Kimberly Berg,
Conversation Leader

Cheering vs. motivating

by Kimberly Berg

I was climbing the stairs in Culver City. As one ascends what becomes clear is that their daunting not simply because there are over 400 steps at a steep angle but that they’re also very uneven in height. Some are quite reasonable, akin to an apartment building stairwell. While many demand double the effort and lung capacity to mount them (causing short ones like me to have to really reach!). 

As I dragged my heaving torso and leaden legs towards the top, I was met by a slender, tall, very fit, African American man-friendly, chipper…. annoying? How can he be so happy when at this moment, tempered with exhaustion, I’m barely audible! Mumbling, waving hands, I send the “thumbs up” in his direction, hoping he won’t expect conversation at this point.

Okay. 2^nd round. There he is again. This time with a bit more breath available I say to him, “how sweet of you to cheer us on”.  He responded positively but then quickly enough decided that my word to describe his support was incorrect. He preferred, “motivator”. “Cheering”, was decidedly too feminine.

I said what’s wrong with being “feminine”? He immediately understood what I meant. You mean, caring, he asked? YES! I said enthusiastically, with an undercurrent of shock humming within too.  He associated feminine to caring. How beautiful to know that a random man on the Culver City steps, is carrying around the consciousness that femininity equates to care! 

Yet, it’s that very fact he didn’t want to be associated with the word care that caused a brief bubble of disappointment or sadness to pop up.  We continued talking a bit longer. I expressed that caring is precisely what he’s doing at the top of those stairs, helping others feel good about their accomplishments.  After pause, he did agree. How sweet (another feminine feature I suppose?).  He put his masculine idea’s aside for a moment and decide that care was a quality he valued and was happy to be seen as a man who was able to care and feel safe with that truth being exposed.

You’ll know there’s a huge shift in consciousness the day boys are referred to as “girly” and it’s taken as a compliment! And when later in life they hear: Why mister so and so….you have so many feminine qualities, we’ve been searching for a girly man like you, welcome to our firm! HA….not likely but one can play, dance and skirt around the notion.

*********

Thanks so much Kimberly for sharing this lovely essay - you are a whiz at describing this kind of "micro moment" in which you created a shift in thinking, just by standing up for "the feminine" and giving permission for him to "own" his own caring.

- Sara

Book Recommendation: 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality Is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do about It

Hey there,

Here's a book and TED talk recommendation from our own Ann Manning (recent graduate of the small and mighty Cohort J - yea!)

The book is by Ann's colleage, Chuck Collins and is called "99 to 1:  How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It"

Chuck Collins also has a TEDx talk on YouTube that might interest you: called "Taxing the Wealthy."

Sometime soon, Ann will be moderating a panel at an open-to-the-public economic justice event in Minneapolis with Chuck, and she will be weaving Caring Economy ideas into that panel!  (Ann - please share a comment and give us the details so anyone in the area might be able to join you!)

Thanks for the recommendation, Ann - I look forward to reading it.

- Sara

Maura and Sara Take to the Airwaves on Coffee Party Radio

Hi everyone,

Maura Conlon-McIvor,
Facilitator

Earlier today, Maura Conlon McIvor and I were guests on the "Lunch with Louden" radio show which is a regular part of the Coffee Party's offerings.   (You may know that the Coffee Party is an organization formed to counter the work and tone of the Tea Party)

Here's a link to the show if you'd like to give a listen.  (I have a bad cold and surely sound pretty funky, but I think we did good overall.  I'm scared to listen, but leave a comment if you do and let us know what you think!)


http://www.blogtalkradio.com/coffeepartyusa/2012/06/14/lunch-with-louden-thursdays-at-1200-pt

Sara Saltee, Program Director

It was a great opportunity for Maura and me to stretch our "conversation leader" legs and articulate the principles and ideas of caring economics!  (Never let it be said that your facilitators are teaching instead of doing!)  Maura has had lots of experience on radio - which shows...she was great, but it was a first for me!

When I felt nervous, I just kept thinking about all you amazing conversation leaders who have stepped up in your practicum experiences and beyond and have put your voices to work in service of a saner economy - how could I chicken out with all of you modeling such courage?

Thanks for helping me "push the edge" Maura!

Cheers,
Sara

Money & Life Conference...and Movie

Greetings all!

Allen Ament (Cohort K, and fellow Whidbey Islander) brought this upcoming Money & Life conference to my attention - and I know it will interest many of you:

About the Conference:

Money & Life
A convening of change agents
working toward a new economic and social paradigm.
June 28 - July 1st, 2012
Whidbey Institute, Whidbey Island, WA


For more information, and to register, click here.

About the Movie
And, click the image below to go to the trailer of the movie that will be screened at the conference  (http://vimeo.com/33231142):

Thanks Allen!  It looks like a marvelous opportunity to continue and expand the Caring Economy conversation.