You are invited!
This year’s North America Leadership Jam will be virtual! And it will bring together 30 Jam alumni-changemakers from across North America (Canada, Mexico, the US, and the Caribbean) for a six-session, eight-day deep dive, exploring the connections between self-awareness, group evolution, and systemic change.
If you are an alumni of the North America Leadership Jam, you are invited to apply!
Deadline for applications: September 1, 2020
The Jam will be held from September 29th to October 6th, with sessions happening on Tuesday September 29th, Wednesday September 30th, Friday, October 2nd, Saturday, October 3rd, Monday, October 5th and Tuesday, October 6th, between 10 am – 12/12:30 pm PST (1-3/3:30 pm EST). There will not be sessions on October 1st or 4th, to allow for extra spaciousness for self-organizing, organic connecting, open bazaars, rest and integration.
Why a virtual Jam for alumni?
Through 30 years of YES! gatherings, diverse groups from all over the world have co-created amazing methods for community building and stretching our understanding of the world.
A Jam is a space for people who strive to choose connection over fragmentation and honor the land and the people around us. We are jamming every time we choose vulnerability over stoicism and when our habits align with the preservation and regeneration of the Earth, all living beings, and the ecosystem. We are jamming when we are here, together, now. A Jam is not a conference, it is not a training, and it is not a typical gathering. A Jam is like a music jam for people singing a new song for the world, whether we are teachers, lawyers, self-identified activists, change-makers, parents, etc.
While it was our deepest hope that by September it would have been safe to gather, we recognize the realities of this time. And, while what comes on the other side of this pandemic is still unknown, we know the power of coming together in a spirit of co-learning, co-creation, healing and co-liberation.
We are holding a deep intention to gather virtually with Jam alumni who see, understand, and respect themselves enough to see, understand, and respect others, to seek common ground while acknowledging the importance of difference and to arrive with openness and curiosity while realizing that navigating these currents can be challenging. We welcome the wisdom of our hearts, our minds, our unique bodies and ancestries and our good old friend, the familiar analytical mind. We invite you to bring all of who you are, to see the whole in everyone else, and as a collective, to explore how we are walking similar, parallel, and diverging paths toward a better future.
Why Jam Now?
From A Great Wagon, by Rumi
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”
doesn’t make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.
Coronavirus has thrown open the door between the world as we know it and the world as we imagine it can be. As inequities are laid fully bare, businesses shuttered, community gatherings cancelled, and the status quo disrupted, it feels as though more and more people are peering into the future and wondering not just what the world will be like when this pandemic is over but also, and more powerfully, what it CAN be like.
The pandemic has shed light on the deep interconnectedness of so many of our systems, in both good and troubling ways. These systems, fueled by capitalism, white supremacy, and patriarchy, can — and do — hurt, kill, divide, and dehumanize us, and challenge our ability to thrive. And in spite of it all, people are stepping up in this moment, with billions staying home in acts of social solidarity, volunteers making PPE to support frontline workers, and even pivoting business operations to meet the production needs of now. There has also been a rise of powerful mutual aid networks and movements for racial justice that are weaving together and redistributing our collective resources to meet urgent needs in ways our governments and current systems have not.
The Jam is an opportunity to explore this light and this darkness in an environment of healing, connection, and (re)humanization. It is a reminder that our interdependence is an essential part of our nature, and of weathering this storm, and the storms to come. It’s a chance for us to come together, learn, draw from our commonalities and heal across our divides to be able to bring all of who we are to the table to create a vision of the world in which we want to live. Why? Because we are at a Tipping Point. Because the time for holding back is gone. Because in order to rise to the challenges we’re facing, it’s going to take all of us.
Who comes to a Jam?
“It’s incredibly difficult for you to change the world, and it’s incredibly important that you do it.”
— Mohandas Gandhi
“You and I can and will change the world.”
— Talmud
Changing the world means many things – from parenting conscious and empowered kids to front line activism to spiritual practice to leading organizations. All of these modes of engagement are needed to create the world we know is possible. The time to meet and co-create with different kinds of change makers is one part of the magic of the Jam. If you are willing to ask big questions and hold paradox with an open, loving heart, and if you are an alumni of the North America Jam, you are invited to apply.
Are you:
- Hungry to build bridges across divides within yourself and across relationships and communities?
- Committed to using your resources and leveraging your privileges in alignment with your values?
- Overwhelmed with options and not sure how to create the change you want to see in the world effectively?
- Wondering how to deepen your understanding of what positive impact even is?
- Interested in shedding guilt and paralysis and ready to rethink what power means for you?
- Seeking a healthy relationship to your gifts, skills and resources?
Each Jam is a unique group of people who have walked different paths and had distinct learning journeys. To honor the diversity of these experiences, we center co-creation and welcome the collective wisdom of the group, guided by the themes, questions, and edges expressed in the applications. We are led by the evolving energy of the group day to day rather than the agenda.
Method and Values of YES! Jams
“Hurt people hurt people, and create systems that hurt people.
Healing people heal people, and create systems that heal people.”
We recognize the inextricable linkages between the way we care for ourselves, the way we care for each other, and the systems we create as change-makers. To that end, YES! Jams focus on the relationships between three interdependent levels of awareness:
PERSONAL
The Jam is a place to share and reflect on your life journey and your work in the world. It is also an opportunity to grow in self-knowledge. Personal health, living creatively, and slowing down are the roots of building a thriving, just, and sustainable world.
INTERPERSONAL
We come together to deepen our understanding of each other and of ourselves with the intention of building trust and connection in a meaningful way. We feel that the more authentic our relationships are, the stronger the foundations on which new collaborations and synergies within our movements and communities are built.
SYSTEMIC
The Jam provides an opportunity to become clearer about our vision and our work in the world; we get a chance to link issues that aren’t commonly linked, to notice crucial intersection points in a manner that will aid us in reimagining what we believe to be possible and in reengineering how we intend to get there.
At YES! Jams, people are invited to bring their questions and challenges, feelings and ideas, joys, and pains. We Jam with them through honest, vulnerable expression, and deep listening. We flow between the personal, interpersonal, and systemic as a crucial part of building resilient relationships, and earning trust. These relationships, to ourselves, to our communities, and to our larger systems, are the roots of truly changing the world.
Some of the experiences at the Jam create ideas that become new skills, new projects, and new communities. Other experiences only live in the Jam, through the magic of spontaneous connection. So many Jam alumni say those spontaneous connections live inside them as inspiration they draw from to nourish their lives and work for years.
LOGISTICS AND COSTS OF ATTENDING
If you are an alumni of the North America Leadership Jam, you are invited to apply!
The North America Leadership Jam will take place virtually, and you can let us know what access needs you might have to support your fullest participation. The Jam will be held from September 29th to October 6th, with sessions happening on Tuesday September 29th, Wednesday September 30th, Friday, October 2nd, Saturday, October 3rd, Monday, October 5th and Tuesday, October 6th, between 10 am – 12/12:30 pm PST (1-3/3:30 pm EST). There will not be sessions on October 1st or 4th, to allow for extra spaciousness for self-organizing, organic connecting, open bazaars, rest and integration. We ask you to be at all the sessions, and also to try to leave this week as open as possible for yourself, with minimal scheduling of other things, to maximize your Jam time, spontaneous conversations, secret-angeling, and more.
The tuition for the Zoomy Jam is offered on a sliding scale of $100-$300 to support honorarium for organizers and facilitators. We never want money to be a barrier in participating in a Jam, so we will do everything we can to make it work for you to attend. If cost is a barrier to you, contact us and we will work together with you to find a way. Some partial scholarships and work trades are available. We can also create a flexible monthly payment plan that can be as low as $10 a month. If you have more resources, additional donations above the event price help us provide scholarships to support the broad spectrum of participation. It’s is the diversity of the Jams that make them thrives. Donations above the tuition are also tax-deductible.
WHO IS PUTTING THE NORTH AMERICA JAM TOGETHER?
Lillian Hanan Al-Bilali has been inspired to deepen her understanding of how diverse communities can become more interconnected and, particularly, how shared experiences create space for dialogue — ever since she participated in the 2010 Leveraging Privilege for Social Change Jam. Since her college years, one of her most consistent passions has been issues of youth empowerment. Her student activism at Hampton University focused on societal inequalities especially in regards to substandard education and high incarceration rates for youth of color. Following graduation, Hanan became an administrator at Children’s Arts and Science Workshops (CASW), a non-profit agency in New York City. Here, she mentored young people from the Washington Heights and Harlem communities by preparing them for college and for the work force. Currently living in New York City, Hanan received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan. Her concentration in Social Policy and Evaluations allowed her to focus on strengthening services offered through the non-profit sector at the state and local levels. She continues to make people her priority as a committed collaborator with organizations and initiatives that support underrepresented communities.
Mónica Carreño Villegas is passionate about learning, inner growth and to assist others to unveil their true essence. Monica’s heart belongs to facilitation and her gift is to connect. She has organized TEDx events and has facilitated for storytelling, teambuilding, and personal development processes for companies, schools and organizations; from Santander Bank to NGOs like Kellog Foundation, to high schools and universities like Universidad Panamericana in Mexico. She had the opportunity to live in Chicago, Australia and Nigeria and today she is part of collective movements like the Art of hosting. Now a day she is working in her life Project DREAM: a self-discovery journey to live a more joyfull and fulfilling life, she is focusing on Youth and purpose driven organizations.She is currently immersing on Narrative Practices, a respectful approach to counseling and community work that holds the story as the basic unit of experience.
Austin Willacy is a veteran member of The House Jacks, an a cappella group with whom he has produced 10 full-length albums and completed multiple world tours. For the past 23 years, Austin has directed ‘Til Dawn, Youth in Arts’ teen a cappella group that empowers youth to find their voices in many ways. Austin is also an award-winning singer/songwriter with 4 CD’s and 2 EP’s to his name. His music has been featured on NBC’s “The Sing-Off”, and three feature film soundtracks, including Thrive, a documentary with over 100 million views. He’s appeared in Rolling Stone and has performed with icons such as Bonnie Raitt and Ray Charles as well as newer artists like Rachael Yamagata and Amos Lee. As an organizer and facilitant for YES!, Austin is a part of the North America Jam, the Arts for Social Change Jam, the Anadolu Sanat Jam, the India Arts for Social Change Jam, the Black Disapora Jam, and the nascent Men’s Jam.
Shilpa Jain is currently rooting herself in Berkeley, CA, where she serves as the Executive Director of YES!. Prior to taking on this role, Shilpa spent two years working as the Education and Outreach Coordinator of Other Worlds and ten years as a learning activist with Shikshantar: The Peoples’ Institute for Rethinking Education and Development, based in Udaipur, India. Shilpa has researched, written numerous books and articles, facilitated workshops and hosted gatherings on topics ranging from globalization, creative expressions, ecology, democratic living, innovative learning and unlearning. She had been the main coordinator of the Swapathgami (Walkouts-Walkons) Network for five years. She is passionate about dance and music, organic and natural farming, upcycling and zero waste living, asking appreciative questions and being in community. All of her work seeks to uncover ways for people to free themselves from dominating, soul-crushing institutions and to live in greater alignment with their hearts and deepest values, their local communities, and with nature.
Will Grant was the co-founder and Executive Director for 10 years of BLAST, a multicultural organization that developed networks of leaders from marginalized communities to democratize education and social service systems in New Mexico. He also worked at a progressive High School to teach the children of privilege how to use their social position to design a world that integrates environmental regeneration, multiculturalism and participatory democracy. For 20 years, he has worked in LGBTQ* issues at the intersection of community, spirituality, power, and memory – including starting California’s first high school LGBTQ history class. His current mainstream job is as an organizational development strategist working in IT corporations to build democratic decision making systems. When he’s not being such serious activist, Will is a Radical Fairie named Rootball, a Naraya dancer, a nerd and a hiker.
Through her work with Seeds of Peace, Sarah Brajtbord is deeply committed to working with and empowering young people to find their voice, discover their passion, and live a life of meaning. Finding conflict as an opportunity for growth and breakthrough and recognizing that community and systemic change starts with the self, Sarah strives to lead a life of curiosity, patience, honesty, and presence, finding strength in community and continuously working to deepen her knowledge and understanding of the world around her. Working with young people is a privilege and responsibility that demands accountability to one’s own process of self-reflection and growth, and Sarah is grateful for the inspiring community of Jammers who have already begun pushing her further along her path.
We look forward to Jamming with you!
Austin, Hanan, Monica, Sarah, Shilpa, and Will