Check out the 2015-16 Annual Report!
Watch our year-end video!
Completed Programs –
October 2015 to September 2016
Evolving + Emerging Economies Jam, October 13-18, 2015, Bay Area, CA – 20 diverse visionaries and entrepreneurs committed to a just and regenerative world gathered to transform themselves, their relationships and the economic system via impact investing, social entrepreneurship, community currency, worker-owned business, new metrics, collaborative consumption, gift cultures, and more. This year’s EEE Jam was hosted in collaboration with Bioneers 26th annual conference. Core partners: Bioneers, Maya Hackett, Julia Kious Zabell, Aumatma Shah, Holly Roberson, Chris Tittle, Julian Caspari.
Middle East Youth Leadership Jam, October 23-30, 2015, Wadi Rum, Jordan – The 8th annual event brought together 20 diverse young leaders from around the region, who are committed to hope, possibility, justice and peace for all peoples in the region.
Egypt Youth Leadership Jam, November 5-10, 2015, Fayoum, Egypt – This second annual Jam engaged 22 diverse change-makers, ages 20-40, from varying religious, ethnic, economic, geographic, national and professional backgrounds from around Egypt. It was organized and facilitated by a team of alumni of the first-ever Egypt Jam and the Middle East Youth Leadership Jam.
YES! 25th Anniversary and Holiday Party – December 6, 2015, San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA – We hosted the first of many celebrations to honor 25 years of YES! Our Bay Area community of supporters, Jam alumni, board members, staff and local partners, were invited to hear about the 2014-15 year, appreciate the next evolutionary leap in YES!, and reunite with Jamily. We enjoyed a taste of the Jam, the spirit of the holidays and looked forward to the New Year in community!
YES! Jamily Reunion – December 19, 2015, New York City, NY, USA – 15 NYC-based Jamily members gathered for a reunion and began cross-pollinating a mini-Jam! Hosted by Giselle Castaño, an Education Jam and North America Jam alum, this reunion brought together Jammers from the Arts and Social Change Jam, the Law and Social Change Jam, the North America Jam, the Education Jam, the Queer/LGBTQ* Jam, and the Middle East Jam. This team is laying the foundation for a New York City Jam in 2017.
Pakistan Youth Leadership Jam – February 25 to March 1, 2016, Karachi, Pakistan – 27 change-makers, from all parts of Pakistan and working in fields ranging from women’s empowerment to youth development to human rights and citizenship, came together to grow internally, heal divisions, create support for each other, and vision a positive future for their families, communities and land.
Habib University Learning Exchanges – March 3 and 4, 2016, and March 5 and 6, 2015, Karachi, Pakistan – YES! facilitated two two-day co-learning experiences for Habib University staff and Habib University students. Participants dove deeply into embodied experiences of listening, story-sharing, team-building, collaboration, leadership, vision and more. Over 50 people participated, and they left with renewed vigor, capacity and hope to make a difference in their lives and communities.
Unlearning Workshop for Intergenerational Collaboration – March 23, 2016, Oakland, CA, USA – YES! was delighted to partner with the Berrett-Koehler Foundation on this pilot workshop to support collaborative engagements across generations. Participants had a chance to explore self-awareness tools, listening and story-sharing, appreciative inquiry and small group support. We are looking forward to round two!
Community of Faith Breakfast – March 26, 2016, San Leandro, CA, USA – YES! was happy to share an interactive presentation on “Connecting, Healing, Loving, towards Building the World We Want to See” with this monthly interfaith breakfast community.
Arts for Social Change / ARTivist Jam, April 5-10, 2016, Santa Cruz, California, USA – 23 musicians, visual artists, dramatists, dancers, graphic recorders, spoken word poets, and more, joined together in cross-pollinating and linking up the vital ARTivist movement! This Jam focused on mutual support, interconnection, collaboration, visioning, and lifting up the essential contributions of artists in social transformation.
Northeast Jam – April 20-25, 2016, Starksboro, Vermont, USA – 15 intergenerational change-makers from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania gathered to vision the region afresh, build community, create space for inner transformation, and heal across divides.
India Youth Jam, April 28 to May 5, 2016, Himachal Pradesh, India – The 5th annual Jam united 28 social changemakers from around the subcontinent for self-awareness, community-building and systemic visioning. Core partners: Sukhmani Kohli, Shruti Tharayil, Yash Maniar, Roy Jacob, Saud Hakim, Arpita Gaidhane.
25th Anniversary Celebration, May 14, 2016, Oakland, California, USA – YES! celebrated its 25th anniversary! Hosted at Interplayce, the event brought together about 100 people, from all of the years of YES!’s existence, for a wonderful walk down memory lane, a sharing of artistic presentations, delicious food, and many exciting new launches of visual/storytelling projects and creative work projects for YES!’s 26th year of service. It also supported our first-ever crowdfunding campaign to nourish the Jams happening this year and the many new ones beginning for 2016-17.
Honoring the Whole Person in Social Justice Work, May 19, 2016, Oakland, California, USA – YES! was honored to share on a panel and offer a workshop as part of this event organized by the National Equity Project. This was the second event in the National Equity Project’s “There’s Another Way” event series, and explored the intersection of social justice work with various wisdom traditions to better understand how each can inform and strengthen the other. Underpinning this event was NEP’s foundational stance that leading for equity is “inside-out” work.
Thrive East Bay, May 22, 2016, Oakland, California, USA – YES! was excited to partner with several Jammers and friends on the 9th installment of Thrive East Bay, an opportunity to connect with a diverse and inspiring group of people; to be uplifted by music, singing, and poetry; to tap into spirit and heart; and to experience the transformative power of community in service of a world that works for all.
Law and Social Change Jam, May 29 to June 2, 2016, Pennsylvania, USA – This 2nd annual Jam brought together 20 diverse lawyers and law practitioners, who are vital to co-creating a better world, in environment, human rights, criminal justice, land rights, immigration, alternative economies, and more, and who want to heal and deepen their connections on personal, interpersonal and systemic levels. Core partners: Chris Tittle, Parag Khandhar, Judi Cohen, Jeff Carolin.
Beloved Community: Law and Social Activism to Realize MLK’s Enduring Vision, June 3-5, 2016, Philadelphia, PA, USA – YES! was honored to partner with the Project for Integrating Law, Spirituality and Politics in their second conference, held at Drexel University in Philadelphia. With Law and Social Change Jammer, Susan Brooks, who serves as the Dean of Community and Experiential Education at Drexel Law School, we co-facilitated a wonderful conference for a wide diversity of participants to deeply engage with how to continue to build the beloved community in these times. Check out the summary blog that was written about the conference.
Toronto/GTA Jam, June 15-19, 2016, Toronto, Canada – This 3rd Jam in the greater Toronto area brought together 20 diverse change-makers to connect, vision, build bridges, and learn together, in order to strengthen the dynamic movements happening in and around the city. Core partners: Brigid Tierney, Rehana Tejpar, Karen BK Chan, Arabi Rajeswaran, Jeff Carolin, Adeline Cohen.
Anatolia Youth Leadership Jam, June 18-25, 2016, Yenikoy, Bayramic, Turkey – This 6th annual Jam united 30 social changemakers from around Turkey to focus on self-awareness and healing, ecological renewal, community connection, social entrepreneurship, health and well-being, community media and building a transformative vision and future for Turkey. Core partners: Aysegul Guzel/Zumbara, Hanzade Germiyanoglu, Esra Debeli, Asil Dugan, Burak Dindaroglu, Argin Kubin.
Unlearning Workshop on Intergenerational Collaboration – July 25, 2016, Oakland, CA, USA – Hosted in partnership with the Berrett-Koehler Foundation, YES! was delighted to offer the second in this workshop series on learning and unlearning, utilizing specific tools and practices, in order to have more meaningful, effective and joyful intergenerational collaborations.
Education Transformation Jam, July 31 to August 7, 2016, Portland, Oregon, USA – 18 intergenerational and dynamic change-makers in the field of education came together to (re)weave an oft-divided education transformation fabric. This year, the Ed Jam was held in partnership with the 13th annual AERO conference! Co-organizing partners: AERO, The Field Academy and Schools without Borders.
Southern Leadership Jam, August 18-23, 2016, Marshall, NC, USA – 16 diverse and intergenerational changemakers from the US South gathered for this 4th annual Jam to co-create a safe space for truth telling, healing, compassion, and understanding. They envisioned the New Normal and how to get there from the current context of erosion of voter rights, discrimination, and unjust policies facing the US South today. Core partners: Jayanni Webster, Fight for $15; Ekua Adisa and Ashley Cooper, Mycelium; Jovan Julien, Project South; Hannah Sadtler; Malika Sanders-Fortier, Grassroots Democracy; Jessica Norwood, Emerging Changemakers Network.
Anatolia Arts for Social Change Jam, August 30 to September 4, 2016, Bodrum, Turkey – The first-ever Arts for Social Change Jam in Turkey! Bringing together 28 artists from around the country — dancers, musicians, storytellers, filmmakers, photographers, visual artists, and more — to strengthen and deepen arts offerings towards building a thriving, just and regenerative world for all. Organized by a group of alumni from the Anatolia Youth Leadership Jam and Arts for Social Change Jam.
Mindfulness in the Law Teacher Training Program, August 31 to September 3, 2016, San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA – YES! was delighted to partner with MLTT to offer community-building tools and practices to this transformative program for lawyers and legal workers, who are aiming to integrate mindfulness into all aspects of their lives and work, and share it with others in their profession and beyond.
North America Leadership Jam, September 11-18, 2016, Quaker Center, Ben Lomond, CA – YES!’s longest-running program, which has helped to birth so many Jams around the country and has been happening for the last 12 years. 26 diverse leaders from around North America commited to co-creating a shared vision, finding common points of collaboration, healing historic divides, and exploring the self.
Egypt Youth Leadership Jam, September 23-28, 2016, Fayoum, Egypt – This third annual Jam engaged 20 diverse change-makers, ages 20-40, from varying religious, ethnic, economic, geographic, national and professional backgrounds from around Egypt. It was organized and facilitated by a team of alumni of past Egypt Jams.