May 2020 YES! Midyear Report
All of us in the YES! family send you our support, prayers, and love, wherever and however you are in this wild and unprecedented time. We pray that you and those whom you carry in your heart are safe in well.
Please find below our midyear report sharing the events and happenings over the first half of our program year.
YES! Leadership Jams
We were able to host eight Jams before the COVID-19 pandemic quarantines began. In fact, our last Jam, the 4th Northeast Changemakers Jam, was underway at the moment that everything shifted (you can hear more about that in our new podcast). Since mid-March, we’ve had to delay indefinitely five Jams and are gently approaching the other four still slated for this program year, while another five Jam teams who were ready to launch are currently standing by, waiting to see if/when they can schedule. Below you can get a taste of the some of the Jam programs that have occurred between October 2019 and now.
5th Toronto Jam
October 23-27, 2019
Mansfield, Ontario, Canada
For about a year, I’ve been asking the universe to show me if community is possible in Toronto. These past few days at the Jam, I’ve had an experience of belonging so far beyond even what I thought I was asking for. I feel like there’s a wild wind in my chest. Birds could soar on it. I feel overwhelmed by these feelings of heart-burst-open love. Knowing I have this capacity within me, to love others so hard, and easily, is something no one will ever be able to take from me.
Brianna Greaves | 33 | Community Worker/ Grassroots Organizer/ Educator | SURJ-TO + Daily Bread Food Bank | Toronto | Canada
4th India Arts Jam
December 6-12, 2019
Pench National Park, India
Shravani Purandare | 23 | Creative Arts Therapy Practitioner | Mumbai | India
2nd South India Jam
December 14-20, 2019
Neredu Valley, India
I have always heard, ‘Magic happens outside the comfort zone’. You offered me, with all of you, the safety net, the strength, the kindness that helped me make the leap of faith. Just out of that comfort zone is where I came face-to-face with my demons – my insecurities and my anxieties. I’ll never forget how you hugged me as I hugged my demons, and made them feel heard and seen. My demons thank me, and I thank you with all of me. I feel complete and eternally grateful.
Sonaa Raghuraman | 23 | Well-being Coordinator | Thrive Foundation | Chennai | India
1st Re-Storying Justice Jam
November 10-14, 2019
Bay Area, California, USA
Thank you for loving black folks enough to create a healing space where black bodies were valued equally to others. Thank you for prioritizing diverse healing modalities. Thank you for modeling what regeneration and self inquiry looks like in professional work. Thank you for loving yourselves enough to create a healthy container, so that we can love ourselves and each other, without shame or oppression.
Kevin Martin | 41 | Restorative Justice Facilitator | Community Works West | Oakland | USA
6th Pakistan Youth Leadership Jam
November 21-26, 2019
Karachi, Pakistan
I was living in fake world but the Jam give me the opportunity to be real. The Jam told me about self-realization and also proved how to deal with real life conflicts. The Jam inserted a positive change in my life; I have attended many conferences, seminars and camps but never had an experience like the JAM.
Fida Muhammad | 28 | Trainer | Mehsud Wellfare Association | South Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa | Pakistan
1st India Eco Jam
November 3-9, 2019
Pune, India
Thank you for being a generous container where I felt safe, seen and heard. To be able to bring my vulnerability to the table, and not to be afraid of being judged, is so empowering. To feel deeply, to sit with discomfort, and to do the hard work on myself is so beautiful.
Binaifer | 41 | Freelance Photographer | Mumbai | India
4th Northeast Changemakers Jam
March 10-15, 2020
Massachusetts, USA
It is an extra-ordinary gift to be able to come together despite these extra ordinary times expecting that we draw lines and stay farther apart. This is the work of healing that I wish to continue to be part of, that beats the odds and liberates.
Joy George | 22 | Student | Human Rights & Restorative Justice | Bronx, New York | USA
6th Egypt Jam
October 13-18, 2019
Fayoum, Egypt
This was a very unique experience. I have laughed, cried, danced, walked in the desert, received a lot of love and support, and sent some to others, too.I feel myself being a bit more in the flow with myself and a lot more connected to people and nature. I am looking forward to taking the journey further.
Manal Zaher | 25 | Education Designer | Alwan wa Awtar, El Dakahlya | Egypt
Video Testimonials from Recent Jammers
Intended Jams
Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, several teams had to indefinitely delay their scheduled Jams for the safety and well-being of all involved. We share their save the date cards here, so you can help us hold in our hearts the intention for them to happen when it is safe and possible to gather again.
Tell Me, She Said
Tell me, she said:
What is the story you are telling?
What wild song is singing itself through you?
Listen:
In the silence between there is music;
In the spaces between there is story.
It is the song you are living now,
It is the story of the place where you are.
It contains the shapes of these old mountains,
The green of the rhododendron leaves.
It is happening right now in your breath,
In your heart beat still
Drumming the deeper rhythm
Beneath your cracking words.
It matters what you did this morning
And last Saturday night
And last year,
Not because you are important
But because you are in it
And it is still moving,
We are all in this story together.
Listen:
In the silence between there is music;
In the spaces between there is story.
Pay attention:
We are listening each other into being.
— Sally S. Atkins
In this moment, we have been putting our YES! Jam muscles to work! We have been trying to find ways to move from panic zone into stretch zone again and again, using practices of slowing down, grounding, coming to the present moment, listening as witness, sharing from the heart, community caring and sharing, and more. We are taking lessons from biomimicry (learning from nature), and just like any organism, we are tuning into our core essence and figuring out how to adapt in this new environment.
Supporting our Jam leaders with ongoing learning exchanges; hosting Jam alumni in 25+ online community support gatherings; developing our first-ever podcast; enhancing our graphic recording project of Jam tools; sharing our skills and practices with many people in online workshops, talks, mini-mini-online Jams, and through our newsletter; conducting our biannual alumni survey to gather impact input; and more — we have been doing our best to live out our mission of connecting, inspiring, and collaborating with changemakers for thriving, just and regenerative ways of life for all.
Check out our creative offering below.
Check out YES!’s new podcast: “Always On!”
Sharing YES! Jam Tools
2020: Turning 30!
This is certainly not how we imagined celebrating our 30th anniversary at the start of 2020. And yet, we are feeling the depth of the work that we have done over these thirty years to prepare us for this time, rooted through our embodied practices, our incredible diverse and widespread global Jamily, our prayers and commitments to living the more beautiful world our hearts know are possible… And we are rising to meet this moment – facing the initiation we are collectively and personally experiencing, being with isolation, grief and loss, and imagining, experimenting and co-creating our ways towards breakthroughs and new possibilities.
For the first time in our modern industrial world, vulnerability is at the center of our consciousness; and caring for ourselves, each other, our most vulnerable people, and our incredible earth, is what matters most. I feel that the arc of the universe bends toward the truth of interconnection, and it definitely is bending now. Just imagine who we each and all could be as we emerge from this moment. I know that YES! will be making the path by walking it with you, and ready to co-create further, deeper, lasting change — personally, interpersonally and systemically.
The Jam is Always On!
During this global slowdown Jam alumni have been cross-pollinating and reconnecting, Jam communities have continued to meet. From the YES! Board and staff, to Jam alumni, to mini-Jams a number of circles have convened and experimented with new forms in this moment. Check out some photos from these meetings below.
API Jam Alumni Call
Gaels Jam Alumni Call
Re-storying Justice Jam Alumni Call
HOME Jam Alumni Call
Education Jam Alumni Call
Northeast Jam Alumni Call
Toronto Jam Alumni Call
Arts Jam Alumni Call
North America Jam Alumni Call
Egypt Jam Alumni Call
Mexico Jam Alumni Call
Evolving and Emerging Economies Jam Alumni Call
YES! Board and Staff call
Global Jam Leaders Call
We invite you to support us in Rooting & Rising, Celebrating 30 Years of YES! Your contributions will enable us to expand our care for the root system and the rising vision of changemakers around the world. We understand and honor that there are a number of worthy causes to support and that funds are tight for many of us, given our changing economic realities. And, so we are grateful for whatever gift you can offer. After all, small seedlings grow into mighty redwood forests and nourish us all.
Support Our 30th Anniversary
We are raising $30,000 to help support YES! for our work this year: our alumni integration work, storytelling projects, and, of course, in-person Jams when that becomes viable again. Please help us continue our work to co-create the thriving, just and regenerative world we are building through, and on the other side of, this pandemic moment.
Upcoming Jams! (We Hope)
While we track and navigate the realities brought to bear by the the global COVID-19 pandemic,
several teams are tentatively moving forward with plans to Jam later this year.
