Takeaways From Our First Year

Posted in About IDEA on Jun 27, 2011 - 12:00 PM

Over the next few weeks, you'll see changes to IDEA's website and blogs. We are constantly learning and this next iteration of our site reflects some of our takeaways from our first year.

Here are a few personal takeaways from the year that I hope to live out:

1) Share more of our learning in public.

The IDEA team traveled over 200K miles and visited with young people, thought leaders, policy-makers, foundations, parents, and organizers from across the country. That has done a lot for our thinking about how to spur transformative change. We want to share more of that with you - and not just the finished pieces - but the unfinished thoughts and the complications. Personally, this means I'll blog more often and will begin doing a monthly podcast interview for IDEA members.

2) Make it easier to connect with each other.

There is so much “stuff” that gets in the way of our reaching out across organizations, hallways, neighborhoods, or positions. We hope to make it easier for you to blog, to connect to our site via Facebook, and to find the tools to meet with that community leaders you've always wanted to but just haven't yet reached out for.

3) Communicate with even more video, pictures, and stories.

Our friends at the the Community Learning Exchange are great examples of how powerful media is and can be used to document and share what is happening. We'll be giving our community organizers video cameras and do a better job of telling the story of young people, teachers, parents, school leaders, and organizers across the country.

4) What we stand for is the most important thing.

Our strategies may need to change, we may want to merge with other organizations to be more potent, but what drives our work, even more than our mission, is the values that inform that mission. We've heard from lots of folks that these values are what matters and why they are getting excited about IDEA.

5) Be generous. Have courage. Listen. Stay focused. Honor context.

From our first weeks of launching to now, we have benefited by the wisdom of so many folks. From our named advisors and board to the hundreds of folks we've met at various gatherings, 1:1 meetings with organizers, and beyond. Thanks for teaching us. Keep it going. There are too many moving parts, and systems that are too complex to claim to have it all figure out. We'll keep seeking your input, critique, and ideas. We need them to matter.

6) Develop capacity.

Beyond any one organization or location, we need to build our capacity to connect, strategize, organize, move mountains, tell our best stories, convene, sustain, and celebrate.

What did you learn this last year? Anything you can share that might help IDEA be more strategic, collaborative, or sustainable is welcome.

Tags for this entry:
organizing, values, continuous learning, connections

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