"I took my first ICL weekend way back in 2016/2017 and it was so life-changing that I essentially never left! I started as a facilitator, in particular facilitating for my own community of Early Childhood Educators. As a direct result of my work with ICL I started working as a community organizer with the association of Early Childhood Educators. As I grew my experience with organizing, and my confidence with facilitating, I was able to take on the role of lead facilitating/teaching ICL. Because I use the principles that ICL teaches in my daily work I have been able to add some examples of real world application to my teaching.
Being involved with the Institute for Change Leaders has been life changing for me, right from the start. That first session with ICL made me believe that I could *do something* about the situations that troubled my heart, and it gave me hope. I have been a Community Organizer for the last 6 years, I have used the principals that I learned in my very first ICL weekend workshop every day. Now, I am on the board of ICL as an act of service and gratitude to an organization that has been so important to me.
I see organizing as the most effective way that care and hope can be consolidated into action. I have seen the power of organizing to make life-changing wins, and to hold communities together in times of loss and uncertainty. I believe that ICL can and must expand outwards to help more people turn care and hope into action. I also believe that ICL can create spaces where organizers can come together, share knowledge, think deeply, and find care."
