Radical Listening: Organizers & Researchers Transforming Our Work
Julie Fernandes
Associate Director for Institutional Accountability and Individual Liberty
Rockefeller Family Fund
Meg Bostrom
Co-Founder
Topos Partnership
Ashli Bolden
Civic Engagement Director
Missouri Jobs With Justice
Organizers participate in activities that can be grounded in listening (canvassing, listening sessions, etc.), but are often pushed to use tactics of persuasion instead. Meanwhile, communicators & researchers are separately developing their messaging. Intentionally structuring organizing to engage conversations & capturing them for analysis by cognitive researchers, allows for deeper listening & more authentic insights. Advocates are leading the way with transformational conversations on race & class that lift up difficult, tense topics.
Grassroots advocates are experimenting with new models for engaging people, and this represents an innovative approach that can be folded into existing outreach efforts.
