Exploring Nature, Culture and Inner Life

Reparative Philanthropy: Releasing Wealth for Social Justice ~Part of the Money as Medicine series of events co-presented with the Center for Healing and Liberation at Commonweal~ We welcome host Victoria Santos to The New School, in this first conversation in our Money as Medicine series of events. In this conversation, Victoria talks with CC Gardner Gleser about her role in transforming the philanthropic landscape to refocus on racial equity. C’Ardiss “CC” Gardner Gleser is an advocate for social impact and social justice work. She is the first director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives at Satterberg Foundation, whose mission focuses on promoting a just society and sustainable environment. She currently serves as a leader on the boards of Andrus Family Fund, Charlotte Martin Foundation, and Philanthropy Northwest. CC founded Black Ivy Manor, which provides funding and other opportunities for Black scholars, artists, and social justice advocates to develop their crafts and voices. CC earned her Bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from Yale University, and an M.Ed. in Education Administration from Seattle University. Our Host, Victoria Santos, MA Victoria designs and facilitates group processes in communities, organizations, businesses, universities and schools. Warm authentic presence, compassionate communication, commitment to social justice and racial equity, and lifelong learning are threads running through all of Victoria’s work. She brings more than thirty years of experience and leadership in education, community organizing and community development. For ten years, Victoria assisted Sobonfu Somé in leading grief rituals according to the Dagara traditions of Burkina Faso. She is a Spanish-fluent Afro-Caribbean immigrant who was born in a rural village in the Dominican Republic. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Join TNS Host Michael Lerner in a spiritual biography conversation with Janet Moses. Janet Jemmott Moses, MD Janet involved herself in the Civil Rights Movement at a young age. The New York native was only 22-year-old when she decided to join the front lines as an activist. She participated in picketing and sit-in-movements in New York, before heading to the south to raise funds for the SNCC – the voter organization co-founded by Bob Moses. Eventually, the two fell in love and got married in 1968. Janet received her medical degree at the University of Boston and established herself as a successful pediatrician at M.I.T.

Join TNS Host Michael Lerner in conversation with Matthew Barzun about his new book, The Power of Giving Away Power: How the Best Leaders Learn to Let Go. About the book: "In this practical and personal journey, Barzun brilliantly layers lessons across history and industries with his own experiences as an internet entrepreneur, political organizer, and US ambassador to the United Kingdom and Sweden. With lessons for leaders of all types, The Power of Giving Away Power shows how the Constellation mindset shines in some of the most impactful organizations and innovations the world has ever known. And it encourages us all to recognize, as Barzun writes, "the power we can create by seeing the power in others" — and making the leap to lead. Together." Matthew Barzun has always been fascinated about how we can stand out and fit in at the same time. He helped countries do both when he served as U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom and to Sweden. He helped citizens do both as National Finance Chair for Barack Obama by pioneering new ways for people to have a stronger voice in politics. And he helped tech consumers do both as an entrepreneur when he helped build CNET Networks in the early 90s. Barzun was raised on the East Coast, started his career on the West Coast, and settled in the middle in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife, Brooke, and their three children. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

WATER | Thirsty California: Water, Agribusiness, and the Future of Food ~Part of the Roots of Resilience in An Age of Crisis series co-presented with Real Food Media and Mother Jones magazine~ Join Anna Lappé with award-winning journalist Tom Philpott and Janaki Jagannath, of the Community Alliance for Agroecology and the 11th Hour Project, to talk about the state of water in California. As record wildfires and drought plague the state, what are advocates for farmers and farmworkers advocating for? What threats do we face and how do we take them on? Photo: Unsplash Tom Philpott is the food and agriculture correspondent for Mother Jones and author of Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It (Bloomsbury 2020). Prior to joining Mother Jones in 2012, he worked for five years as the food editor and columnist for Grist Magazine. His work has won numerous awards, including a Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. He was a cofounder in 2004 of Maverick Farms, a small organic vegetable farm and center for sustainable food education in Valle Crucis, North Carolina. In past lives, he has worked as a farmer, line cook, a community college teacher, and a finance writer. Janaki Jagannath is Program Manager of the Food and Ag Program at the 11th Hour Project. Previously she worked in the San Joaquin Valley of California who work to advance agricultural and environmental policy towards justice for communities bearing the burden of California’s food system. She has worked at California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. in Fresno enforcing environmental justice and worker protections such as access to clean drinking water for unincorporated farmworker communities. Janaki has assisted in curriculum development for the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems degree at UC Davis and has farmed in diversified and orchard crops across the state. Janaki holds a B.S. in Agricultural Development from UC Davis and a producers’ certification in Ecological Horticulture from UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology. Host Anna Lappé is a national bestselling author, a renowned advocate for sustainability and justice along the food chain, and an advisor to funders investing in food system transformation. A James Beard Leadership Awardee, Anna is the co-author or author of three books on food, farming, and sustainability and the contributing author to fourteen more. One of TIME magazine’s “eco” Who’s-Who, Anna is the founder or co-founder of three national organizations including the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund. In addition to her work at Real Food Media, Anna developed and leads the Food Sovereignty Fund, a global grantmaking program of the Panta Rhea Foundation. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

What Justice Looks Like: Two Young Women’s Voices in Art Join TNS Host Ladybird Morgan for a conversation with two young women filmmakers who are finding their voices through film and other media. They share their view of what is happening in our world, what they see is possible, and how the arts can be a way to shape the voices of culture. We share two of their short films (2 minutes) during the webinar. Isabel Lena Fernandez Isabel is an eighteen-year-old artist who spends the preponderance of her time scrapbooking, painting, writing poetry, and watching films. She watches films the way others listen to music: religiously and constantly. She works at The Armory Center for the Arts and presently attends Pasadena City College. Isabel has a passion for parks and recreation and aspires to be employed as a Death Valley Park Ranger. She unwaveringly loves the untouched earth, the sand dunes, and the hemorrhage of stars in the desert’s sky. Anika Velasquez Anika is a 17 year old, Latinx, actress/screenwriter who is currently working on an original TV show. Anika is also an academic and attends her local high school as well as Santa Barbara City College, with hopes of getting degrees in both film and English. Anika prioritizes diverse representation, and believes that everyone has a story worth telling. Host Ladybird Morgan, RN, MSW Ladybird is program director and co-founder of the Humane Prison Hospice Project, and has been working in end-of-life care as a registered nurse, clinical social worker, and educator for 20+ years. She has worked with organizations including The Zen Hospice Project and Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Ladybird has guided medical practitioners, families and private caregivers to find their clearest voice as they step across significant thresholds in life and in preparing for death. Currently she facilitates the training of The Brothers Keepers Peer Support/ End of Life Caregiving at San Quentin, is a Palliative Care consultant with Mettlehealth.org, co-facilitates Last Acts of Kindness with Redwing Keyssar, and supports Commonweal’s Cancer Help Program, Healing Circles, and The New School. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: https://tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~Part of the Roots of Resilience in An Age of Crisis series co-presented with Real Food Media~ Seed savers Kristyn Leach of Namu Farm and Second Generation Seeds in Yolo County, California, and Jessika Greendeer of Dream of Wild Health in Twin Cities, Minnesota, will talk about the “why” behind their seed-saving practices. Together with Host Tiffani Patton, Jessika and Kristyn will explore the role of seed-saving in preserving and connecting to culture and why we need seed diversity to withstand the climate crisis. (Photo: Tiffani Patton) Kristyn Leach grows Asian crops in California’s Central Valley. Her focus is on preserving and adapting Korean plants, agronomic wisdom, and culture. She partners with the Namu Restaurant Group, providing their restaurants with produce and working with their chefs and cooks on breeding projects. She founded a seed line within Kitazawa Seed Company, the oldest purveyor of Asian vegetable seeds in the United States, called Second Generation Seeds. Second Generation is a collaborative project that hopes to connect or reconnect communities of the Asian diaspora with the crops that have sustained them. Jessika Greendeer is a Ho-Chunk Nation tribal member from Baraboo, Wisconsin, and a member of the Deer Clan. She is currently the seed keeper and farm manager at Dream of Wild Health. Jessika has worked as the Agricultural Division Manager for her nation and had previously served as a garden mentor within her nation’s organic community gardens. She is a U.S. Army combat veteran and completed a Veteran-to-Farmer training program at the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. Host Tiffani Patton is a lifelong “foodie” turned activist, writing and researching food system change for more than seven years. A gifted writer and storyteller, she leads several areas of educational programming, communications strategy, engagement, and internal operations at Real Food Media. She co-produces and co-hosts the Real Food Reads and Foodtopias podcasts with Tanya Kerssen. Tiffani brings years of active engagement in food policy discussions, event organizing, storytelling for change, facilitating important discussions around food system transformation, and the connection of art, music, and culture to food in the Bay Area and beyond. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

Social media and other technology have a huge influence on our minds, behavior, and spirit. How do we best navigate our high-tech horizon in ways that allow for wholeness and presence? Join TNS Host Rabbi Irwin Keller in conversation with Aden Van Noppen, founder and executive director of Mobius, an unconventional collective of technologists, scientists, activists, and spiritual teachers dedicated to creating a world in which technology brings out the best in humanity. Aden Van Noppen was a senior advisor to the U.S. Chief Technology Officer in the Obama White House Office, where she developed the led programs that leverage tech as a tool for social and economic justice. After that, she spent a year as a resident fellow at Harvard Divinity School focusing on the intersection of tech, ethics and spirituality and was an affiliate at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. Aden was also part of the founding leadership team of The Sanctuaries, the first interfaith arts community in the country. Her work has been featured in the New Yorker, The New York Times, WIRED, and elsewhere. Host Irwin Keller Rabbi Irwin Keller has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Shalom in Sonoma County, California, since 2008. His past work included LGBT advocacy, HIV legal services, and 21 years as a singing drag queen with The Kinsey Sicks, America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet. Irwin’s sermons and essays on Torah, mysticism, God, politics, disillusionment, and hope can be found on his blog, Itzik’s Well, found at irwinkeller.com. Irwin is a steward and faculty member of Commonweal’s Taproot Gathering. Find out more about The New School at Commonweal on our website: tns.commonweal.org. And like/follow our Soundcloud channel for more great podcasts.

~Part of the Widening Circles Series Co-Presented with Healing Circles Global~ Join Oren Slozberg and Diana Lindsay, co-directors of Healing Circles Global for a conversation on the beginnings of Healing Circles and how it has evolved into a global resource for healing, social connection, and meaningful service. In this conversation, we’ll explore: The ideas from Christina Baldwin, Ann Linnea, Parker Palmer, Michael Lerner, and Janie Brown that deepen the work of Healing Circles Global. Offering welcoming, safe, and nourishing circles for healing and connection for anyone from anywhere at no to low cost. Providing meaningful experiences of learning, service, and belonging for our global community of healing circles volunteers. Creating a sustainable, loving, global community for healing circles work. Find out more about Healing Circles Global: healingcirclesglobal.org Find out more about The New School at Commonweal: tns.commonweal.org. *** Don't forget to like and subscribe. And, to get news of upcoming events or new resources, follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/TNSCommonweal) and Instagram (instagram.com/tnscommonweal/).

~Part of the Widening Circles Series Co-Presented with Healing Circles Global~ Join us for an intimate conversation with Michael Lerner, Commonweal President, and the acclaimed Janie Brown, founder of Callanish Society, a grassroots non-profit organization in Vancouver, BC, for people living with, and dying from, cancer. In this conversation, we’ll explore: The personal impact of intentional healing in removing obstacles and supporting healing in every possible way. How to set the conditions for healing in the retreat setting. How radical acts of love can promote healing up to the moment of death. Find out more about Healing Circles Global: healingcirclesglobal.org Find out more about The New School at Commonweal: tns.commonweal.org. *** Don't forget to like and subscribe. And, to get news of upcoming events or new resources, follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/TNSCommonweal) and Instagram (instagram.com/tnscommonweal/).

~Part of the Widening Circles Series Co-Presented with Healing Circles Global~ Moving Forward: Circles for Healing and Coming Together / Michael Lerner, Parker Palmer, Christina Baldwin, Diana Lindsay, Lisa Simms-Booth, and Rahmin Sarabi, moderated by Oren Slozberg We are transitioning into a post-COVID world with challenges on many levels, from our own health, national polarization and the global polycrisis. Facing these challenges, the need for healing and circle work is as important as ever, maybe even more. Moderated by Oren Slozberg, executive director of Commonweal, an intergenerational panel with Christina Baldwin, Parker Palmer, Michael Lerner, Rahmin Sarabi, Lisa Simms Booth and Diana Lindsay will reflect on circle work in our new unfolding world. Find out more about Healing Circles Global: healingcirclesglobal.org Find out more about The New School at Commonweal: tns.commonweal.org.