Racism and the act of “othering” is an “intentional or subconscious act of separating or distinguishing oneself as superior compared to those we believe to look, live, act, or think differently than ourselves.” It often shows up as judgments, assumptions, disagreements, and defensiveness. It leaves people feeling ignored, irrelevant, and invisible.
The impacts of these wicked patterns affect almost every aspect of our lives and affect everyone. They tear at the fiber of individual, organization, community, and family relationships. You may be aware of the impact of racism and bias but feel overwhelmed by the challenge of transforming these patterns. You may also recognize that change is needed at all scales and across diverse settings, but you don’t know how to make a difference. You may even wonder if what you’re already doing is enough.
In this Adaptive Action Lab, we will blend curiosity with courage and celebration to transcend historic and systemic patterns of racism and “othering.” We will practice new and healthy patterns of Inquiry and Adaptive Action. We will use deep engagement to shift the turbulence of exclusion toward patterns of systemic equity, that welcome historically excluded voices and share power with all.
Use your own most challenging and frustrating experiences with racism and exclusion to:
- See and understand racism as a pattern to be shifted, rather than a problem to be solved
- Experience the power of shared identity as it influences all your interactions
- Engage with others in creative, generative, and productive action
At the close of these sessions, you will be prepared to begin a new journey toward equity in your personal and professional life, your institution, and your community.
Faculty & Coaches
Dr. Sam Grant's role in the environmental justice movement began in 1983, in Minnesota, as he fought for his college campus to divest from South Africa and worked as a lobbyist for passage of legislation demanding that: a) workers have a right to know about the dangerous chemicals being used or produced in their workplaces; and b) that communities have a right to know about the hazardous chemicals used or produced by companies in their neighborhoods. Along with James and Grace Lee Boggs, he did a workshop on environmental racism in Chicago in 1986, and ever since then, has been organizing creative solutions that emerge from within communities to define our own paths to liberation. Sam joined HSD Institute in 2007 as a new HSD professional.
For Sam there is a before and after HSD story. The values and vision he embodies are a 100% match with the vision of HSD. Before HSD will Sam has always approached the work with a tremendous passion for transformation, he was wondering at the edge of chaos without tools to foster deep transformation. Since HSD, he has found that his capacities to foster people’s confidence in co-creativity and co-evolution is steadily increasing. By braiding and weaving short-term group/community confidence-securing objectives with longer-term hope-horizon objectives he feels more able to be facilitative of emergent strategy with a sense of wisdom rather than running on ‘hope in the dark’.
Sam is now the Executive Director of Rainbow Research – a national social justice-focused research, evaluation and capacity building firm about to celebrate its 50th anniversary (2024). Rainbow Research is headquartered in Minneapolis (for now) but is transitioning to fully remote and national by summer of 2023. All projects Rainbow designs or accepts embody a thorough commitment to an intersectional analysis of patterns that shape the world we experience and democratic processes to set conditions for the world we wish to see.
Sam is writing a book due to publisher in June 2023 focused on ways in which people across what is known by some as the “Global South” are organizing resistances, alternatives and mutual solutions to the many challenges of the intersecting ecological and social crises of the 21st century.
Tamela’s passion is centered around helping others to fulfill the highest expression of themselves. She is a Certified Facilitator and HSD Practitioner and uses her skills and experience to improve engagement and transform leadership in municipal government.
Tamela previously served in the Office of former Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, Sly James, as Senior Advisor for Operations. She’s also served on numerous boards and commissions including the Kansas City Credit Union’s Supervisory Committee, the Kansas City AIDS Foundation, and the Avila University Alumni Board.
Tamela earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and an MBA in Management from Avila University, where she’s served as a guest lecturer for several years.
Tamela comes from a family of seasoned educators and orators. She spends her spare time lending her talents as a voiceover artist, podcast host, on-air personality, poet, and inspirational speaker.
Fueled by deep pride in her family surname, Tamela believes that Courage Comes in Handie.
