“Think of what you want to be different because you gathered, and work backward from that outcome.”

― Priya Parker, The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

Seeing the sunlight on the faces of our alumni as they gathered outside the conference room of our Los Angeles hotel in early November was a reward that was a long time coming. Hailing from places as far flung as New Hampshire, Toronto, Vancouver, and Honolulu, our I.D.E.A. into Action team had been anticipating our in-person gathering for months. After multiple online meetings and a lot of preliminary work, Zoom squares gave way to hugs and heartfelt greetings. We spent a day connecting and getting oriented – and then it was time for us to put our heads together and learn how to turn I.D.E.A. into Action.

Over the past year, A Fresh Chapter has been building on our I.D.E.A. into Action initiative, focused on developing strategies for greater inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility within A Fresh Chapter and beyond. The 3-day intensive education + brainstorming experience in L.A. was an opportunity for our cohort of 13 alumni and staff to meet in person, learn from Julye Williams of Project 2043, and apply what we are learning in a group setting. 

Working through the Liberatory Consciousness Framework, we focused our attention on six historically marginalized communities: Hispanic & Latinx, Asian American & Pacific Islander, Black & African American, LGBTQIA+, Indigenous Peoples, and People with Disabilities. We broke into groups to dive in and better understand the challenges that people from each of these communities face when confronted by cancer. Reflecting on this work, Sarah (2020 Ignite Alum) shared, “Most impactful to me was how many people there are out there currently with cancer or who have had cancer, who may feel completely alone in their experiences of it for so many different reasons.  As a person who has felt this way, I came to the realization that I am not alone in feeling alone, and that was huge.” 

Said Melinda (2022 Ignite Alum), “There was such a depth of lived experience in the room and everyone came ready to put it all on the table. And with all that knowledge and experience in the room, there were still countless times that I heard (and I said), ‘I didn’t know that’ and ‘I never thought of it that way.’” 

Each group shared back what we were learning about these different communities with the broader team, and from there, we began to practice applying our newfound awareness to action. Our goal was – and is – to devise strategies for making A Fresh Chapter a more inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible organization, so that anyone from any walk of life who is seeking our support can discover a place of belonging. 

Reflecting on our time in L.A., Obi (2022 Ignite Alum) said, “I learned about the distinction between removing bias and being more equitable. I used to believe that an environment where decisions were based on facts and data was a fool proof way to make an inclusive space. However, after this weekend, I learned that this kind of environment is good for removing bias but not necessarily making a properly inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible environment. Removing bias and holding space for others are two parts of the process to creating a safe space for everyone.”

We have only just begun to scratch the surface. As we continue this work virtually over the coming months, our focus on A Fresh Chapter as a case study, we hope, might help pave the way for other small nonprofits to implement I.D.E.A. principles into their organizations. 

There is much work to do, but our team is encouraged. Said Shayla (2020 Ignite Alum): “I feel like I learned so much in our time together in LA. I think a big realization for me was that no matter how much we learn, there will always be more that we don’t know, and more ways to evolve, grow, and learn to support others,” she shared. “Getting to work together, listen to others’ experiences, and see how open, passionate, and willing to learn everyone was made me feel super hopeful about our capacity to create meaningful change, and hopeful that AFC could be a small part of creating more wide scale changes. It highlighted for me that there really are people who care deeply, and who are willing to put in the work to make this world a better place for everyone.”