C3: Meeting 4 Income Inequality and Economic Opportunity

Tuesday March 18 2015 6-8PM

Our C3 “Sparks” for this meeting are already doing incredible work to improve economic opportunities throughout the county. At this meeting they shared this work and their dreams for its future. Information about the sparks and their dreams can be found here.

Our interns and staff designed an icebreaker, The Privilege Walk, inspired by this activity. This  required a lot of trust and openness amongst our members. It allowed everyone to see and imagine how access to opportunities in our society have drastic inequalities depending on who you are, where you come from, what you look like and circumstances that are often beyond your control. This helped frame further conversations this evening.

Sparks  led short 5 minute presentations on their project and their dream for its future. Then, all members chose which project they would like to strengthen based on the interests and assets each individual could bring to the discussion.

Groups formed around each topic for a more in-depth workshop. Members first shared their interests in joining the group and then asked the presenter more questions about their project. Groups then brainstormed ideas to strengthen the dream.  Wes Modes’ group took a different approach to this structure. His presentation and workshop focused on empowering other members to advance their own organization’s funding opportunities and brainstorming ways to do that. Each group then built an artifact of the future for our Pop Up Museum that was representative of that dream out of cardboard, paper, pipe cleaners, tape and markers in a mere fifteen minutes. Objects and labels were presented to the whole group and can be viewed here.

At the end of the meeting each individual either made a commitment to strengthening this work or shared a commitment they had already followed through on. It was inspiring to hear about the collaborations, connections and changes this group has already made in our short time together. We finished with a cheer and rally.