Connected, Informed, and Refreshed: First Community of Practice
Partners at the Community of Practice share a restorative activity.
Natorius Ezell spends most of his work days inspiring youth and providing program development opportunities. Recently he took time to attend a retreat-type gathering. He went back to work in late afternoon, to teach a class of young people. He thought it would be a hard transition. But, he said, “I did an open circle with my students, and it was the best class I’ve ever had,” he said. “Best I’ve ever had.”
Natorius, recently promoted to Program Manager for Build2Lead, had just come from COO’s first Community Partnerships Community of Practice session on Tuesday, April 16. He felt the day had long-lasting benefits, beyond being able to teach his best class ever.
Sometimes it can be challenging for partners who work in direct service to take a step back, reflect on their work, take a moment to rest, and reignite their passion for why they do the work they do. Having an intentional opportunity to connect with others can make all the difference when it's built into the workday.
Sixteen people representing 8 of our funded Place Based and Cultural Community partners got that opportunity when they attended the Community of Practice gathering. They came away feeling connected, informed, and refreshed.
Responding with deep and authentic engagement
Communities of Practice are organized groups of people with a common interest in a specific domain and/or shared problem or passion. We provided a time and place for partners to engage in intentional networking; deepen and nurture relationships with one another; and participate in meaningful conversations to further connect people to purpose, values, and their whole selves.
We held our first session at the SeaTac Community Center, beautifully located near the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden. We hosted this opportunity because of direct feedback from our Community Partnership partners, said José Camacho Martinez, the lead for the Community Partnership strategy.
“Partners have asked for more opportunities to come together to get to know what other partnerships are doing across the strategy, more opportunities for partners to share-out what they are doing, and time to be supported in healing and wellbeing practices,” José explained.
“We offered this as a responsive opportunity for deep and authentic engagement to learn from our partners.”
José said that the day before the gathering, he saw an Instagram post about community building that he thought “perfectly captured components of what we were trying to achieve. It stuck with me as we went into that first session.”
“Our ability to pull off effective actions and navigate repression is directly proportional to the strength of our relationships.”
“The post captures an essence of what building community is,” Jose said.
Near the SeaTac Community Center is the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden, perfect for a reflective walk.
Partners share thoughts on the session
The Community of Practice session included time for peer networking, activities focused on deep listening and sharing, a light breakfast and lunch, and a beautiful garden walk. It ended with a 20-minute sound meditation offering.
Najmah Messiah attended as a Build 2 Lead partner. She’s a longtime health care professional at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health who became involved with Build 2 Lead as a volunteer after she met its founder, Jimmy Brown, in a Leadership Tomorrow cohort a couple of years ago. She said when she RSVP’d for the Community of Practice, “I thought it was going to be more about networking and meeting other partners. More of a ‘work’ type of vibe.” She wasn’t expecting that it would be much more.
Partners like Najmah appreciated being in the same room with one another, some for the first time ever. “It was powerful hearing about challenges and successes!” Najmah said. “Again, I found that there seemed to be very similar or relatable experiences. I liked that we switched it up and moved around a bit so that we were not breaking out with the same partners all day.”
Malia Pownall was fairly new in her job when she came to the gathering. She had recently joined A Supportive Community for All in Snoqualmie Valley as Partnerships and Engagement Manager. “There’s a lot of value coming together in person, especially coming into all this newness,” she said. “I was really excited to connect in person and see outside of the Zoom box, to learn a little more what people are doing. It was really unique – to be able to talk to people about what they do. But the focus was connecting as humans.”
For partners who are part of a rural community within King County, often the opportunities to connect with others can seem out of reach. But, having an intentional offering to connect with others can make it worthwhile. Malia agreed. She had driven to the gathering from where she lives, in East King County. “It only took me about 45-50 minutes, and it was worth the drive,” she said.
Natorius said that “being in a space with people doing similar work has always refueled me. Sometimes we’re doing so much, it seems like we’re on an island alone, no one is doing the same things. But at the COO event – there were other activities that were so helpful. I enjoyed them so much.”
Staff from 8 different community partner organizations came together for the first Community of Practice.
Our facilitator was Nicole Keenan of Transformative Shifts. Nicole has worked as a case worker, community organizer, policy director, and former Executive Director of previous grantee organizations. Grounded in these experiences and 20 years of practice and training in mindfulness, sound therapy, creative facilitation, intuitive coaching, and somatic movement, Nicole focuses on supporting individuals, teams, and organizations in cultivating wellbeing, finding center, and developing shared clarity in chaotic times.
Malia said she appreciated seeing how Nicole facilitates, inspiring her to bring some of that back to the gatherings she hosts. “One of the biggest things we’re trying to center is community connections and building resilience for folks doing emotionally taxing frontline work,” she said.
“Seeing this convening, how that was prioritized, to connect as humans and with yourself -- with forest bathing, sound meditation, the sound bowl activity -- that was so healing for me. It’s kind of like the ripple effect, how to bring that forward to the folks I work with.”
Natorius pointed out that in addition to meeting partners, he also benefited from meeting COO’s “amazing” Dan Bernard in person, “after emailing with him for a year.” Dan has a lot of strong connections in workforce development, which is an advantage for Build2Lead’s Closing the Gap program.
“Being in that space, I could tell him exactly what I was doing and what we needed,” Natorius said. “Since then Dan has connected me to four or five more opportunities for students. I may not have gotten that if I had not been in the same space with him. To sit at the same table with him, we had a better understanding.”
Looking back, Najmah said that what’s stayed with her from that day is “the stories and emotional connections that were made, specifically during one of the exercises. I believe by the end of our round robin, each one of us had shed a few tears. Something that would never happen in my work environment. I also remember the nature walk and sound therapy. It was all very new to me and I enjoyed every minute of it.”
Natorius agreed about the value of the restorative activities. “At the end of the day, we had a meditation and sound bath. We had yoga mats, we brought pillows from home. Najmah and I were right across from each other. I just laid down and listened to the sound and got so relaxed. I fell asleep. It was so peaceful.” Then he went back to work and taught his very successful class. “I guess part of it was being inspired, being in that space with colleagues and partners, and having it end like that.”
Nicole leads the group in a quiet reflective exercise.
Nicole and José enjoyed the garden walk with the other partners.
Why they’re looking forward to another session
These three partners said they’re looking forward to the next Community of Practice session this summer.
“I would definitely go again,” Najmah said. “I am so new to the non-profit and the CBO environment. And realizing the personal stress that can come from this work, it feels good to know that COO cares about humans, and intentionally checking in and investing in our well being is awesome.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing and reconnecting with people I met at the first one, hearing what they have upcoming in their work, checking in and seeing how they’re doing,” Malia said. “I’m also looking forward to going in with expectations that it’ll be good time for reflection. I know it will be a deep and fulfilling experience in a way that a lot of meetings aren’t.”
Will Natorius go again? “Most definitely,” he said, “and if I don’t, I’ll be really, really hurt.” He said he hopes “to make even more connections. The more we can connect in this work we’re doing, the better we’re able to serve and have resources for our students.”
José felt the session was a great success based on this and other feedback from partners. He shared a response from a partner of the Burien Collaborative, one of COO’s funded partners: “This was my first COO event and it’s super helpful to see y'all model support, resources and wellness to us and the way we can support and provide spaces for resources and wellness for our communities. Thank you!”
Place-Based and Cultural Community partners: Watch for information coming soon about the next Community of Practice session, or contact José with questions.