Building A New Table – Brittany Lewis (1)

I was in a meeting with an impact partner who was upset with one of the CAC community members. In a moment of frustration when that CAC member was not present, they exclaimed that the community member needed “to be shut up” because they were taking up too much space in community conversations. I immediately, and calmly, responded, “We need to take a pause.” On one hand, what this impact partner said was out of line.

On other hand, it was clear in this moment of tension that this person felt safe enough with me to blow off steam. And, thankfully, it happened in a meeting with the RIA team and not with the CAC, where such a statement would have compounded past harms and increased tension. After taking a deep breath, I started the call-in process. I began by letting them know, “I believe your intention is to ensure that all the advisory council members will have equal ability to speak in a meeting.

You don’t actually want to ‘shut someone up.’” They took a breath and affirmed that it wasn’t their intention to shut anyone down but to preserve space for everyone to feel comfortable sharing this perspective. Next, I explained how RIA holds space so that everyone feels welcome to speak, but we never assume that one person is “the problem.”

I reminded them, “If someone seems to be taking up too much space or launching complaint after complaint, there’s usually a story there.” I then invited them to share anything they might know about that story. They disclosed that the person they accused of taking up too much time was likely doing so because they experienced a breach of trust with the impact organization. This backstory convinced me that we had to hold a private mediation session between the individual who was harmed by the breach of trust and the impact partner so that they could begin to repair their relationship.

That broken relationship was driving the dynamic of imbalance and tension. When I held space for those two people in conflict to talk with each other about the incident, there were a lot of emotions, including relief. It was crucial for me, as the navigator, to facilitate this healing conversation so that the tension between them did not infect future meetings with the whole CAC. I was then able to support the impact partner in apologizing during this meeting as they were finally able to “receive and believe” the level of impact that the former breach of trust had had on the community member and why they were so passionately taking up a lot of space in the CAC meetings.

This example illustrates how the process of unlearning dominant habits is iterative.

Praise for Building a New Table Dr. Brittany Lewis’s Equity in Action model centers marginalized groups as experts of their own experiences, and this book cements Dr. Lewis as a leading voice on democratizing social change work in marginalized communities. Her uncommon insights and commitment to justice make Building a New Table an inspiring read that should be mandatory for anyone participating in this complex yet critical work.

—Repa Mekha, president and CEO, Nexus Community Partners Building a New Table is a groundbreaking manifesto. The Equity in Action model offers a fresh perspective on tackling social inequality, emphasizing community engagement and actionable solutions. This book is a crucial resource for those who want to shape a more inclusive and equitable future. —Trista Harris, president of FutureGood Building a New Table provides a compelling approach to accelerate the long-term disruption of social inequality, offering a practical, human-centered research methodology to build trusted relationships that are needed to inform solutions to intractable problems.

The book is a must-read for nonprofit, government, and philanthropic leaders who want a new model for research and effecting positive change. —Gloria Perez, president and CEO, Women’s Foundation of Minnesota Dr. Brittany Lewis has created an open-source methodology for equitable, community-engaged processes, and she has put her values at the center and democratized her learnings into a thought-provoking, step-by-step guide. This book will serve the ecosystem of freedom fighters advancing ambitious solutions. —Adair Mosley, president and CEO, Pillsbury United Communities Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity benefited significantly from our work with Dr. Brittany Lewis.

Her insights into how to show up in communities of color, as well as how to allow research and data to guide nonprofit, foundation, and government processes, make her an exceptional expert in this work. —Chris Coleman, president and CEO, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and former mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota When you include people impacted by social and racial injustice in making decisions, it leads to better decisions, which leads to better results.

Dr. Brittany Lewis’s Equity in Action framework addresses this say/do gap by providing nonprofit, government, and philanthropic leaders with a proven and tangible approach to sharing power and more authentically engaging communities impacted by racial injustice in decision-making. —Susan Bass-Roberts, vice president, Pohlad Family Foundation This book is an essential contribution to the practice of—and thinking about—community-based research. Dr. Brittany Lewis possesses a rare combination of principled idealism and practical business skills.

—Brian Rosenberg, president emeritus, Macalester College and senior adviser, African Leadership University The Equity in Action (EIA) model is unique in acknowledging the ever-widening gap between researchers and the marginalized communities they study and propose to serve. Initiatives in somatic abolition, social work, diversity and inclusion, and related fields can be transformed by the lens of the EIA model.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: f4d0cc973c20500d
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,091,907 bytes (1.995 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781452975528
• Pages: 170
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 242.06 minutes
• Total Words: 48,412
• Total Characters: 305,359
• Average Words per Page: 284.78
• Average Characters per Page: 1796.23

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