This post is one in a three-part introduction to the Upswell experience. Other installments focus on the program and community. We heard it over and over at the first Upswell in Los Angeles last November: “This doesn’t feel like any conference I’ve ever been to!” That’s exactly the reaction we wanted, because we didn’t set out…
This post is one in a three-part introduction to the Upswell experience. Other installments focus on the program and design. We like to say that Upswell is a community rather than a conference, but what does that mean, exactly? It’s hard to explain a “sense of community,” and harder still to build it into a three-day gathering.…
/ By Tamieka Briscoe / Jessica Stern never identified as a “foster child” growing up—but at age ten, one week after her mother passed away of cancer, Stern and her seven siblings began living with foster families. According to Stern, while her family had “a whole lot of love,” they struggled in poverty, so much…
/ By Jackie Brennan / During Upswell LA, and in the weeks since, we were glad to hear from more than a few people that the three-day gathering in Downtown LA didn’t look or feel exactly like a traditional conference. That was intentional—and we made a very deliberate effort to not bill it as a…