Upswell is about turning empathy into action — harnessing the insights and experiences of changemakers to positively impact the communities we serve. But what about the community’s insights and lived experiences? In the rush of life, do we unintentionally lean toward a “bias to action” — designing solutions without fully understanding the challenges and needs…
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For changework, local context is essential. You can’t make a real difference unless you immerse yourself in a community – building relationships with the people living there, exploring the intersections of ideas and action, and experiencing firsthand the innovations, obstacles, and diversity that shape a community. And you can’t get that context from a simple…
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/ By Robert Jones / Attendees of our fourth Upswell Lab, held in San Francisco, were intrigued by a hands-on demonstration showing how nonprofits can use virtual reality, or VR, as a powerful storytelling tool. VR promises to have a prominent role at Upswell LA, so we sat down with Susanna Pollack, President of Games…
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/ By Christian Clansky / If you’ve ever been to San Francisco, you know that the city’s weather is unpredictable. You might carefully plan a day full of outdoor activities – maybe a stroll in Golden Gate Park, some parrot-watching on Telegraph Hill, and a boat ride out to Alcatraz – only to be foiled…
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/ By Debra Rainey / When your thoughtful and thought-provoking opinion pieces and books attract praise and criticism from the left, right, and the middle – you must be doing something right! And we’re lucky that David Brooks will be front and center on the main stage to challenge our opinions and assumptions at Upswell…
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/ By Christian Clansky / Thursday, June 7, 2018, was one of the best nights of my life. I also think it was one of the best nights of a lot of peoples’ lives. And, not so coincidentally, it was the night I began to truly believe everything we’ve been saying about Upswell. A little…
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/ By Pickett Slater Harrington / You may recall that Detroit holds a very special place in the Upswell story. In late May, the changemakers who inspired Upswell in the beginning gathered again for an Upswell Lab. And it was great to be back together. More than 40 changemakers from community-based organizations, nonprofits, and foundations…
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Sara Brenner is president of Community Wealth Partners, a Washington, DC-based consulting firm that partners with foundations and nonprofits to solve social problems. Sara will be joining us in Los Angeles in November at Upswell! She is passionate about partnering with people to rethink what is possible and to dramatically change our world for the…
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/ By Debra Rainey / Upswell is about making and building meaningful connections with changemakers doing great things in the social good space, and what better way to do that than over a great meal? During Upswell’s Community Dinners, you’ll “meet well while you eat well.” You’ll have the opportunity to go out into LA…
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Monisha Kapila, founder and CEO of Washington, D.C. and San Francisco-based nonprofit, ProInspire, will join us at Upswell in Los Angeles this November. Monisha has been recognized as an American Express NGen Fellow and holds a number of other sector accolades. She founded ProInspire in 2009 to help individuals and organizations achieve their potential for…
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