In support of our community
I know what it’s like to feel invisible.
How do I know? At key times, my desires and interests and feelings were not seen and reflected back in the way that I needed. I had many formative experiences in which the parts of me that needed comfort and reassurance were not seen, held and acknowledged.
The amazing thing about life is that our greatest trials are often our greatest gifts.
It has taken me years to understand what my unique contribution is. Almost ironically, it isn’t only the thing I thought it was: For so long, I thought my contribution was bringing intelligence.
And that might be part of it. But a key contribution is my memory and awareness of being invisible. Every meeting I facilitate, every training I run, every process I design, starts from that memory.
When I tune in to a room full of people, I naturally and immediately pick up: Who is being included? Who is feeling left out? Who feels powerful? Who doesn’t feel powerful?
Every time I design a process that brings people together to hear each other and see each other in all their complexity, some healing happens. This is my life’s work: To keep bringing about this healing for all of us.
I’m telling you this now as I share some news of visibility: This week we’re launching a new website, brand and name - The Ross Collective. Don’t worry -- it’s still "us” with the work and values that you’ve come to know and respect.
We’ve honed in on how our values and processes support and amplify the work that needs to be done in the world.
What you'll see across all of our work is a deep commitment to honoring and seeing every person in the room. We design and facilitate inclusive, participatory processes that honor and value each person, build investment, and move groups to thoughtful plans.
We’re more explicit than ever about our values:
As we’ve learned more about the needs of the nonprofit sector and the widening gaps in our nation and California specifically, we’ve deepened our commitment to racial and social equity.
Equity is a central value of The Ross Collective that is key to all of the processes that we design and every conversation we lead. We are energized by bringing people from diverse backgrounds together to talk about how to increase equity in our organizations and systems.
Specifically, we’re working in four areas: Strategic Planning, Board Development, Training, and Coaching. Our website shares a lot more detail about all of this - we encourage you to explore and consider what your team needs now.
We're sure you're thinking: What does it mean to launch a brand focused on coming together when the international mood is focused on isolation and quarantine?
This moment has reminded us of the value of processes that bring people together to share information, identify risks, and create next steps. When these processes are missing, we see uncertainty and panic. We need each other, and we need to hear and see each other in order to move our organizations, and the world, forward productively.
Right now we want to help to do whatever we can, given the current environment. Here's what we want you to know:
Much of our work can be done virtually.
We are particularly skilled at facilitating difficult conversations, which we know your organization will be having in the coming weeks and months.
In the interest of holding our values of helpfulness and good work in the world, we know that we need to be as helpful as possible to support the sector at a challenging moment. We are venturing to help first and worry about financial returns after that. If you would like to work with us and this is a concern, please reach out.
So - thank you for your feedback, your collaboration, your sharing of ideas. We are honored to be on this journey with you.
If you know anyone who can benefit from our unique approach, we’d love for you to connect them with us at The Ross Collective.