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Creating Learning Communities

This is an important step among organizations and individuals that work on a common issue or work in a community or region. Creating a learning community is about sharing information generously, providing effective feedback, creating accountability mechanisms, agreeing to make an investment of time for sustained interaction and the curiosity and the willingness to learn. Working on racial equity is hard and complex work; it is important not only to take care of ourselves but also to take care of others.

Sometimes we are working so fast and the urgency is so great that we do not always take the time to reflect on what we are learning, how we are doing, what we could be doing better, and if it is even working. Limited resources may make us feel there is little time to reflect. And since funding is competitive, groups sometimes are protective of sharing information or even giving feedback to each other. Creating a learning community with accountability principles can address some of those issues. It is important to invest in holding up the mirror to our work and be willing to be vulnerable and aware of our weaknesses. Not doing so only hurts our common movement toward our common vision of racial equity.