Meet the 2023 Goldin Global Fellows Spanish Language Cohort

by Lissette Mateus Roa, Co-Facilitator, Goldin Global Fellows

The Goldin Institute is proud to introduce the 2023 Goldin Global Fellows (Spanish Language Edition)!

We invite you to learn about each of the outstanding Goldin Global Fellows who live and work in Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, the United States and Venezuela. This diverse group of fellows will learn and work together as a Community of Practice, building on the talents of their neighbors and the assets of their communities to make real and lasting change around the world.

The idea to have a Global Fellows program for Spanish speakers was suggested by 2018 Global Fellow Lissette Mateus Roa from Colombia who is the lead facilitator for this cohort. Lissette recognized that her home country of Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries to be an activist or social leader, and where solidarity and collaboration with other grassroots leaders and change makers was critical. We are proud to launch our first ever Spanish language cohort to expand the reach of the Goldin Global Fellows community of practice. We are excited to see what the Fellows achieve together.

ABOUT GATHER

The Fellows are learning together through GATHER, which is both a mobile platform for shared learning and a curriculum for people who want to build on the talents of their neighbors and the assets of their communities to make real and lasting change. Gather Fellows learn and work together through an innovative curriculum that comes pre-loaded on a tablet device with all the connectivity, materials, videos, practices and tools necessary to provide a mobile classroom and toolkit for community leadership.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/338756918?portrait=0

The Goldin Global Fellows connects and equips grassroots leaders across the world to lead community driven social change. The 2023 Goldin Global Fellows is the second international Spanish language cohort to utilize the GATHER platform, an online learning hub built by the Goldin Institute to empower grassroots leaders. They will engage in a 22-week course of intensive shared learning as well as group projects, culminating in a graduation event in Fall 2023. The curriculum has been designed and refined in collaboration with the Fellows themselves, based on their practical knowledge and hard earned wisdom, with input from a wide range of civic leaders. 

To follow along the learning journey with the Goldin Global Fellows, please sign up for our newsletter and follow up on TwitterFacebook and Instagram.


This Week in GI History: Manresa, Spain


This week we mark the anniversary of one of the Institute's defining events: the 2003 Building Social Cohesion in the Midst of Diversity and Migration conference held in Manresa, Spain.  

At that Event, community leaders from over 20 cities gathered to explore best practices from their practical experiences building social cohesion. The Conference came together over the central questions of: 

  • How do we promote a positive view of difference and build a sense of social cohesion in the midst of diversity?
  • Where have people been effective at building relationships of trust, understanding and cooperation between diverse communities?
  • How can we best learn from those communities that have successfully built trust amongst their diverse communities? 

The collaborative learning, strategies and conversations at the Event provided tools for participants to bring solutions back to their respective cities. To find out more on how this was accomplished, view the full report on our findings of the conference.  here.

Thirteen years have passed since the Manresa Event, but the issue of how communities in sizable cities overcome the division and tensions often caused by their diverse populations, remains as relevant as it was in 2003. In many ways, we were fortunate to make the connections with a group of talented and committed leaders willing to address the issue head-on, as it has proven to be prescient and set the tone for future project work.

[slide][img path="images/2003___17.jpg"] Goldin Institute co-founder Diane Goldin with participants at the 2003 Maresa, Spain Event. [/img] [/slide]

 


This Week in GI History and Building on a Key Past Event


This week we mark the anniversary of one of the Institute's defining events: the 2003 Building Social Cohesion in the Midst of Diversity and Migration conference held in Manresa, Spain.  

At that Event, community leaders from over 20 cities gathered to explore best practices from their practical experiences building social cohesion. The Conference came together over the central questions of: 

  • How do we promote a positive view of difference and build a sense of social cohesion in the midst of diversity?
  • Where have people been effective at building relationships of trust, understanding and cooperation between diverse communities?
  • How can we best learn from those communities that have successfully built trust amongst their diverse communities? 

The collaborative learning, strategies and conversations at the Event provided tools for participants to bring solutions back to their respective cities. To find out more on how this was accomplished, view the full report on our findings of the conference.  here.

In the time since we held the Manresa Event, the issue of how communities in sizable cities overcome the division and tensions often caused by their diverse populations, remains as relevant as it was in 2003. In many ways, we were fortunate to make the connections with a group of talented and committed leaders willing to address the issue head-on, as it has proven to be prescient and set the tone for future project work. 

Which brings us to new events and the ways in which we continue to honor our mission, and honor those we work with dedicated to bringing social cohesion to their communities. This week, two of our associates from Chicago, Alexis Smyser and Srishtee Dear, are in attendance with our colleagues in Colombia at the Foundation for Reconciliation conference in Bogota. Here, participants from several countries review and reinforce the key principals of the ESPERE methods that the Foundation has been refining since first introducing in 2007. 

The ESPERE methodology is engaging new community leaders, former child soldiers and educators in the proven concepts of reconciliation and forgiveness. What began as a grassroots project by Fr. Leonel and his team in Bogota less than a decade ago has now flourished to see participation throughout North and South America and recently to Africa. Partners of the Goldin Institute in Uganda have taken up the ESPERE methodology and have used is as a powerful tool in the reintegration for former child soldiers. 

[hl bg="#d07000" fg="#ffffff"]Continue to follow us as we share new learnings and outcomes from this latest conference in Bogota. See how the common theme of social cohesion that began 12 years ago in Manresa is alive and well and being proven highly adaptive in new environments and by new leaders bringing positive change to their communities.[/hl]

[slide][img path="images/2003___17.jpg"] Goldin Institute co-founder Diane Goldin with participants at the 2003 Maresa, Spain Event. [/img] [/slide]