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We stand at a crossroads today. On one side, we are faced with the impacts and pressure of modern industrial civilization: the ever-expanding push to develop and grow, at any cost to ecological, social and spiritual well-being. On the other side lies an urge to recover a balance with nature, to heal spiritually, interpersonally and globally, to embrace and nurture diverse forms of human living. In every country in the world, in every locality, people are being asked serious questions about where they are and where they are going. And the call of our times — if younger generations are to have a viable future — is to come up with some answers.

Background and History

For the last 18 years, YES!, an organization based in California, United States, has been offering its own direction to this moment. It placed its faith in young people, to inspire them to walk towards a healthier, more just and sustainable future for themselves and their communities. From speaking tours to youth camps, YES! has sought to figure out ways to connect and motivate young people to make a difference. For the last ten years, it has been hosting Youth Jams — week-long gatherings of 30 young leaders (roughly aged 18-35) to explore internal, interpersonal and systemic change. These have happened both within the US with a predominantly American constituency, as well as in other countries around the world, with local and international constituencies. The annual “World Jam” convenes 30 young leaders from 20 nations, and it is held on a different continent each year. The alumni of “Jams” are affectionately known as the Jamily. They are an intimately-linked community of peers who are taking leadership (in various big and small ways) to usher in a positive present and future.

The Global Collaborative grew out of the Jamily. In 2004, the facilitators of the World Jam (hosted in Senegal that year) felt that it would be important to gather an intentional community of peers to deepen in understanding the current moment and the multitude of emerging possibilities. What were we realizing from each of our different contexts? How could this learning be shared in an ongoing way? How could the various unfolding movements and efforts be better supported? With these questions as a foundation, a World Jam alumni gathering was convened in 2006, in New Mexico, US. Those 10 days enabled a connection with other peers who were interested in leading this inquiry forward. Past, present and future World Jam facilitators stayed on after that gathering, and the Global Collaborative was born.

Why did we form the Global Collaborative (GC)?

In a day where institutions and organizations abound and stagnate, we feel it is important to clarify our intentions behind the GC. All of us found ourselves fundamentally and powerfully transformed through the World Jam experience, so we felt foremost the GC is an opportunity to continue to build upon that experience and expand its energy and learning into other aspects of our lives and work.

In a nutshell, the GC is a learning community of peers committed to individual and social change. We come together to reflect on our lives and work with each other, to get new ideas and share insights, and to challenge and be challenged by our peers, in order to take our work to the next level. The GC gives us a chance to deepen our understandings and analyses of what’s happening in the world, both the problems and the opportunities, from a variety of perspectives. This rich sharing enables us to better articulate the principles that guide our work and lives, and the direction we want to take them in.

We find ourselves engaging with some of the most pressing questions of our times. In the GC, we are exploring our growing edges around questions of community building, healthy living, bridge-building (especially among antagonistic communities), solidarity, self-, social- and ancestral-healing, moving resources, etc. Because we come from a variety of communities (our 15 members come from 12 different countries), and different fields of work, this collaborative helps us to link issues and thus build a sense of the whole. It also helps us to push the envelope, to offer insights and new questions to conversations that are happening globally and locally, about social change.

We also feel that it is vital to be part of a loving and supportive community of friends, whose mutual trust, respect, investment and shared values and perspectives make it possible for self- and co-learning to really happen. From the GC, a number of wonderful collaborations have emerged. Our energy and experiences have crossed borders, touched each other’s local communities, and been a source of support and inspiration on many levels. Through this, we all feel strengthened and more able to be of service to the communities we are part of.

What do we actually do together?

The GC has three main threads of work together:
1. The World Jam: an annual week-long gathering of young people committed to internal, interpersonal and systemic change. This is hosted and facilitated by Global Collaborative members (to be held in Peru in 2008, and tentatively planned for Egypt in 2009 and Aotearoa/New Zealand in 2010).
2. An Annual Meeting: four days together as a community, to engage in face-to-face conversations about what we are learning and where we are growing. To reduce expenses, this meeting typically follows the World Jam.
3. A Flow Fund: to move resources into the collaborations and local work we are doing, or that other Jamily are doing, so that the Jam spirit can be nurtured and supported in other spaces. We aim to collect a pool of funds each year that are equally divided and allocated among GC members. In 2008, this pool is $45,000, or $3,000 per GC member.



The funding needs to support projects or connections that synthesize some meeting point of internal, interpersonal and systemic transformation/healing. It supports our collaborations and exploratory “probes” and envisioning. It is not intended for re-granting to other projects that do not directly engage any of us, nor for projects or activities not related to the themes or goals outlined above. As well for legal reasons, the funds cannot go to explicitly political work (campaigning) or illegal activities.

In general, we are using the funds to support:


• Documenting what we are doing and trying (e.g. video, newsletter).
• Disseminating these stories.
• Supporting learning exchanges between young changemakers working at the intersection of internal, interpersonal and systemic issues (whether from GC, Jams, or our local communities).
• Organizing transformational gatherings of diverse young changemakers.
• Providing support for ourselves and aligned communities (e.g. for travel, bringing in facilitators, inviting guest elders to share with us).
• Creating innovative new projects in alignment with our learnings.
• Mentoring youth from our communities through/with the GC.

 

Some examples of how GC members have used their flow fund over the last two years:

• Evon Peter (AZ, USA) launched a year-long program for Young Alaska Natives in collaboration with another World Jam alumna, Cathy Rexford.
• Coumba Toure (Senegal) and Malika Sanders (AL, USA) worked collaboratively on the Invisible Giants Project, an intergenerational gathering for African Women to nourish, honor, and provide a reflective and renewing space for the everyday leaders.
• Osmar Filho (Brasil) visited the 60+ Latin American Jam alumni, interviewing, filming, and deepening relations with them. He intends to produce a documentary about them and find ways to support their work.
• Shilpa Jain (India) hosted two Jams in the subcontinent: the Rajasthan Jam, which explored ideas of Swaraj (self-rule) with young activists from around the state, and an intergenerational gathering on ‘Sharing Our Gifts and Privileges for Social Change’.
• Ocean Robbins (USA) used his funds to support the launch of a Middle Eastern Jam currently planned for October 2008.

A detailed list of how GC members have used their flow funds is attached at the end of this document.

Who is part of the Global Collaborative today?

We are 15 people, nine men and six women, hailing from 12 different countries:

Coumba Toure (Senegal and Mali), Ocean Robbins (USA), Shilpa Jain (India), Evon Peter (USA), Kiritapu Allen (Aotearoa/New Zealand), Tad Hargrave (Canada), Motaz Atalla (Egypt), Osmar Filho (Brazil), Tiffany Brown (USA), Malika Sanders (USA), Salim Mohammed (Kenya), Nuttarote Wangwinyoo (Thailand), Valentina Campos (Bolivia), Ibrahim Al-Ali (Lebanon and Palestine), Puma Singona (Peru).

Our bios are attached at the end of this document.

How could you get involved with the Global Collaborative?

Please connect us with young leaders, growing movements and related initiatives that might like to learn/share with us and participate in our events and efforts. Please support us with your contacts, networks, frequent flyer miles, in-kind donations, and financial resources, so that we can continue to build upon our work.

Lastly, following the World Jam each year, we explore the possibility of new members joining the GC; so please contact Tiffany Brown if you are interested in being part of our learning community and we will let you know the process/procedure to join us.