Are You Radically Loving Yourself: An Interview
“Latino Community Foundation’s Senior VP of Programs Masha V. Chernyak sat down with Shiree Teng to discuss her latest Brown Paper, Healing Love: Into Balance. Shiree Teng has worked with LCF for almost a decade—helping us dream, re-imagine, and support our grassroots Latino nonprofit community. Shiree is a healer, organizer, and a visionary movement leader. She has taught us that love is the greatest force in the universe. And that to authentically love yourself and others is a sign of a true revolutionary.”
Healing Love: Into Balance
We’re excited to bring this second Love chapter into the world. In this chapter we ask,
“what is the worst thing I’ve ever done?”
“What are you grieving?”
“To bring our inner lives into more loving balance between radically and honestly loving myself and loving you, what am I ready to do?”
We hope you will share this widely with your beloved communities…
“We are in a state of suspension between what is dying and decaying and what is becoming. We are in the process of
composting. Let’s make that process conscious.”
If you have read Measuring Love and you know Sammy, start here.
Measuring Love
This Brown Paper flips the script of what is acceptable as a “Paper” on its head. It is not a “formal,” research-based, finished product of the traditional type. It comes from the heart and is meant to be used—like love. It is meant to spark dialogue and provoke.
In it, we are asking ourselves, “Are we loving bravely enough?”
And “How much am I loving?” “What else I can do to be in community from a place of love?” and “How am I wielding power fused with love?”
Equity in Action: National Sexual Assault Conference 2023, Closing Plenary
Shiree gave the closing plenary for Equity in Action, 2023’s National Sexual Assault Conference® (NSAC) bringing together over 2,000 advocates and activists invested in ending sexual violence. This annual conference provides opportunities to share information and resources, advance learning, develop new skills, and increase our capacity to assert the dignity of all people.
East Wind ezine: Gloria Betancourt ¡Presente!
A Remembrance by Shiree Teng
“Like hundreds of SF Bay Area volunteers who journeyed to Watsonville in support of 1,000 Chicano and Mexicana cannery workers, I first met Gloria Betancourt at one of the numerous rallies. She was a striking presence who commanded the allegiance of her fellow workers with her militant spirit and unwavering commitment for justice…”
EOBHC: For the Love of Black East Oakland
Shiree and team have been supporting EOBHC (East Oakland Building Healthy Communities) for the last six years as learning and [e]valuation partners. This is the final report of a ten-year effort to build power in this historically Black community. Along with rich history and snapshots of this decade’s worth of critical work, the report includes love letters to Oakland from key participants.
Honor the Work: Building Capacity for Social Change in Communities of Color
Dr. Omowale Satterwhite’s lifelong work to develop community capacity has been a North Star for me. Omo, as he’s affectionately known, instilled in me that as community capacity builders, we are here to Honor the Work, and the Work will Honor You.
I’m forever grateful to Omo for modeling this sacred truth.
We wrote this workbook in 2009, summarizing the years of work that Omo was leading at National Community Development Institute (NCDI) and we talk more about NCDI in these pages.
“Social transformation occurs when a critical mass of community stakeholders comes together to define and implement social change strategies... Capacity builders contribute by bringing together the diverse voices of a community to develop a common agenda for social change.”
“Capacity building focused on bringing about social change is much more than tuning up an organization to fix a particular problem. Working in this way means focusing on problems that are systemic to the current social order and solutions that create lasting social change in addition to and moving beyond addressing immediate issues.”
Omo and Shiree with colleague Rogéair Purnell- Mack
Sample Work Products
Ideas, visualizations and evaluation tools from our work with colleagues and clients.
Impact Rising
In 2013, with the support of the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Haas Jr. Fund, Shiree initiated the construction of the Impact Rising site with the hope to elevate the quality of social sector consulting. Please see the site for relevant resources for social sector organizations and consultants.
The Bigger Picture
What I’m Reading
Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson (amazing and absolutely recommend via audio)
What It Takes to Heal by prentiss hemphill (on audio books read by the author!!)
Leading with Joy by Akaya Windwood and Rajasvini Bhansali
Four Pivots by Shawn Ginwright
…and stashed away for my winter break are:
To Share with You
In the words and pictures of others, from social justice gospel to just plain funny.
