By: Shelley Fashan (Community Impact Coordinator for the Nova Scotia Network for Social Change) & Jenna Andrews (Social Work Student on Placement)
You can never know or foresee the impact of an idea until you try it and see what happens. Here is the story of how ideas about intergenerational connection exploded and transformed into something totally unexpected and so worth it — “The Power of Connection Across Generations.”
Here is how it all began and unfolded.
Back in January, when we both sat down to start looking at what we could do for our next session for the Nova Scotia Network for Social Change, we started by looking at the ideas and topics generated from our first virtual open house, and how they connected to the feedback we’d been getting from our other sessions. One sticky note in particular sparked an interest in our psyches — “intergenerational learning”. We both immediately started to talk about how intergenerational connection and learning has impacted and shaped both our lives, and our working relationship together. We started to share personal stories about what we’d learned from different generations. Ironically, looking back now, in that meeting, we began to share knowledge with each other and created a space that we would later hope to take forward into our session. Both of us felt that intergenerational connection and learning is so critical if we are to make change. We need all the voices and energy we can get. As we talked, we started to imagine and explore what an event that was rooted in this topic could look like. We had a vision of wanting to hold space for conversation rather than create a space that simulated a typical “presentation-like” environment. We wanted people to be able to learn but also to be able to share their own voices and for our space to embody intergenerational connection.
One of the first questions we asked ourselves was what speakers could address this topic. We pondered on who could represent these voices of the past, present and future. We also began to think about what we could ask our speakers to share in our invitation to them. We decided to ask if they would speak to their change-work, their insights on what changes they’ve noticed in this type of work over the years and their thoughts on connecting across generations. As Shelley noted, “Fortunately, our community is blessed with caring, dynamic leaders and they responded with no hesitation to be a part of the conversation.”
Our phenomenal guest panelists were Dr. Lynn Jones, Quentrel Provo and Raven Davis. All three panelists shared their powerful stories of change work across the generations — we all learned so much from them. They spoke to their insights, what they’ve learned and their own thoughts on intergenerational connection. For Shelley, Lynn’s words stay etched in her mind, “respect is not just a word, it is an act, a way of behaving and it doesn’t mean the same to everyone”, she added, “change work continues.” Lynn went on to say that personal contact is still an important way of connecting with people. Picking up the phone and calling people is a powerful tool.
Quentrel talked about the fact that young people are so exposed to violence- it is everywhere, and especially with technology, it permeates through society unchecked. For Jenna, Quentrel’s words regarding competition vs collaboration in change work were impactful, as they reminded her how it is easy it is to get caught up in an individualism mindset when so many structures and systems are pushing us to do. Raven talked about how we have lost trust in our leadership and Elders need to be appreciated not discarded — we need to make efforts to stay fully connected with our Elders. Raven also spoke to failing with dignity and creating room for growth — an important point that stood out to us both. The panelists concluded their sharing with reminding us that anti-racism isn’t one workshop or seminar, it is an on-going process.
Following our panelists, attendees had a chance to dive deeper into conversation in smaller groups of three to four. Our intention was to provide an opportunity to connect and talk about what was shared by the speakers and to prompt some brainstorming around the guiding question of “How can you and/or your organization create connection across generations to make change?”. Once people had a chance to connect in their small groups, we all came back together as one big group to have a shareback to talk about the ideas, reflections and stories that were brought up.
From the shareback, it was plain to see that there are many important ideas about how we can continue making connections. One element that stood out was that it is critical to get back to the root of communication with each other and building relationships. Our panelists and attendees discussed how change does not happen overnight, it can be uncomfortable, and it is upon all of us to understand the history of our province, gain the trust and start a conversation. Another important element was that to be involved in change work, you have to be ready to come out of your comfort zone. We have to be ready to ask ourselves what our comfort zones look like and how we move beyond them. The greatest opportunity for learning happens when you see things from other perspectives.
From all of the conversations with the three panelists and attendees, it was clear that collaboration is critical to change work and as Lynn stated earlier in the panel, getting out and having the conversations, to start working towards a common goal and collaboration is cyclical. The event sparked an important conversation that change work takes work, listening, growth, and collaboration — and it takes the power of connecting across generations. There were so many incredible moments and connections made through sharing and honest dialogue. We are so grateful for the many gems of wisdom shared by our panelists and participants. We had such an engaging group of community members who shared insightful questions and ideas.
We want to acknowledge and thank all who came to our session — may you all stay strong because as we know, we are all stronger together. Let’s keep the conversation going! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to find out when our next session will be and leave us a comment.
