From 2016-2019, I served the Center for Ethical Leadership in Seattle—first as a volunteer writer, interviewer, and fundraiser, and then as secretary of the Center's Board of Trustees. With its bold community-based programs, CEL was the organization in town doing the sort of work that I wished to do. 

 

For the past two decades, the Center has brought together diverse community groups to work toward their common good. Our approach to community engagement and leadership development continues to provide a unique framework for fostering social change in a polarized society.

 

In order to cultivate change agents who can sow trust and relationship within group settings, the Center developed its cornerstone conception and methodology for group work. Gracious Space is a framework that creates learning environments where people of all viewpoints—including unpopular ones— are invited to contribute to formulating holistic, community-led solutions. We define Gracious Space as “a spirit and setting in which we invite the stranger and learn in public.”