I have long loved FCNL. From my experience of lobbying with my students to my time on the General Committee. This has been a space of empowerment and encouragement for me.
In July, I joined the staff as FCNL’s associate general secretary for community and culture. In that position, I lead the new Community and Culture department made up of FCNL’s Quaker outreach, young adult, and human resources teams, as well as Friends Place on Capitol Hill.
Through a period of discernment, I am gaining clarity about how our department can best serve FCNL as an organization and a community. At a recent team retreat, we developed the following mission statement to guide our work:
The Community and Culture team guides the evolution of the FCNL community by supporting shared understanding of FCNL’s values, expanding and deepening connections, fostering a sense of belonging, and creating opportunities for growth rooted in diverse perspectives and experiences.
FCNL believes that building relationships is at the heart of transformation. The Community and Culture team seeks to aid and sustain the development of positive, reciprocal relationships across the organization and community. These relationships reflect our mission, our Quaker values, and our anti-racism, anti-bias, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (AJEDI) commitments .
Based on my deep listening and learning during the last two months, I plan to focus on several areas in the year ahead, including supporting FCNL in:
- Intentionally and consistently incorporating appropriate Quaker practices and values into our work and community.
- Actualizing the aspirations in our AJEDI Statement.
- Ensuring the staff community feels part of a beloved community grounded in a sense of right relationships. Everyone should feel supported, respected, and valued. I will expand this to our broader community after my first year, but I want to initially build our internal community as a model for the community we seek.
Please share the news about this new Community and Culture role and team with your Quaker communities, and please be in touch if our team can help deepen your connection to FCNL’s beloved community.
