Tool: Grow Connection

This is one of 15 civic engagement tools to Shift the Country.

Quick Overview: Grow Connection

Connection and relationships are critical for engagement. Community, groups, and alliances are keys to building power and require connection skills. Poor communication/connection can damage engagement action. This tool is about the basics of fostering connection and doing it well for engagement and teamwork: authenticity, vulnerability, openness, presence, empathy, listening, respect, etc.; and finding shared clarity and focus on mission, priorities, and execution.

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Details on how to use this and the other 15 civic engagement tools are under construction as we're a brand-new nonprofit, created in the summer of 2020 to deal with multiple crises in the US. More information on this tool is coming ASAP!
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More details, discussion, and examples on how to use this tool in the tagged resources below. Some of the resources below show how you can combine the 15 civic engagement tools, and/or how they can be applied to the 10 structural areas.

Help us help you by talking about our work, sharing it around online and with the real-world connections you have, and with contributions here at Shift the Country on GoFundMe.

tool - grow connection

Related resource items

VIDEO: Community Conversations (A Tool)

Having "Community Conversations" is one of the core of the 15 civic engagement tools that can help Shift the Country. These conversations can be online or in-person or both, & single events or a series. They can help us with solving problems & building resilience where we are - like for the pandemic - and also things like re-imagining public safety and racial justice. 9/3/2020. This video is tied to several Shift the Country tools because it relates to several of them - and it is a key tool for doing civic engagement, if not made more challenging by the pandemic. Still, there are ways to make it work, to solve community problems, to drive community agendas, and to help people help each other through.

VIDEO: Creating Tipping Points (Tool)

This is on how to deliberately create tipping points - or how to deliberately make something "go viral" either online or in the real world. Creating tipping points & leveraging social networks to do it is one of the 15 Civic Engagement Tools that help us make shift happen. It's also one of the 5 parts of our strategy to Shift the Country. Our "tipping points" tool online is here. This video is on the founder's wall on Facebook here. August 6, 2020.

VIDEO: How Do We Hold US Through The Inauguration?

So the US President isn't willing to commit to a peaceful transition of power. Now what? We have options for everyday actions. It's more than voting, and it's more than protesting. Check this out to find out more (also we do know how to spell - major typo in the video chyron though). 9/24/20. This video was livestreamed to our Shift the Country FB Page as well.

VIDEO: How Taking Care of People Can Help Save US

We can counter the individualism damaging the health and well-being of this country by looking after each other. Caring about people. Celebrating community. Having compassion. Embracing humanity. Anchoring in connection and community. Doing that can help make shift happen, too. This was originally broadcast on the Shift the Country Facebook page on August 15, 2020.

VIDEO: Powering Through Upcoming Chaos & Loss

The world between now & the inauguration in the US is going to be like nothing we've ever seen. It's going to take everything we've got to get through it. This is a bit of how to do that. 9/25/20.