Spring Budding

A world that works for all
still takes a community to create.​

February 29, 2020 (our celebratory halfway mark of reflection & reimagining for our current Action Learning Fellowship cohort) was the last time we gathered together with BK Foundation community in person. What a month it has been...

Bringing together fellows and BKF community from across the country, our February 29th event was a blend of in-person and virtual participation. BKF fellows (who are based geographically across the US) have been practicing truly flourishing in an all virtual community since they first met at their in-person kick-off retreat in October.

When BKF's two-day in-person board retreat, scheduled the last two days in March, had to be reimagined, we took the opportunity to learn what the fellows experience in their co-created virtual "oases".  We left that experiment grateful.

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​To honor the time our BKF community spent together on February 29, we'd like to share a few current reflections from participants with all of you.
Todd & Allan, who joined us in person, are helping us keep looking ahead:

• We were very impressed with the virtual multi-camera set-up having the two rooms set-up with ability to add in virtual participants via Zoom. It seemed to run very smoothly and was easy to engage with the remote presenters and participants.
• It was really nice to see how much the Fellows spoke about the importance of the program, the community/family that was built, and the value of the support that they received.
• We thought of others we wanted to tell about what we were learning, to share the work of these Fellows.
• We're also wondering how else the BKF community could be used to make sure that the Fellows also get the most out of the interaction?

Deborah, who joined virtually from NY, has taken the experience to heart: 

• These days, I am very thankful for the question posed to the group, "What are your gifts in exile?"
• For me, they have included getting our children to my old high school to get working papers two days before the public schools closed their doors, facing the unopened moving boxes in my basement, learning more about my husband's work, and beginning Michele Obama's memoir.
• I am thankful for the frame of the question and the knowledge, planted by my Pastor and reinforced by the BKF forum, that making a decision drives you forward.

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​As for our BKF board, bittersweet transitions. We said a very grateful goodbye to Maren Showkeir, who has served with talent and grace from Arizona for three years. And we are welcoming Cecily Victor, our newest BKF board member, who will be serving from her new home in Michigan.

What We Are Welcoming in the Next Round of this Magical Journey

The zoom screen likely looks familiar to most of us these days. Here is BKF's board sampling the ALF oasis experience, ending with a gesture of intent to carry us forward...