Thank you Lisa and Joanna for naming this nameless funding niche. “Issue tribes” happen for good yet unintended reasons and can just be so frustrating to break out of. I know the types of people you are talking about and find that they can often be at the margins of their “issue tribes” because they are not typically the leading “experts” and because they tend to naturally see the interconnections between things and relate across dividing lines. Thanks for underlining the need to more intentionally support these type of change agents.
Hi Lisa & Joanna, thanks for this inspiring article. Hope to have tangible actions for 2016. Though lacks the good qualities for an effective bridge builder but just feel this idea is worth pursuing, https://challenges.openideo.com/challenge/urban-resilience/ideas/turning-garbage-into-trees. Hope to make initial steps next year. Thanks again and merry, merry Christmas to all.
Diversity in thinking and in networking helps bridge builders to see possibilities that exist…ones that others might not see and ones that can have broader impact.
This a problem that Tarrant Churches Together faces with funding sources. Not a church but an organization working to bring together churches, congregations, government agencies and people of all religions. It is difficult to find funding because TCT is a bridging organization and funders do not understand the importance that Bridge Builders provide.
It is most heartening to know there are people out there that care. It is my honest belief that those that earn must be encouraged to earn more . Their success should be recognized in the sharing of their wealth with those in need . Not to be confused with give big ,feel good type charity but intelligent ,impactful and incisive philanthropy .please visit us at http://www.baowe.org where we in Bhutan are building livelihoods through entrepreneurship .
Thanks Lisa & Joanna for capturing the importance of the bridge builder role. There are precious few forums for this kind of dialogue. After a couple of decades of facilitating practical dialogue among environment, health, and security public and private sector actors, I’m convinced of the value of matchmakers, translators, or as you call them bridge builders. I would suggest there is room to be inclusive of organizations, not just individuals. We at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, by law non-partisan and non-advocacy, tried to provide safe space for overcoming the suspicion, stereotypes, and general discombobulation that comes with engaging outside silos, stovepipes, or what you call issue tribes. But for those willing to learn the acronym soup of another tribe, great benefits could be garnered. Now teaching and consulting at a university, I see much greater value in interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary degrees such as Environmental Studies that bake into the curriculum investigation across the natural and social scientists. By training students to explicitly have more tools in their toolboxes, we are trying to prepare a wider set of people to be bridge builders outside issue tribes.
I hear you. Our world has missed out on at least one whole generation of potential bridge-builders. Let’s hope our next generation fares better than we did.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article and had some clarity on the role I would like to play between our education system and youth mental illness, including anxiety and depression, that is on the rise. I have been focusing on identifying ways to support brain health through education and explanation. I clearly see a very important role our schools need to play in this area and brain health experts can help in educating our youth who are hurting trying to get into top colleges at the expense of their health and missing out on deep long-term learning. We desperately need to bring different players together to reverse the mental illness curve for our future generations. I like “bridge builder” for the role I am playing to support our youth. Thank you!
We should bear in mind that tribal or indigenous peoples are very much excluded in socially, politically and economically in their everyday life settings. They are the small scale society of simple technology. Being an indigenous and as a student of anthropology I deeply feel their difficulties & plights. I think they should be provided special care and attention to bring the significant changes in their social life. I can not but say that many organizations are working for the name of their development.Consequently, it is being seen that no development is happening of them. Their development idea has become today as the business planning. It is very sad for us. We should change our out look if we wish to work for their development. For instance, I can say that in my country Bangladesh anthropologically there are more than 70 indigenous communities are living in a peril condition since the British period. With the changing situation of time everything is changing but the vulnerable condition of the oppressed peoples is not changing., Those who speak and work for development I don’t know what they are doing. If they are really working so why the lives of indigenous peoples is yet not become developed ? I know there are many scopes to work on indigenous issues. Fund is in great needed for them.
COMMENTS
BY Emily
ON December 23, 2015 04:12 AM
Thank you Lisa and Joanna for naming this nameless funding niche. “Issue tribes” happen for good yet unintended reasons and can just be so frustrating to break out of. I know the types of people you are talking about and find that they can often be at the margins of their “issue tribes” because they are not typically the leading “experts” and because they tend to naturally see the interconnections between things and relate across dividing lines. Thanks for underlining the need to more intentionally support these type of change agents.
BY Nelson T. Enojo
ON December 25, 2015 02:10 AM
Hi Lisa & Joanna, thanks for this inspiring article. Hope to have tangible actions for 2016. Though lacks the good qualities for an effective bridge builder but just feel this idea is worth pursuing, https://challenges.openideo.com/challenge/urban-resilience/ideas/turning-garbage-into-trees. Hope to make initial steps next year. Thanks again and merry, merry Christmas to all.
BY Mary Kurek
ON December 28, 2015 02:52 PM
Diversity in thinking and in networking helps bridge builders to see possibilities that exist…ones that others might not see and ones that can have broader impact.
BY Hal Leeds
ON December 28, 2015 03:01 PM
This a problem that Tarrant Churches Together faces with funding sources. Not a church but an organization working to bring together churches, congregations, government agencies and people of all religions. It is difficult to find funding because TCT is a bridging organization and funders do not understand the importance that Bridge Builders provide.
BY Damchae Dem
ON January 1, 2016 05:44 PM
It is most heartening to know there are people out there that care. It is my honest belief that those that earn must be encouraged to earn more . Their success should be recognized in the sharing of their wealth with those in need . Not to be confused with give big ,feel good type charity but intelligent ,impactful and incisive philanthropy .please visit us at http://www.baowe.org where we in Bhutan are building livelihoods through entrepreneurship .
BY Geoff Dabelko
ON January 4, 2016 06:11 AM
Thanks Lisa & Joanna for capturing the importance of the bridge builder role. There are precious few forums for this kind of dialogue. After a couple of decades of facilitating practical dialogue among environment, health, and security public and private sector actors, I’m convinced of the value of matchmakers, translators, or as you call them bridge builders. I would suggest there is room to be inclusive of organizations, not just individuals. We at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, by law non-partisan and non-advocacy, tried to provide safe space for overcoming the suspicion, stereotypes, and general discombobulation that comes with engaging outside silos, stovepipes, or what you call issue tribes. But for those willing to learn the acronym soup of another tribe, great benefits could be garnered. Now teaching and consulting at a university, I see much greater value in interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary degrees such as Environmental Studies that bake into the curriculum investigation across the natural and social scientists. By training students to explicitly have more tools in their toolboxes, we are trying to prepare a wider set of people to be bridge builders outside issue tribes.
BY Margaret Sharon Olscamp
ON January 11, 2016 04:30 AM
I hear you. Our world has missed out on at least one whole generation of potential bridge-builders. Let’s hope our next generation fares better than we did.
BY Sangeeta Tiwari
ON January 26, 2016 12:18 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article and had some clarity on the role I would like to play between our education system and youth mental illness, including anxiety and depression, that is on the rise. I have been focusing on identifying ways to support brain health through education and explanation. I clearly see a very important role our schools need to play in this area and brain health experts can help in educating our youth who are hurting trying to get into top colleges at the expense of their health and missing out on deep long-term learning. We desperately need to bring different players together to reverse the mental illness curve for our future generations. I like “bridge builder” for the role I am playing to support our youth. Thank you!
BY Jeffrey Walker
ON February 5, 2016 08:33 AM
Really smart.
BY Santosh Hemrom
ON February 5, 2016 12:04 PM
We should bear in mind that tribal or indigenous peoples are very much excluded in socially, politically and economically in their everyday life settings. They are the small scale society of simple technology. Being an indigenous and as a student of anthropology I deeply feel their difficulties & plights. I think they should be provided special care and attention to bring the significant changes in their social life. I can not but say that many organizations are working for the name of their development.Consequently, it is being seen that no development is happening of them. Their development idea has become today as the business planning. It is very sad for us. We should change our out look if we wish to work for their development. For instance, I can say that in my country Bangladesh anthropologically there are more than 70 indigenous communities are living in a peril condition since the British period. With the changing situation of time everything is changing but the vulnerable condition of the oppressed peoples is not changing., Those who speak and work for development I don’t know what they are doing. If they are really working so why the lives of indigenous peoples is yet not become developed ? I know there are many scopes to work on indigenous issues. Fund is in great needed for them.