Community Building

I feel lucky to have grown up in a big family, in a wonderful faith community, in an amazing city:  All three of these communities modeled for me early the building blocks that healthy communities require.  One of my earliest and most intense experiences in community building emerged as I worked with three other women to co-found The Youthbridge Initiative, a non-profit focused on teaching conflict transformation and personal empowerment to teenagers in diverse communities in the Balkans as their communities worked to recover from the recent civil war.   The teenagers and local staff we worked with in Vukovar, Croatia transformed us while we shared our knowledge and experience with them, and the basis of those years and the curricular components that resulted formed the backbone of my work establishing AYAVA House at Austin Seminary in conjunction with the Reverend Jack Barden. 

AYAVA House consisted of between 8 and 11 young adults each year, living together on the campus of Austin Seminary, growing a sense of community together that provided space for personal growth and mutual support during a year of spiritual and vocational discernment.  After my time directing AYAVA House came to an end, I went on to co-found The 787 Collective at Austin Seminary through a generous grant from The Lilly Endowment, Inc. which focused on young adult engagement in congregational life. A strong ethic around the importance of community still permeates how I collaborate, facilitate, and teach.  Whether establishing a covenant of presence with a group of learners, facilitating an effective retreat, collaborating inclusively and effectively across disciplines or institutions, or shepherding a production or project on a peaceful and fruitful creative journey, community building remains an essential part of how I realize my work in the world.