The last time I flew internationally was in 2019. This was at the time when many of us were growing louder about the real and systematic challenges of the humanitarian, development, and peacebuilding sectors, but before our world changed entirely in 2020. 

At the time, the Global Fund for Community Foundations was hosting their second global conference, this one known as the Pathways to Power Symposium. I can remember being struck by how wonderful (and rare!) it was to be a part of a global gathering that was structured in such a way that lived the values it was also speaking about – a co-developed agenda, a group of diverse and representative speakers, an equitable payment structure, lots of time in the agenda for collaboration and relationship building, and more. I walked away from the symposium with connections and collaborators that have sustained me through the changing tides of our world the last four years, and I am beyond grateful to be able to attend the third convening, the Shift the Power Summit in Bogota, Colombia, this December. 

Considering how our world has changed, traveling internationally is not something I take lightly. It has real implications for who is in and has access to which spaces, it has environmental implications, and much more. But my team at Stopping As Success (SAS+) has prioritized our presence at the conference because we see true value in sharing space with and learning from other changemakers while also contributing what we’ve seen work to shift power within responsible transitions from international to more proximate leadership. SAS+ will be represented in the poster presentations as a way to share our practical lessons learned on how to actualize power shifts through transitions as well as core ways to collaborate in the coming months. 

I am truly excited about sharing space with so many wonderful changemakers in the coming weeks. I can’t wait to see the results of a co-developed agenda from collaborative weaving conversations and to have quality time to build relationships with people working across the globe to shift power. I know I’ll leave feeling inspired and full of creative ideas to sustain the hard work of systems change. If you’ll be there, please get in touch and let’s grab a coffee!