ComNetworkDENVER: Language – The Power of Perception

Last October Trabian Shorters, the founder of BMe Community, a New York Times bestselling author, and former Vice President of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation addressed the national Communications Network conference in Austin, Texas. Shorters challenged the audience to consider how we as communication professionals are unconsciously but fundamentally undermining our commitment to equity by focusing on challenges rather than aspirations.

His keynote address was one of the most memorable moments of the conference. Join us for a video screening of his talk, followed by breakout conversations focusing on how each of us can better employ asset-based framing in our organizations’ communications. Breakout conversations will be facilitated by Mission Minded Founding Partner Zach Hochstadt.

“You can’t lift people up by putting them down. For at least 50 years, governments, nonprofits, and foundations have collaborated to wage the War on Poverty, as well as wars on drugs and crime, by making black people the poster children for these menaces to society.

Today, it’s painfully clear that our 50-plus years of declaring ourselves the saviors and allies of people striving to get out of poverty or defying a racist society hasn’t convinced either group that we are in fact their saviors or even their allies.” –Trabian Shorters in the Chronicle of Philanthropy