[Ailist] Imagine Chicago 2008 YE letter

[Bliss Browne]

Dear friend of Imagine Chicago,

Since 1992, Imagine Chicago has witnessed that people can come together
across well-established differences and speak and act in a way that
promotes health, partnership and community. Our recent election has
shown how eager many Americans are for such engagement. It’s an
exciting and promising time for expanding civic participation.

The global Imagine movement inspired by Imagine Chicago continues to
grow. We have worked around the world again this year as a trainer,
facilitator, partner and mentor of constructive, imaginative frameworks
for community development. Here are highlights of Imagine Chicago’s
partnerships, activities and accomplishments in 2008:
	
+	Earthy Conversations in Pierce County, WA. IC helped design and
facilitate an intergenerational project to engage community members in
imagining and creating a new environmental education center
www.piercecountywa.org 
+	In Livingston, Montana, IC led public forums focused on
strengthening school-community partnerships
+	IC helped launch Imagine Memphis, an initiative to promote
community health
+	Citizen Leadership training was offered in Montana in
partnership with Hopa Mountain to teach project management and strength
based community organizing skills in rural and tribal  communities
(www.hopamountain.org)
+	UBUMAMA - This global maternal health project to save the lives
of mothers dying in childbirth, which Imagine Chicago pioneered in 1994,
expanded to Senegal this year (our ninth country). A new comprehensive
website was launched in May (www.ubumama.org).  With MacArthur
Foundation support, IC hired an intern to expand youth participation in
Ubumama. In September, the Ubumama garments were featured at a breakfast
for First Ladies hosted at the UN by the WHO Director General, and were
the featured exhibit at a special service in support of the MDGs hosted
at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
+	Imagine Chicago worked with Imagine Durban on strengthening
cultural understanding (how to create a culture of respect and
creativity and deal effectively with growing xenophobia). IC moderated
and keynoted the learning exchange in South Africa, hosted by Imagine
Durban, of the PLUS Network, a global network that focuses on long-term
urban sustainability. 
+	IC led a 2 day community visioning session in Hamburg. South
Africa
+	IC keynoted a conference in Vejle, Denmark about a project
Imagine Chicago mentored there called City in Balance which received the
2007 Crown Princess of Denmark’s award for community development.  
+	BBC Scotland featured Imagine Chicago on Quay Conversations -- a
special radio series on ideas critical to Scotland’s future. 
+	IC facilitated community empowerment network meetings for
Imagine St. Helens, UK  
+	Imagine Chicago led 5 days of workshops at the Goree Institute,
Senegal on women’s empowerment and creativity, strengthening local
partnerships and empowering democratic participation 
+	IC facilitated and mentored a community connections project in
Burlington, VT 
+	In Bahrain, IC helped train British Council project managers in
the Middle East in how to use appreciative inquiry to do strength-based
strategic planning. 
+	In North Carolina, IC taught high school students at the NC’s
Governor’s school frameworks for inspiring community change
+	In Beijing, IC designed and moderated a Young Presidents’
Organization (YPO) Inspire a Dream forum on taking Olympian thinking
into making a social impact
+	IC keynoted the Families and Learning conference in Missoula, MT
and trained participants on parental involvement and family literacy
based on IC’s work.
+	IC spoke at the Taos Institute conference in Florida, Dialogues
that Deliver. 
+	IC taught a 7 week masters level course on Appreciative Inquiry
and Community Development at North Park University in Chicago 
+	IC keynoted the ABCD Australia conference and led master classes
and community visioning sessions throughout New Zealand and Australia
+	IC worked in Lander,Wyoming with the Interagency Community
Coalition (ICC) on strengthening community partnerships
+	In North Carolina, IC worked with the Center for Human Science
on strength based planning and communications
+	We were excited and honored that Jean Carter-Hill, Director of
Imagine Englewood if won the 2008 Bank of America Neighborhood
Excellence Initiative Award. Congratulations, Jean!       IWA Chicago
awarded Bliss Browne its 2008 Woman Extraordinaire Award.

Imagine Chicago next plans to concentrate on systematically organizing
what we have learned and offering it to interested community builders.
We are working on updating by YE 2008 Imagine Chicago’s website
(www.imaginechicago.org) as a comprehensive resource base for
strength-based community engagement. Next we plan to offer a series of
master classes in Chicago and abroad which will share and train others
in Imagine Chicago’s frameworks and approaches. Information and
registration will be on the website.  We also hope to host Chicago
informal "living room" conversations about promising and powerful
practices and ideas. And finally, this is the year (really!) to finish
my long gestating book about the Imagine movement entitled Imagine: A
Conversation with the Future to be published by Taos Institute
Publications. We’re hoping for a Mother’s Day delivery! Watch for
announcements at www.taosinstitute.net/publishing/about.htm

All of this exciting work is only possible because of the partnership,
encouragement and investment of Imagine Chicago’s friends. Thank you
for your support!! Please help us again this year to enrich and
transform communities by empowering human creativity and connection.
Your contribution will support global maternal health projects,
internships for young people, make IC's publications and resources
freely available to anyone interested in them and provide training
scholarships for those who might otherwise not be able to participate.
You can help make a world of difference!

Blessings of the season,

Bliss (Browne)

Contributions can be sent to : 
 Imagine Chicago
910 W Castlewood Terrace
Chicago, IL 60640

bliss at imaginechicago.org 
773-275-2520