This week over coffee, I felt my stomach knot. I wanted to ask my friend something that risked exposing our different perspectives, and perhaps different political or theological views. I was tempted to change the subject. Instead, I took a breath and said, “I’m nervous, but because we’re friends, I need to ask you something.”
Choosing courage to engage in conversation matters. It’s why the Impact Now end-of-year campaign is called Continuing the Conversations.
Conversation, “the exchange of news and ideas between two or more people,” according to Merriam-Webster, is at the heart of Impact Now’s work.
- Impact Now began because women in DRC wanted to learn together, in conversation and shared experience. Direct conversations with these leaders shaped the NYOTA Leadership Program curriculum and structure. (Read more here.)
- During NYOTA, women learn how to communicate the causes for justice they lead and advocate for people in need. Participants regularly comment that they make a greater impact because of the instruction in communication and advocacy. They also point out that the exchange of ideas among group members enriches their learning. (Read more here.)
- After graduation, the conversations continue. Women share news of their experiences and successes, and continue to encourage and advise each other.
- Recently, members of UCBC’s Women of Hope spent a week in retreat, engaging in powerful and honest conversations to discern how to support each other through the challenges of life and work in a conflict context. (Read more here.)
What Happens When Women Find Their Voices?
Because of their courageous conversations, NYOTA women and Women of Hope are responsible for—
- The release of children held in captivity.
- Improved policy for responsible local waste management.
- Educating women and men about the importance of pre-natal health care.
- Improving conditions for domestic workers.
- Changes in university policy that reflect the needs of all staff—men and women
Right now, whether in the DRC, the US, or anywhere else in the world, the need for people to have uncomfortable conversations is greater than ever. Solutions to local, regional, and global problems require listening across divides, speaking truth with courage and compassion, and building bridges where anger has burned them down.
A financial gift to Impact Now is an investment in that work. A donation to Impact Now is a partnership with women who choose conversation over silence, collaboration over isolation, and peace over division.
Give today to continue these conversations. Every financial contribution equips women leaders to facilitate negotiations to release children from captivity, improve child and maternal health, and transform communities.
Signal your conviction that courageous conversations can heal what’s broken.
Giving Tuesday and the Impact Now year-end campaign, Continuing the Conversations, formally begin in three weeks. Together, we can lay the groundwork for another year of impact!