Feedback Summit 2018 opened Day 2 with a plenary conversation that exemplified the spirit of this year’s convening, especially around the use of feedback to pave the way for equity and dignity for people. Lara Powers of Polaris and Jessica Centeno of CEO highlighted what we have accomplished so far, and what is next for the future of feedback.
Lara Powers at #FBLSummit says @PolarisProjPH empowers their survivor constituents by paying them to deliver services and support to other survivors. #ShiftThePower pic.twitter.com/814qoZRcVh
— Brad Dudding (@BradDudding) October 5, 2018
Lara Powers explains to Jessica Centeno of @ceoworks how @Polaris_Project offers paid consulting opportunities to survivors of human trafficking. It offers a diverse set of survivors flexible, non-tokenizing ways to inform every department’s work. #FBLSummit pic.twitter.com/uj5Jm1qpS2
— Megan Campbell (@whereismegan) October 5, 2018
We had heard in pop ups on Day 1 that some on attendees were having FOMO (fear of missing out) on breakout sessions. Go speakers! There were just too many good sessions throughout the day. Here are a few highlights:
So delighted to tell the story of Care International’s breakthrough in citizen voice in Ghana with Samuel Boateng #FBLSummit #constitentvoice pic.twitter.com/zK6nNiHMcc
— David Bonbright (@davidbonbright) October 5, 2018
A few lessons from facilitating “high speed stories” on collective leadership at #FBLSummit.”Know your partner’s needs, not just your own.””Share yourself as a person too.” “Get past imagining and into a shared experience.” Thanks group! #leadership #philanthropy #nonprofit pic.twitter.com/GnHv7jvOFh
— Jim Rosenberg (@JimARosenberg) October 5, 2018
Sam from @CARE shares how a simple feedback question about fairness helped drive transparent budgeting through a peer-review process with local partners in Ghana. #FBLSummit #ShiftThePower @Keystone_Acc pic.twitter.com/dl6NWwKLj3
— Root Change (@RootChange) October 5, 2018
Self-reporting on how representative of your community your organization is: Both ends of the spectrum, and everywhere in the middle represented! Excited to learn from #FeedbackFellows @KorviRakshand and Shondra about how their nonprofits prioritize representation. #FBLSummit pic.twitter.com/Ep9QHPZzD0
— GlobalGiving (@GlobalGiving) October 5, 2018
Gearing up to work through some tricky questions in our #FBLSummit workshop, “Ambiguity as Ally: Feedback First Design.” Join us for an engaging discussion and practical tips now in Room 3E! @PactWorld pic.twitter.com/8rNBMmxwJZ
— Reboot (@theReboot) October 4, 2018
By lunch time, we were primed to continue the conversation on what the future of feedback looks like, this time by examining the future of listening by governments. Commissioner Dave Wilkinson of the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, in conversation with Benilda Samuels and David Devlin-Foltz, spoke on the kinds of change that will take listening to constituents to scale.
If we want the kinds of changes we work for to scale, then we can not ignore government. #FBLSummit pic.twitter.com/hG5AquRzqj
— Feedback Labs (@FeedbackLabs) October 5, 2018
Dave Wilkerson @CT_OEC has the #feedback bug: he asked parents what outcomes they want to improve their lives and closed the loop by incentizing economic supports for families. #FBLSummit pic.twitter.com/i4NVigSic6
— Brad Dudding (@BradDudding) October 5, 2018
“A lot of government mandates are about process and compliance. This movement is about democracy, equity, and justice. If we can scale principles of feedback though government contracts that would be a powerful thing.” -Dave Wilkinson @CT_OEC #FBLSummit
— Reboot (@theReboot) October 5, 2018
The Summit wrapped up with Melissa Malzkuhn of Gallaudet University and Mandela Hyacinthe of Spark Microgrants examining the role that trust plays in giving, and acting on, feedback, and the role that people themselves must play in collaborative sensemaking. People often have good reason to be anxious of feedback processes, and therefore cultural sensitivity plays a critical role in making feedback the expected thing.
@mezmalz game changing idea: having real constituents at the table to push the work farther thru their questions and engagement versus “experts” from different areas who can just slow things down. #FBLSummit
— Sarah Stachowiak (@SarahStachowiak) October 5, 2018
Great thought from @mezmalz on trust & feedback – should nonprofits ask funders making decisions about them to be clear on their expertise & experience to make an informed decision? #FBLSummit
— Tris Lumley (@trisml) October 5, 2018
Finishing up a change-making past two days at #FBLSummit, with closing plenary speakers @mezmalz @SparkMG on their amazing work building communities that trust the listener. https://t.co/dmitgMhANf
— Development Gateway (@DGateway) October 5, 2018
But the conversation wasn’t over. The feedback community saw the end of this convening as the beginning of commitments for the year to come. Among these commitments, Bryan Simmons will be writing a piece for the Chronicle of Philanthropy on feedback as two-way communication that enables us to lean into empathy. Rapid Results Institute and Memria will collaborate to collect feedback stories. And GlobalGiving will continue to expand the opportunities for the inaugural class of Feedback Fellows.
Another big investment in the work of the #FeedbackFellows, as announced by @brittlake during the #FBLSummit. When funders walk the talk! @FeedbackLabs @GlobalGiving pic.twitter.com/tM3TxQEtxl
— Tiffany Stafford (@MsTNStafford) October 6, 2018
Thank you to all who participated in this year’s Summit! We at Feedback Labs leave energized and excited to continue building this movement with you. Look out for more information on how to stay involved with the Labs between now and next year’s gathering.
We want to hear from you! What were some of your key take-aways from the Summit?
“People are the experts in their own lives, but aren’t treated that way.” Principle #1 of the feedback movement. #FBLSummit pic.twitter.com/LXKgWBfnQ3
— Public Profit (@Public_Profit) October 5, 2018
At #FBLsummit on constituency feedback there’s a theme of courage and honesty: are we brave enough to actually listen? Can we be honest with ourselves and our communities? pic.twitter.com/k7ZksyFdlT
— Jacob Harold (@jacobcharold) October 4, 2018
Key piece of advice from #FBLSummit that should form core of all our work with #communities https://t.co/qxAvid8d1V
— CDAC Network (@CDACN) October 8, 2018
