Nikita Goossens, Feedback Labs | April 25, 2022
At the Feedback+Jacksonville Summit in March 2022 we invited organizations from all over the world, with a focus on Florida-based organizations (from Jacksonville itself and beyond). In this post, we highlight some of the sessions that focused on feedback-related work in Florida.
8 Florida-based feedback practitioners
1. Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic is active in multiple locations across the US (and abroad). Their hospital in Jacksonville was named the number 1 hospital in Florida by the U.S. News & World Report 2021-2022. Ashley Pratt, Austin Andrew and Maryane (Madi) Dinkins of Mayo Clinic attended our Summit and explained how they are listening for a change.
In 2020 Mayo Clinic implemented a series of activities to listen to, include and advocate for staff. During their session ‘EverybodyIN for Change’ on day 1 of Feedback+Jacksonville the speakers shared how they did that so that others can implement these feedback practices in their organizations as well. They also presented the EverbodyIN Fund for Change that supports nonprofit organizations working to advance equity, diversity and inclusion and fight racism in the communities Mayo Clinic serves.
Exciting day at @FeedbackLabs in Jacksonville! A great conference hosted by @duPontFund.
Presenting the work we have done @mayoclinic
#EverybodyINForChange pic.twitter.com/ndG9Ul8wwV— Maryane (Madi) Dinkins (@MadiDinkins) March 2, 2022
2. My Village Project
The My Village Project, co-founded by Ronnie King, is a local alliance that includes more than 50 black-governed local organizations that work to improve the quality of life for African Americans in Jacksonville. During his session ‘It takes a village – a journey of self-determination’ on day 2 of the Summit Ronnie explained the aim of the project, which is to fund small Black nonprofits and organizations that traditionally don’t receive funding. The project secures the funding and co-creates solutions for different issues the communities themselves find important. And to know what that is exactly, feedback is constantly practiced.
3. Moving the Margins
Moving the Margins is an immersive artist-in-residence program that redefines civic engagement. Art can play a significant role in helping us talk to each other more openly about, among others, social inequality and discrimination. Artists with Moving the Margins are, therefore, challenged to take on contemporary themes of justice. In her LabStorm ‘Acknowledging Adversity through Art’ Shawana Brooks, Executive Director of Moving the Margins, asked the audience how the organization can better engage in conversations with all stakeholders such as the community, artists, nonprofits and funders. She, additionally, wants to hear feedback from people who visit the exhibits to find out to which extent these are changing their perspective on social justice issues.
4. Jacksonville Historical Society
The Jacksonville Historical Society helps the people in the city preserve and share the many fascinating stories from the past. Today the stories that are brought are not that diverse, while the city itself has a much wider past than the one that is mostly shown now. With the goal to become more inclusive in the stories the Society tells, Mitch Hemann hosted the LabStorm ‘Tell Every Story: Seeing Ourselves in our City’s History’. In this session, the audience shared thoughts about how the Historical Society might present a more diverse image of the city’s past so that in the future, everyone feels represented.
5. Florida Rising
Florida Rising works on building power that centers historically marginalized communities so that everyday Floridians shape their own future. Moné Holder, Senior Director of Advocacy & Programs at Florida Rising, presented her work during the Lunch Plenary ‘Trust People: How Feedback can Support Radical Change’. She explained how she works towards bringing together Black and Brown communities to seize power and govern to advance social, economic, and racial justice across Florida.
Moné has led the organization in the fight for voting rights on the local, state, and national levels and develops strategies to build Black political power in the state. And to do this, there is a need for input from communities. Otherwise, there is no way to know which issues need to be addressed on a political level. Through feedback the need for affordable housing, for example, turned out to be one of the main issues addressed by community members.
6. Pace Center for Girls
Pace Center for Girls, headquartered in Jacksonville, helps girls who are struggling and/or have experienced trauma to get their grades back on track, to learn in a safe and supportive environment, to get along better with friends and family and plan for a productive future. The organization creates strong feedback loops that promote equity and inclusion for all stakeholders. However, during the LabStorm ‘More than a girl’s opinion: How can we get honest feedback from youth?’ Lymari Benitez and Yessica Cancel of Pace told the audience they are looking for more ways to create opportunities where girls can speak up and share their thoughts and opinions about their services. The outcomes of the group discussion can be found in this blog post.
7. The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida
The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida is the oldest and largest community foundation in Florida, serving the citizens of Jacksonville and surrounding Northeast Florida by providing donor services, philanthropic guidance and civic leadership. On the second day of the Summit, Vice President of Programs Kathleen Shaw participated in the Opening Plenary ‘Changing Mindsets, Changing Practice – how can funders listen better?’ In her role she supervises all discretionary grantmaking and a team of professionals supporting a wide variety of fields of work. In the plenary she talked about the power of funders when it comes to listening and shared practices that are working. You can rewatch this entire plenary here.
8. JessieBall DuPont Fund
Last but not least, we have our own partner in whose building our Summit took place. The JessieBall DuPont Center in downtown Jacksonville brings together nonprofits (by providing offices to work) and community (through gathering spaces) in a setting that appreciates the rich history of the area. President of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund Mari Kuraishi also took part in Feedback+Jacksonville as the moderator in the Welcome and Opening Plenary ‘Listening in the Face of Crisis’, in which a panel discussed the feedback challenges since the start of the pandemic.
The @FeedbackLabs Summit is in full swing! We’re so excited to be welcoming global nonprofit and philanthropy leaders over the next few days and learn how feedback can contribute to transformative change. #FBLSummit pic.twitter.com/HcTdey4xN1
— The Jessie (@TheJessieJax) March 2, 2022
We are thankful these and other organizations that attended shared all their insights with our audience and showed how feedback can help make progress in their city of Jacksonville, the state of Florida and beyond.
