Affinity Belonging Initiative:

a radical new project to foster

true belonging and inclusivity

The Affinity Belonging Initiative is an experimental, multi-year project wtih a focus to foster true inclusion and belonging.

Vision of the Affinity Belonging Initiative (ABI):

We envision a world that works for all, where humans are individually and collectively devoted to responsibly caring for one another and our planet, where every person experiences safety, connection, dignity, purpose and joy.

The Affinity Belonging Initiative Values

  • Reciprocity

  • Honest and open communication

  • Caring for the whole

  • Collaboration

  • Integrity

Our purpose is to create conditions that promote safety, belonging, dignity, purpose and joy through organizing circles of care that expand our sense of who we see as “we.” 

Mission:

We host events and build networks that promote collective and individual responsibility for material, mental, and cultural freedom for all. 


Our strategies are to:

  • Host gatherings designed to provide enough safety for people to remove the masks they’ve worn for protection, and show up and be held as they really are, including their personal and collective wounds, their deepest longings for connection and purpose, their gifts and their quirks.

    • Some gatherings will be for those who share an identity that has been historically exploited and/or demeaned in order to benefit other groups;  

    • Some gatherings will encourage people to explore the part of themselves that is part of a group that has historically exploited and/or demeaned another group for their own benefit;

    • Other gatherings will be for people to connect with each other across different identities;

    • All of these gatherings seek to help people become aware of their own conditioning as members of an unjust society, and to learn and practice new ways of seeing and being with themselves and each other.

  • Support people in connecting with and assisting each other in between the times when these gatherings are happening.  Communities will form around shared interests and/or shared locations.

Come share and listen with open hearts to experiences related to our identities such as race and gender, and explore how we can journey towards deeper allyship and connection with each other. 

Learn and practice:

Ways to reach for each other with awareness across differences;

Responding to missteps in ways that promote protection for those who have been hurt and learning for those who have unintentionally caused harm;

Expressing anger and grief;

Supporting those who are experiencing a trauma reaction;

Creating personal and community resilience, including healthy boundaries;

Skills for moving towards liberation for all.