We live in the internet-age, with an explosion of news and information at our fingertips. Yet we are saturated with news, numb and immobilized. This era of hyper-communication means that more and more we will be interacting with each other via technology. What’s missing is the human element.
The Forum Organizing Project is creating a national Community Forum network that seeks to revive community entertainment, education and connection. We organize resources, offer technical support, build partnerships with speakers and film distributors, and connect Forums with each other. This experimental project grew out of the successful Jamaica Plain Forum, our “lab”, where we continue to hold vital community programming.
This vibrant Community Forum movement seeks to reverse the pattern of increasing isolation; to knit us together as we address the serious concerns in our backyards and around the globe. Please join our network and help us to spread the word, encourage new Forums, and support existing ones.
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The Institute for Policy StudiesStaff and advisors
Andrée Collier Zaleska
Andrée joined the Forum Organizing Project as director after a year of watching the Jamaica Plain Forum grow into a thriving source of community education, entertainment and activism. Andrée's main interests are sustainable living, community building and fighting climate change. She holds degrees from Smith College and Harvard University, and her background includes writing, translating and teaching. She is the mother of two sons. Andrée's other project involves turning a century-old abandoned community store into the JP Green House, a zero-carbon urban demonstration home (www.jpgreenhouse.org).
Sarah Schwartz Sax
With a background in the fields of social-justice organizing and sustainable agriculture, Sarah believes that rich conversation in informal learning environments can lead to transformative experiences, be it on the farm, at the bus stop, or in community settings. In early 2007 she brought these skills to the neighborhood of Jamaica Plain as the coordinator of the Jamaica Plain Forum-- the Forum Organizing Project's test-kitchen. Sarah is a co-author of the Forum Organizer's Guide, and her work currently includes experimentation with innovative ideas in community-building. She is a proud alumnus of The Residential College at the University of Michigan, an urban gardener, and an avid yogi.
Chuck Collins
Chuck Collins is a Senior Scholar for the Institute for Policy Studies, and an expert on economic inequality. He is the co-founder of the Jamaica Plain Forum and originator of the Forum Organizing Project. Chuck lives in Jamaica Plain with his wife, the Reverend Patricia Brennan, and their daughter.
