Charis welcomes Deepa Iyer in conversation with Aparna Bhattacharyya for a discussion of Social Change Now: A Guide for Reflection and Connection. A roadmap for those who are ready to deepen their commitment to social justice from racial justice advocate, Deepa Iyer. To engage in social change at this moment in time requires consistent attention, deep reflection, and committed collective action. This event is co-sponsored by Raksha. Raksha, Inc is a Georgia-based nonprofit with a mission to promote a stronger and healthier South Asian community through confidential support services, education, and advocacy. Raksha works towards healing, empowerment, and justice for survivors of violence. 

We are living in a period of overlapping social, economic, and environmental crises, accompanied by failures in public systems and institutions. It's not surprising, then, that when we attempt to engage in social change efforts, many of us feel like we are on a seesaw, swinging from outrage to overwhelm. For those who are just beginning their social change journeys to those who are weary and disillusioned, how can we effectively anchor our commitments to equity, solidarity, and justice?

This is the entry point for SOCIAL CHANGE NOW: A GUIDE FOR REFLECTION AND CONNECTION, Deepa Iyer's heartfelt offering to individuals and groups seeking to initiate or deepen their actions in service to social change values. Relying on two decades of work supporting social movements, Iyer introduces a new approach called the social change ecosystem framework, which includes a map of ten roles, from visionary to storyteller to disrupter to experimenter, as well as practices to identify values and strengthen our social change ecosystems. Over the past three years, people and organizations around the world have used the framework to respond to the pandemic, express solidarity during the uprisings against anti-Black racism, and support multiracial coalitions struggling for reproductive rights, immigrant and refugee protections, and climate justice.