News
First Gathering of 2020
Thank you to 47 inspiring women who created a magical evening. Dreaming change over dinner!
Changing the World One Woman at a Time – Grants in 2019
Innovative education and mentoring programs for women of all ages are at the heart of the mission of the Principle Quest Foundation. This past year three visits to Alabama were transformative for the 15 women who joined me. Our goal was to hear from local women leaders in the non-profit and business world, exchange intellectual capital and understand the economic circumstances.
The impact of our visit to Equal Justice Initiative's Legacy Museum and the Memorial for Peace and Justice was powerful, inspiriing us in many different ways. To read more about the experiences of those participating, read here and here.
Two gatherings of the Principle Quest community were held in 2019 and one retreat. You can read more here and here.
The following grants were made during 2019:
Black Belt Community Foundation in Selma, Alabama
Grace Institute in New York City
Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama
If you have questions, I invite you to email cbb@principlequest.org
Thanksgiving Day Reflection on Rosa Parks
How can we express our gratitiude for all the women who came before us, who showed us the way? Here is one way – be open to learning history you were never taught – as we did during our visit here two weeks ago.
Rosa Parks is known for not giving up her seat in Montgomery in 1955. Our Principle Quest group learned that her legacy at the Rosa Parks Museum reaches far beyond the bus, thanks to Felicia A. Bell, Ph. D. shown here in the center.
Professor Gates teaches all of us (again!)
"Southern 'Redeemers' snuffed out the first Black Power movement"
From 2000 duly elected African American officials to zero in just 12 years - how gains of Reconstruction were obliterated, and only 70 years later did the damage too slowly begin to reverse.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/08/opinion/sunday/jim-crow-laws.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Gates' book, Stony The Road, is an even more shocking and thorough walk through this period of history we were never taught.
Thought-provoking Case Studies During 2nd Gathering of 2019
Fifty women beta-tested four different case studies over dinner on July 11th. All four case studies were inspired by our April trip to Alabama as well as stories told to me by women within the 130 women strong Principle Quest community. None of these case studies have simple solutions or a 'right' answer. The hoped-for-outcome is to learn how to have a dialogue, not a debate, and how to build relationships. As Daniel Yankelovich described the need for dialogue in his book The Magic of Dialogue,
If the values of reciprocity, stewardship, responsibility, citizenship, civic virtue, and love describe various facets of how we take care of one another in a civil society, it matters a great deal whether we like, respect, trust and understand one another, or stereotype, distance, distort, and mistrust one another. Civil society stands or falls on this foundation of feelings. Without dialogue, people stereotype one another in a manner that prevents mutual understanding and acceptance."
The four case studies include: 1) Leadership: Which works best to influence hearts and minds – hope or fear? 2) Workplace Bias: What if your clients object to diversity? 3) Social Justice: Is the impact of philanthropy better than public policy? 4) Educational Policy: How to fix what's broken without breaking it even more, the charter school solution or problem?
If you are interested in using one or more of the case studies along with the facilitator guide, please email me or connect through LinkedIn. While there is no fee to use the material, there is a copyright agreement we sign.