By Conor Huynh | Operations Coordinator
At Feedback Labs, our work is rooted in the belief that people are the best experts in their lives and they should drive the policies/programs that affect them. We also aim to leverage our place in the feedback field to amplify and uplift the voices of those most often excluded from the conversation.
One of Feedback Labs’ flagship programs includes LabStorms. LabStorms are biweekly collaborative problem-solving sessions designed to help an organization wrestle with a feedback-related challenge, with the goal of providing actionable suggestions.
Students Recover brought some of their biggest challenges to a recent LabStorm, where they gathered feedback on how to find mission-aligned funders, building coalitions within universities, and creating a volunteer structure. Its platform is designed for college students from communities most impacted by the War on Drugs, who are least likely to have access to recovery support services on their campus. The goal is to support students in a safe and inclusive environment to heal and grow while increasing a sense of belonging and community. Key discussion points include 1) expanding through trust-based funders; 2) the importance of coalition-building and university partnerships; and 3) focusing on tiered volunteer structure and technology for social impact.
Sangat Nepal is an organization that launched a community library in response to community feedback and needs. At the Feedback+Jacksonville summit, they presented at a LabStorm and shared their feedback challenges. Some of those challenges and considerations include building an open, physical space in a digital environment, community participation, owning the venue, and subscription models to build social movement.
Moving the Margins, another LabStorm presenter at the Feedback+Jacksonville summit, presented their feedback challenges as well. They are an incubator program for BIPOC artists to collaborate with the change agents of Jacksonville, Florida to create accessible and immersive art installations. Moving the Margins serves the community by creating a committed, intentional place that is responsive to the variety of lived experiences that encompass Jacksonville’s hidden diversity and that catalyzes tangible, equitable outcomes for its citizens. Their discussions considered engaging the local community in social justice discussions, turning that discussion into activism, and better understanding visitors’ perceptions and experiences.
Feedback Labs also announced that applications to join the 2023 Feedback Champions cohort are open until November 17, 2022. The Feedback Champions Fellowship is a one-year commitment in which the Feedback Champions will receive training to better understand the feedback field, support and funding to speak at relevant conferences and write articles, professional coaching to pursue this work, and a community of feedback practitioners to tap into. The fellowship aims to identify a diverse set of emerging leaders in the feedback field in the U.S. and provide support as they become feedback champions in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors.
Thanks to your support, Feedback Labs was able to power our programs and collectively center community voices in the feedback field. We look forward to continuing to build the feedback field and make feedback the norm in aid, philanthropy, nonprofits, and government.
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