Why We Gathered

We are living in a moment of profound fragmentation—politically, environmentally, emotionally. Disconnection is rising, and so is despair. Many people feel unsure how to act, overwhelmed by the scale of injustice, or simply worn down by the pace of it all. In that context, gathering with intention becomes more than a nice idea—it becomes essential.

That’s why the Alliance for Collective Action brought together over 100 community members in March—not for a traditional convening, but for a cartographic act of care. Through four interactive stations, we created containers for connection: spaces to name our fears, surface our values, inventory what we carry, and imagine a future rooted in justice, joy, and regeneration. It wasn’t about consensus or conclusions. It was about reflection. About honesty. About reclaiming the role of collective imagination in shaping what comes next.

Because without spaces like these, movements fray. Wisdom is lost. Urgency turns into exhaustion. What we need now isn’t just more events—we need rooted, relational experiences that remind us why we’re in this together, and how we might stay in it for the long haul.

This gathering was just one moment in a longer shared journey. What emerged will continue to shape how we show up, build together, and create future opportunities to gather in community. The path forward is already unfolding.

What Emerged

What happens when you ask a room full of thoughtful, justice-minded people what they fear, what they value, and what they’re working toward? You get honesty. You get clarity. You get a collective map created by participant conversations in each of the event’s interactive stations.  

 

🐉 Here Be Dragons: What We Fear and Face Together

Participants named their dragons—climate despair, disinformation, racism, burnout, and the fear that time is running out. These weren’t abstract anxieties but deeply personal and political truths rooted in lived experience and systemic injustice. Participants referenced everything from Gaza and Gitmo to plastic waste and the crushing pace of capitalism. The space held both grief and rage—and honesty about how heavy it is to carry all of this. And yet, woven among these reflections were flickers of clarity, resistance, and even hope. Naming our dragons did not dissolve them, but it made them visible. And visibility is a form of power.

 

 

🧭 Charting Our Course: What Guides Us Through the Uncertainty

Values named in this quieter station revealed what matters most — equity, justice, empathy, joy, curiosity, collaboration, and more. Some were single words. Others were questions, confessions, drawings. One participant differentiated

kindness from niceness. Another offered “moral imagination” and “critical thinking” as essential tools for the road ahead. Together, these contributions didn’t just define what matters—they reminded us how values shape decisions when the way forward is uncertain. Many responses spoke to emotional clarity and social responsibility as being intertwined. Our compasses may be different, but they’re oriented toward something shared: the commitment to act with care and courage.

 

🧰 Supply Cache: What We Carry and What We Still Need

This station invited participants to reflect on the resources—material and immaterial—that we’re bringing with us into our work and our lives. What emerged was a beautifully complex picture: we are rich in humor, empathy, ancestral knowledge, storytelling, and community resilience. At the same time, the gaps were stark: unrestricted funding, time to rest, rural access, and infrastructure to support coalition-building. The tension between what we carry and what we lack was palpable. One note read: “Too many demands on us at one time to organize.” And still—people showed up. That, too, is part of our collective strength. There’s no illusion here about what’s needed. But there is clarity about what we already hold.

 

🗺️ Mapping Our Waypoints: What Anchors and Inspires Us

The final station brought time into the conversation. Participants mapped both specific dates—Earth Day, Juneteenth, elections—and visionary milestones: a middle class re-established, public lands protected forever, youth-led climate movements, and housing for all. Some waypoints were grounded in strategy; others were dreams offered as anchor points. One participant said, “The day we celebrate peace, not what divides us.” The cumulative effect was a portrait of a community rooted in the now but facing forward. These weren’t empty visions. They were indicators of readiness—signs that people are prepared to organize toward a future that feels possible because it’s been named.

 

Check out the full gallery of event photos! 

 

✨ What Comes Next

This wasn’t just an event. It was a reminder that justice requires imagination, that community is infrastructure, and that emotions are part of strategy. We didn’t just collect thoughts; we surfaced wisdom. We didn’t just name values; we reinforced the compass by which we navigate forward. And we didn’t just envision the future—we built momentum for it.

The threads across every interactive station wove a clear call: we already carry so much. What’s needed now is not more extraction, but more alignment. Not more burnout, but more connection. Not silence, but storytelling.

The themes surfaced during Where Do We Go From Here? directly shape what comes next. Each upcoming event carries forward what was named during our time together—community as compass, justice as priority, and culture as catalyst—ensuring that our path forward is not only collaborative, but rooted in what we build and believe together.

Let’s keep going. Let’s keep gathering.

 

 

Join us in the seasons ahead!

Disinformation and fear named in the Dragon Station informed our upcoming Virtual Lunch: Navigating Misinformation & Tough Conversations, which will offer practical strategies for navigating fractured truths.

• 📅 April 23 – Virtual Lunch: Navigating Misinformation & Tough Conversations in Partnership with Free Speech TV (12:00 – 1:00pm MST on Zoom) Register here.

 

In June, we’ll gather for Stories as Seeds: Cultivating Change Through Lived Experience. Building on the journey we began with Where Do We Go From Here?, our upcoming June gathering deepens our exploration of creativity and culture as collective strategy—centering storytelling as a tool for civic action and systems change that is grounded in the lived experiences that shape our communities. As one event participant noted: “I realized that I have what I need to take action & get through this time. The idea of incorporating creativity into the area of politics, resistance, and reform was new to me.” June’s follow up gathering is a direct reflection of our community’s desire to explore creative outlets in times of uncertainty–to elevate voices and shared experiences that can lead to actionable change. 

• 📅 June 24 – Stories as Seeds: Cultivating Change Through Lived Experience (4:00 – 7:00pm at The Alliance Center). Registration info coming soon! 

 

And this September, we’ll head outside for Roots and Rhythms: A Regenerative Farm Tour shaped by our shared grounding in the rhythms of nature, seasonal cycles, and ancestral wisdom. The farm tour weaves together insights from the Supply Cache and Waypoints Stations—earth-based wisdom, shared learning, and the vision of food justice for all with regenerative agriculture as the norm. It’s a chance to deepen connection and grounding while asking, as one March event participant so powerfully put it, “Is reverence—for earth, for humanity, for connection—at the forefront?”

• 📅 September 6 – Roots and Rhythms: A Regenerative Farm Tour (Save the Date) Register here.

 

In addition to these gatherings as follow up to Where Do We Go From Here?, the Alliance for Collective Action offers monthly coworking days on the third Wednesday of each month, monthly virtual lunches, and seasonal pop-ups rooted in community need. Keep an eye on our events calendar for more opportunities to join in!