copyright embodied visionary 2011

our team

Wanted: Artists, activists, healers, entrepreneurs and change-agents ages 18-30, ready to activate their gifts and passions to create and implement local climate and social justice solutions this Summer.


When: 8-week intensive program,

Summer 2012. More info to come.


Where: Oakland, CA


Why: We believe in the power of bridging leadership development with community-based projects in a high energy incubator for personal and global transformation.

Oakland is an outstanding hub for social change, with thousands of organizations, sustainable businesses and initiatives. Summer of Solutions Oakland is partnering with and build off the work already happening, as well as use community visioning and strategic training to ignite new projects.


     
            
   

    

     
 

Our work

About to kick off mid-June 2012, SUMMER OF SOLUTIONS is launching its second 2-month intensive leadership and social entrepreneurship program in Oakland, CA. We are a team of twenty-five conscious, committed emerging leaders, artists and entrepreneurs from diverse social, race and educational backgrounds and orientation. Together, we will be investing a total of 8000+ hours towards our personal development and implementing innovative community-based solutions in the neighborhood of  Fruitvale, Oakland.


Based on our passions, talents, shared-vision, and the needs of the community, we will be addressing issues related to food justice, clean technology, community resilience. We’ll be leveraging strategies such as story telling, new media, rituals, community visioning and hands-on work to create change. While we roll up our sleeves, we’ll be simultaneously developing life and leadership skills such as community organizing, anti-oppression approach for collective liberation, system thinking, permaculture, social entrepreneurship, non-violent communications and spiritual practices. Our goal: creates a new kind of leader ready to tackle the complexity of our time while creating the change we want to see in our community.


Who we are

We are Solutionaries— a generation of emerging conscious and creative people (ages 18-30) who recognize what’s happening to our planet and humanity. We are wide awake, and see that a sustainable future is possible. We also see that it’s our responsibility to imagine it and create it consciously while embodying the change we want to see. Our racial, geographic and socio-economic background are diverse, which creates its richness. What unites us is our commitment to leverage our passions, talents, and ingenuity to implement positive change locally, and thus build the green economy.  We are committed to build the future we want to see from the ground up. Hope you join us!



As part of this program Summer of Solutions Fellows will

  1. •Wake up to your role as a young leader coming of age in a world of crisis and

  2. opportunity

  3. •Leverage your skills, gifts, passion and sense of vision to create real impact locally

  4. •Grow in a community of supportive, engaging, diverse young leaders

  5. •Address pressing environmental and social issues by developing new 

  6. perspectives and strategic plans of action

  7. •Participate in a series of leadership workshops presented by the Embodied

  8. Visionary Institute throughout the summer

  9. •Learn unique perspectives from inspiring local organizations, sustainable

  10. companies, and accomplished entrepreneurs. 

  11. •Gain access to the Grand Aspirations national network and resources



  14. Format of the Summer Program

  15. •Begin the Summer Program by attending a 7-day intensive

  16. Practical Visionary Training

  17. •Work 40 hours a week on community-based projects in Fruitvale, Oakland

  18. •Begin each day with embodied practices such as yoga, art, movement, music, and

  19. meditation


     Benefits

  1. •Gain a larger perspective on complex local to global issues

  2. •Gain tools, habits, and the mindset to be a highly creative and effective leader

  3. •Receive coaching and peer-mentoring

  4. •Open your mind to what is possible through system and design thinking

  5. •Experience your ability to take vision into action

  6. •Visit amazing local companies well-known for their sustainability practices such as Numi Tea, Clif Bar and Tcho Chocolate

  7. •Learn embodied practices that help increase your energy, focus and creative spirit


    Some of what we will do over the Summer

  1. •   Social experiments such as Flash mobs, experiential arts as a vehicle to spread

    message for the common good, build community and inspire collective dreaming.

  1. •   Experience innovative and alternative models to build resilient communities

    (permaculture, gift economy, etc.)

    

To find out more about our approach and methodology, click here.

summer of solutions

an 8-week incubator for emerging social entrepreneurs

Projects: create and implement broad-based solutions that will serve as many people as possible in the Fruitvale community of Oakland by engaging your skills, talents, and passions.

opportunity

our partners

Focusing on themes of health, social justice, ecological balance, food justice, green jobs, democracy, and freedom, Summer of Solutions strives to liberate the spirit, inspire unity, build resilience and creative activation through participation.


Project Tracks

Each Summer of Solutions Fellow will be part of one (or more) focused tracks. Each project will be directly benefiting the local community or have an global movement building focus. They will take part in training, workshops, and implement hands-on projects related to their track.


Transformational Media & Story Telling

Why are stories important? How does the story of self, us, and now shape the world in which we live? In this track we will explore the power of story as a strategy for social change, and the tools that help us tell stories through art, media, and new social networks.


Food Justice

From the farm to the plate, healthy and just food systems are necessary to human well being. In this track we will work with every aspect of the food system from a lens of justice and sustainability. Why in some parts of town is a potato chip is easier to get than a potato? Example of projects include, building urban farms, providing access to healthy, local food, or supporting good wages for farmers. 


Thriving Communities

How can we empower healthy, happy communities where people truly thrive? In this track we will explore systems, models, and tools that support building community.  Some themes include, non-violent communication, anti-oppression for collective liberation, restorative justice, embodiment practices, community organizing, the gift economy, and permaculture.


Clean Energy

We know the effects of dirty energy on people, politics, and the environment. We need clean and renewable energy sources, and we need to transition our communities away from dependence on dirty energy. In the Clean Energy track we will explore how we can build better communities by creating access clean energy sources and increasing energy efficiency.

© Joerg Lehmann