Finding Hope in Each Other: Centering Trust and “Heart Work” through Collaborative Action

09/21/23 • 17 min

How can we practice collaborative relationships differently? For Inés Palmarin, long-time Boston community builder, coalition leader and Vital Village National Advisory Board member, this starts with building trust and creating intentional spaces to connect around our shared “why” and hopes for our communities. Ines reflects on her own personal journey, the creation of the Boston Mothers Care coalition, and the evolution of collaborative practices that seek to center racial equity. We explore with Inés what it looks like to sustain “heart work” within coalitions to create wellbeing and opportunity for children and families to thrive.

Featured guest:

Inés Palmarin, Co Founder of Boston Mothers Care & Community Weaver /Vital Village Board Member
Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks

Register for the 10th National Community Leadership Summit: https://www.vitalvillagesummit.org/register
Learn more about Boston Mothers Care: https://www.bostonmotherscare.org/
Additional Resources:
Explore the featured resource from the NOW Resource Library, Building Diverse Community Based Coalitions, here: https://www.networksofopportunity.org/resources/Building-Diverse-Community-Based-Coalitions

Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings

Featured guest:

Inés Palmarin, Co Founder of Boston Mothers Care & Community Weaver /Vital Village Board Member
Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks

Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings

Previous Episode

Community Ownership of Change: Supporting Co-Design in Research

Tune into the next part of our conversation with Reann Gibson, a community-based researcher, community changemaker, and social justice advocate in Boston and beyond. Reann delves further into her experiences with facilitating community-based participatory research and coalition building efforts, asking the critical question, “What does it mean to create spaces with community ownership of change?” particularly in the realm of health and wellbeing research. We explore what it looks like to create spaces where community members have the resources -- and the power -- to co-design research, and other community initiatives, and how collaboration rather than competition can help foster innovation and transformation.

Featured guest:

Reann Gibson, Community researcher and social justice advocate
Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks

Read Reann’s latest article on ownership of change at: https://www.rwjf.org/en/insights/blog/2023/06/researchers-build-community-power-to-influence-health-in-gentrifing-neighborhoods.html?channelid=xsp&cid=1003629

Additional Resource:

Explore the featured resource from the NOW Resource Library, Beyond Lessons In The Field: Community Engagement in Promise Neighborhoods, here: https://www.networksofopportunity.org/resources/Beyond-Lessons-In-The-Field%3A-Community-Engagement-in-Promise-Neighborhoods

Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing

Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0

Edited By: Resonate Recordings

Next Episode

Local Leaders Have the Solutions: Shared Power and Lifelong Learning

We continue our conversation with Inés Palmarin, a long-time Boston community builder, coalition co-founder, and Vital Village National Advisory Board member dedicated to holding and creating space for mothers to connect and create solutions together. Inés unpacks what collaborative and shared leadership looks like, and shares more about her work with community economic development and other collaborative efforts that seek to ensure local resident leaders and young people not only have a voice but meaningful and authentic decision making power. We explore with Inés the importance of embracing lifelong learning and how to honor grace, hope, and dignity for ourselves, each other, and future generations of leaders to come.

Featured guest:

Inés Palmarin, Co Founder of Boston Mothers Care & Community Weaver /Vital Village Board Member
Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks

Register for the 10th National Community Leadership Summit: https://www.vitalvillagesummit.org/register
Learn more about Boston Mothers Care: https://www.bostonmotherscare.org/

Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing

Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0

Edited By: Resonate Recordings