Inside Community Podcast

Sociocracy brings an incredible opportunity to cooperative groups to embody higher levels of inclusivity through their governance. As a sociocracy trainer and transgender man living in community, Ted Rau has a unique story and perspective on how to make organizations function better and be more supportive to all their members. In this episode we talk both about his trans journey inside community and the ways in which Sociocracy creates networks of support.

Ted Rau is a trainer, consultant, and co-founder of the non-profit movement support organization Sociocracy For All. He grew up in Germany and studied linguistics before earning his Ph.D. in linguistics there in 2010. He moved to the USA and fulfilled a long-held wish to live in an intentional community where he still lives with his five children and 70 neighbors in a cohousing community in Massachusetts. Ted's perspective is influenced by being transgender, by his interest in Nonviolent Communication and social justice, by being part of a global sociocracy organization at work, and a parent at home.

Learn more about Ted and his work at www.sociocracyforall.org/community/ and on Instagram @Sociocracy4All

Ted’s course “Sociocracy in Community” - in collaboration with Jerry Koch-Gonzalez - is offered through the Foundation for Intentional Community and is now available as a pre-recorded course available anytime. Ted Rau's Books, Who Decides Who Decides? and Many Voices One Song - co-written with Jerry Koch-Gonzalez are available in FIC bookstore. Podcast listeners, use the code INSIDE30 and get 30% off your purchase courses and code INSIDE20 to get 20% off books.

Follow the show and see inspiring images and videos of community life on Facebook and Instagram @InsideCommunityPodcast - I’d love to hear from you there! If this content has been meaningful or useful to you, please subscribe, rate and review, and share with your friends and folks you know who are curious about living Inside Community. If you want to learn more about Sociocracy or any aspect of building community, check out the Inside Community Podcast sponsor, The Foundation for Intentional Community. FIC is an incredible resource center with weekly events, online courses, classified advertisements, an extensive bookstore and lots of free educational materials. You can learn more about the show and access transcripts at ic.org/podcast. Your financial support of Inside Community helps us to continue to create meaningful and exciting content and I hope you’ll consider donating!

Communities Magazine is a primary resource for information, stories, and ideas about intentional communities—including urban co-ops, cohousing groups, ecovillages, and rural communes. Each full-color quarterly issue focuses on a specific theme. Subscriptions are available and more than 400 back-issue articles are posted for free public reading on the website.https://www.gen-us.net/communities/

Hello friends and welcome to the Inside Community Podcast where I bring you along for an inside look at what it takes to create and sustain community. In this first episode we are going to take a look at what we actually mean when we say "community." This episode is going to cover a lot of the basics, but we will also get into some of the projections, fantasies and realities of what community is. So whether you are new to this topic or someone who's been wondering if community is right for you... hopefully you’ll all find some useful nuggets here!

If you want to learn more about living inside community or learn more about this podcast, visit our website, hosted by the Foundation for Intentional Community, at ic.org/podcast. Your financial support of Inside Community helps us to continue to create meaningful and exciting content and I hope you’ll consider donating through our website while you are there. Podcast listeners receive 30% off FIC courses with code INSIDE30 and 20% off in the bookstore with code INSIDE20.

Follow the show and see inspiring images and video of community life on Instagram @InsideCommunityPodcast - I’d love to hear from you there! If this content has been meaningful or useful to you, please subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, and share with your friends and folks you know who are curious about living Inside Community.

When it comes to deciding who gets to make decisions and how decisions get made, the communities movement has done a lot to innovate more equitable and transparent strategies. In today's conversation with Diana Leafe Christian, we talk about the importance of solid governance models and decision making structures, how these structures and a lack thereof can impact everything from relationships to the ability to get things done, and specifically about Sociocracy, her preferred governance model.

Diana Leafe Christian is the author of Creating a Life Together: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities, and Finding Community: How to Join an Ecovillage or Intentional Community. An Ecovillage Design Education (EDE) trainer for Gaia Education and editor of Communities magazine for 14 years, Diana has contributed chapters to three Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) and Gaia Education books: Beyond You and Me, Gaian Economics, and Ecovillage: 1001 Ways to Heal the Planet. She is a Board Member of GEN-US. In 2017, she received the Foundation for Intentional Community’s Kozeny Communitarian Award, a lifetime achievement award for contributions to the US communities movement. She speaks at ecovillage and cohousing conferences, offers consultations, and leads workshops in person and online internationally. With the ability to make things simple and clear, and drawing on a deep and broad understanding of community dynamics, Diana encourages effective and harmonious ways for groups to become healthy and thriving, and resolve the typical interpersonal challenges that can arise in any community. She has an upcoming six-week online Sociocracy course starting on April 30th and will be offering an Introduction to Sociocracy for Co-housers course on August 25th, ahead of the National Cohousing Conference in Madison, Wisconsin where she will also be speaking on her recent Communities magazine series Working Effectively with Especially Challenging Behaviors. You can find out more about these courses, trainings, and services by reaching out to her directly at [email protected]

Podcast listeners receive 30% off courses with code INSIDE30 and 20% off in the⁠ FIC Bookstore⁠ with code INSIDE20.

If you want to learn more about how to find and purchase community property or any aspect of building community, check out the Inside Community Podcast sponsor, The Foundation for Intentional Community. FIC is an incredible resource center with weekly events, online courses, classified advertisements, an extensive bookstore and lots of free educational materials. You can learn more about the show and access transcripts at ic.org/podcast. Your financial support of Inside Community helps us to continue to create meaningful and exciting content and I hope you’ll consider donating through our website while you are there.

Follow the show and see inspiring images and videos of community life on Instagram @InsideCommunityPodcast - I’d love to hear from you there! If this content has been meaningful or useful to you, please subscribe, rate and review, and share with your friends and folks you know who are curious about living Inside Community.

If you want to learn more about living inside community or learn more about this podcast, visit our website, hosted by the Foundation for Intentional Community, at ic.org/podcast. Your financial support of Inside Community helps us to continue to create meaningful and exciting content and I hope you’ll consider donating through our website while you are there.

Follow the show and see inspiring images and video of community life on Instagram @InsideCommunityPodcast - I’d love to hear from you there! If this content has been meaningful or useful to you, please subscribe, rate and review, and share with your friends and folks you know who are curious about living Inside Community.

We're closing out our second season with an examination of how to navigate inevitable interpersonal conflict and move towards restored connection. Social architecture can be what makes or breaks a community, business, or organization. How we process our own pain and trauma and interact with the trauma of others offers rich opportunities for growth and learning. In this conversation with Dr. Jessica Plancich Shinners we cover emotional hygiene, strategies for reconnection, the importance of humility and validation, when to ask for help, and when to call it quits.

Dr. Jessica Plancich Shinners, MA, MFT, Ed.D. is a social architect, community builder, and leadership expert who teaches leaders and organizations how to operate at their highest potential and resiliency by truly serving people, planet, purpose, and profit.

With a Master’s in clinical psychology, a doctorate in Organizational Leadership (Ed.D. Pepperdine University), and 20-year psychotherapy practice, she applies a whole human approach to consulting that nurtures body, mind, and spirit so the wisdom of the heart can be awakened. After years of witnessing the limitations of Western psychology, Jessica sought training in Eastern approaches to healing and wellness. With certifications as a yoga and qi gong instructor and massage therapist, she utilizes a holistic and somatic approach to her work.

Her penchant for social entrepreneurialism has led Jessica to consult for nonprofits, grassroots movements, start-ups, major corporations, and their leaders, helping align them with their core values and serve the greater good. The co-founder of an eco-village in San Diego, CA (theemeraldvillage.com), she is steeped in collaborative thinking and decision making, incorporating what she has lived, learned, and tested herself. The reclamation of our communities at the local level, she believes, is the solution to the panoply of problems we find ourselves in – ecologically, economically, and socio-politically.

Jessica has had the honor of learning from countless teachers- whether clients, mentors, professors, or guides. She humbly recognizes that so many of the healing traditions she has studied were gifts given from native people with an unencumbered connection to creation. Jessica strives to deeply embody and pay homage to their wisdom by passing it on to her clients.

https://fiercegraceconsulting.com/

SUMMER FUN!

• Full Bloom at the Emerald Village in San Diego, CA
• Twin Oaks Community Conference in Virginia

Books and Resources Mentioned:

• The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization by Peter Senge

If you want to learn more about interpersonal relating and conflict resolution in community or any aspect of community, check out the Inside Community Podcast sponsor, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Foundation for Intentional Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. FIC is an incredible resource center with weekly events, online courses, classified advertisements, and lots of free educational materials. Podcast listeners get 20% off in ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FIC Bookstore ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with code INSIDE20 and 30% off ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠FIC courses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with code INSIDE30. You can learn more about FIC and access transcripts at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ic.org/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Follow the show and see inspiring images and videos of community life on Facebook and Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@InsideCommunityPodcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - I’d love to hear from you there! If this content has been meaningful or useful to you, please subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts, and share with your friends and folks you know who are curious about living Inside Community.

Super Awesome Inside Community Jingle by FIC board member Dave Booda ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠davebooda.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

ICP theme by Rebecca Mesritz

We are so grateful to for our show's sponsors:

Caddis Collaborative - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠caddispc.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

CohoUS -