A Shared Experience of Learning and Growing
One cohort’s journey through WMCAT 20/20
By Amy Knape, WMCAT
A group of long-time friends — Kim Young. Karen Lawrence, Margaret Nault, and Jillane Payne — had just read the book “Be the Bridge: Pursuing God’s Heart for Racial Reconciliation” as part of a book club at Mayflower Church, and it left them wondering “what more can we do? Where can we get more information?” Through a friend, the pastor at Mayflower Church sent them the link to register for WMCAT 20/20: Exploring Conflicting Visions for the Future. They had an answer to their questions.
Together, adding friend Becky Denton, they entered in a shared experience of learning and growing. The women are all regular attendees at WMCAT 20/20’s Monthly Community Meetings and Breakout Engagements. Together they formed a cohort — cohorts are a WMCAT 20/20 opportunity to go deeper with fellow participants, using guides and reflection prompts tied to each month’s content. They are finding meaning in their dedicated cohort time each month on the Remo platform.
“We are all so committed to having conversations on the material, hearing from each other and asking clarifying questions,” said Kim.
Through the Monthly Community Meetings the group of friends has found ways to connect the data shared by Manuel Pastor in November with the state of healthcare access shared by Tasha Blackmon in February. They’re diving into “Scarcity” by January’s keynote speaker Eldar Shafir, and reveling in the introductions to new artists they’ve never heard of through our Exploring Artists’ Visions for the Future video profiles created by Carbon Stories.
“The series has exceeded expectations,” said Margaret. “I’ve been so impressed with the panelists and speakers.”
Karen shared that she has found the learnings and information “so rich and full that I am writing so fast so I can go back and have conversations.”
Just past the mid-way point of WMCAT 20/20 this cohort of friends and learners is looking forward to discovering some new ways of thinking.
“I hope I have ideas of a next direction to go in,” said Kim when asked about where she wants to be at the conclusion of WMCAT 20/20. “What is something I can dig into a little deeper?”
For Margaret, she is taking inspiration from speaker Jill Dark, an applied futurist who presented a Breakout Engagement on leveraging disruption. “I want to discover what is one thing I can do to bend the future.”
WMCAT 20/20: Exploring Conflicting Visions for the Future is bringing together a diverse cross-section of participants over seven months to stretch, learn, grow, and connect. Through our monthly rhythm of Community Meetings with national and regional thought leaders, Breakout Engagements with the area’s creative thinkers and content experts, and cohort meetings through which participants are content providers, we are giving attendees the tools and new thinking to show up more authentically in conversations and community-driven work.
Read more reflections from participants in each of our previous Monthly Community Meetings.
December Community Meeting: Faith and Public Life
January Community Meeting: The Ironies of Poverty
February Community Meeting: The Past, Present, and Future of Our Healthcare System
