In times of major transformation, loss, regeneration, how do we tell our stories?
Here at Youth Passageways, we've been busy listening for how to tell ours. The past year has been filled with such much change. As an organization we have been worked by major leadership transitions and identity reformation as we widen our circles of focus to now incorporate the transformational work of our Relational Trust, in addition to rites-of-passage network-weaving. Together we are building a network of cultural regeneration practitioners to build healthy, thriving communities -- in which we understand rites of passage to be an essential (though not the only) part.
As a community we have been rocked by profound personal losses and the collective grief of on ongoing horrors in Gaza, Sudan, Congo and beyond. In times like these there can seem to be no words. How do we go on with our work? How do we talk about anything else? And yet, life demands us to continue to show up for the long-arc of community and culture building. As many in our network show up in material solidarity, we simultaneously evolve our rituals. We expand to hold complexity. We adapt to the times.
It is with this spirit that we share our story of 2023 with you today in the form of an Annual Report. The report is an invitation to our community (that means you!) to bear witness to how we have been adapting and changing to meet the moment. We invite you into our story now, that you might be a part of the future of our evolving network. Thank you for being with us on the journey.
