Photo by Raphael Biscaldi

Summer is often a slower time at Rockwood. July is usually free of trainings, and it also happens to be when we hold our annual One Rockwood retreat to bring together staff, board, and trainers for community-building and visioning.

Of course, summer looks very different this year, for a variety of reasons. We’re still all working from home and we canceled the retreat. We also launched the first Virtual Art of Leadership and shifted our fellowships from in-person to virtual.

But while this summer (well, this year) has been different, one thing has remained the same: Rockwood’s commitment to self-care and collective well-being. In fact, as part of our response to how drastically all our lives have changed this year, we’ve deepened our values around taking care of ourselves and each other by increasing vacation time and giving all our staff an extra week off between June and September.

We’ve had several people reach out to us and share that COVID-19 has changed the way they and their staff are working, and ask for resources on centering care and joy in their organizations. Here’s what we have to share:

• “The Nonprofit Four-Day Workweek: You Can Take Care Of Yourself And Still Change The World” – this article is five years old, but yes, Rockwood still has a 4-day work week!
• “Collective Wisdom: 3 Ways Of Being That Rockwood Is Practicing During This Time”
• “8 Practices For A More Emotionally Just Organization” – a wonderful guest post that encapsulates a lot of Rockwood’s values
• “After Charlottesville: 5 Ways Nonprofits Can Process, Heal, & Fight”
• “Rallying The Spirit: 7 Questions To Help You Build Resilience”
• “Finding Joy In Dark Times”

If you just need something to get your body moving and have some fun, try a Rockwood dance break.

Alums in the News

• Marvin K. White was named a Kennedy Center Citizen Artists Fellow
• Janetta Johnson, Alexander Lee, and Masen Davis were featured in “Veterans Of Social Justice Protests Reflect On A Lifetime Of Taking It To The Streets” in the SF Chronicle
• Suhad Babaa was selected as one of Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Labs Fellows
• Mary Hooks and Monica Simpson were part of “The Artistry of Black Organizing in the 21^st Century,” a panel sponsored by Haymarket Books
• Rebecca Cokley gave the opening remarks at “ADA at 30: Building an Inclusive Progressive Movement”
• Jessica Pinckney was named ACCESS executive director
• Jessica González-Rojas won the primary for the assembly seat for New York’s 34th Assembly District
• Ilyse Hogue talked with Pramila Jayapal and Jamia Wilson for NARAL’s Instagram series #ReproRundown
• Lateefah Simon was highlighted in “How Bay Area Activists Keep The Flames Of Their Passion For Change Burning Bright” in the SF Chronicle
• Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza, along with Patrisse Cullors, were featured in “How The Movement That’s Changing America Was Built And Where It Goes Next” for Rolling Stone

News & Inspiration

• “What I’ve Learned about Showing Up for My Black Co-Director” by Priscilla Hung
• “It’s OK to feel like crap right now” by Vu Le
• “Weathering the Emotional Storms of a Crisis — A Tactical Guide for Individual Contributors and Managers” from First Round Review

Leadership Opportunities

• Oakland, CA: TransForm is seeking an Executive Director
• Remote / Washington, DC: Moving Toward Justice has an opening for a Project Director
• San Francisco, CA / Remote: Rainforest Action Network is looking for a Forest Campaign Director