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The Senior Fellows Global Convening 2019
INTRODUCING NEWLY GRADUATED SENIOR FELLOWS TO THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY
The first Senior Fellows’ convening was held July 12-15, at Rhodes House, Oxford, in the UK. Some 130 Senior Fellows who had graduated from one of the seven Atlantic Fellows programs came together to begin the process of working collaboratively for greater impact in the world.
The overarching theme of the convening was continuous catalytic conversations in leadership and equity. Senior Fellows contributed to the delivery and pedagogical design of the convening. Their opinions were also sought on the choice of keynote speakers, who were: • Professor Gurminder Bhambra (University of Sussex) History Matters: Inequalities, Reparation and Redistribution
• Professor Brian Lawlor (Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin)
Dementia: Changing the Narrative from Tragedy to Hope
• Dr. Kumi Naidoo (Amnesty International)
Creative Maladjustment: Affluenza and Converging Crisis
• The Venerable Tenzin Priyadarshi (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Artificial Intelligence and Ethics
In a packed Milner Hall, Senior Fellows listened while each speaker spent much of their time in dialogue with a panel made up of Fellows. This style of discussion animated the content, enabling new ideas and lived realities to spark insights and create connections between the participants, both onstage and off.
In addition to the delivered content, spaces were curated throughout the four days of the convening for Senior Fellows to reflect, connect and learn new skills together. Some of these spaces were facilitated by external experts, who led workshops on using voice, art, activism, and understanding anxiety in leadership. There were also Fellow-led thematic sessions, honoring the Fellows’ own expertise, which foregrounded deep connection, listening and the forging of new ideas and solutions. Every part of the convening was designed to create an environment for stimulating new ways of thinking about entrenched conditions leading to inequity, and to inspire bonds of purpose between the Fellows.
HILLARY VIPOND, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity
BELOW Left: Marcus Akuhata-Brown, Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity, addresses other Fellows
Right: Professor Gurminder Bhambra in discussion with Senior Fellow panellists
WHAT WERE SOME OF THE OUTCOMES?
As a result of the connections and conversations at the convening, four new cross-program Senior Fellow Affinity Groups were formed: • Criminal Justice
Sixteen Fellows from all seven programs and a current Rhodes Scholar are exploring issues relating to the criminal justice system and inequities in its treatment of groups such as Indigenous and Black people.
• Youth Development
Twelve Senior Fellows are collaborating and engaging on their shared focus.
• Social Justice Parents Group
A small group of single parents formed as a support/mentoring group. They are working toward the potential development of a social justice “boot camp” for children of Senior Fellows to be offered alongside future convenings.
• The Displacement of Migrant and Refugee Populations Fellows Group
Six Senior Fellows organized a thematic forum and created a website to showcase thought leadership.
