Danyetta Najoli walks in her purpose. She is a community builder in so many ways. From her work at Starfire lifting up and helping to create space for people with disabilities, to her coaching, to her work in helping people have courageous conversations, you will be inspired by her community leadership.
Here are some learning lessons for community leaders:
1) Connect people, including those with disabilities on common interests.
2) No one wants to be labeled by a negative.
3) People want and need to be named and known.
4) Invest in neighborhoods through community councils and mining for the treasure that is our neighbors.
5) Attract community members in a variety of ways, such as hospitality.
6) Learn about John L. McKnight and the Asset-Based Community Development Institute and and why viewing the assets of neighborhoods is important.
8) Learn about Wolf Wolfensberger and social valorization and how all of this led to the Black American Tree Project.
9) Learn about her coaching process that she talks about in her new book: Release, Allow, Attract, and Act.
10) Her vision for communities - bring on those front porch conversations!
Episodes mentioned in this conversation: Listening 4 Justice with Dr. Folami Prescott-Adams.
Get to Know Danyetta Najoli:
Danyetta is a senior community builder at Starfire Council of Greater Cincinnati in Ohio where she works with people with diverse abilities to showcase their talents, explore their interests, develop their passions, and maximize their strengths. In her role, Danyetta discovers ordinary citizens who are interested in building community with the people she supports, around common areas of interest, community projects, and key neighborhoods.
Danyetta co-wrote The Black American Tree Project, a visceral history lesson that depicts the Black Experience dating from pre-colonial Africa to present-day in the United States. It takes a hard look at and offers courageous community conversation about the institutional forces and systems that have long oppressed people and from which many people need collective healing. Since its inception in 2019, the project prototype has been hosted 18 times, for over 445 participants from several states in the US, including where the Menomonie and Ho-Chunk nations originate, various territories in Canada including, Ontario, Kitchener and Winnipeg, Perth, Australia, The Netherlands, England, Scotland, and the indigenous lands
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· Support the evaluation capacity of your coalition or community-based organization.
· Help you create a strategic plan that doesn’t stress you and your group out, doesn’t take all year to design, and is actionable.
· Engage your group in equitable discussions about difficult conversations.
· Facilitate a workshop to plan for action and get your group moving.
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Community Possibilities is Produced by Zach Price
Music by Zach Price: Zachpricet@gmail.com