Praxis 2020 Q2 Newsletter

Greetings Praxis community, So much has happened since we released our last quarterly email. We continue to face the pandemic and its impact on our personal, social, and professional lives. Hundreds, if not thousands, of communities across the nation and the globe have come together to protest against police violence and manifestations of anti-Black racism and to call for radical change. At The Praxis Project, we feel a renewed sense of urgency to support and amplify the work of our community and organizing groups, who are not only contending with the double threat of structural racism and coronavirus while fighting for justice, but are also leading the way on how we define and demonstrate community-driven strategies and community-led solutions. We stand alongside you and look forward to our continued work to center community, tell our stories of resistance, and advocate for health equity and racial justice. - The Praxis Project PRAXIS RESOURCES & EVENTS PRAXIS CONVENINGS 2020 Disaster Justice and Digital Storytelling Learning Circles Learning Circle Update Over 45 organizations are engaging in our Disaster Justice Learning Circle to collectively advance a framework around disaster justice. Our facilitators from the Living Hope Wheelchair Association are guiding conversations around our shared experiences with disaster and responses in our communities. In our Digital Storytelling Learning Circle, 20 organizations are learning digital storytelling strategies and how to create videos to tell their own stories from our talented partners at the Global Action Project and StoryngChange. Our annual convening in October will be hosted virtually. Stayed tuned for more details! PRAXIS LEARNING CENTER Recognizing Healing-Centered Community Practices as a Complement to Trauma-Informed Interventions and Services CCPH Webinar & Brief Announcement There has been increasing attention towards the need for interventions to address and mitigate the role of trauma in individual and community well-being. The list of trauma-informed services and interventions seems to grow by the day. While these service developments are a welcome change from previous methods to improve community health and wellbeing, discussions with basebuilding partners have uplifted community-centered healing practices that have helped our communities to endure and survive over time. Keep your eyes peeled for our next brief to learn more and join us in our upcoming webinar on August 26th for a facilitated conversation on community-centered healing with Detroit Women of Color, Inc. Learn More and Register >> The Praxis Project's Working Principles for Health Justice & Racial Equity Organizational Self-Assessment Resources Announcement In early 2020, Praxis released our working principles that guide our health, justice and racial equity efforts. In an effort to help others apply them to their work, we developed The Working Principles for Health Justice & Racial Equity Organizational Self-Assessment. It is a tool for organizations or programs to reflect on the ways in which they embody health justice and racial equity in practice, and identify opportunities for growth and improvement. Praxis does not believe that health justice and racial equity can simply be calculated; rather, this assessment is simply a guide to facilitate reflection and team discussions, and support actions that organizations can take to improve authentic community partnerships rooted in anti-racism and equity. Download the Organizational Self-Assessment Tool >> Centering Community in Public Health: New Briefs & Webinar Recordings Community Centered Health Justice & Racial Equity: Organic Efforts Towards Health Equity-Driven Policy and Practice  The Praxis Project was proud to release this working brief in May, which highlights the vast efforts to improve community health and justice led by our partners who are organizing across the United States. The purpose of this brief is to inform the broader practice of public health in the necessary and authentic engagement of basebuilding organizers—those who represent community’s interests—to advance policies, systems, practices and environmental change designed to improve health justice and racial equity. In a webinar on May 7th, Praxis was joined by PODER and Menikanaehkem to inform public health practice efforts in engaging community organizers to advance policy change. Access the brief >>  View the webinar recording and materials >> Measuring the Impact of Building Community Power for Health Justice: What? Why? And How? Building community power is increasingly recognized as a valuable and necessary strategy to improve health justice and racial equity, with both immediate and long-term results. However, there is limited research or documentation of authentic discussions on the definitions, nuances, and front-line measurements of building power. The Praxis Project hosted learning circles with some of the nation’s most impactful basebuilding community organizers to engage in deep reflection and discussion about building and measuring power. Released in June, this brief provides a summary of our discussions and recommendations to measure the impact of building power as a strategy to improve health justice and racial equity. In a webinar on June 24th, Praxis was joined by Chinese Progressive Association and SouthWest Organizing Project to discuss recommendations for building and measuring power as a strategy to improve health, justice, and racial equity. Access the brief >>  View the webinar recording and materials >> PRAXIS MEDIA Episode 5 featuring YMCA East Bay's Healthy Me! New video in our Healthy Investments Series YMCA of the East Bay recognizes children as agents of change for healthy eating within their family. They know the lessons don't just stay in the classroom. Learn how they do it with their Healthy Me! program in our Healthy Investment series, uplifting all the community-led work funded in part by Berkeley's soda taxes. Watch Episode 5 >> PRAXIS ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATES Fiscal Sponsorship New Sponsored Projects and Updates Welcome to our newest partners in fiscal sponsorship! We are honored to support you. Tucson Second Chance Community Bail Fund, based in Tucson, AZ, was established to address the disproportionate impact of cash bail on communities of color and vulnerable populations in Pima County. Frontline Dads, based in Philadelphia, PA, seeks to address social justice issues, achieve criminal justice reform, provide mutual aid, and empower directly impacted people in marginalized communities affected by poverty, crime, violence, unemployment, addiction, and mass incarceration to become leaders by providing mentoring, leadership development, political education, and transformative interventions Welcome Praxis Health Justice Interns Staff Updates We are so lucky to have three phenomenal summer interns this year who have already accomplished so much during their time with us. Learn more about our interns, Roxana, Julian, and Kourtney, on our staff page and look forward to getting to know them through our Learning Circles, blog, and other initiatives! Goodbye, Aishah Staff Updates Praxis is so excited for Aishah as she embarks on a new chapter in her life pursuing her master's degree. Over the years, Aishah has been instrumental in supporting and amplifying the work of our community and organizing groups at Praxis. We appreciate Aishah's dedication, her strength, and the dynamic she brought to the Praxis team. Thank you, Aishah! We are profoundly grateful and will miss you. Praxis is Hiring Job Announcement Praxis is hiring! The Program Manager for Fiscal Sponsorship & Capacity Building is a newly-created role providing holistic support to our fiscally-sponsored projects, helping to improve, grow, and expand our fiscal sponsorship program, and providing technical assistance to our national grassroots network in collaboration with our program team. We are seeking candidates with experience in both community organizing and nonprofit operations. Please apply by July 12. Full job description and application instructions >> PRAXIS LEGISLATIVE & ADVOCACY UPDATES Over the last quarter The Praxis Project has actively engaged in signing on to numerous letters of support to promote legislative policy that prioritizes health equity and racial justice. To highlight a notable few, we have rallied support behind the following: Ensuring that the disability community was included in strategies and solutions from the federal government in COVID-19 mitigation and relief Endorsing H.R. 6561 to Improve Social Determinants of Health Act 2020 Supporting the CRISES ( Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems) in California to create a pilot program for community-based response to local emergencies for systems impacted people facing mental health crises, community violence, substance use disorder and natural/ climate disasters. Supporting ACA 5 in the repeal of Prop. 209 to reinstate Affirmative Action in the state of California  Championing behind our network partners in support of Police Free Schools  Take Action! Sign All Police Free School Petitions >> PRAXIS IN PRAXIS Get Healthy Philly Trainings: From April through June, Praxis has had the pleasure of co-facilitating a series of health, justice, and racial equity trainings for Get Healthy Philly in collaboration with Just Strategies. The trainings served to cover national and local racial history and social movements, and ended with concrete action steps for Get Healthy Philly's Health Justice team to continue to advance racial justice. COMING UP: Virtual Presentations at APHA: Praxis is looking forward to presenting at the virtual APHA conference in October 2020. In partnership with our network leaders, we will be presenting on civic participation beyond the ballot box, the role of culture in community organizing, building and measuring community power, and Praxis' Working Principles for Health Justice and Racial Equity. ABOUT US The Praxis Project is a values-driven national nonprofit organization that seeks to improve health justice through partnerships to build community power. Our Centering Community Quarterly Updates & Announcements Newsletter features news from The Praxis Project. If you'd like to stop receiving these emails, simply click here to unsubscribe.