Creating Connections, One Story at a Time
As our communities become increasingly diverse, it is imperative that we find meaningful ways to respect and understand the rich and complex cultures among us.
Listening for a Change works to dispel “otherness.” This is achieved through programs in schools, communities, businesses, and nonprofits bringing community together through story.
2014 EVENT PHOTOS
This year Gail Andrade Ahlas received the Connie Codding Humanist Award!
See the full gallery
Programs for Students
Neighborhood Listening Project
Students are trained in oral history interviewing and active listening to hear experiences, advice, and wisdom from people in their community. Through the process of story, questioning, and reflection, students dispel notions of otherness in their community and gain skills to counteract bullying and violence in their schools.
Essence of Acceptance
A comprehensive, standards-based curriculum for secondary Social Studies and Language Arts classes exploring the intersection of human rights, oral history, and community. The program offers students the opportunity to take oral histories from community members who have lost their human or civil rights and gain empathic listening skills.
Business & Non-Profit Engagement
Inclusion & Connections
As participants spend time interacting with each other and discovering similarities and differences, they gain valuable insight into how others see and approach work situations. Participants become aware of their own assumptions, thereby helping them communicate more consciously and effectively.
General Public Participation
Community Listening Project
Trains community members in the art of oral history and encourages them to interview their neighbors. The process of interviewing people from different backgrounds helps to forge a more cohesive community identity by healing fractures and misunderstandings caused by socio-economic, ethnic, religious, and generational barriers.
Foundation of Our Work
Sonoma County Survivor Project
Our founding project shares the dramatic stories of Holocaust survivors, interned Japanese Americans, and Cambodian refugees living in Sonoma County. The exhibit documents their history and celebrates their resiliency amidst severe human rights deprivations.
