about the self-organize summit:

On Feb. 2, 2019 from 11 AM to 5 PM, #bossbabesATX will introduce the Self-Organize Summit, a one-day training to prepare new, emerging and re-emerging creatives, entrepreneurs and community organizers with space, time and resources to determine how to best make an impact in their communities.

the schedule:

11 AM to 12 PM — An Introduction to Self-Organize
The summit begins with a walking tour at BBATX’s HQ, with opportunities for the summit’s cohort to learn more about each other’s goals and aspirations.

12 PM to 1 PM — Self-Care / Community-Care
Led by #bossbabesATX’s founder and artist Jane Hervey, Self-Care / Community-Care explores empathy, boundaries and the constraints of human compassion. This session is interactive and open to all who are interested in advocating for themselves and others in public spaces and private settings that necessitate sharing resources. Attendees should bring their own pen, paper and an open mind.

1 PM to 1:30 PM — Working Lunch
During lunch, attendees will share the questions that the previous session prompted with one another.

1:30 to 2:30 PM — Don’t Reinvent The Wheel
Moderated by artist and organizer Xochi Solis, this community panel will serve as an introduction to different leaders in the Austin who have developed models of organizing that are creative, collaborative and community-oriented. Our panelists include:

Kandace Vallejo is founding Executive Director of Youth Rise Texas, a 2018 Austin Under 40 award winner, and a 2017 Soros Justice Fellow. Youth Rise Texas is an Austin-based organization that uplifts youth harmed by the criminalization and deportation of a loved one, so that they may heal, take action, and cultivate compassionate communities of care. Prior to founding Youth Rise Texas in 2015, Ms. Vallejo spent 12 years supporting the immigrant worker rights movement, working alongside the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Student/Farmworker Alliance, and the Workers Defense Project, where she helped start the organization's groundbreaking Better Builder Program. She served as a labor organizing and media consultant for the People’s Climate March in New York City in 2014, and was an instructor at the Austin School for the Performing and Visual Arts from 2013-2015. Vallejo, who holds a Masters in Education from University of Texas at Austin, was also a Kellogg Food and Community Fellow at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy from 2011-2013. Kandace has spoken and written widely on issues related to worker’s rights, food justice, and immigrant rights. She is Chair of the Board of Directors at Jolt Action in Texas, and was formerly a board member of Just Harvest USA. She holds has been published in multiple digital and print platforms, including book chapters in Be the Change: Teacher, Activist, Global Citizen and AK Press' Uses of a Whirlwind.

Njera Keith is a writer and movement philosopher, currently working on 400+1, an innovative framework for the global empowerment and wealth of Black people. As a nationwide collaborative organizing model, 400+1 is dedicated to nurturing the collective imagination of the African Diaspora in an effort to build societies that preserve human dignity. They aim to transform not only the material condition of Black life, but the holistic condition, by respecting the spiritual and emotional experience of Black people. Previously, Keith co-founded Black Sovereign Nation, a pro-Black, anti-capitalist collective that focuses on developing autonomy in Black communities.

2:30 to 3:30 PM — How Can You Make An Impact?
This community panel, moderated by #BBATX board member Jasmine Brooks, will examine different organizers’ approaches to social justice and self-care. The panel will conclude with time for questions and the delivery of a comprehensive list of nonprofits and grassroots initiatives in Texas that have demonstrated areas of need. Our panelists include:

Florinda Bryant is an Austin, TX-based interdisciplinary artist and arts educator. Florinda is a Co-Producing Artistic Director of Salvage Vanguard Theater. As a performer and director she is no stranger to many stages in Austin, having worked with the Rude Mechs, the Vortex, Paper Chairs and Teatro Vivo. Some of favorite recent performances include Am I White ( by Adrienne Dawes), The Panza Monologues ( by Virginia Grise), Bright Now Beyond ( By Daniel Alexander Jones and Bobby Halverson) and Fixing King John ( adapted by Kirk Lynn). As a writer and poet, Florinda enjoys engaging audiences in explorations around identity, body and community. Her award winning one-woman show Half-Breed Southern Fried was produced as part of the Performing Blackness Series at UT and was directed by Laurie Carlos. As a facilitator and arts educator, Florinda has worked with at risk communities, young men and women, and adults—using performance as a social justice tool for empowerment and change for over 18 years. Florinda is also the Operations Manager of Creative Action, one of the nation’s leading arts education organizations. A member of the Austin Project, sponsored by the John L. Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, UT at Austin. Florinda is also a 2013 Woman of the Year for Racial Justice award recipient from the YWCA.

Rachel Caballero is the Birth Support Program Director at Mama Sana Vibrant Woman. She is a bilingual full spectrum doula in solidarity with Austin families since 2011. She has over five years of experience in Reproductive Justice organizing and solidarity work with communities of color. She has trained with local midwives, healers and is currently a 200-hour registered yoga teacher.

3:30 to 4:00 PM — Break

4:00 to 6:00 PM — Group Discussion + Impact Mapping
In the final session for Self-Organize, the group will map out their needs, resources and potential areas of impact, as well as discuss the day’s topic, gather continued learning materials and more.

attend the summit:

Held at BBATX’s HQ, this intimate training runs from 11 AM to 6 PM on Feb. 2, 2019. The summit’s registration fee is $50 and contributes toward the day’s production costs, materials, as well as complimentary lunch for attendees. As this is the first iteration of the summit, we are limited to 50 attendees.

Click here to secure your spot. Email us to inquire about a scholarship to attend the summit and waive the registration fee: thebabes@bossbabes.org.