#WeaveThePeople gathering at Union Market in Washington, DC
#WeaveThePeople is a three-day Aspen Institute gathering bringing 250 people from around the nation who are healing America’s social fragmentation by weaving deep connections across difference in their communities. It is hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Weave: The Social Fabric Project, led by New York Times columnist and author David Brooks.
The non-partisan Aspen Institute started Weave: The Social Fabric Project to address cultural changes over the last sixty years that have left Americans divided, isolated and unhappy. The Aspen Institute sees a culture of hyper-individualism focused on personal success as the root cause behind social problems from growing addiction and suicide rates to persistent inequity and today’s gridlocked politics. Yet across the country, people are weaving the tattered social fabric by bringing communities together to support and serve each other.
#WeaveThePeople aims to help these weavers and those who support them identify their common values and work collectively to spread a grassroots Weaver movement that will shift US culture from its unhealthy hyper-individualism to relationalism, where meaning comes from deep community connections.
Read recaps of #WeaveThePeople day 1, day 2, and day 3.
Schedule
Day 1: Tuesday, May 14
2:00pm – 3:35pm: Big Circle
Opening
Ernest Clover, Dina Estrada, Kim Fountain, Rosanne Haggerty, Mike Malkemes, Matt Sehnert
Welcome & The Sparks Fly Upward
David Brooks
We Are Weavers
Pancho Arguelles, Lisa Fitzpatrick, Ronda Graff, Dan Porterfield, LB Prevette
5:00pm – 6:20pm: Big Circle
The Centrality of Race
John Wood, Jr.
How do Movements Build?
Henry Timms
What a Good Day Looks Like for Me
Sarah Adkins, Diane Latiker, Adela Mendoza, George Smith
Wrap Up
David Brooks, Craig Clinkscales, Maureen Smith, Bisah Suh, Maryann Taruc
Day 2: Wednesday, May 15
9:00am – 10:30am: Big Circle
The Science of Relationships
Martha Welch
How to Create Intimate Conversations
Shawn Barney, Pamela Cantor, Adria Goodson, Agnes McKeen
Bridging Friendships – How to Talk Across Difference
Jennifer Bailey, Jonathan Haidt, Nike Irvin, Eboo Patel
11:35am – 1:00pm: Big Circle
How To Tell a Compelling Story
David Bornstein, Michael Cooper, Monica Guzman, Nick Kristof
How to Move from Trauma to Trust
Jacqueline Novogratz, Charles Perry, Dylan Tete
3:10pm – 5:10pm: Big Circle
The Neighborhood is the Unit of Change
Asiaha Butler, Katie Couric, Scott Heiferman, Mack McCarter, Janet Topolsky
How to Rebuild Civic Bonds
Eric Liu
Practicing Self Care for People in Selfless Roles
Dan Claire, Sarah Hemminger, Sister Jenna, Kaveh Sadeghian
Day 3: Thursday, May 16
9:00am – 9:55am: Big Circle
Changing Culture, Changing Norms – What Culture Change Looks Like
David Brooks, Ernest Clover, Alejandro Gibes de Gac, Stephenie Hruzek, Anne Snyder
How Might We… Build the Weaver Movement
Lisa Kay Solomon, Kaveh Sadeghian
1:05pm – 1:45pm: Big Circle
How Might We… #WeaveThePeople
David Brooks, Tommy Loper
Closing Remarks by David Brooks
More information can be found at WeaveSocialFabric.org.