Elements of Design of Images & Voices of Hope Conversations

Locally rooted gatherings. Images & Voices of Hope is rooted in local communities.  We convene for inquiry and conversation in places all over the world, knowing the larger story of the world emerges from the collective impact of countless local stories.  Through local stories, Images and Voices of Hope creates a foundation from which to move into the larger world with the message of hope.

Conversations among peers. While acknowledging the role of thought leaders and those with special kinds of expertise, we believe in a wide distribution of wisdom and insight.  We give priority to conversations among peers over lectures by subject experts when possible as a way to discover wisdom.

Diversity in every conversation. We understand each distinct life experience and perspective brings with it a different kind of wisdom.  We enrich our conversations and ourselves by our continual commitment to diversity.

Appreciative Inquiry. We consider Appreciative Inquiry and other strength-based philosophie and methods of positive change to be beneficial to our ultimate purpose.  We value broad inquiry and the unconditional positive question, believing each can produce a shift toward a discourse of possibility.

Silence. To support a shift in inner awareness, we make use of periods of silence at times to access our own inner truth and reflect on our new understandings.

Artistic space. We believe the act of uncovering and telling a new and better story of the world is a creative act.  We enrich our conversations with the contributions of artists and the remarkable spaces their work creates.

Open Participation. Participation in the Images & Voices of Hope network is open to artists, media professionals and journalists and those with a stake in a world media of hope and possibility.

Freedom to Organize. Images and Voices of Hope conversations allow people to organize in any manner, at any scale, in any area, and around any priority that is relevant to and consistent with our group's mission and principles.

Autonomy and Resources.  Every center of an Images and Voices of Hope conversation is autonomous, focusing on topics of local relevance, supported with local resources, and partnering with local people and institutions in keeping with the Mission and Principles.

Dedicated to World Benefit. We dedicate our conversations to world benefit, working to create a prosperous and healthy world.

Share learning. We believe that none of us is as wise as all of us, and that when one is enganged in a task as sweeping as world transformation, we need the wisdom of all of us.  We share learning widely across our network of conversations so that we can build on one another's wisdom and experience.

Individual action. We believe that change is often the result of lighting many fires.  We also believe that each person in a network of conversations is uniquely placed to create a positive impact.  We support a principle of individual action, acknowledging that sometimes the act of a single individual can set a wave of change in motion.

Collective Actions.  We believe, as Margaret Meade said, "never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed it's the only thing that ever has."  We support coordinated action by a collective of people as a way to affect powerful change in the world.