Volunteer: 'What Are They Thinking?' Anti-bias, compassion-building events
Join to apply for the Volunteer: 'What Are They Thinking?' Anti-bias, compassion-building events role at Bridging Beyond.
Our vision
Our vision is to help people live more connected, satisfying, caring lives in community.
Our strategy
To achieve our bold goals, we approach 'bridging’ with a scientific point of view. Our methods are rooted in research showing that empathy is a key driver of social cohesion and trust. By fostering active listening, curiosity, and compassionate dialogue, we help individuals and groups challenge biases, reduce conflict, and build bridges across divides.
About The Project
The 'What Are They Thinking?' (WATT) project fights bias and builds understanding and compassion. It works by bringing together people to listen to those who are different from themselves share about their own lived experiences.
Each session brings together two groups with significant differences and imperfect understanding of each other. Some examples are Black/White, Male/Female, Theist/Atheist, Immigrant/Native UK, and Straight/Gay. Each group has a turn to listen and a turn to speak. The speaking amongst each group is in response to questions from the facilitators or from the listening group. Later, each group has a chance to process on their own and then reconvene with the other group to reflect on their experiences and its impacts.
We have found this to be a remarkably powerful format. Most participants find it changes their understanding and perspectives. The project is currently being run online, and we may wish to expand to include in-person sessions in the future.
We also plan to add an exciting new component to WATT inviting participants to join a 'WATT Community' to explore and participate further in the individual and communal work of fighting bias and building understanding and compassion across difference.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
WATT needs volunteers to help with:
* Session organising/planning
* Participant communication and support
* Session facilitation
* WATT community creation and support
* Resource development
* In-person event development and support
VOLUNTEER SPECIFICATION
These skills and attributes are required of all WATT volunteers:
* Compassionate non-judgemental outlook on people different from oneself
* Organised and responsible working habits
* Able to commit to the volunteering role for at least 6 months and at least 2.5 hours per week
* Works well in a team environment
* Willing to try and learn new things
The variety of types of work involved in WATT requires a variety of strengths. These skills and attributes are required on the team but not every volunteer must have all of them:
* Comfortable with reaching out to organisations, groups, businesses, local government, etc. to represent and promote WATT
* Facilitation skills
* Conflict reduction and transformation skills
* An understanding of the psychology and sociology of individual and group responses to difference
* Skills in leading online workshops
* Research skills especially with regard to differences in how different types of people and groups are treated by governments, law enforcement, business, etc.
* Skills in online group moderation and facilitation
* Skills in building online communities
* Persuasive writing
This is a volunteer opportunity provided by VolunteerMatch, in partnership with LinkedIn for Good.
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