How Are You Doing?

by Rebecca Margiotta | Jun 5, 2020 | Uncategorized

Well…here we are.

Right smack in the midst of two pandemics: Covid 19 and the systemic racism that’s been baked into our country since 1619. I will be honest that my heart has been hurting and my head has been spinning. I have felt just about every emotion under the sun in the past few days. I have instinctual responses to how I want to show up in this moment, but half the time I second-guess myself. 

I have restrained my own humanity several times for fear of “doing it wrong.” 

Yesterday I had the good fortune of spending the entire day reflecting and connecting with our fellows. Turns out a pause with time for reflection and connection was exactly what I needed to return my best self.

So consider yourself forewarned: I will definitely probably “do it wrong.” Not just today but everyday.

And…

I am clearer than ever that my purpose in life is to strive for right relationship with people and the earth. 

And I am committed to learning in public. 

Doing it wrong is where most of my learning happens. I have spent years cultivating my ability to appreciate the messenger, regardless of the feedback. Learning in public – sometimes doing it wrong – in service of right relationship with people and the land is who I am and what I do. My deepest hope is that some of what I do will be in service to the ongoing evolution of our species. 

So on to right relationship with you. Yes – you! I want to check in with you and genuinely ask: 

How are you feeling right now?
Truly.
How are you doing? 

Every single person I’ve ever met through the my work at the Billions Institute – people who’ve stayed to speak with me after I’ve given a keynote, people who come to our workshops – each and every one of you has beautiful intentions for humanity that shine through. I see your goodness. I see you. 

Who would you like to be right now?
How do you want to show up right now? 

In the video below, I share with you a process that I use to answer those same questions for myself.

My questions above are not rhetorical. I actually want to hear from you.

I am nothing without the relationships and people in my life. I yearn for authentic connection. 

So hit “reply” and lemme know. 

Who would you like to be now? And how do you want to show up?
How can we support you to do just that? 

The entire team and faculty at the Billions Institute sends our fierce mama bear love and stands in solidarity with everyone working for justice. We are donating 100% of the profits from the current online Skid Row School to Black Lives Matter Los Angeles.

With love,
Becky

Launching 30 Days Of Appreciation

by Rebecca Margiotta | May 2, 2020 | Uncategorized

One of – if not the – most important practices I learned from my mentor Katie Hendricks is the transformative power of appreciation. Many times I’ve heard her say, “What you appreciate appreciates.” So true. 

Selena and I share more about this topic below. Be sure to watch to the end for a surprise announcement from Selena. 

Congratulations, Selena!!!

When I first learned about the power of appreciation, I had to make a conscious effort to shift my attention. Now it’s a habit, one that we’d love to help you build, too.

Which is why today we’re launching 30 Days of Appreciation. Sign up here and every morning for the next 30 days you will receive an appreciation prompt. A short sentence prompt that you can complete as you make appreciation a habit of your own.

Appreciating each of you for doing what you’re doing and being who you are!
Becky & Selena

p.s. If somebody sent you this email, sign-up here to receive weekly inspiration and practical pointers on leading large-scale change.  

Clearing The Pipes

by Rebecca Margiotta | Apr 22, 2020 | Uncategorized

I hope this note finds you and your loved ones healthy and well. Happy Earth Day to all of us and especially to the Earth. 

I want to share a short video I made about what I do when I’m feeling stuck. I learned this simple practice from Nancy Stubbs who in turn learned it from Katie Hendricks. I use it when I’m feeling down or confused or just a little out of sorts. It helps me move through my emotions and get to the essence of what’s going on for me, which is why it’s called “Clearing the Pipes.” 

The journal prompts for “Clearing the Pipes” can be downloaded here.

Please drop me a note and let me know if you use the practice in video and if you do, how it went. And let us know what’s keeping you up at night as a social change leader. We’ll all get through this together.  

What we’re up to these days:

No, I’m definitely not running for office.

(1) Next week, we’re recording Season 3 of the Unleashing Social Change Podcast with some extraordinary social change leaders.

(2) May 4th at 8:30 am PDT we’re interviewing Skid Row School Alum Jennifer Blatz about what trends and opportunities for systems change she is seeing from her vantage point as the CEO of StriveTogether. This will be a zoom call that all of you will be invited to join – more soon!

(3) Mid-May we’re launching our first virtual Skid Row School with a small cohort of organizations. This is our “greasy pancake” or “1x” of converting our content from live to digital. Assuming all goes well, we will offer this again late summer/early fall. Please let selena@billionsinstitute.com know if you’d like to get on the waiting list.

(4) We’re also creating 30+ modules of our very best content and offering it for FREE on the teachable platform.

(5) Finally, our offer of a half-hour pro bono coaching session still stands. Please e-mail selena@billionsinstitute.com to get hooked up with a spot.

With tremendous love and affection,
Becky

Updates From Our Alumni 

Nina Simon, Spacemaker & CEO of Of/By/For/All wrote this fantastic piece filled with insights and wisdom: How Can I Contribute? Four Steps I’m Taking to Figure It Out. Take a couple of deep breaths and give this a good read. You’ll feel better for it.

Unleashing Social Change Podcast Season 2 is Out!

• Christine Margiotta, my wife and Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Los Angeles, on shifting their model from charity to justice. 
• Dimitry Anselme with Facing History and Ourselves about teaching history as a way of bolstering our fragile democracy. 
• Jason Marsh with the Greater Good Science Center on spreading research-based practices that advance happiness and well-being.
• Kate Hilton with the Institute for Health Care Improvement on getting out of your own way as a leader.
• Helen Smith, Forensic Psychiatrist with the National Health Service about taking the fear out of the system to unleash massive creativity.
• Gerry Balcazar and Hugo Ramirez from Vision y Compromiso on building movements of love and support around children
• Sasha Rabkin from Equal Opportunity Schools on bringing equity to AP/IB classes. 
• Jake Maguire from Community Solutions on what happened after the 100k Homes Campaign ended.  If you stick around til the very end you will get to hear him tell me a hilarious story that cracks me up to this day.
• Chris Chatmon from Kingmakers of Oakland on transforming schools to work for black and brown boys.
• Bruce Nilles from the Rocky Mountain Institute on climate change as an equity issue and why your natural gas appliances are no good.
• Peter O’Driscoll from the Equitable Food Initiative about how they’ve worked with the entire food production cycle to get healthy produce and fair wages for everyone.
• Arfon Williams, a General Practitioner in Rural Wales about how he responded to the crisis of being the only doctor around for hundreds of miles.
• Parvathi Santhoosh-Kumar, Vice-President of Equitable Results at StriveTogether, about how they’re working with dozens of communities to go from proof points to systems transformation on behalf of children everywhere.
• Tema Okun, Duke University, Facing into your own Racism with Courage and Love. 

Resources for Coping with Uncertainty

by Rebecca Margiotta | Apr 7, 2020 | Uncategorized

For some of my keynote talks, I ask people in the audience to raise their hand if they are a control freak. 

A hush of giggles and laughter predictably ensues and then A LOT of hands go up in the air. 

Every. Single. Time. 

Regardless of sector. Regardless of geography. 

So if you are a control freak or, as I like to think of myself – a recovering control freak – I’m writing this newsletter especially for you. 

Susan Jane, one of the faculty members for our fellowship, is also an expert in apocalypse studies. On our weekly zoom coffee hour, she’s been talking to us about how apocalypse is a Greek word meaning a “unveiling” and “reckoning.” That an apocalypse helps us see things that were hidden and creates momentum for justice. 

One of the things the COVID-19 crisis has unveiled for me even more clearly is how deeply inter-connected we all are. Our physical, mental, emotional, spiritual well-being is bound up with one another. Not just across the street but all the way across the world, too. 

The unveiling that comes with COVID-19 has also helped me see that a lot of things I thought I control, turns out I can’t.  To the point of life and death.

I can take steps to minimize my risk right now – and minimize my risk of spreading it to others. And I am doing that. But even with all the precautions we are taking – many of them afforded to me and my family by our racial and socio-economic privilege – the virus could still find it’s way into my respiratory system. 

If I get the virus, I may or may not be one of those people who needs a ventilator. 

If I need a ventilator, I may or may not get one. 

Ultimately, I may or may not survive this pandemic. 

The gift of this moment, for me, is laying bare for all to see something that was always true anyways: there is no way I can ever know what will happen in the future. 

There never was. 

So I ask you to forget for a minute about your non-profit or your social change cause. Many of us who survive this will be engaged in the apocalyptic task of reckoning – of aligning our resources and our life energy with advancing and accelerating justice for all. We will get to that soon. 

For now, I ask you to take a minute and be with the uncertainty. To look inside and be willing to be with yourself.  And your fears. And what’s on the other side of that as well. The rest – your kids, your community, your team, your organization, your company – they will still be there waiting for you in a few minutes, I promise. 

Here are a few of the practices I am doing regularly to align myself personally with all of the uncertainty that COVID-19 has unveiled in my life:

1. Body check. Notice how your mind/body/spirit are oriented toward the uncertainty of the moment.

          Are you bracing and fighting? Double-vigilant on the prepping? Hoarding more than your fair share of toilet paper?
          Are you immobilized and stuck?
          Are you going foggy and feeling sleepy? Experiencing a lot of confusion and unclear thinking?
          Are you in denial, dismissing this as not such a big deal and hoping it will all just be over soon?
          Are you feeling waves of anguish and grief over the suffering – whether it’s near or far?

          Or maybe you’re feeling angry about how your leaders are responding. Or how the virus is not a great equalizer -how it is, in fact, impacting the black community more harshly. Or that people are still in detention or jail? Or that health care professionals lack personal protective equipment? Or that grocery workers don’t make enough money to afford a home. Or a million other systemic fault lines that have been exposed through this crisis. **we have lots of work to do.*

          Whatever you are feeling, give yourself permission to actually feel it. I can go through all of these emotions in a single hour. And on my best days, I go with those feelings versus suppressing them in any way. If I feel sad, I allow myself to cry. If I am feeling angry, I shake my fists. If I am feeling scared, I do some Fear Melters.®

2. Say something true out loud.“Today is Tuesday and I’m having a hard time concentrating.”
   “Today is Tuesday and I really wish things were different.”
   “Today is Tuesday and I feel angry that my sister’s hospital doesn’t have sufficient PPE.”
   “Today is Tuesday and I appreciate the fact that we don’t have to get up early and rush our kids out of the house to be on time for school.”
    Set a timer and allow yourself to blurt unconsciously for at least a minute about what’s going on for you on the inside. Keep going until you say something that lands as aligned and true for you. 

3. Move your body. Dance to your favorite song. Go for a walk around the block while you repeat your unarguable truth that emerged from step 2 above. However your body is capable of moving – do it. This won’t “fix” anything but it might get your body, mind and spirit aligned with what is so that you’re not putting energy into fighting with reality.

4. Form good habits.Experts say it takes 66 days to form a new habit. I learned from my time in the Army how grounding it is to do some things every single day, rain or shine.Do something to feed your body, mind spirit every single day. Make time to exercise. Make time to be in nature. Make time to enjoy playing with your kids. Make time to connect with your significant other. Make time to learn something new. Make time to zoom with a neighbor or distant family member. Make time to clean your home – a little bit every day. Make time for whatever is important to you.We are keeping a COVID log for our family. I fill it out over breakfast just to be sure we’re tending on a daily basis to the things that matter most to us. Feel free to download it and edit it for your family if it’s helpful. 

5. Get complete.My mentor, Katie Hendricks, talks about “living in a state of completion.”  The idea is to live your life in such a way that there is nothing important unsaid or undone, period. My embrace of this way of being has prepared me well for the COVID-19 crisis. We’ve incorporated an exercise in getting complete into our fellowship and I’m happy to sharethe self-guided worksheet with you here. Scroll down on our “Tools” page to #5. One note: this isn’t meant to be a exhaustive and exhausting “you should do all this checklist.” This is meant to jog your consciousness if anything significant is unsaid or undone. 

Ok – I think that’s enough introspection for this moment. If you have any practices that are supporting you in navigating this crisis, I invite you to share them with me.

Back to the outside world:

1. I am assuming you are all set with resources for applying for Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program. If you’re not – please talk to your accountant or finance team about it.
2. If you’re able to get out and see it, tonight’s Pink Supermoon will be the brightest the moon will appear all year.

With tremendous love and affection,
Becky & Selena

Unleashing Social Change Podcast Season 2 is Out!

• Christine Margiotta, my wife and Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Los Angeles, on shifting their model from charity to justice. 
• Dimitry Anselme with Facing History and Ourselves about teaching history as a way of bolstering our fragile democracy. 
• Jason Marsh with the Greater Good Science Center on spreading research-based practices that advance happiness and well-being.
• Kate Hilton with the Institute for Health Care Improvement on getting out of your own way as a leader.
• Helen Smith, Forensic Psychiatrist with the National Health Service about taking the fear out of the system to unleash massive creativity.
• Gerry Balcazar and Hugo Ramirez from Vision y Compromiso on building movements of love and support around children
• Sasha Rabkin from Equal Opportunity Schools on bringing equity to AP/IB classes. 
• Jake Maguire from Community Solutions on what happened after the 100k Homes Campaign ended.  If you stick around til the very end you will get to hear him tell me a hilarious story that cracks me up to this day.
• Chris Chatmon from Kingmakers of Oakland on transforming schools to work for black and brown boys.
• Bruce Nilles from the Rocky Mountain Institute on climate change as an equity issue and why your natural gas appliances are no good.
• Peter O’Driscoll from the Equitable Food Initiative about how they’ve worked with the entire food production cycle to get healthy produce and fair wages for everyone.
• Arfon Williams, a General Practitioner in Rural Wales about how he responded to the crisis of being the only doctor around for hundreds of miles.
• Parvathi Santhoosh-Kumar, Vice-President of Equitable Results at StriveTogether, about how they’re working with dozens of communities to go from proof points to systems transformation on behalf of children everywhere.
• Tema Okun, Duke University, Facing into your own Racism with Courage and Love. 

How To Make A Request

by Rebecca Margiotta | Mar 30, 2020 | Uncategorized

I hope this note finds you and your loved ones healthy and well.

I want to share a short video I made about how to ask for something in a way that makes it much more likely that you’ll get what you want. How you ask can make a huge difference on whether or not you will get it, so please don’t make the big mistakes that we see all. the. time. 

We’re delighted that some of you have taken us up on our offer to be a pro bono sounding board or thought partner. Our offer still stands. Just email info@billionsinstitute.com and we’ll make that happen. 

And just so you know you’re not alone, we’ve identified a couple of concerns that seem to be widely shared by non-profit and social change leaders: 

1. How can I cope with this much uncertainty? 
2. How can I balance family and work now that we’re all on top of one another at home?
3. How can my organization align itself to be most relevant now and going forward? 

We will be writing and zooming about these questions – and others – in the days and weeks ahead. 

We’re asking ourselves the very same questions. 

Here’s my hunch: cultivating our ability to get fully present with ourselves and others through this period of heightened uncertainty and loss is a good start. That’s something we can definitely help you do. 

Please drop me a note and let me know if you’ve make a request using the formula in the video and if you do, how it went. ** fingers crossed ** And let us know what’s keeping you up at night as a social change leader. We’ll all get through this together. 

With tremendous love and affection,
Becky 

COVID-19 Solutions from Solutions Journalism

People are helping each other fight coronavirus, one Google spreadsheet at a time.
Sigal Samuel, Vox. United States
Healthy citizens desperate to find a way to help those at risk of developing severe coronavirus symptoms are creating spreadsheets detailing what services they can offer to their neighbors, whether it’s grocery shopping or check-in calls. The mutual aid model is complementing the ongoing work of established nonprofits.
https://solu.news/08un

In The Age of Coronavirus, Libraries Are Getting Books Into People’s Hands — Without Touching
Elizabeth Pandolfi, Next City. United States
As public libraries in the United States are forced to close their doors in response to the coronavirus outbreak, librarians are trying new methods of (safely) getting books in the hands of community members. From organizing curbside pickups to books-by-mail services, librarians are adjusting and improvising.
https://solu.news/udvi

How to Save Elections From a Pandemic
Eric Cortellessa, Washington Monthly. Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
The coronavirus pandemic swept the nation at a time when many would be going to polling stations to cast their votes in primary elections, but vote-at-home practices are providing a solution for this civic inconvenience. Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and now Utah have all implemented statewide all-mail election campaigns that not only improve voter turnout, but also cost less to taxpayers than only relying on in-person polling booths.
https://solu.news/hz3n

These stories were selected from the Solutions Story Tracker®, a database of over 8,000 solutions stories from over 1,000 newsrooms around the world. Interested in receiving a weekly round-up of COVID-19 solutions stories that you can easily cut and paste into your newsletter? Click here to sign up.

Unleashing Social Change Podcast Season 2 is Out!

• Christine Margiotta, my wife and Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Los Angeles, on shifting their model from charity to justice. 
• Dimitry Anselme with Facing History and Ourselves about teaching history as a way of bolstering our fragile democracy. 
• Jason Marsh with the Greater Good Science Center on spreading research-based practices that advance happiness and well-being.
• Kate Hilton with the Institute for Health Care Improvement on getting out of your own way as a leader.
• Helen Smith, Forensic Psychiatrist with the National Health Service about taking the fear out of the system to unleash massive creativity.
• Gerry Balcazar and Hugo Ramirez from Vision y Compromiso on building movements of love and support around children
• Sasha Rabkin from Equal Opportunity Schools on bringing equity to AP/IB classes. 
• Jake Maguire from Community Solutions on what happened after the 100k Homes Campaign ended.  If you stick around til the very end you will get to hear him tell me a hilarious story that cracks me up to this day.
• Chris Chatmon from Kingmakers of Oakland on transforming schools to work for black and brown boys.
• Bruce Nilles from the Rocky Mountain Institute on climate change as an equity issue and why your natural gas appliances are no good.
• Peter O’Driscoll from the Equitable Food Initiative about how they’ve worked with the entire food production cycle to get healthy produce and fair wages for everyone.
• Arfon Williams, a General Practitioner in Rural Wales about how he responded to the crisis of being the only doctor around for hundreds of miles.
• Parvathi Santhoosh-Kumar, Vice-President of Equitable Results at StriveTogether, about how they’re working with dozens of communities to go from proof points to systems transformation on behalf of children everywhere.
• Tema Okun, Duke University, Facing into your own Racism with Courage and Love.