YES! Jams Offer a Place to Practice Sharing Leadership & Power
A Global Round Table Leadership Partner Feature
Where can you meet new people and practice new ways of relating, working, creating, and playing? At a YES! Jam!
For 31 years, YES! has connected people worldwide to facilitate conversations that prioritize personal, relational, and systemic change-making and leadership team development. YES! hosts gatherings called "Jams" that last several days, allowing for open and honest discussions and interpersonal connections. Jams cover a variety of topics, from the environment and restorative justice to wellness and racial justice. However, the one commonality between all Jams is that they prioritize growth and transformative change.
To date, YES!'s Jam alumni base of 2500+ attendees from 85+countries all over the world.
We are a proud partner with YES! and Executive Director Shilpa Jain. Our Founder Lori Hanau and Shilpa Jain have had a friendship and working relationship that goes back many years to when they met through the Social Venture Circle.
"When I first met her, I thought, 'this is an awesome human being and a leader I want to know!" Shilpa says of Lori.
One of the fascinating things about the YES! Jams are that they center sharing leadership and sharing power as a core practice.
"YES! and Global Round Table Leadership are in alignment about creating communities to practice human-centered and equitable ways of relating and working," says Shilpa Jain, Executive Director of YES!
During her time leading, YES! -- working across countries such as India, Jordan, Mexico, Egypt, and Pakistan -- Shilpa has gone on her own Shared Leadership Journey.
"Fundamentally, shared leadership is the spirit of the YES! Jam," Shilpa reflects. "Who we are, how we relate externally, our relationships and what we're creating in the world, they're all so intertwined… Hurt people hurt people, and they create systems that hurt people. Healing people support healing people. So how do we go forward and create more healing?"
Shilpa's main philosophy for Jams is to create a space where everyone feels heard and has a common ground for listening.
"During challenging moments, if we can slow down and listen more deeply, to ourselves and each other, we receive the seeds of connection," reflects Shilpa.
YES! Jams create the opportunity for all participants to lead, allowing them to contribute and take an active role in crafting conversations and discussions and expressing their personal experiences as a way of developing common ground.
"Every person has something to contribute. Everyone has a piece of the truth, a piece of the vision, a piece of the gift of our collective genius," says Shilpa.
The positive impact of YES! Jams expand far past the immediate community and into the world. Countless Jams have occurred worldwide as a growing, connected alumni base comes together to host their own events. Thus, Jams have become a self-perpetuating cycle of love, truth, healing, and transformation.
Examples of YES! Jam attendees taking their learnings into the world are abundant. They are top of mind for Shilpa as she lists examples of people applying them in their institutions. For example, a Canadian participant and public defender incorporated their Jam practice in the courtroom and led to Canada's first restorative justice circles for a sexual assault case. As YES! Jams expand into the world, so does the shared leadership model, urging people to find common ground with each other and emphasize listening.
Though Jams have historically taken place in person, Shilpa notes that the pandemic has forced them to pivot and bring the model into a new space. To date, there have been 15 virtual YES! Jams.
"It's been beautiful to see what we can do on Zoom," she notes.
"We have everything we need to create an equitable society. The missing piece is the listening, the connections," says Shilpa.
Learn more about YES! and how you can get involved in a YES! Jam. Follow them on social media. Learn more about The Shared Leadership Framework™