Community Engagement: Jefferson County Memorial Project

Community Engagement: Jefferson County Memorial Project

Thank you to everyone who joined us last month for our Community Engagement Lunch & Learn with the Jefferson County Memorial Project.

 

We had two very dynamic speakers – Abigail Schneider and Myeisha Hutchinson – visit us to discuss the JCMP and what the organization means not only to the city of Birmingham, but to the whole state of Alabama. We also learned how the JCMP is connected to the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery.

 

photo by Iron City Ink

 

Abigail and Myeisha spoke at Forge on September 11 – just two days after the JCMP dedicated their first historical marker at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. The marker honors the lives of Jake McKenzie and Tom Redmond, two black men lynched at mines owned by the Sloss-Sheffield Iron and Steel Company. The event at will reflect on the lives of Mr. Redmond and Mr. McKenzie and the system of convict leasing that continued to abuse and exploit black residents long after the abolition of slavery.

 

 

Historical Marker dedication at Sloss Furnaces- photo by Bham Now

 

The JCMP is a grassroots coalition whose goal is to memorialize the victims of racial terror violence and expand our county’s understanding of past and present issues of racial injustice.

 

The organization is composed of over 40 community partners and a multi-racial, multi-faith, multi-sector, and multi-generational group of committed volunteers. The four goals of JCMP are to:

 

  • Research Jefferson County’s 30 documented victims and their descendants through our JCMP College Fellow Program.

  • Educate the public on the importance of this history through events such as art exhibits, school curriculum, and JCMP trainings.

  • Place historical markers at lynching sites and retrieve our monument from the National Memorial for Peace and Justice.

  • Advocate for reform where racial injustice still exists today.

 

Through these four steps the JCMP will work with Alabamians to confront our history and reconcile for our future.

 

Through the work of JCMP, Birmingham is also re-learning some important moments in our city’s history. For example, down the street from Forge is Linn Park (known as Central Park at the time) – the site where a white mob lynched Lewis Houston on November 24, 1883. Mr. Houston was the first of the 30 documented lynchings in Jefferson County.

 

photo by Birmingham Times

 

Abigail Schneider is the director of the Jefferson County Memorial Project (JCMP). She graduated from Yale University with a double-major in Philosophy and American History. Schneider wrote her thesis on Illinois lynchings to push back on the idea that racial violence is only a “southern issue.” As part of her research, she helped facilitate commemoration ceremonies for these forgotten events. She moved to Birmingham through Venture For America, where she worked on financial literacy tools at the startup Azlo. Through JCMP, she wants to continue her work in lynching memory and reconciliation. Historically Birmingham has been at the forefront of activism around racial injustice. With JCMP, Birmingham can yet again be a national leader in this discussion.

 

Myeisha Hutchinson, Jefferson County Outreach Manager for Congresswoman Terri Sewell, oversees the Office’s intergovernmental and external affairs. A lifelong resident of Woodlawn, her training in community organizing has come from a range of local and national organizations including the Highlander Research and Education Center, Congressional Black Caucus Political Boot Camp, Leadership Birmingham, and Leadership Alabama’s Alabama Leadership Initiative.

 

You can also learn more at JCMP’s recently launched blog, Liberated Voices.

 

The Community Engagement Lunch & Learn series at Forge is sponsored by Red Thread Consulting. Follow Forge on Facebook to see all of future events that are free and open to the public!

7 reasons you need to know Rebecca Dobrinski, including FUNights Birmingham

7 reasons you need to know Rebecca Dobrinski, including FUNights Birmingham

 

Birmingham, meet Rebecca Dobrinski. For those of you who know her already, she needs no introduction. She’s making a big difference in Birmingham with Red Thread Consulting, FUNights Birmingham and Community Engagement Lunch & Learn at Forge.

Plus, she has a drink named after her at Brennan’s Irish Pub, which we think is pretty cool.

 

1—Rebecca Dobrinski is one of those people behind (and sometimes in front of) the scenes who’s making a lot happen in the Magic City

 

 

Originally from Chicago, Rebecca Dobrinski moved to Birmingham when she was in middle school. She left in 1996 for a sojourn in Orlando, Florida, and came back in 2003. She had a few things she wanted to do, including finishing her bachelors’ degree at UAB. Since then, she’s been deeply immersed in all things Birmingham.

We sat down recently at Forge to chat about her work and some of her Birmingham faves.

 

2—Rebecca Dobrinski works at Forge, which means she has good taste in coworking spaces

 

 

What made you decide to work at Forge?

I had a great part-time job and some small projects on the side. But no work was getting done from my recliner. There was always something to clean or something else to do.

I wanted to be able to stop and focus. So, I came down one day to check it out, and a year later, I’m still here.

I love the collaborative atmosphere.  It’s friendly and it’s fun, but we all know we’re here to work. So many random collisions happen. It’s a great experience.

 

3—She created Red Thread Consulting to improve relationships between businesses and nonprofits through awesome community engagement

What about the work you do?

I’ve been working for nonprofits for the past 30 years, and I know a lot of the challenges they face.

But I also understand how nonprofits create opportunities for people in our community to come together.

When our core team reincarnated TEDxBirmingham, we wanted it to be something that not only showcased people in Birmingham but also brought people in Birmingham together to talk about ideas and make connections.

I’ve been doing that on a larger scale with GlobalXplorer, too. We have an online platform that shows people from all over the world how to recognize potential archaeological sites from satellite imagery to create maps that allow archaeologists to better determine where to start looking for cultural heritage sites.

This way, countries can protect their cultural heritage from illegal looting, urban encroachment, and environmental erosion. Our work with local organizations helps provide educational and economic development opportunities at these sites.

Based off of these types of experiences, I wanted to help small and medium sized businesses organize their community engagement and philanthropy while helping nonprofits—and make the relationship between businesses and nonprofits flow better.

A lot of times when you’re focused on making money, your engagement and philanthropy are important, but not as high a priority as closing a deal or making sure somebody’s paying their invoices. I come to businesses and help them take care of being a  “good corporate citizen.”

4—When Rebecca thought of the name of her business, she got a sign

 

 

How’d you come up with the name Red Thread Consulting?

About 6-8 years ago, I read a parable called “The Red Thread.” The idea is that everyone’s connected to everyone they’re ever going to meet by invisible red threads, and that’s how people seem to know to come in and out of your life.

I was so enamored with this, I got it tattooed on my hand.

Then I started this company. When I went through Create Birmingham’s Co-Starters program, everyone said “that’s a great idea—what’s the name of your company?”

Last Fall, I was working with the finalists for Rev’s Big Pitch and was attending the seminars they had to go to. There was one about branding and telling your brand story. I looked down at my hand and it occured to me: “Red Thread Consulting.” At the same exact moment, the projector above my head exploded. I couldn’t have gotten a bigger sign.

This was in October 2018. I incorporated in January 2019. My first pivot has had to do with learning that community engagement doesn’t always mean  your general community. Sometimes it means coordinating volunteers or engaging with customers. Part of the work is defining community, then finding the best ways to engage that community.

 

5—Rebecca Dobrinski and two friends started FUNights Birmingham

 

 

Tell us about FUNights Birmingham

FUNights Birmingham is the local affiliate of global movement.

It was started in 2012 by a group of friends in Mexico City who were sitting around drinking mezcal and talking about what they’d screwed up in business. Now it’s in 80 countries and 300 cities all over the world.

We joke that I roped in two of my friends to help out with this: Scott Pierce and Jacqui Jones.

Each speaker gets seven minutes to talk and ten slides, and we’re not in control of our slides.

We’re really excited because nobody talks about failure. Everybody talks about success. We talk about huge companies that get bought, small companies get bought, but you can’t tell me they haven’t all failed once or twice.

It’s good to learn from all of that.

 

6—With Forge, she created the monthly Community Engagement Lunch & Learn series so people could get to know local nonprofits

 

After 30 years in nonprofits, instead of having one nonprofit I worked with, I wanted to help several. In partnership with Forge, I created Community Engagement Lunch & Learn. Local nonprofits come and talk about what they do and the services they provide to the community.

  • Where: Forge
  • When: second Wednesday of the month, follow Forge and Red Thread Consulting on Facebook
  • Tickets: free, just sign up so they know how many people are coming
  • Parking: the deck at Forge is free for the first two hours, and the event is one hour
  • Lunch: brown bag (meaning, bring your own)

On deck: 

 

7—We can’t leave without telling you some of Rebecca Dobrinski’s Birmingham favorites

 

Favorite tattoo parlor: Sanctum

 

Favorite coffee shop:  Church Street Coffee and Books

 

 

Favorite watering hole: Brennan’s Irish Pub

 

 

Favorite restaurant

This changes all the time. I love discovering undiscovered places. The latest was a place called Tostadas that has a cauliflower tostada which is great for people who are gluten free like me.

 

Favorite sports team: the Birmingham Bulls

 

 

“I am just a huge advocate of making sure you engage with your community. Volunteer. Donate. Do both of them responsibility. Ask around to find what you’re looking for, and support these amazing organizations.”

Community Connections: YouthServe

Community Connections: YouthServe

Thank you to everyone who attended our inaugural Community Connections with Jennifer Hatchett, Executive Director of YouthServe.

 

Instead of a listening experience, Jennifer worked with attendees to help us experience what it is like to be in Camp. We completed an exercise they do with the camp students on different ways to look at our community. We discussed and plotted our answers to questions like “Why wouldn’t someone care about their community?” and “Why might someone not understand their connections to others?”

Jennifer also discussed the importance of volunteering mindfully for local organizations. Her strongest recommendation to the audience was to be more thoughtful and deliberate when you or your company is interested in volunteering with a local nonprofit. Quite often, descending on a nonprofit for a day of service can be taxing on smaller organizations not set up for a large influx of volunteers on a single project.

 

Jennifer’s advice is to reach out to organizations like hers to ask what they really need. The example she gave was from her own experience – YouthServe could really use some professional design services. Their current budget does not allow for a graphic designer, so she ends up creating the design collateral, web site, and other needs for events and communications. As luck would have it, a local graphic designer (and new Forge member!) volunteered his services on the spot and is now volunteering for YouthServe!

This was a great example of how our community really is interconnected, but you just need the opportunity to bring people together. Who knows what will happen at the next Community Connections event!

 

YouthServe is a unique organization that both embraces the ideals of servant leadership and offers the opportunity to all within the metro Birmingham area, regardless of their academic status or geographic location. The YouthServe Mission is to empower youth leadership and civic engagement through community service and philanthropy. They do this by bringing youth together from all walks of life – across real and perceived boundaries – to give them the tools they need to think critically about issues in their community and address them in practical, accessible ways.  

YouthServe’s programs accomplish this in several ways: 

 

1. In-school programming implemented via Civics, Government, or Career Tech classes in middle and high schools

 

2. Community service events held on weekends year-round

 

3. Youth Leadership Councils meeting during the school year (Youth Action Council, Youth Philanthropy Council, Alabama Youth Alliance)

4. Urban Service Camps in the summer months

 

 

All YouthServe programs (except the in-school programming) are open for any who wish to participate (ages 13-18) and can commit the time. Program participation is on a first-come first serve basis and require online registration.

 

As Director, Jennifer has overseen nearly 40,000 service hours performed by the teens in YouthServe over the past six years. These youth come from every zip code in the metro area and often participate in multiple community events over the course of their time in YouthServe.

 

Join us on Wednesday, September 11, at noon, to welcome our next Community Connections speaker, Abigail Schneider from the Jefferson County Memorial Project. She’ll not only discuss the organization and the work they do in our community, but there will be some unique ideas on volunteering for the JCMP. Check out all of Forge’s future events here.

Your Big Idea: Birmingham’s Future Businesses

Your Big Idea: Birmingham’s Future Businesses

We started Your Big Idea at Forge to give Birmingham ideas and startups a place to receive feedback and network with the business community! Your Big Idea is not a competition. We simply want to support the big ideas coming out of Birmingham- and we’ve had some great ones so far! Let’s look back at our presenters over the last year at Forge. 

 

Conserv

 

In the hundreds of thousands of museums, galleries, libraries and archives around the world, conservators are fighting against environmental conditions (like temperature, humidity and light) to preserve our shared cultural heritage. Conserv is building the next generation of sensor and software tools to support these professionals. Austin Senseman and Nathan McMinn are the founders of Conserv. Learn more about Conserv here! 

Red Thread Consulting

 

Red Thread Consulting is a full-service agency providing philanthropy and community engagement management to help companies develop cohesive philanthropy plans, manage the details and leverage that engagement. Red Thread Consulting manages your community involvement so you can get back to business! Rebecca Dobrinski is the founder of Red Thread Consulting. Learn more here!

FIM Health

 

FIM (Food Is Medicine) is a meal delivery/brick and mortar concept that provides healthy, medically tailored meals to patrons suffering from various chronic illnesses but still want to enjoy delicious foods in a comfortable atmosphere. Andrea Walker is the founder of FIM Health. Learn more here!

 

Headhunter

 

Finding food help shouldn’t be as hard as people say. Finding a good job shouldn’t be frustrating either. Brent Skipper created Headhunter so more people can find great fits in a good career faster and easier. The Headhunter app is specifically designed for improving the job search with video resumes and video job listings. Learn more here!

College Prep U

 

College Prep U has a mission to provide parents and students with accurate information to help them properly prepare for education during and after high school. Learn more here!

ULECx Market

 

ULECx Market is an online communication board designed to broadcast all ambitions of the Birmingham business community. This includes leadership/business events, opportunities (part time jobs, careers and business ventures), resources (local podcasts, books, etc.) and a business directory of all market partners. Martin Briggs is the founder of ULECx Market. Learn more here!

till

 

There’s no more need to rush to the market on Saturday morning or sacrifice healthy/local eating when the market isn’t open. Rather than driving to the market, till brings the farmers market to you. Customers have the opportunity to pre-order their favorite fruits, vegetables and meats from top Birmingham area farms and have the foods dropped off at their doorstep. Will and Hayley DeShazo are the founders of till. Learn more about till here!

Pairit

 

Pairit is a concept of building a peer-to-peer marketplace platform aimed at pairing up content creators (photographers, videographers, bloggers, et.c) with consumers and businesses looking for quick, on-demand content. Thomas Coiner is the founder of Pairit! Learn more here!

Thank you to our sponsors for making this event happen each time: Gatehouse Law as a presenting sponsor and ServisFirst and Instagift as community sponsors! Your Big Idea will begin again in the fall! If you’re interested in pitching your idea, apply here! Also check out all of Forge’s upcoming events here.