Strengthening a Network

Our tiny team at the Millennium Campus Network is hard at work, striving to create a meaningful and thought-provoking experience to match the passion and dedication of the students who will attend the conference this September. In my last post, I wrote about the beginning of my journey to understand the work the MCN engages in and why they do it… why we do it. Everything that I have learned so far in this internship comes down to one word: community.

The Millennium Campus Conference provides a platform for students engaged in poverty alleviation efforts, both domestically and internationally, to come together, learn from, and support one another’s work. As I am learning, building a deep community of people with similar values is at the heart of any movement. The ideas of pragmatic solidarity and accompaniment that Dr. Paul Farmer and others speak about and practice are central to any movement for social justice, but this is a topic for another blog post.

This sense of community begins in the heart of the Millennium Campus Network… the office in Boston. Although everyone is hard at work making phone calls, sending e-mails, and scheduling meetings, there is a sense of shared commitment to the organization… and to each other. It’s the little things that exemplify this commitment: Menda brings in extra fresh strawberries just for us to eat at lunch. Cinnamon opened her home to me when I had to stay late for a meeting. Beckylee always has a kind word to say… or a fun fact. Alex has a quirky response to share when you most need a laugh. Nate is always there with an answer to any question. Sam looks out for great opportunities for us, in the midst of steering this organization.

In addition to the student leaders and office staff, there is another extension of the MCN community. There’s a whole team of students at Northeastern University helping to make this conference a reality. I met with this team for the first time last week. I only knew one of themembers prior to the meeting, Allyson, who has been one of the greatest supporters throughout this internship so far. At the meeting, I was amazed by the team’s dedication to the MCN and commitment to each other. The head of this team even told me to let her know if she could do anything to help the office staff.

The Show Me Campaign has also provided additional community this summer. This past week, the Millennium Campus Network hosted our first National Social Media Day for the conference. I reached out to the Show Me Campaign and they passed the information on to the other fellows. This act of support means a lot.

All of these micro-communities (the office, NE team, conference attendees, partners) coalesce into one larger network of supporters. And this network is always open to new members.

Despite this overwhelming sense of community, I have to admit that it sometimes has been difficult to work in an office this summer because I feel isolated from the issues I am passionate about. During the school year, I volunteer though direct service… mentoring kids at an afterschool program, teaching adult language learners at an ESL program, supporting FACE AIDS. I read the blogs of the other SMC Fellows and am inspired by their work, closely interacting with the people they serve. I have come to realize, however, that this is exactly what the Millennium Campus is all about: creating a network for people engaged in a variety of efforts for social justice to come together as one community of supporters. And for the summer, I am committed to strengthening this network. This starts with this conference in September. Hope to see you there!