,Back in 2013, the Black Lives Matter movement emerged as a response to the murder of Trayvon Martin. The movement not only brought attention to the deep inequities of our justice system but also brought to the forefront how ill equipped we are as Americans talking about difference and handling the conflict that can result. During the 2016 election, we saw those tensions amplified. As we fast forward to today, it seems as if we have seen more and more evidence of conflict emerging at the intersection of differences and loud voices fomenting the divisions. These conflicts and divisions have insidiously permeated our collective psyche. No sector is immune. We see destructive conflict emerging in progressive spaces, in academic spaces, in community spaces and beyond. This has put a magnifying glass on the ineffectiveness of the zero-sum model when dealing with conflict. In seeing the failings of the zero-sum model, and in seeking to life up effective alternatives, The Swell Collective was conceived in 2013 and received our 501 c3 tax status January 20, 2017.  

You’ll note the day of IRS designation as a tax exempt organization,  inauguration day, 2017. We consider it no coincidence that we should receive this validation of our credibility on the same day that the helm of our nation would be passed to a leader who represented the antithesis of the values that drive our work. This contrast only affirmed our commitment to empower change-agents to actively move us well beyond the paradigm of the zero sum, cut-throat competition and ego-driven leadership. It has less to do with politics than it is essential to our collective evolution and liberation. We choose to lead with love.

By acting on our mission to inspire, equip and amplify change-agents, we hope to accelerate our emergence into a positive-sum future where diversity, inclusion, equity and systemic thinking are naturally woven into the very fabric of our co-created culture. We serve our community by also being an organization that practices radical transparency as we grow to to be a fractal of change for the future, not simply built on the unquestioned templates of the past. We envision a future where the systems of disempowerment and disenfranchisement that have plagued humanity and squandered so much creativity and innovation are simply sad notes in history books. Our recent political past has inspired a “resistance” and we seek to fuel the “rising”.  #goodgrows