Mission
We believe that the path to true diversity, equity and inclusion starts with dialogue. Sustained challenging conversations create radical empathy and pivots the world towards a culture where all people, regardless of their background, are seen as equals. When people are valued, they want to add value. This belief undergirds our work. We foster honest conversations to guide people and organizations past stigmas and fears and towards solutions; we affirm each person’s experience; we co-create environments that flourish.
Origin
We are living in parallel but polarized realities that are sharing fewer facts by the day. Hate is on the rise, and our faith in leaders is at an all-time low. Given the unprecedented divide between the haves and have nots, the crumbling of our infrastructure, our renewed climate crisis, and, most recently, the pandemic and the Movement for Black Lives, the very soul of our world is at stake. The choices we make now to address our differences to face our common future will determine the kind of world we pass on.
We hail from different parts of the world. We are the children of immigrants and the descendants of enslaved Africans. We are translators, trailblazers, code switchers and shapeshifters who maneuver a complex, dynamic world. We share a commitment to communities impacted by systemic injustice and a dream of a world where everyone can show up whole. We all have a responsibility and role to play in making this a reality. Third Settlements is our response to the call.
“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach.”
— CLARISSA PINKOLA ESTES, We Were Made for these Times
Approach
At Third Settlements, we confront the issues head on. We stand by the power of intergroup dialogue, systems analysis and collective problem solving for advancing democracy and humanity. We channel art, data, history, current events, and personal narrative to engage the most pressing conversations so that people and places can create their own, urgent, sustainable answers.