Over the last 9 years, Mailchimp has invested more than $12 million and sponsored more than 200 small, local nonprofits in Atlanta. Most of these investments have been unrestricted, so Mailchimp’s partners determine how to use these funds and provide the right kind of support to their communities.
Learn more in this month’s Field Trip with Josh Penny, Director of Corporate Citizenship at Mailchimp. Register now! October 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Mailchimp’s purpose is to empower the underdog. Through corporate citizenship they support small world-changers with big ideas. Local groups know their communities the best. But, they don’t always get the attention they need. That’s why Mailchimp invests in small organizations changing the world in big ways.
Join Josh Penny, Mailchimp’s Director of Corporate Citizenship to learn about the Atlanta tech company’s social impact work over the years and how big change can start small.
Don’t miss the 5 for 1 celebration!
Poet Joan ‘Lyric’ Leslie, Musician Chelsea Shag, Comedian David Perdue, Comedian Minori Hinds and Poet Daryl Funn (Mistafunn™)
“You fight dandelions all weekend, and late Monday afternoon there they are, pert as all get out, in full and gorgeous bloom, pretty as can be, thriving as only dandelions can in the face of adversity.“ - Hal Borland
This month’s theme DARE has us feeling empowered. We mostly think of dare as a verb but what about as a noun? Acceptance of our force in the world as a dare, sanctions us to view ourselves differently. Simply- beyond what we are able to produce, what if our very existence is the ultimate dare? Viability, after all, is subversive. Creation revolts against history, pandemics, hopelessness, broken systems, blight, crime, hatred, dry spells, pollution, traffic jams and let’s not forget bad press. Survival herald its summons and Lady Gumption leveled up. Life is the dare that draws breath another day. It is the very thing adversity is trying to choke out. We thumb our noses at doing strong things and embrace “I AM strength”. So long, I will rebel. Hello, “I AM defiance”. I will be brave, meet “I AM courage under fire”. If you are reading this blog at the end of the day, congratulations, you are the victor! You are moxie. You are verve. You are the damnedest of dares and you will not easily be knocked down.
So, the next time you spot a single reed creeping through a concrete jungle, take the moment to nod in solidarity- for you have much in common.
Join us this Friday at 9 a.m. as we commemorate 10 years of CreativeMornings Atlanta! We are kick starting our anniversary with 5 daring performers.
Sometimes you just need to let go. And when you do, you just might find that you gain something in return. These are the things we’re pondering as we dwell on this month’s theme, RELEASE, especially as we head into fall, a season all about leaving the old behind.
Release is a critical part of growth, healing and transformation. We can release each other from our claims. We can be the means of each others’ deliverance. It’s what gives the words “I release you” their power.
As we get ready to hear from Doug Ammar of the Georgia Justice Project on Aug. 27, consider reflecting on August’s theme by asking yourself: What happens when we let go of emotions, expectations, habits, relationships or thoughts that no longer serve us? What do we release in ourselves? What do we let loose into the world?
To help you think of the things worth releasing in your own life, we’ve rounded up three insightful pieces that explore what it means to let go and why we should.
This musician shares how releasing control can lift unnecessary burdens off our expectations of ourselves, boost creativity and allow you to focus your energy on enjoying the journey.
Inhale, exhale. Releasing the breath, the mind and the tension in the body are all facets of yoga. Practice doing the same and let go of your day with this flow by Alicia “Ace” Easter.
Sometimes the things we hold on to keep us from moving forward. The road to releasing those things — feelings, associations and otherwise — takes time and conscious effort. To help you get started, here are 12 tips to practice so you can take daily steps toward growth.
So I put away the hammer
and the box melted away
Then I built a house that held all of me
And that’s where I live today
- Susan Bruck
If you type home into your search engine, you are likely to find a varied preview of HGTV and DIY links for sprucing up your house — something that many of us have been doing while spending copious amounts of time sheltering in place over the past year. But a dive deeper can reveal that home is more than a place and instead a state of self-actualization and being. Our theme this month is HOME, which has us asking, “Where do you feel most at home?”
Pop singer, Adele, famously reminisces in her bitter/sweet ballad Hometown Glory, about growing up in London. A visual artist might adorn the walls of his domicile with provocative works of personal inspiration. And it seems almost everyone has a song or poem about what home means to them. But thinking broader, as a city of creatives, our individual innovation and artistry is often connected to our collectivism. It’s the city we live in, the folks around our table and the people we keep space with who add shape to our sense of belonging, purpose, safety, and healing.
“Rooms and spaces. They are never static. The energy is always shifting depending on who is there. So how are you showing up? When you enter a room what are you bringing into that space that defines or impacts how others may feel.” - Joanne Beauvoir Brown
The truest sense of home is built in community. It’s the hospice we cultivate with and for others that takes residence in us. Like a mobile camper, we can carry home with us. We transport accommodation and shelter in ourselves — and in hospitality, we share it with others. Home is with me. Home is with you.
“People keep asking for my address and I keep handing them your name.”
-Akif Kichloo
May our homes of heart be built of bricks of hope, fidelity for mortar, fragrant memories and abiding peace. Join us July 30 at 9 a.m., as artist and philanthropist Jennie Lobato guides us through a journey of discovery and in sharing her truest sense of home. Register here.
We’re thrilled to have artist and philanthropist, Jennie Lobato, as this month’s speaker. Register here for July 30. As a first-generation American, Jennie resonated with this month’s theme, HOME, both personally and professionally. Her nonprofit organization, drawchange, aids impoverished children around the world through the use of art-based therapy programming. So, of course we wanted an opportunity to get to know her better! We are grateful she found time to Take 5 before the main event.
Becoming an adult can make us believe we need to acquire more to feel “safe at home.” I try to not buy into this and live by “home is where the heart is.”
Anywhere along the banks of the Chattahoochee River where I can put my feet in the water and remember how we are all connected.
I sang on stage for the Dalai Lama once!
I’m a self-growth enthusiast, so I am always into whatever it may be to help me better understand my role in society and my connection to it all.
I have a rough exterior, but I am the biggest softie inside!
June is really heating up and there is so much to celebrate.
Happy Juneteenth! We celebrate and stand with the Black creatives in our community and the ways they use their work to celebrate and uplift Black culture.
Happy Pride Month too! We salute the LGBTQ+ creatives in our community and the ways they use their work to honor and elevate LGBTQ+ voices.
Lastly, we raise our glass to toast the mystery, strength and dignity of womanhood with this month’s theme MATRIARCHY. Social entrepreneur and community organizer, Nikishka Iyengar, will help us explore her work at the intersection of finance, equitable development, racial justice and climate action. She is the founder and CEO of The Guild, a social enterprise focused on building community wealth through equitable real estate, entrepreneurship programs and access to capital for historically marginalized communities. She is also the mother of an active toddler and knows well the delicate balance of motherhood and business. Nikishka’s talk is June 25 at 9 a.m. Register here.
And don’t forget that directly before we hear from Nikishka, we’re now offering a super fun and meaningful way for you to connect with other creatives digitally! Join us on Gatheround at 8:15 a.m. for a 30-minute guided discussion based on June’s theme of MATRIARCHY. Get the details here.
We’re so excited to have Ron Hsu as this month’s speaker, and we can’t wait to hear him share his personal take on May’s theme of RESILIENT.
But we’ve still got a couple weeks before the big event (don’t forget to register here to join us May 28)! So before he takes the virtual CreativeMornings Atlanta stage, we wanted to ask Chef Ron five quick questions to help everybody get to know him better.
Resiliency spans a wide range of areas for a business and member of society. Everything fails in life, and resiliency is the one quality that will determine if you prevail or fail.
My home. It’s my balance in life.
My left eyebrow is crooked.
The TV show “Ted Lasso.” It’s just a feel-good story about persevering and treating people right.
My friends have called me sneaky nice, meaning I do nice things for people without them knowing.
