The Windcall Testimonies
Social Justice Leaders Talk about Windcall
"Grassroots Leadership is much stronger because of the opportunity so many of our staff have had to go to Windcall. They not only come back refreshed, they infuse the whole organization with a sense of possibility and hopefulness -- which is how ideas, people and organizations can really grow."
-Si Kahn, Grassroots Leadership, Charlotte, NC
"I divide my life into before-Windcall and after-Windcall. I was in really bad physical and emotional shape before my Residency. But the grant deadlines, meetings, and press conferences don't stop. I spent the first few days at Windcall crying, grieving over things I didn’t know I had to grieve. All the practices I use now to keep myself healthy started there."
-Van Jones, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Oakland, CA
" believe that my Windcall experience made me a calmer individual. I incorporate the need for my staff to spend personal time on themselves and not focus 24/7 on the work. I now track how much staff is working and if I feel they need time away, we negotiate it. I try to make sure that we do all we can to counter burn out."
-Janet Robideau, Montana People s Action, Missoula, MT
"Windcall is where I first thought about starting a statewide progressive coalition. I had time to reflect on the previous eight years I d spent doing environmental work, how I couldn’t stay engaged in that for the rest of my life, and thought about what was next for me as an organizer in Nevada. Talking with my Windcall cohort gave me some ideas about tying issues and constituencies together and the seeds for PLAN were sown."
-Bob Fulkerson, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Reno, NV
"I think one of the greatest challenges facing progressives is the longevity of our staff and leaders. Windcall is one of the very few institutions that addresses this issue directly - not in words but in providing the experience for committed activists. I’ve been able to bring the lessons I learned at Windcall in to my mentoring of young and not-so-young organizers."
-Donna Parson, Demos, New York, NY
"I have made some major life decisions that are all efforts at taking care of myself and doing what is truly important to me. I firmly believe I have been able to take these steps as a result of being at Windcall and starting a healing process that is manifesting itself in my personal and professional life."
-Marielena Hincapie, National Immigration Law Center, Los Angeles, CA
"Organizing is grueling, public, conflictive and draining work. We tend to believe that we want neither thanks nor recognition. But a long distance social justice runner needs balance and self care. If we value the people who do social justice work, then we must invest more in the doers."
-Josh Hoyt, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights
"I came to Windcall needing something desperately. Before Windcall, I felt like I was just spinning my wheels It didn’t seem to matter how hard or long I worked, how much time I gave up with my family and friends: nothing could keep me from this downward spinning motion. At Windcall, I found the beginning of what I was looking for, something that would give the strength and the courage to carry on."
-Conny Ford, OPEIU Local 3, San Francisco, CA
"At Windcall I realized that I needed to move into something with a broader progressive agenda. The wide-open space fueled my creativity and I began the idea for the SPIN Project. Then the other Windcall residents helped put flesh on the bones of the idea. Now, the SPIN Project is one of the most successful communications-oriented non profits in the US.
-Robert Bray, Founder, the SPIN Project, San Francisco, CA
