[Algonquiana] REQUEST FOR SUPPORT LETTER-NEXT STEPS PROJECT

[MONICA MACAULAY]

Hi all, Jacob said it was okay for me to forward this. Apologies if you get it more than once.

Monica

________________________________
From: jacobmanatowabailey at gmail.com <jacobmanatowabailey at gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2020 2:46 PM
Subject: REQUEST FOR SUPPORT LETTER-NEXT STEPS PROJECT


Dear Colleagues,



I hope you and all your folks are healthy and safe in these difficult times.  I’m writing to you because the Multicultural Initiative on Community Advancement (MICA) and the Next Steps Language Revitalization Planning Project are submitting proposals to support the development and piloting of an Indigenous Language Revitalization (ILR) leadership and capacity building training program.  Specifically, we will be submitting an ANA SEDS grant that frames ILR as a critical aspect of larger social and economic development projects.  Increasingly, our experience tells us that approaching language revitalization as an isolated issue is not working in most communities.



If successful in securing funding, the design of the proposed pilot will take place over the first year of the project.  Building upon lessons learned from the Next Steps Project, we will use a collaborative design process grounded in feedback from practitioners in the field of ILR.  At this stage, based on input from experienced practitioners, we’ve identified some developmental areas for what we would like the ILR leadership and capacity building training program to address, but haven’t made any other decisions about design, delivery, or implementation.



We hope to pilot a program that helps participants:



•      Create opportunities for people to develop a mindset and a practice that enriches their lives and that of their friends, families, and communities.



•      Grow into responsible and resourceful creators of social change.



•      Learn to innovate, adapt, and connect to new people and new knowledge.



•      Develop empathy, persistence, and resilience.



•      Learn to navigate complex circumstances, identities, and dynamics.



•      Strengthen their insight and connection to their history, land, ancestors, and the natural world.



•      Gain deeper insight into themselves, their families, and communities.



While there are some good models to consider, there is currently no training institute or program specifically designed to help emerging ILR practitioners and grassroots organizers gain skills related to the social change and community development aspects of ILR work.  Most ILR practitioners have had to learn those skills on their own and often through difficult trial and error.



Please consider submitting a letter of support to demonstrate the need for this kind of program.  A form template of a letter is attached to this email for your convenience or please feel free to write your own.  All letters of support should be emailed to Terrie Kinsey at kinseyterrie317 at gmail.com<mailto:kinseyterrie317 at gmail.com> by end of day June 26, 2020.



Please pass this along and encourage others to submit letters of support.  Many of you know that I don’t really interact much with the internet unless I’m forced to so I have to rely on smarter, tech-savvy people to get the word out.  Also, even my email contact list is kinda middle-aged and getting forgetful.  Ha.  Just keeping it real.  The rest of this email was pretty stuffy.


Thank you for your time and effort in supporting this project.



If you have any questions, please direct them to me at jacobmanatowabailey at gmail.com<mailto:jacobmanatowabailey at gmail.com> in a separate e-mail.





Sincerely,



Jacob Manatowa-Bailey

Next Steps Language Revitalization Planning Project

Multicultural Initiative on Community Advancement (MICA)