Category: News

Book Talk and Birding Film Draw Parallels Between Racial and Environmental Justice

2/3/2020

Antiracism trainer James Addington says that we cannot effectively address climate change until we address our national history of racism.

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“Race has to do with the ecology of human community, as does racism. It’s an ecological issue because it has to do not just with the ecology of human communities, but to our relationship with other biological communities,” said antiracism trainer James Addington during a talk on his new book, Tragic Investment, at ICA GreenRise on November 21, 2019.

That same evening, in the same room, we also hosted the second-ever screening of Monty and Rose, a film that “tells the story of a pair of endangered piping plovers that successfully nested at Chicago's Montrose Beach in the summer of 2019, the first of the species to nest in Chicago in 64 years.”

THREE DAYS, THREE WAYS OF FACILITATING CHANGE

2/7/2019

While ICA programs are often the frontline for the innovation of our methods, we believe that a multiplicity of perspectives and approaches is necessary to creating sustainable change. When we are not organizing educational series in Uptown, sustainability leaders around Chicago, and facilitation trainers across the United States, our team works to cultivate connections and build the capacity of individuals, organizations, and communities through direct facilitation, consultation, and training. We’ve started off strong in 2019, jumping into three ways of facilitating change across three days in late January:

RECONNECTING WITH COLLEAGUES COAST TO COAST

11/1/2017

Historically, ICA had several offices around the US, and one of the things that has left our now Chicago-based organization with is a wide network of colleagues across the US. Although ICA still has national programming, it's hard to find time to stay in touch with colleagues who have shifted their efforts and areas of impact but are still interested in the organization's work.

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS: LOCAL TO NATIONAL

7/6/2017

For many years, ICA has been working on creating intentional and meaningful institutional partnerships with organizations that share our values and are looking for more effective ways to engage their constituencies. The following is a snapshot of four unique collaborative partnerships that have emerged in the past few years.

LISC Chicago Plans training for Quality of Life planning

ICA'S PAST, PRESENT, & FUTURE: ENGAGING COLLEAGUES

3/7/2017

Current ICA Program Manager, Caitlin Sarro, and ICA colleague Terry Bergdall recently spent 6 days on the road visiting ICA colleagues in St. Louis and Kansas City. As a 50+ year old organization, ICA has a wide network of colleagues whose experience and support has help shape the organization for many years. This trip brought together just a few of those individuals and offered them an opportunity to hear more about ICA’s current work and the long-term organizational vision.

LISC & ICA TRAINING: CHICAGO PLANS 2016

5/13/2016

After a successful fall 2015 Chicago Plans cohort, ICA and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) are continuing their partnership, a LISC-led effort to empower community leaders with the facilitation skills they need to design and execute successful participation-based planning efforts in community areas across the city.

NEW & RETURNING YOUTH SERVICE LEARNING PARTNERS

11/11/2015

To close out the summer, two youth ministries participated in a week-long ICA Service Learning program while staying at the ICA GreenRise. Northway Christian Church and the First Christian Church of Rowlett, both from Texas, arranged for their two ministries to learn, live, and volunteer together.

FAREWELL LETTER FROM TERRY BERGDALL

3/31/2015

On March 31, 2015, I will end a six-year journey at the Institute of Cultural Affairs as the chief executive officer in the United States. While these years have been personally gratifying for me, my plan from the beginning was to enable, sooner rather than later, a successful transition to a new generation of leadership. Now, I believe, is the right time to make the move.

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SUMMER PROGRAM

7/23/2014

This year marks the fourth consecutive summer ICA has hosted a program aimed to immerse university students in the arena of sustainable community development.

This summer's Sustainable Community Development Intensive (SCDI) course was designed to complement academic coursework for students interested in pursuing a career in the field of community development.

Staff and SCDI participants working

SERVICE LEARNING

1/21/2014

The Service Learning program continues to grow and flourish at the ICA. This year, participants in the program included two different students groups from Nebraska Wesleyan University, students from DePaul University’s Stean Center Scholars Program, and students from the INSEEC Grand Ecole in Paris and Bordeaux in France.

INSEEC student presents work

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