A Key Piece of the Puzzle: Belonging

The first chapter in A Guide for Community Stewards addresses the importance of fostering a sense of belonging within the community you are convening.

We suggest that belonging within a community can take place on three levels:

1. Amongst individual community members: If you have ever seen a group of ants fall into water, you may have seen how they cling together and create a raft. Likewise, connections that are forged between two or more individuals within your community can serve to keep those members afloat. A member does not need to be connected to everyone in the community, but being closely connected to at least a couple of other members is essential.?
2. Between community leadership and individual members: Leadership helps to tie a community together. They are people who members can go to when they need help, and especially if they are experiencing a conflict. Community Stewards are one such leader, so making sure that you are approachable and accessible helps members feel like they matter.?
3. Between the community as an entity and its individual members: Cultivating relationships between an individual community member and the community as a whole requires an artful balance between the needs of the individual and the imperatives of the group. Such a concept has been referred to as a Nested-I, where ?"the individual achieves meaning and identity through the social context of communities and society — and society constitutes itself through the flourishing of the individual." On the one hand, a healthy community cannot be composed of individuals that do whatever they like at the expense of others. On the other hand, aggregating everyone into a faceless group also erases the unique diversity and individualism that makes communities so rich. This is the difference between valuing individuality versus valuing individualism.

So what can you do to make sure that your community is addressing belonging on all three of these levels? Here are a few suggestions from the forthcoming book:

--> Develop a belonging statement. Like having a set of values, vision, mission, and goals, a belonging statement is one of those key definitions that every community should have. Such a statement helps to identify the type of environment and feeling your community wants members to experience. It also helps you attract the type of people your community wants and needs.

--> Use a rubric. How do you know if you are centering belonging? One way to measure and keep track of your efforts is to design a rubric for each activity or initiative that your community engages in that includes elements related to belonging. Some examples of what to include in a rubric are:

• At least some portion of our community’s core communication is translated into the different native languages spoken by our community.?
• We have a way for someone outside of the community to join an event and meet community members without any restrictions or requirements.?
• We make it clear in our communications how our events are made accessible, such as by having accessible parking and elevators if the event is not on the ground floor.
• Reminder messages are sent out in a timely manner and questions are quickly addressed.
• There are opportunities for members to introduce themselves, connect with other members, and work together.

--> Ask for (and listen to) feedback. As you will hear us say many times in the guide, the best way to do anything in your community is to bring the issue or question to your community. You can ask for feedback from your community through a survey, focus groups, observation, informal discussion or other data collection methods. Since “a sense of belonging” can be a vague concept to most people, you’ll have to ask specific questions like: Describe a time that you felt like you belonged in the community. Have you ever felt that you were invisible in the community? How much do you feel that people in the community know you?

We'd love to hear your ideas! How do you address belonging on all three levels?