Feel Good Friday - GLSEN

It’s the final Feel Good Friday of Pride month, perfect time to highlight the work of GLSEN. 

Founded by a group of teachers in 1990, GSLEN (pronounced glisten) is a national education organization, “working to create a safe and inclusive K-12 school environment for LGBTQ+ youth.” Their mission is “to ensure that every member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.” 

GLSEN coordinates a network of 43 chapters in 30 states across the nation and focuses on four major ways schools can cultivate a safe and supportive environment for all of their students: 

• Developing supportive educators – providing training and resources for educators so that students can have a visibly supportive educator in the classroom who can advocate on LGBTQ students’ behalf, implement LGBTQ content in the lessons, and address bullying and harassment issues. Join the educator network or use some of the many resources for educators.
• Passing and implementing comprehensive policies – advocating for policies that support LGBTQ students such as non-discrimination, facilities accessibility and affirming trans and gender non-conforming students’ participation in athletics. Join the advocacy network here.
• Advocating for an inclusive and affirming curriculum – the team at GLSEN authors developmentally appropriate resources for educators to use throughout their school community. Download this Inclusive Curriculum Guide.
• Supporting student Gender and Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) – GLSEN provides resources for student leaders to organize GSAs in their schools to help create community and push for change. Find GSA resources at this link.

In the 32 years since they began, GLSEN’s national network is now more than 1.5 million strong, with students, families, educators, and education advocates working to create safe schools. More than 500,000 GLSEN resources are downloaded by students and educators each year!

 

If you’d like to support the work of GLSEN you can make a donation, shop for merch and help spread the word on social media. Like the GLSEN Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @GLSEN and Instagram @glsen

 

 

Feel Good Friday - FAI - The National Trust for Italy

Ciao! Felice sentirsi bene vernerdì!

I'm back from my trip to Italy and still interested in all things Italian, including today's Feel Good Friday organization, Fondo Ambiente Italiano (FAI), the National Trust for Italy.

Founded in 1975, FAI "restores and takes care of special places in Italy so that present and future generations from all over the world may enjoy a priceless legacy." Italy has more UNESCO sites than any other country. FAI focuses on protecting these cultural, artistic and natural wonders as they say, "forever, for everyone." Watch this 2-minute video to see some of the sites and learn more.

Today, FAI manages 64 sites across Italy, 31 of which are open to the public. You can virtually tour them at this link: visit fai. These villas, castles and parks are acquired by donation, or granted by state or local authorities. With the help of individual and corporate sponsors, FAI restores the sites and then opens them to the public for exhibitions, events and educational programs for students. Collectively, these sites managed by FAI welcome a million visitors each year!

Whether you choose to visit Ieranto Bay, home of the sirens that tempted Ulysses; Villa Necchi Campiglio, an icon of 1930's deco in the heart of Milan; or Teatrino di Vetriano, the world's smallest public theater, do your research on the FAI website before you go. You can check this page for a listing of upcoming events.

If you'd like to support the work of FAI in preserving the cultural heritage of Italy you can do so by becoming a member, making a donation and spreading the good word on social media. Like their Facebook page and follow them on Instagram @fondoambiente. Grazie!

Feel Good Friday Flashback #5 - Hollaback! (now Right to Be)

Happy Feel Good Friday! I'm traveling for the next few weeks and will be tapping in to the FGF archives for stories. Join me as we look back at some favorites from the last 9 and a half years. 

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Friday, July 10, 2020

I've been looking for ways to be a better ally to the Black community and that's what led me to today's Feel Good Friday organization, Hollaback! [Note: Hollaback! is now Right to Be]

Founded in 2005 by a group of seven young people in New York, Hollaback! is "a global, people-powered movement to end harassment in all its forms."  Here's how they do it.

Hollaback! offers FREE bystander intervention training to help you learn how to respond when you witness someone being harassed. I took the training a few weeks ago and highly recommend it. They teach you five methods you can use, known as Hollaback!'s 5Ds: distract, delegate, document, delay and direct. You can read about them at the bystander resources section of their website. It was helpful for me to learn that there are ways to be supportive without directly confronting the harasser.

Other training offered by Hollaback! includes conflict de-escalation, responding to and preventing harassment, and resilience - both in the workplace and in the face of Covid-19. In addition, Hollaback! has trained over 550 young people to become site leaders in their communities so they have the skills to launch a site and take on-the-ground action. Learn more about customized resources and site leaders.

Since the early days, Hollaback! has expanded to 21 cities in 16 countries. You can find your nearest Hollaback! office at this link or check out their online resources to learn how to deal with harassment in the workplace, on the street and online.

The final program to share is HeartMob, a platform created in 2015 to help end online harassment. People being harassed online can ask for the immediate support they need and the HeartMob community will respond. To date over 7,500 actions have been taken to support more than 1,600  people.

To get involved with Hollaback! and their work, you can join the HeartMob or sign up for a free training. I took "Bystander Intervention to Stop Police Sponsored Violence and Anti-Black Racist Harassment" and the schedule for that is here. You can also make a donation, and follow Hollaback! on Facebook and Twitter @iHollaback, to amplify their message and help them end harassment in all its forms.