Omega Resilience Awards

Read Dasra’s report for insights on ploycrisis and philanthropy in India. Dasra is a recipient of the Omega Resilience Awards Research grant. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/d8uvTxgd Susan Grelock Yusem Start Up! Manisha Gupta Mark Valentine Andrea Frey

The Pacific Institute, an Omega Resilience Awards Research Grant recipient, is dedicated to creating a future where society, the economy, and the environment have the water they need to thrive sustainably. With support from their ORA grant, the institute expanded its work on water, peace, and security by tracking and documenting water-related violence and developing strategies to reduce it. In 2023, they completed a major update to the Water Conflict Chronology, a comprehensive, open-source database that tracks water conflicts from 2500 BCE to the present. Now featuring 1600 entries, this resource is now a vital tool used by the United Nations, academic researchers, non-governmental groups working on conflict prevention, defense and intelligence agencies, and journalists around the world. Learn more about their research journey here: https://lnkd.in/ewmdNQmT Mark Valentine Susan Grelock Yusem Andrea Frey Stanley Wu

Today on World Nature Conservation Day, Jacinta Kerketta, ORA India Fellow 2024 reminds us how Adiwasi communities do not merely co-occur with nature but have a deep relationship of interdependence and even symbiosis with nature in their daily lives. Jacinta is a poet, writer, journalist, and community builder revitalizing Adivasi communities through literature and cultural regeneration. Jacinta travels and lives in the tribal belts of Jharkhand working with the local youth, government, artists, and cultural leaders. This has led to the creation of the Adivasi Ekta Manch, led by Adivasi youth. An Adivasi youth group has come together to produce this video for Start Up! and the global ORA community. This evocative poem is by Jacinta herself. Camera - Ranveer Bhagat Sound - Parul Kunkal Editing - Shankhu Toppo jacinta kerketta Omega Resilience Awards Commonweal Mark Valentine Stanley Wu Susan Grelock Yusem Manisha Gupta Rachel Thomas Divya Nissi Arunkumar H G Srinivas Kodali Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli Divya Varma Ritesh Gohiya Kalpana Viswanath pooja sood Sushmit Ghosh Pranshu Singhal Sharif D Rangnekar Pradip Saha #nature #conservation #natureconservation #adivasi #indigeneous #community #youth #orafellow #polycrisis #resilience #orafellowship

The New School at Commonweal for the second conversation in their ongoing “Wild Times” series invited Manisha Gupta, Founder and CEO, Start Up!, the Omega Resilience Awards partner in India to speak to Micheal Lerner. The Wild Times series brings people and co-creators of the global resilience community from around the world responding in creative, dynamic ways to complex and interlocking crises. In this conversation, Manisha shares her journey of starting up and showing up over 13 years, of the many stories of diverse and creative ways of bringing change on the ground, of our ORA Fellows who imagine new narratives for the future and partner with their communities building resilience and renewal in the face of the polycrisis. Here is the link to the complete conversation: https://lnkd.in/enQmzqq4 Manisha Gupta Commonweal Michael Lerner Kalpana Viswanath Pranshu Singhal Sushmit Ghosh Sharif D Rangnekar Pradip Saha pooja sood Nandini Velho Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava Farmer Samir Bordoloi Shweta Bhattad Ruhani Kaur Sarika Panda Bhatt She/Her Ritesh Gohiya Arunkumar H G jacinta kerketta Divya Varma Srinivas Kodali Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli Shubho Sengupta Susan Grelock Yusem Stanley Wu Omega Resilience Awards Andrea Frey Mark Valentine Swati Awasthy Rachel Thomas Divya Nissi #polycrisis #resilience #globalsouth #orafellowship #leader #orawards

Read Henry Picado’s post on how urban gardens are thriving amidst the polycrisis and supporting local networks of organized, passionate individuals and communities. Henry is one of Omega Resilience Awards (ORA) Latin America Fellows from the 2023 cohort. As the world faces interconnected crises such as climate change, food insecurity, health threats, and political instability, urban gardens emerge as beacons of hope. Despite these challenges, communities are cultivating resilience through urban agriculture. From Chile to Barcelona and Mexico to Ecuador, urban gardens foster empathy, solidarity, and local food sovereignty. Many of these initiatives are led by women, strengthening community bonds and promoting sustainable practices. Learn more here: https://lnkd.in/gSqRSPi6

The Global Tapest Tapestry of Alternatives (GTA), an Omega Resilience Awards Research Grant recipient, seeks to build bridges between networks of alternatives around the globe and promote the creation of new processes of confluence. GTA focuses on “radical or transformative alternatives,” which they define as initiatives that challenge the dominant system and take paths toward direct and radical forms of political and economic democracy, localized self-reliance, social justice and equity, cultural and knowledge diversity, and ecological resilience. Learn more about their research journey here: https://lnkd.in/gp-MUSU5

"I am a human being who believes in love, care, joy, resilience, resistance, and ubuntu and in having a livable planet for all humans and all beings to survive and thrive." In this interview, Dipti Bhatnagar, a 2023 Omega Resilience Awards Africa Fellow, takes us on a remarkable journey about her roots, spanning different cultures and continents. Driven by her commitment to love, #resilience, and justice, dipti's interview offers a powerful glimpse into the impact of connection and activism in fostering a humanistic society. Read more about dipti and her interview here ⬇ 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gnYj4u6e

Inclusion is a muscle that we must build every day, 24x7. This is the call of Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, an ORA fellow. Listen to her call for inclusive growth, as we close the Pride month. Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli is a transgender, human rights, and RTI activist based in Hyderabad who enables transgender and queer communities to reclaim their dignity and rights through law, policy reform, and supportive community ecosystems. A member of the Telangana State Welfare Board for Transgender Persons, one of Vyjayanti’s key victories was the declaration of the repressive Telangana Eunuchs Act as unconstitutional by the Telangana High Court. Commonweal Omega Resilience Awards Michael Lerner Manisha Gupta Kalpana Viswanath Pranshu Singhal Sushmit Ghosh Sharif D Rangnekar Pradip Saha pooja sood Ritesh Gohiya Arunkumar H G jacinta kerketta Divya Varma Srinivas Kodali Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli Mark Valentine Susan Grelock Yusem Stanley Wu Andrea Frey Swati Awasthy Rachel Thomas Divya Nissi #transgender #queer #community #polycrisis #dignity #rights #pridemonth #inclusion

I spoke with Michael Learner, a global pioneer of environmental healing and justice movements. Michael is the founder of Commonweal. In 'Welcome Wild Times: A Conversation with Resilience Leaders in the Global South', Michael invites guests to connect the dots between who they are, the breakthrough moments in their personal journeys, and how those have shaped the work they do, and the choices they have made in the development sector. No prep. Michael asked me to just show up as my most authentic self, with my most honest voice. 'Stories will flow,' he assured me. Its a long interview, but I would love to hear your feedback. Thank you friends at Commonweal for this opportunity! Mark Valentine I Andrea Frey I Susan Grelock Yusem I Stanley Wu I Kyra Epstein I Oren Slozberg I Ruhani Kaur I Kumar Sambhav Shrivastava I Nandini Velho I Sarika Panda Bhatt I Omega Resilience Awards I Farmer Samir Bordoloi I Mukti Bosco I Shanti Raghavan I Swayam Shikshan Prayog SSP I Kiran Modi I Rachel Thomas I Divya Nissi

In her insightful article ‘The Arteries of Cities,’ Sarika Panda Bhatt, a 2023 Omega Resilience Awards India Fellow, reflects on her work at Raahgiri Foundation where she advocates for safe, intersectional and accessible streets that prioritizes pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit users. Embracing a ‘people-first’ approach in street design, Sarika highlights how streets, like the arteries of a living city offer a glimpse of history, priorities and power structures." Learn more about Sarika Panda Bhatt She/Her and her work: https://lnkd.in/gi_W6uqq #OmegaResilienceAwards #ORA #StreetSafety #UrbanDesign #Accessibility