The Use of Public Narrative as Way to Facilitate Team Formation in Leadership Development and Community Organizing

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54790/rccs.79

Keywords:

public narrative, leadership, migrants, community, organizing

Abstract

Public narrative is a leadership practice being learned and practiced across different contexts worldwide. This article delves into the utilization of public narrative for team formation within the realms of leadership and community organizing. We delve deeper into the case of We the People Michigan, an organization engaged in community organizing, and its pivotal role in convening the Drive Michigan Forward coalition through the lens of public narrative. Our findings highlight the crucial role of public narrative in enhancing two critical aspects of team formation and effective group collaboration. Firstly, the act of sharing personal narratives serves as a means to foster mutual understanding and establish a shared foundation. Secondly, it facilitates a shift from the specific needs of individual organizations towards a focus on the urgent challenges facing their constituencies, particularly the undocumented migrant population in Michigan.

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Author Biographies

Emilia Aiello-Cabrera, Autonomous University of Madrid

Ramon & Cajal reserach fellow (2023) at the Department of Sociology at the Universidada Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). Between 2019-2022 she was EU Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government (Ash Center) & Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB, Sociology Department). Emilia’s research interests are focused on how the most vulnerable social groups organize at the grassroots level in order to overcome inequalities. Besides, her scientific and personal concern also focuses on uncovering the ways to maximize the social impact of all types of scientific research -better connecting scientific interests and outputs to societal needs.

Nelly Fuentes, We The People Michigan

Regional organizer with We The People in Southwest Michigan. She is a native woman of Mesoamerica who migrated to the Michigan region at the beginning of the century, landing in Kalamazoo in 2006.  She believes in the human right to free migration within Turtle Island and is passionate about migrant liberation efforts. Anti-colonial practices and healing are at the center of her organizing vision. As part of her healing practices, she invokes the guidance and wisdom of her ancestors through the art of tortilla making. Fuentes collaborated with Dr. Aiello in the development of the We The People Michigan case, under the Narratives4Change research project (2019-2021).

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Published

2024-07-03

How to Cite

Aiello-Cabrera, E., & Fuentes, N. (2024). The Use of Public Narrative as Way to Facilitate Team Formation in Leadership Development and Community Organizing. CENTRA Journal of Social Sciences, 3(2), 31–52. https://doi.org/10.54790/rccs.79

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Vol. 3 No. 2 (2024): CENTRA Journal of Social Sciences

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Copyright (c) 2024 Emilia Aiello-Cabrera, Nelly Fuentes

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