BOF + My Neighbor’s Voice

My Neighbor’s Voice is the brainchild of two passionate women who wanted to create an environment and space where people could speak, be heard and, most importantly, listen to other perspectives and exercise their empathy muscle in order to create real change in their communities.

Pre-COVID, their model centered around the dinner table at a home full of guests curated to represent political and racial diversity. A couple of us at Brains on Fire have attended these dinners in the past. We spoke. We were heard. And we listened. Most importantly, we connected with people that might not look like us, think like us or run in our regular circles — and we became friends — all the while gaining empathy for each other through listening.

Now MNV has revamped their process to work online. At Brains, we replaced our weekly team meeting for an hour of speaking, being heard and listening as we answered questions around the topic of civil rights, social justice and liberties.

Despite our diverse backgrounds, experiences, histories and political viewpoints, it became clear that we really are more similar than we are different. We care — about our team, our families, our neighbors, our communities. The way that care and concern is brought to life may look different from person to person, but the core desire is the same. We all want to build a better world — and we all have a role and a responsibility in shaping it.

Here’s a sampling of questions we explored in our My Neighbor’s Voice session:

Interested in trying My Neighbor’s Voice with your team? Visit them at https://www.myneighborsvoice.org.