*CONVENING FOR ACTIVATION* Last week, I had the privilege of facilitating a super-energized convening with our partners at Apparel Impact Institute. They wanted to bring together diverse collaborators for a shared, ambitious goal: to reduce 100 million tons of carbon in the apparel supply chain. Achieving this goal is only possible if we create breakthrough collaboration across the fashion value chain. I believe that collaboration is the only way forward on climate action. But I’m also not naive about collaboration. It’s hard work to get people working well together. But this is the work I've signed up for: when collaboration feels impossible, but it’s the only way forward. The Apparel Impact Institute team was committed to using their convening for activation. So, we invited a small group of problem-solvers to join us at The Rockefeller Foundation's new convening space in New York. After months of meticulous planning, our intentionality paid off. We created the conditions for activation, and it worked. Here's what we did (and what we learned). 1. Intentionality in Invitations We curated the list of participants. We invited 60 people with the right knowledge and a sense of urgency to take action. An important caveat here, when we make any convening “invite only,” we have to be intentional about including diverse perspectives. For this summit, we prioritized having the voice of suppliers in the room and perspective from supply chains in the Global South. 2. Clarity of Purpose From our earliest communications to a daily reminder when we were together in person, we articulated a clear purpose statement that we were convening for activation. We continuously reminded attendees that our shared goal was to activate and problem-solve. 3. Workshop-Focused Agenda We dedicated substantial time for attendees to co-work on strategic areas that needed collaboration. Breakout sessions were not time to pontificate -- they were workshops designed to advance outcomes. We used best practices for co-development, problem-solving and shared decision-making. 4. Commitment to Action On our last day together, the summit ended with commitments. We asked everyone in the room these two questions (1) What can you commit to advance our work together this year? (2) What is one action you will take next week? It was incredible to watch as we passed the mic around the room to share commitments. The energy in the room sparked. When we parted ways, there was a sense that we were just getting started. I’m still flying high from this experience last week, and I'm even more convinced about the power of convening for activation. It’s possible, and it's potent. Let’s do more of this. Lewis Perkins Kay Bloomberg Kurt Kipka Ryan Gaines Sarah Troup Geisenheimer Kevin McAndrew Marlee Margolin #climateaction #climateactionnow #decarbonization #sustainablefashion #fashionforgood #sustainability #collectiveaction #facilitation #climate
