Dear Shambhala Community,
Warm greetings from the Shambhala Process Team (PT). We are excited to provide an update on our activities since our November community letter.
The Survey Working Group spent the last several months working intensively with different Process Team groups to develop a major survey of the community, which you should receive soon if you have not already. It is designed to explore people’s individual situations, their relationship and experience with their local center, and their relationship and experience with the international Shambhala organization. All current and former community members will be invited to participate. We expect the survey will be open for several weeks, with preliminary results available to the community by Shambhala Day.
The Theory U u.Lab 1x course ended on December 12, and many of those who participated are moving into u.Lab 2x projects. This work will begin in February with a variety of teams developing prototypes with the goal of benefitting individual Centres and Groups, and the wider sangha. Thank you to everyone who participated in 1x; to all who may be interested in joining in the future, we look forward to working with you!
The Charter Working Group has been focused on developing strategic aims (defined as activities in support of Mission and Vision) from active working groups across the PT, as well as working group objectives for a second year of proposed PT activity, based on these strategic aims and progress to date. Our hope is that this strategic planning can form the basis of a collectively agreed charter for Year 2, to help ensure clarity and alignment of the PT’s ongoing efforts and focus after Shambhala Day 2020 in support of a thriving global community.
The Finance and Legal Working Group has continued to meet biweekly. During this last quarter we established a goal of creating a manual of existing and new finance and legal policies and procedures, and suggestions for Center/Group Leaders. In the coming months, we will begin forming sub-groups with subject matter experts throughout Shambhala with the intention of developing proposals as they pertain to specific finance and legal areas.
In November, the Shambhala Board appointed CoC Task Force members to a Code of Conduct Support Group (CCSG) for one year. The CCSG is tasked with developing a plan for community involvement and integration of the proposed Code of Conduct policies and procedures. More information about the CCSG members can be found here. Though the documents on the Code of Conduct have not yet been finalized, the Board has agreed to utilize the new draft Code of Conduct (CoC) policy and procedure as a basis to explore future community discussion, refinement, and roll-out. The draft proposal includes:
- Code of Conduct
- Child Protection Policy
- Policy to Address Sexual Misconduct
- Anti-Discrimination Policy
- Organizational complaint procedures for dealing with reporting and resolving misconduct locally, regionally and internationally.
Please click here for a full update on the CoC, as well as translations of their report into español, Nederlands, and français.
In late December, the Process Team Steering Committee sent the Sakyong a letter about the Process Team’s work this year and, in particular, requesting to initiate a dialogue in relation to his process of reconnection with the community. We asked him to consider joining us in a constructive, community-led process that could help all parties heal from past harm and repair the ground of trust together, so that we may transmute the difficulties of the past into a thriving Shambhala of the future.
We believe this is in alignment with the Shambhala Board’s recent letter, where they made the following statement:
“It is our hope that by trying to involve and engage the Sakyong and the Sakyong Wangmo in the various processes, it will be healthier and more clarifying than a separate, even parallel, process. In this regard, the Sakyong and Sakyong Wangmo support the work of the Board and the community on the new Code of Conduct and will be part of this process.”
We look forward to working with the board on this and other initiatives over the coming year.
As always, full updates from the PT Working Groups can be found here.
Please share this email and the PT website with your sangha so that those who do not receive these direct mailings can be aware about the Process Team and our work.
With appreciation,