My name is Sekou Coleman. And since 2017, I have been working with residents of the Southside Neighborhood in Asheville, North Carolina. I engaged Tracey to support me with a calling in of residents. What this looked like was bringing residents from all over the neighborhood into the same space at the same time to first engage in a process of truth telling and reconciliation and healing, really to address some of the issues and some of the concerns that they had held and had been working to address for a while but then also doing some collective visioning beginning to see where the interests and desires and the passion aligned and intersected, and then looking for ways to develop plans and strategic initiatives that would look to achieve those goals. Tracy also, as I've always observed, was able to bring a very critical lens that brought together just all of the issues, a way of looking at things, holding the space so that there was the opportunity to address the things that needed to be addressed while also acknowledging and taking space for the fact that, you know, we're humans and these are things that people feel very passionate about. One of the great things that was really, really critical in what Tracey was able to do was get people on the same page. I was very encouraged by the fact that during Tracey's engagement with the process, we were able to bring into the same room individuals who might not have spoken to each other in years, individuals who might not have ever worked with each other, even though they were members of the same community. Prior to Tracey's engagement, the neighborhood did not have any sort of formal neighborhood association established. However, through the work that Tracey helped me to engage in with the residents, there is now an officially recognized neighborhood association. I had no doubts at all about who would be a perfect person to work with in this unique situation. From my eight I think it is now, years of knowing and working with Tracey in community in various ways she always shows up in the way that she needs to show up, and in the way that the process and that the work is needed and it's just been always a learning experience for me and always a joy just to share space and to continue to walk this walk. So I highly encourage anyone that is seeking a thought partner anyone that is seeking just visionary leadership, anyone that is navigating emergent processes emergent strategies anyone that is thoroughly engaged in systems change or interrupting harmful narratives and practices, or just questioning the status quo and challenging and looking to interrupt and disrupt things that are no longer serving the people in the community I strongly, wholeheartedly encourage Tracey and Indigo Innovation for fabulous work and I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have had to spend in community with them.
