Tandana's Founding Director Anna Taft has written Climbing Together: Relational Morality and Meaningful Action in Intercultural Community Engagement describing the philosophy behind Tandana's approach and how it plays out in concrete experiences through the Foundation's work. Published by Brill in 2024, this book weaves a unique tapestry of ideas from philosophers such as Hannah Arendt, Emmanuel Levinas, Paul Ricoeur, and Akeel Bilgrami; analysis from anthropologists; the author’s deep personal experience leading an organization focused on transnational collaboration; and extensive testimony from Malian and Ecuadorian community members who have engaged with The Tandana Foundation. The pattern that emerges offers hope in the possibilities of meaningful human interaction despite its inevitable messiness. While attempts to remake human societies into a desired image tend to fail, live encounters among people can bring about unexpectedly positive change.
Anna and other members of The Tandana Foundation team are happy to give talks and teach workshops on the unique approach articulated in Climbing Together and honed through nearly two decades of experience. Contact us at info[at]tandanafoundation.org to arrange a presentation. We look forward to collaborating and sharing insights with your organization or community.
"Workshops like these directly address a question at the heart of Whitman College's mission to help students lead ethical lives of purpose: how do we responsibly address the vast inequalities in power and resources that shape our interactions with others in our global world? Tandana's members and partners have a wealth of experience developing ethical collaborations aimed at building more just ways of living together, and hosting workshops on the Whitman campus is one way to share that learning while also creating opportunities for students to participate in longer-term collaborations beyond the courses themselves."
-- Nicole Simek, Director, Center for Global Studies, Whitman College
"What followed was much more than a regular talk, it was a multi-perspectival panorama shedding light on the deep-rooted challenges faced by grassroots workers of The Tandana Foundation, and more importantly an inspiring account of the engaged methods, ethical negotiations, and big wins the foundation strives to accomplish everyday through small spaces of change."
-- Indivar Jonnalagadda, Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies at Miami University
Below are some examples of presentations Anna and other Tandana team members have shared. They can be offered as either formal presentations or interactive sessions.
How did a young woman from Ohio end up in partnership with communities in Ecuador and Mali, and how did those collaborations develop into a unique form of intercultural engagement? Anna Taft will share the journey that led to creation of a transnational nonprofit organization and lessons learned along the way that shaped its unique approach to supporting communities in achieving their goals through relationships based on mutual respect and responsibility. She will also share some advice for young people interested in engaging in global work.
International development has often failed to reach its objectives and sometimes even caused harm to the communities it is supposed to benefit. Aware of these problems, some North Americans choose to disengage from transnational work. But the reality is that we cannot avoid participating in global networks that affect people in many countries, and there are vast inequalities in access to resources that need to be addressed. By starting with a first person perspective, taking the relational morality that emerges from face to face encounters as a guide, and prioritizing interaction and discussion over making a predetermined product, we can avoid the dangers of dominant forms of development and generate positive change as communities improve on their own terms, gain sources of pride, and strengthen some aspects of their cultures while choosing to change others. Through experiences with intercultural collaboration, people often enhance and experience their effectiveness, grow in awareness of themselves, each other, and the human condition, and form friendships. Learn how the experiences of one organization illuminate a path between traditional forms of development and disengagement, opening a world of positive possibilities.
This talk is inspired by a Women’s Literacy, Leadership, and Enterprise program generated through a transnational collaboration between local grassroots communities and The Tandana Foundation, a Dayton-based non-profit organization. This program asks us to consider promoting changes in gender dynamics in a way that avoids the dangers inherent in approaching human affairs as if they could be made, as mainstream development has so often done. It embodies an alternative approach that allows the opportunities of action--expressiveness, the remedy of forgiveness, allowance of the unexpected, inclusiveness, flourishing of human relationships, and emergence of meaning—to enable genuine and durable changes. This form of transnational collaboration offers an example of educational, economic, civic, and cultural engagement that supports locally-led transformations that increase inclusion and expand opportunities for women.
Anna Taft, author of Climbing Together: Relational Morality and Meaningful Action in Intercultural Community Engagement and Founding Director of The Tandana Foundation, will share experiences and insights from 18 years of collaboration with Kichwa Otavalo communities in Ecuador and Dogon communities in Mali. In these two very different contexts, The Tandana Foundation has supported many local initiatives, including indigenous language books and educational programs, a Kichwa Otavalo cooking school, and more. One of the most important initiatives it supports in Mali is also promoting a significant cultural change regarding gender roles and women's participation in public decision-making processes. Through this presentation, consider the complexities of transnational support for indigenous cultural promotion and change efforts. When and how is it appropriate for an outside organization to support these kinds of initiatives?
Tandana team members have also taught more in-depth credit-bearing workshops on the following topics. Contact us at info[at]tandanafoundation.org for more details.
