By Hind Makki
When we were developing the One Chicago, One Nation initiative last summer, we thought long and hard about the role we wanted the Community Ambassadors to play: we knew that Chicago is a racially, socio-economically and religiously segregated city, which is why we started the One Chicago, One Nation initiative in the first place. We knew we wanted to work with people who are leaders in their own circles of influence. And we knew that we wanted these Community Ambassadors to reflect the religious, racial, geographic and socio-economic diversity of this city. And the big question was – would the people we were seeking want to seek us out?
We launched a successful “coming out” party for One Chicago, One Nation in January, introducing our initiative to 750 people in a packed room at the Chicago Cultural Center. Soon after, we dove into the job of reaching out to folks who were potential Community Ambassadors and our outreach led us to literally thousands of people connected to universities, non-profit organizations, houses of worship, cultural institutions as well as individuals. Most people we connected with were supportive of the One Chicago, One Nation initiative, and as the momentum builds for the initiative this spring, our inboxes have been flooding with applications from people all over Chicago who want to join the Community Ambassador program. The leaders who are applying are a wonderful testimony to the great diversity and wealth of resources our city has to offer:
From the 18 year old recent graduate who organized a day to “talk to someone new” at her suburban high school, to a 69-year old retired English professor using poetry to build religious pluralism among children, the inaugural cohort of the Community Ambassador program has the potential to represent all walks of life. Community Ambassadors will help their communities to build lasting relationships across religious, cultural, economic, and racial lines and rightly reflect the city’s diversity: Immigrants from Canada, Ghana, and Malawi; college professors, and pre-school teachers; residents of Humboldt Park, Geneva, River North, and Arlington Heights; teenagers and Baby Boomers; men and women; Black, White, Latino, Arab, and Asian; community organizers, stay-at-home moms, consultants, filmmakers, and lawyers; Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Secular Humanists.
I have high expectations for our class of Community Ambassadors this year. The applications we are receiving live up to our American motto E Pluribus, Unum – Out of Many, One. The fact that all these people who represent all walks of life believe in the mission of One Chicago, One Nation gives me hope that the vision we dreamt of last summer, a vision of training 100 leaders to lead their communities in building social cohesion and interfaith cooperation in our city, can become a reality.
