In our inaugural post, I’ve decided to share my personal journey with Progressive Programming thus far.
I became serendipitously acquainted with Progressive Programming about a month ago, at a time when I was looking to become more involved in the world as an engaged global citizen. I’d long wanted to volunteer at an organization that worked to address social ills in a positive, proactive manner — to create and to own my work; to believe in not only the cause, but also the ethos of the organization.
Within weeks of meeting the Progressive Programming founders and team, I found myself graduating from stranger to “family member” to a part of the core team. It’s been an exciting few weeks of Google Hangout meetings, working on shared documents, and finessing plans in a culture that celebrates new ideas and upholds holacratic methods as its core operating model. And I’ve grown fond of the affectionate nickname we use for the organization — “P2,” to save us an alliterative mouthful in meetings.
In the past weeks, we at P2 have been busy at work partnering with various organizations in India, building out the pilot program, planning a hackathon, and growing the team. We’ve also been mindful about staying to the core of our purpose: why we do what we do. On a personal note, I’m doing this because I believe that examples in alternate ways of living, and self- or group empowerment lead to pathways out of oppression. In this case, vocational education gives Indian children growing up in poor neighborhoods and families the necessary skill sets, and notions of other forms of making a living than that with which they are familiar.
As a new member of the team, I look forward to posting P2 updates, sharing inspirational stories that we come across, featuring organizations doing work that we admire, and covering news in the sphere of creating social good.