Jessica David is senior vice president of strategy and community investments at Rhode Island Foundation. She is responsible for the Foundation’s strategy, grant programs, evaluation and learning, and economic security initiative. Among the projects she has led are the Rhode Island Innovation Fellowships, a program that empowers Rhode Islanders to improve life in Rhode Island; Make It Happen RI, an effort initiated in 2012 to improve the state’s economy; and the Foundation’s centennial campaign to preserve and enhance Roger Williams Park. A proud Rhode Islander, David gets excited about philanthropy, community making, Bruce Springsteen, and Roger Williams.
photo by Agapao Productions
I am very fortunate to work with many people and organizations who are standing up for social justice, helping families, and strengthening communities. My job is to support them. This is an honor and a privilege, and I learned so much from these community-makers. I believe that creating and strengthening community requires love, presence, opting in, and courage.
First, and always, love. My relationship with my community is like any relationship. What can be more intimate than the people and places that I choose to claim as my own? Relationships endure and thrive when there’s mutual trust and devotion. There will be brilliant, sparkly moments that I want to put in my scrapbook, and there will be moments when I want to run away. Love is what allows us to get through those moments. Sometimes, I say aloud, Rhode Island, I love you. I’ve got your back.
Second, presence. I want to show up. I am part of my community, and my community is part of me. We reflect on one another, for better or worse. It’s up to me to help create the kind of community I want to be part of. That means I get out there, explore, participate, connect, and try to find solutions to obvious problems. It means picking up trash at Roger Williams Park, shopping at the local makers’ market, and putting up a Little Free Library in my neighborhood. And it means showing up, whenever I can, for other people who are creating community.
Third, opt in. I remind myself to start from a position of yes. Yes, I can help. Yes, we can do that. Yes, I’ll be there. Is there anything more energizing than someone who helps you see and believe in your options? Say yes to the vision, say yes to the commitment, then we figure out how.
Fourth, courage. Communities are created because of shared experience or perspective, perhaps, but they are tested and strengthened during tough moments of dissension and difficulty. We can never truly see the world – or our community – from another person’s eyes. So we must listen, always, and be open to others’ truths. And we must stay present with one another. It’s when we shut down or shut others out that community becomes impossible.
The truth is, we are all community-makers, shaping the places we live and influencing the people around us. We wield our power in many ways, every day. When we do it right, with intention and love, we are given in return a sense of roots, connection, and opportunity.
