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about the tla network

mission

The mission of the Transformative Language Arts Network is to support individuals and organizations in promoting all forms of the spoken, written and sung word as a tool for personal and community transformation. 

vision

To provide a gathering place where people interested in Transformative Language Arts can meet to share resources, network, learn, and enhance Transformative Language Arts as Right Livelihood in their communities.

guiding values 

Whatever we do is guided by values that mirror the nature of TLA: cooperation (working with others for the good of all), community-building (helping build a community of those of us in the field and helping us better connect with our local communities), empowerment (working in ways that help people, organizations, businesses, institutions and communities further empower themselves), sustainability (helping ourselves and others find ways to sustain this work we do), and generosity of spirit (operating as if there's an infinite amount of love and wisdom guiding us).

two emphases

Network: Through providing opportunities for individuals and groups to meet, share resources, teach and learn from each other, and help enhance one another's work, we bridge many fields and traditions, groups and institutions. Such a network allows all involved to make informed decisions about the direction of their TLA work, and provides opportunities for alliances, joint projects, education, and inspiration.

Right Livelihood through TLA: Right Livelihood, a Buddhist term connoting the work we do in the world to serve our communities and make the most of our gifts, when applied to TLA encompasses the art of facilitation, ethics, engaging diversity, the business of TLA, and self-care.

tla network council

The TLA Network is governed by a council, consensed upon at the annual Power of Words conference.

In council, we come together as equals, all drawing on our gifts and working with our challenges cooperatively. In council, we work together as a team, sharing tasks, thoughts, visions. We also come together as a community, sharing bits and pieces of our lives, and getting to know each other while we do our work. In these ways, being part of a council can be a nurturing, life-giving experience that helps us model, as it models for us, ways to work together in a sustainable community. We also model together the kind of group process, and the values informing it (everyone welcomed to the table, listened to, witnessed). Most of all, we are guided by the belief that each of us has a piece of the truth.

Council members for 2007-08: Jan Ronan and Kathleen Connolly (co-facilitators), Scott Youmans, Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Jeanne Humphrey, Valerie Harris, Victoria Levitt, Adele Nieves, Lynn O'Connell,and Rebecca Goodall. Denise Whitesides-Skeeba, administrator, is an ex-officio member.

Staff Extraordinaire: Denise Whitesides-Skeeba, administrator.

For more information on how you can get involved or contribute, please email Info at TLA Network.

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