Jone Johnson Lewis, NoVES Senior Leader, kicks off the 2010-2011 program year with an opening address: Individualism? Relationships? Community?  Are these in conflict, inherently, or do they work together?  Come consider what it might be to live in relationships and build community where every individual matters.  

Lisel Burns, Leader Emeritus of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture (BSEC) invites us to consider our nation’s historic responsibility for distorted development in Haiti. She proposes ways that members and local Ethical Societies can assist Haitians and Haitian Americans in developing local partnership projects with earthquake-affected Haitian communities. These partnerships can transform communities both here and there.  Lisel has been visiting Haiti as a community development organizer since the mid-1990s and BSEC has ongoing support programs in Leogane, at the epicenter of Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake.

In honor of International Peace Day on September 26, NoVES celebrates peace building.

Whether you're able to attend the Saturday Parenting Beyond Belief Workshop or not, on Sunday you'll be able to hear Dale McGowan on the promises and challenges of "Raising Free Thinkers." More on Dale McGowan, his books, and his work: Parenting Beyond Belief

Former NoVES Intern Leader Hugh Taft-Morales will speak on October 10, 2010. Topic to be announced.

Jone Johnson Lewis, NoVES Leader, will address the tendency in our modern society to look for the "quick fix" to solutions, often at the cost of finding a solution that will actually work. Whether we're talking about personal or interpersonal life, work or politics and social change work, Jone looks at alternatives to jumping in to fix something right away.

Platform topic and speaker to be announced.

Platform topic and speaker to be announced.

NoVES Leader Jone Johnson Lewis looks at modern internet-based social networking options, like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, and considers the ethical aspects of those communication tools.  As tools, are they neutral? Do they promote authentic relationship or distract from real community?  What are some of the basic principles for using such networks ethically -- which in our terms means to "bring out the best in others and ourselves"?

Jone Johnson Lewis, NoVES Leader, speaks on "transitions" -- those times in our lives and in the culture when something new begins and something old ends. We often feel discomfort, even if the change is something we sought. How do we navigate transitions successfully?