Tag: OpEd Project

Parenting Through an R-Rated Presidential Campaign

So many parents are struggling to explain the dynamics of the tumultuous presidential campaign. Parenting Through an R-Rated Presidential Campaign, my op-ed in WBUR’s Cognoscenti, offers parents six strategies to help.

vote-here

Kids will feel the blowback of the election long after the polls close tomorrow in this history-making election.  They’re going to need us to decipher the noise and fall-out.  We can model important elements like civil discourse and political engagement.

Voting together is a great start!

OpEd Project, Boston
OpEd Project, Boston

*Last month, I participating in the OpEd Project’s “Write to Change the World” seminar. The mission of the OpEd Project is to diversify the voices we see and hear in our nation’s op-ed pages and media. The OpEd Project provided me knowledge, a boost of confidence, and mentoring from a mentor-editor. It’s an amazing organization and program! Read more about my experience here.

 

Write to Change the World: OpEd Project in Boston

Who gets to narrate the world?

That was one of the questions tackled in the day-long Write to Change the World seminar, led by the OpEd Project in Boston in early October.

Macarena Hernandez presents to the group
Macarena Hernandez presents to the group

The mission of the OpEd Project is to “increase the range of voices and quality of ideas we hear in the world.  A starting goal is to increase the number of women thought leaders in key commentary forums to a tipping point.  We envision a world where the best ideas – regardless of where they come from – will have a chance to be heard, and to shape society and the world.”

group-oped

This was not a writing workshop. It was a mind-shifting seminar that challenged us to raise our voices and add to the public discourse.

The seminar was geared not only to women, but to other voices that are under-represented in the public discourse, in places like the op-ed pages of newspapers, on radio and television commentary, and more.

We grappled with the question, what makes an expert? We  were challenged to think about ourselves as “experts” in our respective fields (including higher education,  children’s literature, immigration policy, legal protections for whistleblowers, faith-based initiatives, and medicine).

mc-sergio

We learned so much through small group work, lots of interaction, and dynamic presentations by Becca Foresman, Chloe Angyal, and Macarena Hernandez.  Resources on writing and submitting op-ed pieces were shared, and we came away inspired and empowered.

Presenters Becca Foresman, Macarena Hernandez, Chloe Angyal
Presenters Becca Foresman, Macarena Hernandez, and Chloe Angyal of the Huffington Post

As one of our leaders shared, “If you say things of consequence, there may be consequences. The alternative is to be inconsequential.”

I loved the paired activities we did!
I loved the paired activities we did!

There are more pictures from the day here.