Community Engagement Team

By Rachel Hanson

The Denver Shambhala Center has a Community Engagement Team. Formed in 2011 as part of the Vision to Action Strategic Planning initiative, the committee is part of the Shambhala Office of Social Engagement. We are committed to providing support to the Denver sangha as we engage with the vision of Shambhala in the broader Denver community. This includes both creating and maintaining community partnerships that nurture enlightened society, as well as exploring systemic issues within the local sangha, Shambhala, and wider society.

The Community Engagement Team has sponsored participation in the MLK Marade, Women’s March, and PrideFest. This spring, they invited Shastri Charlene Leung and Michaela McCormick to lead Enlightened Investigation: Uncovering Social Bias and Creating Vibrant Community, a weekend retreat exploring issues of racial bias. Most recently, they hosted a panel on the challenges facing refugees in the US and ways the Denver center can help, bringing in guest speakers from the Colorado Division of Refugee Services and Project Worthmore. They are also organizing ongoing community conversations in the Denver Center to explore issues of interest to the sangha, including creating spaces to explore issues of harm that have occurred within Shambhala.

This fall, the Community Engagement Team will be supporting the launch of Queer Dharma and Race Affinity Groups to continue conversations around social bias in the Center and wider society. Community Engagement Team meetings are open to everyone in the sangha who wants to join in exploration of these issues and act with us, both within the sangha and the broader Denver community. The team typically meets on the fourth Sunday of every month from 3:30 to 5:30 pm. Meetings are posted on the Center calendar. Please contact Danielle Loeb ([email protected]) or Rachel Hanson ([email protected]) if you would like to learn more.