“Relationships are built at the speed of trust; and social change happens at the speed of relationships.”
~ Rev. Jennifer Bailey, Founder of Faith Matters Network
Who Are We and Why Do We Come Together?
The Finger Lakes Accountability Network (FLAN) is a group of rural activists who meet as a community of practice, seeking to support and create change by centering relationships and generative accountability. Recognizing that we all have a lot of conditioning to unlearn, we seek to support each other in holding ourselves accountable to living in alignment with our values.
We lift up the following core values, which we recognize are aspirational:
Having a growth mindset
- We actively listen to and consider feedback, and are willing to actively take steps towards changing perception and behavior.
- We actively seek out circumstances that help us grow, individually and collectively.
Living courage
- We lean into and engage in uncomfortable conversations and actions.
- We give and receive feedback, and practice deep listening, patience, and empathy.
- We work with and through our own challenges, acknowledging impact versus intention, either publicly or one-on-one.
Living compassion
- We put practices in place that help members to maintain dignity and respect when tense topics/issues arise.
- We seek to be flexible in our ways of thinking, ideas, and perspectives.
- We seek to listen using RASA (Receive, Appreciate/Acknowledge, Summarize, Ask).
- We have clear boundaries that acknowledge when someone in the group goes against FLAN’s values.
How, When, and Where We Work…
In 2025, members of FLAN meet monthly on the second Saturday of each month from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, in rotating venues with volunteer-hosts from our membership.
Our meetings are facilitated, but have a loose structure where individuals in attendance are encouraged to share or check-in with announcements, activities they’ve participated in, books or articles read, or anything that they would like support with regarding their efforts towards social justice and anti-oppression. More than just sharing and discussing thoughts and concepts, we encourage sharing about actions we are engaged in or we are considering engaging in towards justice.
To get involved, drop a note on Food for the Spirit’s Contact page, let us know you are interested in joining FLAN, and share a little about yourself and your interests.