what's the story of your name?

Dear Friends,

While the groundhog’s prediction seems to be proving itself out, a few fleeting days of temperatures above freezing this month have been welcome reminders that spring will be here soon.

Until then, there’s nothing like a cold weekend morning to serve as a great excuse to cuddle under the covers a bit longer with my kids. That’s usually when my little one will ask me something like: “Mommy, tell me the story again of when I was born.” Or, another favorite: “Why did you and Daddy name me Abigail?" In each retelling, my heart starts to swell and my eyes begin to water. Without fail, she asks: “Why are you crying, mommy?”

This exchange is an example of “emotional expression,” a concept our Bonding Lead Ira Hillman explores in this month’s reflection. Without emotional expression, it’s difficult to establish a mutually positive, nurturing relationship that’s grounded in emotional connection.

In this context, we’re excited to lift up a few new pieces across our Bonding efforts. In Health Affairs, “Good Medicine For Healthy Child Development: Nurturing Relationships" highlights the promise and potential for reforming well child care. The piece is authored by Ira and his colleagues at Pediatrics Supporting Parents, a funder collaborative that seeks to promote early relational health inside health care.

In this month’s featured research, the Nurture Science Program at Columbia University Medical Center offers an in-depth look at the link between relational health and emotional connection. And, this month, the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP) released the first in a series of four episodes on how healthy parent-child relationships help children thrive.

We hope these resources offer new insight into the power of relational health to improve our lives and relationships.

In addition, you’ll find other resources from across our partners, including ways to bridge the generational gap, the challenges of parenting in a pandemic, new design features to build more socially connected communities, and the importance of facing history and ourselves in building a more relational, pluralist world. May these resources, along with those on our new Connection Hub, provide you with both insight and inspiration.

We’re also thrilled to welcome to our team, Christine Bosco, whom you can get to know in our Through the Prism feature. Welcome Christine!

I hope you’re finding moments of connection and joy to brighten these cold winter days,

Jenn Hoos Rothberg
Executive Director

Reflections on Human Connection

How Emotional Expression Overcomes Distractions

by Ira Hillman

Emotional expression by parents orients children and primes both of them for autonomic emotional connection, even amidst distractions, stress, and trauma.

Read Now

What I've Learned Along the Way

by Karen Murphy, the Human Responsibility Accelerator

After 25 years at Facing History and Ourselves, Karen Murphy shares her lessons learned and her hopes for the future.

Read Now

Good Medicine for Healthy Child Development: Nurturing Relationships

by India Alarcon, Katherine Beckmann, Monica Beltran, Ira Hillman, and Elizabeth Myung Sook Krause

Funders advocate for the well care families need to provide for both the physical and emotional health of their children.

Read Now

The Reflexes of Early Emotional Health

Emergent research has made it abundantly clear that our relationships shape the quality of our lives. As a result, relational health is receiving a lot of attention in the child and public health sectors. To support this work, the Nurture Science Program examines relational health through the lens of emotional connection.

Read Full Article

Through the Prism

with Christine Bosco
Einhorn Collaborative

Read Full Article

resources

READ | Parenting for Various Apocalypses

Courtney Martin reflects on raising kids to be resilient in the face of adversity.

READ & WATCH | TV Shows Bridging Generational Gap

Marc Freedman of Encore.org explores three TV shows that demonstrate how to bridge the gap between generations.

READ | Cornell Launches New Center for Cultural Humility

The Center offers tools for culturally responsive research and practice supported by the David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement.

READ | How We Talk About Racial Equity in Adolescence Matters

UCLA Center for Developing Adolescents and FrameWorks Institute recommends how to talk to adolescents about racial equity.

WATCH | Center for the Study of Social Policy Series on Early Relational Health

CSSP offers a four-part series on promoting and supporting foundational early relationships.

READ & ACT | Socially Connected Communities

This in-depth report offers five recommendations for creating socially connected communities, starting with public spaces, transportation, and housing.

PREORDER & READ | We Need to Build

Eboo Patel’s latest book, We Need to Build: Field Notes for Diverse Democracy, is out in May. You can pre-order now.

READ | The Many Ways We Helped Each Other During COVID

A new study in the Analyses of Social Issues and Policy journal documents the altruistic and prosocial behaviors many people adopted in the early part of the pandemic.

LISTEN | Love Your Enemies? (Really?)

Krista Tippett speaks with Robert Thurman and Sharon Salzberg, two renowned Buddhist teachers, about the challenge and reward of finding affection for our foes.

The Social Dilemma Debate Project invites young people
to propose how we should regulate social media

Fair debate is the heart of democracy. But as revealed in The Social Dilemma, social media algorithms that amplify outrage and engagement are eroding our society’s ability to engage in constructive arguments.

The Social Dilemma Debate Project serves to combat the polarization, hate, and gridlock that defines today’s culture and politics with a new generation of strong debaters.

As policymakers debate ways to reform social media platforms, we are inviting students to share their perspectives by hosting a debate and uploading a short video summarizing each of their proposed policy solutions.

Record a short video summarizing your proposal for how we should regulate social media and upload it here by March 21, 2022. Up to five selected winners will receive a $500 scholarship and will be featured on a future episode of Newsweek’s "The Debate" podcast.

Submit Now!

what's the story of your name?

Reflections on Human Connection

How Emotional Expression Overcomes Distractions

What I've Learned Along the Way

Good Medicine for Healthy Child Development: Nurturing Relationships

The Reflexes of Early Emotional Health

Through the Prism

resources

The Social Dilemma Debate Project invites young people to propose how we should regulate social media

The Social Dilemma Debate Project invites young people
to propose how we should regulate social media