A while ago, during one of our meetings, a colleague said: "When I started working at OpenEmbassy, I thought this internal culture was a joke." And it can really seem that way: during our Monday check-ins, we talk about the emotions we bring to work. We make tea for each other when we need support, congratulate each other on the start of Ramadan, or mourn together over yet another Russian attack on Ukraine, Gaza, or genocide in Palestine.
By: Anna Bilenka
The power of community
And all because the OpenEmbassy is not just a random collection of people who fit the job description. We are people united by a mission and values. What's more, we sincerely believe in the power of community. We already have a community for Ukrainians called KOLO, and one of our colleagues has been running a book club for newcomers to the Netherlands for almost ten years.
So it's no wonder that our recent book discussions took place with the OpenEmbassy . This time we talked about the book by world-famous performance artist Marina Abramović, who was in Amsterdam at the time!
Inspiring book choice
There are many reasons for choosing the book Walk Through Walls, but the most important one is that Marina also has life experience as a newcomer to another country, whose success story can be very inspiring for OpenEmbassy .
Conversations about books are not just about books on the surface. By creating the right space, dialogue quickly dives into the depths where we see and resonate with another person's life views. This is valuable because in our daily circumstances there is not always a place where you feel seen and heard.
OpenEmbassy Book Club
So it's official: OpenEmbassy now OpenEmbassy a #bookclub! The next book is Priya Parker's "The Art of Gathering." This book will help us organize our expert pool sessions even better and be even more versatile hosts.
Interested in community building or a book club? Drop me a line; you don't have to ask me long to share this experience 🙂 .
