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Our Mission

Building Bridges fosters antiracism by educating people on how to intentionally engage in dialogues about racism.

Our Vision

Building Bridges deliberately dismantles and disrupts racism, one conversation at a time.

Our Values

In fulfilling its mission, Building Bridges grounds this work in the following values: 

  • Advocacy: modeling equity and centering BIPOC voices and resiliency

  • Support: feeling supported and offering support to one another as we collectively grow and face the insidious nature of racism

  • Openness: being open and welcoming while also inviting discomfort

  • Accountability: being a bridge to empower personal action and follow through

Building Bridges Nine Week Sessions

Building Bridges provides two 9-week sessions designed to foster crucial conversations around racism and antiracism. Our hope is to create an optimal space in which community members can expand awareness and analysis of how racism impacts us on individual, interpersonal, institutional, and systemic levels.

Upcoming session dates are as follows:

Fall 2026: Mondays, September 14 - November 9 (holding November 16th as a makeup date)  Click here to join our Interest List for this session.

Spring 2027: TBD - Click here to join our Interest List for this or future sessions.

Resources

Looking for some further reading? What about suggestions for actions you can take?

Visit our Resources page!

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Register

About the Session

Each nine-week Building Bridges session offers an introduction to the dynamics of racism and is an opportunity to explore how race and racism impact our relationships, communities, and institutions. Our programming includes live panel discussions, videos, and facilitated small group conversations. We also provide a digital workbook with content to be read, viewed, or listened to between weekly meetings.

When we meet in person, a celebratory pot luck supper is held for all participants at the final meeting. Families are welcome to attend the potluck.

If you have participated in Building Bridges in the past, we hope you will encourage other individuals and organizations that you know to participate in Building Bridges.

Contact us for more information.

Next Session: Fall 2026

The Fall 2026 Session of Building Bridges will occur in person on Mondays, September 14 - November 9 (holding Nov 16 as a makeup date)

Sign up for our Interest List to be notified when registration opens for our next session.  Click here to join our Interest List. Being on the interest list also means you will receive advance notice of registration for the next session.

The Spring 2027 Session of Building Bridges is being planned.

Sign up for our Interest List to be notified when registration opens for our Spring 2027 session. Click here to join our Interest List for this or future sessions.

Interested in volunteering?

Building Bridges is an all-volunteer organization. With the ongoing support of Building Bridges Alumni, we are able to provide our community the space, time, and energy for necessary and meaningful conversations.

The facilitators for our small groups are past participants who have been recommended by their group facilitators and volunteer to serve in that role.

We also have several work groups composed of alumni and board members.

If you have participated in Building Bridges and are interested in volunteering, please email info@bbavl.org.