Hi, I’m Carla Fernandez. My work explores how circles of people come together to create, commit, and care in the face of personal and collective challenges. When we’re overwhelmed by our personal and global hardship, we too often turn away from each other. We burrow deeper into our own siloes and contained worlds rather than reaching towards someone who can normalize our experience, deepen our perspective, and build with us towards the resolution we’re longing for. Regardless of whether we’re focused on the loneliness epidemic, the impacts of climate change, or the urgency of democratic preservation - it’s not lone individuals, but circles of people that can unlock our strongest solutions, and along the way, generate our most meaningful relationships, vocations, and sources of joy. + I practice this work hand-in-hand with a wide range of clients in my community design studio. My studio explores how to create the conditions for those circles to come together and create meaningful results; how networks form to amplify the work of individual circles and catalyze a field; and how to rewire cultural narratives that would have us think we’re at it on our own. I am an in-house convening designer and facilitator with The Rockefeller Foundation, focused on co-design alongside the world-leaders convening at the Bellagio Center on Lake Como. Other clients include the U.S. Census Bureau’s Innovation Lab, The New School’s Institute on Race, Power and Political Economy, Wend, The Nomadic School of Wonder, and Airbnb.org. Learn more at carlafernandez.co+ I’ve learned this in my work co-founding The Dinner Party, a nationwide community of peer-support circles for young adult grievers, turning an isolating experience into one of connection, normalization and forward motion. From an idea started on our back deck, The Dinner Party is now active in nearly 100 cities and has been featured in New York Times, NPR, and Good Morning America. Find out how to join our community, or support with a donation, at thedinnerparty.org. + I write about this in my debut book Renegade Grief: A Guide to the Wild Ride of Life After Loss. It details the personal and collective care practices real people find helpful in tending to a loss, despite the death-denying culture we live in. Order the book from Simon & Schuster here. https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Renegade-Grief/Carla-Fernandez/9781668001813