About
Jidan Koon
To facilitate a retreat for a 13 organization, multi-ethnic network like ours can be a challenge because each member organization has it′s own interests, personalities, and political analyses. Jidan′s strong facilitation and direction helped us come together with a shared vision and understanding to move our work forward.Carolyn Tran, former Coordinator,
San Francisco Immigrant Legal and Education Network (2009)
I am a second generation Chinese American, born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. As an artist, organizer, and community builder for the past 20 years, I bring commitment to building grassroots power and love for creativity. I am particularly passionate about centralizing spirit in movement building, networked organizing, and motherhood as warrior training. Currently, I serve as the Deputy Director for Mobilize the Immigrant Vote (California) and engage in independent consulting projects alongside my organizational commitment.
I have a BA in Political Science with a minor in Education from the University of California at Berkeley and a Masters of Public Policy with a certificate in Urban and Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. I live in Oakland, California with my husband, Bryant Terry and our two daughters.
Consulting Affiliations
For projects that require a team that possesses a variety of skills sets, please contact me to explore working through one of my consulting affiliations.
Community Affiliations
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Health Research Group, Community Advisory Board (2012 – present)
- Colorful Mamas of the 99%, Core Member
- Hella Just and Compassionate Sangha, Founding Member (2006 – 2010)
- Serve the People, Founding Core Member (2006 – 2010)
- Youth Together, Board Member, President (2006 – 2010)
- Reach! Asian Pacific Islander Recruitment and Retention Center at UC Berkeley (1994 – 1997); Founding Advisory Board Member (2003 – 2005)
- Bridges Multicultural Recruitment and Retention Center at UC Berkeley [now known as Bridges Multicultural Resource Center], Founding member (1996)
Mission & Values
The master of the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which; he simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he is always doing both.Buddha
Mission
- My life’s mission is to embody the world for which I long. Like many others, I believe we are in the midst of a great shift that will result in the ultimate alignment of humanity to the values of interdependence, love, and sacredness of all beings. Through learning from and engaging with others, I seek to become increasingly whole, compassionate, and bound by relationships of mutual need and trust.
- Within this overarching intention, the mission of my consulting practice, launched in 2006, is specifically to contribute to movement building through offering services that support small to medium sized social justice organizations to work intentionally, creatively, and sustainably.
Values
I believe in…
- Social justice. The systems of classism, racism, sexism, and homophobia limit our highest potential on an individual and societal level. The communities targeted by these systems are leading the most innovative efforts to manifest fairness and are central to birthing a new way of living in harmony with each other and the planet.
- Mind, body, and spirit integration. The mind, body, and spirit operate inseparably; ignoring one or the other can leave large gaps in any resulting plan, product, or idea.
- Non-judgement. Movement building occurs when people of differing political viewpoints, histories, and personalities engage in relationship and collaboration together. All perspectives have an important role to play.
- Flexibility. All things happen for a reason; embrace the wisdom in unexpected developments.
- Creativity. Thinking, doing, and being differently on an individual and community level is essential to (r)evolution.
Zen Buddhism is my spiritual path and serves as a foundation for my value system. I would like to bring this practice more explicitly into my consulting work. If you are open, we can explore together.
Portfolio
Jidan is an attentive listener and visionary leader in helping organizations and multi-system partnerships. Jen Lee, Deputy Director of Operations, Asian Health Services
Partial Client List
- Aepoch Fund
- Akonadi Foundation
- Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
- California Fund for Youth Organizing
- Coleman Advocates – Youth Making A Change program
- Movement Generation
- National Council on Crime and Delinquency
- Oakland Unified School District – Meaningful Student Engagement
- Pie Ranch
- San Francisco Immigrant Legal & Education Network
- The California Endowment via InPartnership Consulting
- The Ruckus Society
- Young People For
You can also take a look at my consulting and community affiliations.
Project Snapshots
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment
Racial and Economic Justice Campaign Framework (2013 – 2014)
The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) is a multi-racial community organization building power in low to moderate income neighborhoods to stand for social, economic, and racial justice. ACCE works with thousands of members in eleven counties to create change by helping ordinary citizens take action. Since its founding, ACCE has taken on issues in the intersection of race and class. However, it had not explicitly laid out the racial justice part of its analysis and campaign approach. I supported core organizational leadership to create an integrated racial and economic justice campaign framework.
RESULT
Developed an integrated racial and economic justice framework, revised campaign strategy and planning tools, facilitation guide for training, and delivered training to 40+ staff and leaders. Shifted culture to address race more explicitly internally and externally. Cohered internal leadership team to move the work through a year of creating, testing, revising, and training others on the framework.
Jidan came with a strong skill set and at the same time let us lead the creative process so that the product reflected the fresh ideas and voice of our organization. Jidan’s background in organizing helped her fit in well with our members and staff. Our strong relationship opened the door for other opportunities including using personal transformations happening within our core team to strengthen the work. We see Jidan as part of our ACCE family now and are grateful to have gained such a powerful ally.Christina Livingston, Executive Director
Ruckus Society
Staff Retreat and Organizational Planning (2007 and 2008)
The Ruckus Society provides environmental, human rights, and social justice organizers with the tools, training, and support in direct action organizing to achieve their goals. The Ruckus Society holds annual staff retreats for team building and planning. I had the honor of facilitating them for two years while my husband did the cooking for the team!
RESULT
The Ruckus staff created their annual program plans, streamlined their organizational structure, and healed a conflict between two of the staff members.
Jidan helped The Ruckus Society to move through a brick wall! She was patient, took in all perspectives and balanced planning with team building. She grounded us spiritually; creating space for us to see ourselves rooted and strong. She was also flexible enough to stop and facilitate a tense mediation between two people who really needed resolution in order for the planning process to continue. The organization is much healthier having worked with her! Adrienne Marie Brown, former Executive Director
Movement Generation
Strength From Within Capacity Building Proposal (2010)
The Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project provides in-depth analysis and information about the global ecological crisis and facilitates strategic planning for action among leading organizers from urban Bay Area organizations working for economic and racial justice in communities of color. In 2010, the San Francisco Foundation launched a three year capacity building initiative called Strength From Within to support organizations devoted to grassroots organizing and addressing environmental injustices. I had the privilege of consulting for Movement Generation on developing their Strength From Within proposal through facilitating a needs assessment process and integrating the results into a written proposal.
RESULT
The San Francisco Foundation awarded Movement Generation a two-year capacity building grant.
Jidan’s professional range and versatility was evident throughout the process – she connected well with staff; she completed a thorough and incisive assessment of the organization; she did a tremendous job synthesizing our goals, aspirations and challenges into a coherent and easily digestible document. We have revisited this capacity building assessment various times as a roadmap and tool for our organizational growth!Mateo Nube, Co-Director
National Council on Crime and Delinquency (NCCD)
National Chinatown Youth Center Initiative planning process
(2007 – 2010)
Responding to a call from the community after the murder of a Mongolian young woman, the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s Asian Pacific Islander Community Response Plan collaborative took on manifesting a youth center in the Oakland Chinatown area. I facilitated the planning process involving 20+ cross sectoral stakeholders.
RESULT
The Chinatown Youth Center Initiative launched a beta-phase youth center called The Spot in 2011 that included a shared program framework, fiscal sponsorship, hiring of a director, pilot collaborative programming, and a youth advisory council.
[Jidan sought] the cooperation and advice of community based organizations, elected officials, schools, facilities developers, and youth themselves. Jidan is a talented facilitator that keeps the group on track with an inclusive, thoughtful, and flexible approach. Jidan has been indispensable in the planning process because she anticipates what needs to be done next, thinks about the best strategies to move forward, and is a partner who wants to accomplish the goals as much as the group does. Isami Arifuku, Research Director
Young People For
Project Manager for organizational development and training(2006 – 2009)
Young People For (YP4) identifies young people who are campus and community leaders today, and engages them in the broader progressive movement by empowering them with the knowledge, strategies, and skills they can put to work to promote positive, sustainable change in their communities. As an associate at Movement Strategy Center, I managed a team of seven consultants to assist YP4 in deepening their college fellowship program. I also led the 13 person training team to implement the curriculum we developed during their national summit in 2007, 2008, and 2009.
RESULT
The YP4 leadership team developed a theory of change, organizing methodology, National summit structure, and a multi-day training for college student activists called a Blueprint for Social Change. YP4 trained over 600 college activists in 3 years. We intentionally transitioned the training team from outside contractors to alums of the YP4 program within those 3 years.
Jidan is a great partner in our work. She is thoughtful, collaborative, and open minded. We rely on her for her great insight and her dedication to our mission, our fellows, and our strategies for social change. On a personal note, I always look forward to calls with Jidan. She is passionate, intelligent, easygoing, and kind. I trust her to put the interests and needs of our fellows first.Rachel Burrows, former Fellowship Director
Contact Me
Please contact me to inquire about availability.I generally need 1-3 months notice to start a project.
Jidan is a lot of fun! I enjoy [and] look forward to our planning and check in meetings.Raquel Jimenez, Community Engagement Coordinator, Oakland Unified School District (2010)
Message
Wishlist
Projects related to the following would especially excite me: distributive networks, ecological justice, spiritual or meditation retreats, scenario planning and futures thinking with social justice applications, and anything to do with Grace Lee Boggs!