10 Jan URBAN FUTURES LAB MODULE 2 OVERVIEW
FELLOWS DEVELOP THEIR EDUCATIONAL, LIFE + CAREER PATHWAYS THROUGH VISIONING EXERCISES + INDIVIDUAL MEDIA PROJECTS
Professional Pathways
In module 2 the Fellows focused on mapping their respective career paths, each beginning with an ambitious, values-based ‘life purpose’ vision to inform their more immediate professional development plan. This included a balanced assessment of the competing elements that are likely to influence their professional choices – for instance, their personal passions and talents, financial values and needs, and social conditions and developments.
Outcomes
We took this approach to strengthen each Fellow’s hand as they craft their career trajectory: by reflecting deeply about what drives them personally, they are more likely to identify fulfilling opportunities and determine meaningful professional goals. Secondly, we’ve used each Fellow’s personal ‘Life Purpose’ consultation with the Public Matters team to further tailor their program of personal development for the remainder of the Lab.
To achieve that, each Fellow:
- Completed a ‘Life Purpose’ exercise led by Roland Navarro de Ros that helped them to locate and articulate their individual professional ambitions
- Visually and verbally mapped their life purposes
- Presented 90-day actions and longer term strategies for achieving their professional ambitions, before both giving and receiving feedback from their peers and the Public Matters team
- Incorporated their Life Purposes into short personal films, helping them to develop skills in visually communicating professional messages
- Contextualized their own ambitions by reading and discussing a series of articles provided by Grace Cruz about the changing nature of work for millennials in the 21st century
In focus: Mapping ‘Life Purposes’
This was a time-limited exercise that linked the Fellows’ personal and professional goals by encouraging them to think instinctually and freely about definitions of success, joy and meaning. Roland Navarro de Ros led this exercise. Functioning as a launch pad to their next career steps, each Fellow initiated a 90-day plan from which they have begun:
- Connecting with professionals in their preferred field to build a powerful network
- Conducting additional research on projects and organizations that speak to their interests
- Centering their attention on specific skills that they can work to improve
You can learn more about the Fellows’ life purposes through this module’s series of introductory videos and essays, ranging across radical approaches to ‘urbanism’, art collectives, and inclusive community leadership.
And as for our Supper Club…
Over homemade sweet potato chill and some exceptional bread, guests Roland Navarro and Grace Cruz candidly shared stories of how they got started and have found success in their respective fields of technology entrepreneurship and linked learning. Both advised the Fellows on a range of issues related to resilience, dealing with failure and revisiting personal values – you can read about what the Fellows took from the evening via their module 2 personal reflections.
