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Healthy Communication for Healthy Schools Creates Spaces of Belonging: Meet Annie Caplan
In honor of Women's History Month, we are proud to feature Annie Caplan, the Director of Engagement at Living Room Conversations.
What is your personal and professional Journey?
My story begins with the women who raised me. I learned what it meant to build community from my grandmother, who was a community organizer, activist, and philanthropist. My mother was a teacher who modeled for me how to meet people exactly where they are, uplifting and inspiring them from that place.
After moving away for university and subsequently starting a career, I returned to my hometown several years later. I became an educator at the same school my mother taught and later became a public librarian at the library my grandmother helped start. I quickly realized that I had changed, but my community hadn’t.
Years of being an inclusive facilitator, taught me a different way of approaching myself and the world. I wanted to help the people in my community see and experience life through this lens and have the tools to be able to talk about it. Now, I help communities across the country do the same by organizing dialogue programming for schools, libraries, and organizations.
What pivotal experiences shaped your current path?
One day I was teaching adjectives to a class of fifth-grade students. We each went around the room and said two words that describe us. Children shared words like “smart,” “fast,” and “brave”…until we got to the only child of color in the class. His adjectives were “dirty” and “dishonest.” My heart broke. I knelt next to him and told him those weren’t true.
I described how much kindness, light, and love he embodied. I continued to tell him the truth I had witnessed about who he was before asking him to go again. With the biggest smile on his face, he said, “Funny and kind!”
It was no coincidence that this child was the only one who thought this way about themself. This was part of a much larger, deeply rooted, systemic issue.
Things needed to change. They’ve always needed to change. And, to change things you have to be able to talk about them. That inspired me to organize and facilitate community conversations that include everyone.
I’ve now had the privilege of providing schools, libraries, and organizations across the country with the tools needed to hold these conversations. I continue to see the dynamics I observed in my community playing out in communities nationwide, and I remain committed to creating spaces to address them. Witnessing the connection, understanding, and transformation that occur in every conversation inspires me to continue this important work.
What are the most valuable lessons you've learned about yourself through your life and career?
I think of myself as a recovering perfectionist. I’ve come to learn that this life is not about perfecting myself, but perfecting my love.
How can I continue to deepen the love I have for myself and others? How can accepting the parts of me I feel don’t belong help me create greater spaces of belonging for others? These are ongoing inquiries I will always be gaining wisdom from.
What drives your desire to contribute and make a difference?
I want to create a better world for our children. I am where I am today because of the adults, mentors, and teachers I had in my life. One of my greatest intentions is to be the person I needed when I was young. The most beautiful thing we can do with our lives is take the love we were given and continue the cycle of passing it on.
If you could go back and advise your younger self, what would it be?
To be more patient with myself. Change takes time and this is a marathon, not a sprint. Follow what I know in my heart to be worthy of standing up against and speaking out about.
How can GlobalMindED support your aspirations and help you achieve your goals?
Our students need to learn healthy communication skills. So many problems in our world result from people being unable to truly talk and listen to each other. By equipping future generations with the skills needed to actively listen and communicate in a respectful, productive way, we are setting them up for success and paving the way for a better world.
GlobalMindED can connect me with others working from a heart and human-centered place to create spaces of belonging. With the rise of social media, fascism, and loneliness, we’re in an unprecedented moment in time right now. I can give you the tools your students need to connect around our shared humanity and talk about what’s going on within themselves, their community, and our country.
I’ve spent my life learning about and practicing how to use dialogue to create environments where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. If you could use help, training, or support with embedding healthy dialogue practices into your classroom or school culture, I’m here. Together we can build a better world, one conversation at a time.
To learn more or get in touch, you can reach Annie at annie@livingroomconversations.org.
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