Book Giveaway: Taking Charge of Change by Paul Shoemaker
The social, economic and health challenges facing us in the 2020s are radically different than those we faced even one generation ago. Meet the new leaders, Rebuilders, who are moving us forward and learn how to apply their same effectiveness, qualities, and attributes to your own leadership.
The leadership it has always taken to build our communities and companies is still relevant, but not sufficient to rebuild an America that has become too uneven and siloed over the last 20 years.
Using the metaphor of America’s deteriorating bridges, social impact leader and author Shoemaker shows us in Taking Charge of Change that the foundations of American communities and companies are in deep need of rethinking and rebuilding. Writing for socially conscious and civically active leaders who seek greater impact—in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors—Shoemaker profiles thirty-eight rock star change agents who he dubs Rebuilders. Readers will:
- Learn the 5 vital traits change leaders use to solve big problems.
- Gain perspective from relevant research, data, leadership lessons, and 3 case studies that illuminate the path ahead.
- Meet the leaders setting the standard for social change impact … all shared in Shoemaker’s signature storytelling style.
Taking Charge of Change speaks to a powerful truth: Each of us does not have to passively let change happen to us. We can each be a leader, a Rebuilder, that shapes the kind of change we want to see in the world. We can be an active positive force in leading our communities, companies, and citizens in the decade ahead.
Ultimately, Shoemaker shows how change is happening and profiles the Rebuilders leading it and their unique qualities of 24-7 Authenticity, Complexity Capacity, and much more to inform and inspire you as a leader.
To enter the book giveaway, head to our Instagram, hit us up with a follow, and tag a friend in the comments to win. See you on our insta!
Do you like fine print? You can read the official rules here.
BookSwell Celebrates Black History Month with Books, Books, and More Books
February is Black History Month. In honor, we recall the many great Black writers and intellectuals who have been working for justice and change for centuries.
Made in L.A. & Skylight Books present Art of Transformation, in collaboration with BookSwell
Fri, November 13, 2020
6:30 PM – 7:30 PM PST
Discover Made in L.A. Vol. 3: Art of Transformation with Skylight Books and contributors of stories with a strong Los Angeles setting
About this Event
Made in L.A. Vol. 3: Art of Transformation is a love letter to one of the greatest cities in the world, one that invites, or forces, its inhabitants to transform with it.
We launched our second anthology at Skylight Books to a crowd of devoted readers. This year, we’re coming back online to showcase a set of stories that investigate the art of transformation, something every person and every place in LA undergoes more often than not.
We’ll hear from contributing authors about how LA locales inspired their stories and what it’s like to write fiction that illuminates our beautiful, flawed, transforming home.
An online event hosted by BookSwell in collaboration with Skylight Books.
Times of Thirst and Desire: An Erotic Lit Fundraiser for AIDS Walk 2020
Thursday, September 10, 2020
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM PDT
Explore the erotic landscape of desire as depicted by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Tai Farnsworth, M. Kiguwa, Yesika Salgado, and Dare Williams in this AIDS Walk LA 2020 fundraiser.
About this Event
Following in the tradition of queer resistance and activism during the AIDS pandemic, we gather to celebrate writers exploring thirst for contact. The COVID-19 pandemic tests the boundaries of danger and desire. The benediction to “stay safe” even as we pursue intimacy feels familiar. We’ve prepared for this. We’ve lived it before.
This reading will explore the erotic landscape of desire as depicted by Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, Tai Farnsworth, M. Kiguwa, Yesika Salgado, and Dare Williams. We’ll discuss how our bodies’ intersections are reshaped by social distancing and the appeal of kink and fetish and all types of subversive and defiant sexual relations.
This event is free to attend. All proceeds from pay-what-you-will ticketed donations will go to APLA Health (formerly AIDS Project Los Angeles), an L.A. not-for-profit health services organization that provides a lifeline of care to LGBTQ+ patients and other underserved communities.
About the Writers
Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo, author of Posada: Offerings of Witness and Refuge (Sundress Publications 2016), and is a former Steinbeck Fellow and Poets & Writers California Writers Exchange winner. Her work is published in Acentos Review, CALYX, and crazyhorse. She is a member of Miresa Collective and cofounder of Women Who Submit.
Tai Farnsworth is a mixed-race, queer writer based in LA. Since earning her MFA, she’s been toiling away in education while working on revisions for her agent. When she’s not writing or poisoning young minds with her liberal agenda, she is reading, practicing yoga, cooking, and tending to her plants. Her work, which focuses heavily on self-acceptance and queerness, can be found in The Evansville Review, Sinister Wisdom, Homology Lit, Drunk Monkeys, and Anastamos. Find her @taionthefly.
M. Kiguwa graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with her master’s in media, communication, and development and has worked in the entertainment industry in the United States, Europe, and Africa for over 10 years. She is currently writing an adventure memoir as a 2020 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow.
Yesika Salgado is a Los Angeles based Salvadoran poet who writes about her family, her culture, her city, and her fat brown body. She has shared her work in venues and campuses throughout the country. Salgado is a 2017 and 2018 National Poetry Slam finalist. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Teen Vogue, Univision, CNN, Huffington Post, NPR, TEDx, and many other digital platforms. She is an internationally recognized body-positive activist and the writer of the column Suelta for Remezcla. Yesika is the author of best-sellers Corazón, Tesoro, and Hermosa, published with Not a Cult.
A 2019 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, Dare Williams is a Queer HIV-positive poet, artist, rooted in Southern California. He has received fellowships from John Ashbury Home School and The Frost Place. Dare’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and a two-time finalist for Blood Orange Review’s contest. His work has been featured in Cultural Weekly, Bending Genres, THRUSH and Exposition Review. He is currently working on his first poetry collection.
