Our Story
Our Mission
is to strengthen communities through dialogue, education and the arts by helping people learn how to engage with others across difference. With a particular focus on youth and others from historically marginalized backgrounds, our creative and collaborative dialogue programs help build trust, empowerment and a sense of belonging for all community members.
The Heathmere Center
“It is with Ann’s gracious legacy of genuine intellectual curiosity, fearless inquiry, innovation, faithful search for truth, and selfless charity in mind that I and others began to brainstorm ways to turn her legacy into something concrete and lasting.”
– Pilar Pérez Serrano PhD, Ann’s former student and colleague
Why “Heathmere”?
Undeterred, Ann set out to tend, nurture and cultivate her heath, which eventually grew and spread to surround her home, integrating itself with its easier-to-grow cousin, heather. The small patches of heath became a vital component of her expansive, fecund and diverse garden. “Mere” is the Scottish word for water. Since her property overlooked Chebacco Lake, she called her home, “Heathmere.”
Why “Cultural Engagement”?
We have chosen the term “cultural” to reflect several aims of our Center. Its Latin root, colere, meaning to cultivate and nurture, reflects Ann’s love of gardening and the interconnectedness of human relationships with each other and the earth. Whether human or plant, we all need a culture in which to grow, thrive and express ourselves.
Yet culture can also serve as a source of conflict, disagreement and tension. Acknowledging the central role of culture for human life, our work aims to cultivate dialogic interaction amongst various cultures in order to affirm their diversity, constant change and need for growth.
Our Partners
