Building Freedom Teams: How Communities Are Turning Bias and Division Into Belonging
Explore the Freedom Team model in action: watch the event recording and get free resources from leaders building safer, stronger communities.
By Spark Kindness Team
Building Freedom Teams
Thank you to all who joined us in partnership with the MetroWest Anti-Bullying Coalition this past spring for Building Freedom Teams: A Community Model for Addressing Bias, Harm & Division. Freedom Team founder jamele adams introduced attendees to the Freedom Team model: local groups of community members who provide support, response, and pathways toward reconciliation when individuals experience bias or hate. We were also joined by panelists Don Greenstein, Chief James Hicks, Elizabeth Robinson, and Ritika Gandla, who shared powerful, real-world perspectives from their own communities.
The Freedom Team approach is proactive, responsive, and restorative in helping communities address incidents while strengthening connection before harm occurs. Freedom Team members meet monthly to explore ways to offer dialogue and support, with a shared goal of promoting love, inclusion, and trust ("LIT") — moving communities beyond tolerance toward truly embracing, celebrating, and sharing their diversity.
Whether you're a town leader, educator, faith leader, nonprofit professional, or simply a community member looking for constructive ways to address bias and division locally, we invite you to watch the recording and explore the resources below to learn how you can bring a Freedom Team to your own community.
"Our goal is really to help people communicate in an effective manner and to listen to them, feel heard, and validated."
— Don Greenstein, Natick Freedom Team
Resources To Support You and Your Community
To support your ongoing work, we’re pleased to share the following resources from the session:
- Freedom Team Handout
- How Kids Define Love, Inclusion and Trust: The Book of LIT
- Taking Action Against Hate: What You Can Do - Tip Sheet
- Recorded Webinar: Watch or share the full session with colleagues and community members
Additional Information
Freedom Teams help communities:
- Navigate difficult conversations
- Repair harm and rebuild trust
- Reduce division
- Develop clear, constructive next steps
- Connect individuals with community-based organizations and resources
- Offer training in restorative justice and more
"I think of one way to explain what the Freedom Team is, it's a community coming together and putting a big hug around someone who's been harmed. To wrap our arms around them and say, 'How can we support you? How can we help you?'"
— Chief James Hicks, Natick Freedom Team
Freedom Teams are part of a growing network with teams located across Massachusetts and Vermont. Together, this Collaborative Freedom Team Network provides mutual support, shared training, and ongoing connection.
Franklin Freedom Team: Learn more. | Hopkinton Freedom Team: Learn more. | Natick Freedom Team: Learn more: | Scituate Freedom Team: Learn more. | Walpole Freedom Team: Learn more. | Wayland Freedom Team: Learn more. | Wellesley Freedom Team: Learn more. | Whitman Freedom Team: Learn more.