Serving as the Accompanist
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
The month of May marked Circles USA’s 28th birthday. 28 years spent building community to end poverty is, depending on your perspective, a rich quarter-century…or a drop in the bucket of our shared learning, collective growth, or progress in ending poverty in our lifetime. Circles has grown from a seedling org named “Move the Mountain” to a flourishing national network serving 60 communities in 22 states and 45 counties. We’ve come so far, made such beautiful music together, yet so much need remains.
Where were you, at age 28, in terms of maturity and financial independence? Whose support helped you to shine? And what sweet refrains kept you moving forward, despite loss and hardship?
I was raised to be a piano accompanist, whether for a church service, a nursing home sing-along, a high school musical, a solo and ensemble competition, children’s choir, wedding, or funeral. I was not trained to be a piano soloist. No George Winston, Jim Brickman, or David Lanz for me. Being an accompanist is a completely different posture than being a soloist, and I learned by my 20s that I was happiest when I could accompany another person to support them to do what they do best.
In fact, the best compliment I can ever get is when someone races up after the performance and appreciates the magnificence of the singer or the flautist or the trumpet player or the choir. It’s not about me. It’s about setting up the best possible foundation for the star to shine.
What’s more, I know that I cannot do it for them. They have to know their part, and it will only be as good as they make it. I can, however, go their tempo and follow wherever they lead in the music; if they start or stop or jump to another part or even make things up, I accompany them. I go on this journey with them wherever they go.
Serving as an accompanist is what Circles USA does so well—on the micro and macro levels. In our local chapters, the place where direct services are happening, our community members come alongside those who are experiencing poverty and share the journey: however fast or slow it may be, however skillful or messy that gets, so this beautiful person can have the best context in which to shine!
We accompany people who are doing the work of leaving poverty behind permanently. The Circle Leader is the soloist, the main event, the star of their own life. So, we collaborate like bands do on the direction, the themes, the songs, the tempo, the rehearsals, and the performances, along with the goals and measures of success. The best music groups LISTEN to each other! With a posture of humility and a heart of service, our local staff and volunteers build community to end poverty by making the space for new soloists to take the lead, underscoring their personal and professional successes as they move from surviving to thriving.
On a macro level, Circles USA accompanies our local chapters much the same way. Our national staff and partners come alongside community leaders and organizations to harmonize the factors that empower chapters to thrive. We help the people who help the people. We support their learning and growth, fostering their expression of the Circles model in their community. We LISTEN to our chapter staff and champions, and we collaborate to offer them the best possible model and materials.
Circles USA is privileged to connect various chapters to create a real symphony of change across the nation. With Circles chapters in roughly 29 states, this is now an orchestrated movement to leave poverty behind, build community, and change systems which hold working families and individuals back across the nation. This requires us, your national staff, to remain in that accompanist position. We connect folks and get out of the way. We offer the model and materials; local people step up to shine.
Soon enough, we’ll hear this new song on the news, in our state capitols, and perhaps even in D.C. And how do we get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. Until that day: Happy 28th from the Circles USA team to our incredible family nationwide! You are the soloists. And we are proud and overjoyed to accompany you on your journeys out of poverty and into community transformation, shining like the superstars you are.
Subscribe to Circles USA's Poverty Perspectives on Substack: Leadership perspectives on ending poverty, growing social capital, and building a healthier nonprofit community of practice from Executive Director, Rev. Kamatara.
Building Community to End Poverty for 25+ Years
