A Look Back at the Revolutionary Love Conference
“What does Revolutionary Love mean to you?”
This question is what kicked off our Revolutionary Love Conference as 175 attendees gathered from across the country and world to meet at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel on June 23-26.
For us at Thistle Farms, Revolutionary Love looks like a ballroom of advocates, community members, and direct service providers coming together for best practices in safe housing and meaningful employment.
This year’s conference was our first since 2022, and focused on our four program pillars: heal, house, employ, respond. Our national network of support has grown to over 92 organizations aligned in missional practices of radical hospitality, quality of care, and holistic support. The conference also hosted global artisan groups that are a part of our Shared Trade network, seeking to lead with friendship first.
At Thistle Farms, love doesn’t only heal — love learns.
Previously a conference focused on our National Network, this year’s conference threw the doors open to bring in creator, artisan, and advocate voices from around the world because the exploitation off women doesn’t recognize international borders.
Keynote speaker Degan Ali, an internationally-renowned humanitarian leader from Kenya who embodies the value of having the courage to speak truth to power when advocating for marginalized peoples, shared her message of hope to a packed ballroom. Workshops throughout the conference were led by global partners and Shared Trade artisans like Veelie Alba, YEWO, and Sustainable Threads to help weave together a tapestry of solidarity among attendees, because the struggles faced by exploited women on the streets of Nashville are not all that unlike the struggles faced by exploited women in Cambodia and Haiti.
Many workshops were standing room only as attendees filled the hallways to listen to sessions like “Incorporating Survivor Input into the Program” led by Thistle Farms’ Residential Director, Shelia Simpkins, and “Safety in Storytelling: Conducting Ethical & Trauma-Informed Interviews” with Thistle Farms’ Director of Communications and Advocacy, Amanda Clelland.
Becca Stevens gave closing remarks for Wednesday’s session and encouraged attendees to keep going throughout the challenges — “The stuff that keeps us humble, the stuff that is tender, is also super powerful.” We were honored to also learn from international humanitarian, Degan Ali, award-winning trauma neuropsychology specialist, Toni McKinley, and founder of More Too Life, Dr. Brook Parker-Bello.
Content was paired with another core value of Thistle Farms: led with love for self and others. Rest and Restore Yoga with Deep Roots, Tribal Movement, and a Sound Blessing by 12 Moons provided restorative breaks throughout the week. In classic Thistle Farms form, the week was music filled and the Thistle Farms’ choir led attendees in a Nashville line dance.
Our deepest gratitude is extended to our partners that made this conference possible: Amazon, Designed Conveyer Systems, Isabelle Allende Foundation, and Gardens of Babylon. On the behalf of our team: thank you.
Want to get involved?
In the words of Becca Stevens, “justice is a non-competitive sport.” If you would like to learn more about our National Network, visit our website here.
