Nam Phuong Thi Doan
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Trao: Bennington Skillshare Initiative

Trao: Bennington Skillshare Initiative

Role: Project Co-Founder & Organizer with Emily Maschal O’Donnell

Archived: 2018

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THE CHALLENGE

The post-industrial town of Bennington, VT witnesses a disconnect between populations with different socioeconomic backgrounds, a lack of community gathering space, and the issue of social isolation especially for older adults.

THE SOLUTION

Trao: Bennington Skillshare Initiative is a community-based, cross-generational and women-driven skillsharing platform based in Bennington, Vermont. Inspired by the practice of passing on knowledge and art skills among the women of their families, Trao was founded in October 2017 by Nam Phuong Doan and Emily O' Donnell, two students of Future Studio at Bennington College. The initiative's mission is to connect different populations in town–older adults, working moms, migrant workers, and college students–and to foster collective learning through skillsharing workshops and collaborations.

In Vietnamese, Trao means to give, to exchange, or to pass on. Its connotation is an endearing act of passing on a tradition/legacy within a family or a neighborhood.

Skillsharing means exchanging knowledge and skills on a specific topic or an area of interest among individuals. It is an activity through which a community can be formed, creativity sparked, and social inclusivity fostered. 

The initiative is designed and built by these leading methodologies:

  • Qualitative research assessing the socio-economic & cultural landscape of the post-industrial town of Bennington

  • Intake interviews and surveys assessing the need for a community-oriented program and space, as well as collecting data on the topics of interest for skillshare workshops

  • Designing & organizing need-catered and themed workshops hosted by community members to share skills and knowledge about art, technology, food, and health

  • Creating feedback loop between the participants and the initiative through consecutive surveys and interviews after each skillshare workshop

  • Prototyping an inclusive and regenerative business model to sustain the initiative.

Through need-catered and themed workshops, Trao creates an open forum in which the members of the community engage in collective learning and social exchange across different age groups and backgrounds. The themes of the workshops vary from arts and crafts to food, technology, and wellness. Trao’s premise is that the participants do not have to be experts, just enthusiastic and open to learning and sharing knowledge with others.

Trao is a women-driven collective, which means that it is run and empowered by women across all age groups, socio-economic backgrounds, and cultural identities. Trao by all means welcomes non-binary and queer individuals, and/or friends and families of the Bennington community.

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THE IMPACT

Trao creates an active community of 30+ members, from working moms and older adults to town members and college students in the post-industrial town of Bennington. This community helps alleviate social isolation, promote cultural diversity, and cultivate knowledge on a wide variety of subjects.

The inclusive and regenerative cost model also helps the initiative reach a broader audience by making it not cost-prohibitive for low-income communities to participate.

Trao’s impact is recorded at:

Press: "Community Through Creativity." Bennington Banner. December 10th, 2017

Podcast: "Intimacy"

Social media: Trao on Instagram