November 18, 2019

To whom it may concern:

I am writing this letter to recommend the work of E4Potential Living to any business, organization, or church that is considering their services. We have had the privilege of working with E4 on multiple occasions this past year. Michelle Cobb and her team have proven to be invaluable resources to us as we’ve navigated some difficult terrain.

Near the beginning of the year, some students in our local high school posed for a photo during the school day, many of them making what appeared to be a Nazi salute. This photo rocked our community, as it fed into national narratives of Anti-Semitism and local concerns, with white privilege. Some of those students and their families attend our church, and we felt the need to personally respond and create safe spaces for dialogue around race, justice, and inclusion.

Michelle Cobb was tireless in encouragement and support as we went through the process of launching a Race Dialogue Circle. Because our church is predominantly Caucasian in ethnicity, she helped us develop strategies of creating crucial partnerships in the community. While it took us nearly four months to identify and organize all the participants for our circle, Michelle never gave up on us.

The week that our circle was to begin, we had another event take place in our church that exposed the many divisions that exist in our community around race and politics. Again, Michelle was a wonderful support and counsel through that experience, and the Racial Dialogue Circle provided the perfect forum for individuals to process their thoughts and reactions. Indeed, the RDC was so powerful that we immediately began organizing a second circle, which concluded just this past week.

Thanks to these circles, we have a clear plan of action for how to promote inclusion and diversity within our church, as well as how to help facilitate conversation and change within our wider community. E4 has been a wonderful catalyst to help us build momentum and commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive faith community.