Building community means bringing people together. But here's the thing: not everyone can show up at the same time or in the same way. Two Ways to Communicate Live communication happens right now. Phone calls. Video meetings. Events. Group chats where everyone's responding in real time. You're all there together. You stumble through things. You … Continue reading Finding Communication that Builds Community

In our rush toward digital solutions, we sometimes forget our own abilities to see the patterns, the connections, and the relationships that create possibility. This skill to perceive systems is especially valuable in community work, where the most important dynamics are often hard to see: who trusts whom, where knowledge lives, what unofficial channels actually … Continue reading What Makes Us Different Makes Us Wise: Seeing Systems Together

We know trust is built, not given. But how? The standard advice points us toward vulnerability exercises, team retreats, and careful relationship-building before the "real work" begins. Yet some of the strongest bonds form not in controlled trust-building activities, but in the middle of actual challenges—when we're learning something genuinely difficult, creating under pressure, or … Continue reading Do Hard Things Together

I didn't realize we were food insecure when I was a kid, but as an adult looking back, I see the signs. That government cheese is one of them—though I was less impressed by the package itself and more by the bright orange color of the cheese. When I was little and my parents were … Continue reading A Picture of Happiness on Our Refrigerator

Some people, and even some cultures, tend to be hopeful, which can turn to rage when outcomes disappoint. Other cultures are more skeptical—when things don't work out, they don't feel rage, they feel melancholy. I believe that real beauty means holding joy and pain together, not just chasing happiness. When we can hold both the … Continue reading Leading with Trust

When you're obsessed with your craft—whether that's coding at 2 AM, writing your fifth draft, or sketching ideas on napkins—people will question why you care so much, why you're putting in those hours, why you can't just be "normal" about it. Let them wonder. Because the people who matter won't see crazy—they'll see themselves. They'll … Continue reading Be Passionate About What You Do

You have big goals. You'd like to run three times a week, automate your meal prep, finally organize your finances into a proper system. Maybe learn piano well enough to play something real, read a book every month, write a book every five years. These goals feel important—they represent the person you're trying to become. … Continue reading You’re Already Doing It

You can't do your best work solo, and you especially can't do equity work solo. Real change requires sitting in the discomfort of true collaboration—the kind where you need someone else's perspective not as a nice addition, but as the thing that makes your work actually stick. It's humbling to realize your clearest idea needs … Continue reading Building Together, Building Better

Many leaders fall into solving problems for people instead of with them. It feels efficient and helpful, but it actually undermines the people you're trying to support by robbing them of agency and the chance to develop their own problem-solving muscles. Start by naming the problem out loud with your team instead of arriving with … Continue reading Solving Together, Not For

inspired by Sherry Turkle 3D Printing gives us the illusion of design knowledge. Recording music gives us the illusion of being able to play it. Short-form video gives us the illusion of understanding. Gaming gives us the illusion of being productive. Social media gives us the illusion of human connection. I'm not knocking these tools. … Continue reading Technology and Illusions