Ecosystems For Change

In season 6 of Ecosystems for Change, we are going to explore the art, craft, and science of telling meaningful stories that have the power to affect change in our communities.

I’ve always enjoyed hearing other people’s stories, reading about them, and eventually telling these stories. As I started out helping to develop the ecosystem in Richmond, VA, I also began to understand that storytelling is a powerful tool in any ecosystem builder’s toolbox.

But once I picked up Peter Block’s book, “Community: The Structure of Belonging,” I understood that storytelling could be much more and that it’s actually a tool that helps a community create a vision for itself, to dream of a future that might be possible. 

To me, this following quote sums up his work beautifully:

“Stories can give us a narrative to guide and instruct us. They are crucial to our knowing who we are; they provide a sense of identity. […] We need to distinguish between the stories that give meaning to our lives and help us find our voice, and those that limit our possibility.”

This season, I’m speaking with other storytellers to learn their tips and tricks of the trade. I hope to uncover how others go about finding and telling meaningful stories that give hope and propel their communities forward. 

I want to find out exactly what intentions these storytellers have, how they approach storytelling, what their process looks like from beginning to end, and how they make the finances work.

As always on this show, my hope is that we can learn from each other, avoid the obvious pitfalls, and as a result become better at what we do: Transform our communities by supporting the changemakers within them.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Two examples of the impact of storytelling from my own life
• Why we need to focus on telling stories of possibility instead of railing against problems
• How negative narratives keep us stuck
• The power of positive storytelling to propel change in our communities

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• Community: The Structure of Belonging, Peter Block
• The Space Beyond Scarce:  Collaboration and Ecosystem Building for Entrepreneurs and Change Makers with Anika Horn
• Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World, Jacqueline Novogratz
• Shenandoah Community Capital Fund Blog
• EcoMap Technologies
• Summer Skill Sessions: Ecosystem Mapping

Welcome to my 6th logbook where I give a little insight into what’s happening behind and beyond the scenes of this show.

And I’m switching up the format a little bit! I’ve been meeting so many incredible ecosystem builders, and while I can’t have them all on the show, that’s not going to stop me from trying!

I’m super excited to introduce a new quarterly segment called the Unsung Heroes of Ecosystem Building.

I ran this campaign back in 2020 alongside two fellow ecosystem builders, Jeff Bennet and Jess Edwards, both of whom you’ve met on this show.

I often meet really brilliant ecosystem builders–online and in-person–and I want to be able to share their awesomeness with all of you! 

But before we go deep into meeting two Unsung Heroes, I’ll share what’s been going on in the Shenandoah Valley and behind the scenes of the show.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Two ways we’re engaging with the entrepreneur communities in the Shenandoah Valley
• What’s coming up on Season Six of Ecosystems for Change
• Unsung Hero Why Nida Ansari goes all-in on making Indianapolis her new hometown, and how she went about integrating herself into the ecosystem
• How Unsung Hero Sammy Popat builds bridges within the university and out into the wider ecosystem in Maryland

Learn More About Nida Ansari:

• Connect with Nida on LinkedIn
• Twitter: @theVCnida
• Twitter: @hardtechindiana
• Connect with Hard Tech Indiana on LinkedIn

Learn More About Sammy Popat:

• Sammy Popat’s University of Maryland Bio
• UMD Innovation Gateway

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• Shenandoah Community Capital Fund Blog
• EcoMap Technologies
• Ecosystem Builder Hub: Unsung Hero Spotlight: Sameer Popat
• Ecosystem Builder Hub: Unsung Hero Spotlight: Nida Ansari

Over the course of this season, quitting became a constant topic in my life.

One of my team members quit to take on a new role closer to home. A new friend talked to me about quitting her job to spend more time enjoying her family and less time worrying about making it all fit in her schedule. A partner quit because he had done what he came to do and was ready to move on to something else.

With the perspective I’ve gained through the Quitter conversations in season 5, I was able to view these Quits within my sphere as something rich and endlessly fascinating. 

When I started out with this season, I referred to The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. InThe Infinite Game, players stop playing for two reasons: 

1. They lack the external resources to keep playing, such as the remuneration or the job to build an ecosystem, or
2. Their internal resources - such as will and motivation - are depleted causing them to step out.

With each conversation in this season, I was trying to sort my guest into one of these two boxes only to be reminded that people can’t be sorted into boxes. I found instead that quitting a purpose-driven role is much more complex than that.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How a lack of internal and external resources leads changemakers to quit
• How this season’s quitters found new ways to build ecosystems
• The importance of how you leave - for yourself and your ecosystem
• The relationship of the long-term work of ecosystem building and the modern realities of shifting careers and roles

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek
• S04E06: Investing in the Lives of Founders with Todd Nuckols
• S02E05 – Thriving In a World of Ambiguity, Uncertainty, and Constant Change with April Rinne

In our last conversation of this season, we’re traveling to Berlin, Germany. I’m sitting down with Naomi Ryland, systemic change maker, social entrepreneur, bestselling author and overall insightful person.

We talked about the last ten years in the German social impact space, how to turn your organization from a hierarchical to a self-organized one, and how to shift and share power as a person with privilege. We also talk about burnout from the Unicorn-startup culture and raising anti-racist, feminist children.

​​Naomi is an entrepreneur, author, and activist with a keen interest in feminist economics, diversity and belonging, power and privilege, and post-capitalist utopias. She founded tbd*, the go-to platform for jobs with purpose, and SEND e.V., the political representative body for social entrepreneurship in Germany. She co-authored Starting a Revolution and co-edited and co-authored Unlearn Patriarchy.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How Naomi’s realization that she was following a playbook that wasn’t written by or for people like her led her to Starting a Revolution
• How principles of self-organizing and competency-based hierarchy at tbd* impacted Naomi’s slow transition out of her role as founder
• Why Naomi says it’s important for people with privilege to take risks towards systemic change
• Why Naomi’s next big project is about unlearning business

Learn more about Naomi Ryland:

• NaomiRyland.com
• Instagram: @naomi_ryland

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• Lisa Jaspers
• All About Love: New Visions, bell hooks
• Starting a revolution, Naomi Ryland & Lisa Jaspers
• Unlearn Patriarchy, Lisa Jaspers & Naomi Ryland
• tbd*
• Unlearn Business Lab 

In today's episode, we're traveling to Phoenix, Arizona to chat with Lucas Lindsey.

Lucas is an ecosystem builder turned real estate developer. We talked about planning for succession and the importance of the built environment for entrepreneurial ecosystem building.

Lucas Lindsey is a Michigan kid on a long hiatus to the American Southwest. He is a big fan of new ideas and old buildings who has always worked in a combination of ecosystem building, real estate development, and construction. He believes in empowering change from the bottom up and working hard to improve whatever community you call home. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• The road trip that prompted Lucas’s shift away from ecosystem building
• The challenges Lucas faced in leaving an identity-defining career
• How Lucas’s organization handled the delicate work of succession planning

Learn more about Lucas Lindsey:

• Urbnist
• Twitter: @urbnist

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• Startup Champions Network
• The Cathedral and the Bazaar
• Jenny Poon & Co+Hoots Coworking

In today's episode, I want to introduce you to my longtime friend and OG ecosystem builder, Larkin Garbee.

Larkin has put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into jumpstarting entrepreneurial support initiatives, both in Richmond, Virginia, as well as nationally.

In this conversation, we talk about handing initiatives over to people who can carry them forward, and the upside of spending over a decade in an ecosystem.

Join me on a trip back home to Richmond.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How Larkin has shifted gears between local and national ecosystem building work
• Why Larkin chose to step away from formal ecosystem building as COVID took hold
• How real estate and ecosystem building scratch a similar itch for Larkin
• How Larkin approaches being a serial “starter” of organizations and initiatives

Learn more about Larkin Garbee:

• Email Larkin

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• Ep 4.7 Investing in the Lives of Founders with Todd Nuckols
• Startup Champions Network

In today’s episode, we’re making our way to Fargo, North Dakota to talk to Annie Wood.

I first met Annie through Startup Champions Network and was fortunate enough to visit her community during our Fall Summit in 2018.

Shortly thereafter, Annie left the host organization and started a new chapter of her life.

Today, she shares what was going on behind the scenes at the time, how she regrouped after leaving the profession as an entrepreneurial ecosystem builder, and what this next chapter looks like.

We talked about the grief of letting go of what could have been, and how to find your way back to yourself when you’re letting go of a part of your professional identity.

Annie Wood thinks of herself as a combination of life experiences - she’s a learning facilitator, an experiential educator, and a community builder. Her day-to-day work in student life on a college campus is really the perfect mash-up to use the skills she’s developed. In her role, she helps folks explore who they are and where they want to go - through formal programs, mentorship, and encouraging them to follow their curiosities.

Annie is a believer in lifelong learning and aims to live with a growth mindset. She is passionate about providing opportunities for folks at any stage of life to explore who they are and how to live a life that matches their values. She believes that each day, we make choices about how we’ll contribute to our communities - and that is a reflection of our values. So Annie chooses to have a positive outlook and to validate people for who they are. Outside of her daily work and facilitating trainings, Annie especially loves creating or attending community events with a hint of whimsy and being part of groups that are just a little bit quirky, because the people with the wildest ideas are usually the most fun to be around. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How Annie used counseling to help her come to terms with needing to quit and how to let go and process grief
• Why she took a month for Annie-tober, and why she still does it to this day
• Why Annie believes in having a personal manifesto of her values
• How Annie used her network to remind her of what kind of work brings her joy as she looked for the next thing
• How Annie’s current role allows her to empower students to create community

Learn more about Annie Wood:

• Instagram: @annie_likethemusical
• Connect with Annie on LinkedIn

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• The Inventurers: Excursions in Life and Career Renewal, Janet Hagberg, Richard J. Leider
• The Feeling Wheel
• The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, Priya Parker

Today, I want you to meet Julia Firestone.

Julia is a transformational leadership and career coach who serves experienced social impact professionals to help them unleash their biggest positive impact in the world while living their most fulfilling life.

Julia has worked in corporate innovation and strategy, global NGOs, scrappy startups, and corporate social impact. Bringing all of these experiences together, Julia loves applying innovative methodologies to solve the biggest social impact challenges of our time. 

In today’s conversation, you’ll hear about Julia’s first Big Quit and how she built a network of impact professionals like no other that not only helped her land her next gig, but has become a rich community of changemakers who show up for each other.

If you think networking is so early 2000s, I bet you’ll think differently after this conversation.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How Julia structures her monthly online meetups for changemakers to get beyond “what do you do” to building real relationships
• How Julia’s experience at a small nonprofit highlights many of the systemic issues in impact and nonprofit work
• The strategies Julia used to build a large network of impact professionals before she quit her nonprofit job
• How Julia learned to trust her gut and listen to her body when it comes to big decisions

Learn more about Julia Firestone:

• Julia Firestone Coaching
• Community Open House
• Connect with Julia on LinkedIn

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business Relationships, Susan McPherson
• The Bloom
• Love Letter to the Movement, Sarah Jawaid and Damon Azali-Rojas
• Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation

When Joe Maruschak left his home ecosystem of Eugene, Oregon, it sent ripples through our community of ecosystem builders.

In the public farewell letter that he wrote in July 2021, he voiced what so many of us had been struggling with and discussing behind closed doors. 

A year and a half after this letter, I invited Joe onto the show to share his journey and talk to us about what life is like after the big Quit.

We talked about self-financing your work as an ecosystem builder, managing different stakeholders with very different expectations, and about the importance of doing over talking. 

Joe Maruschak is a twice-exited startup founder, Startup Accelerator Managing Director, and Fund GP, who spent the better part of a decade building the startup community in Eugene, Oregon. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why Joe believes in connecting with newcomers to a community about more than just their startups
• The slow process of realizing that he had done all that he could in Eugene
• The psychological toll of being a recognizable leader in an ecosystem grappling with serious issues beyond funding
• Why Joe wouldn’t change much about how he approached his time in Eugene, but he would trust his gut and take action more

Learn more about Joe Maruschak:

• Medium
• Twitter: @JoeMaruschak

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• Last Call! Sadly saying goodbye to a community, by Joe Maruschak
• The New Geography of Jobs, Enrico Moretti
• The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future, Sebastian Mallaby

In this season of Ecosystems for Change, I’m talking to my guests about their experience with quitting.

As much as I dislike quitting–I really do–I understand it is part of life. We evolve and so do the circumstances, organizations and people around us.

As we uncovered in season two, ecosystems are complex, adaptive systems; they are constantly shifting and changing and as a result, people move in and out of them at different times. 

As builders who like to start new things, it’s only logical that everytime we start one thing we technically have to quit something else to create the space for this new thing to flourish and thrive. In season three, we heard first-hand accounts of what happens when we keep piling on, trying to squeeze one more ounce of productivity out of ourselves because we somehow feel like we want to do it all.

I have come to believe that quitting is normal, healthy, and simply part of the natural cycle of progress. And yet, it is still somehow taboo. The idea that quitting somehow is a sign of failure, of suddenly not caring about the cause anymore, means that many of us passionate change makers hang in there longer than we should or want to.

That’s what I want to talk about in Season 5. I’m sitting down with ecosystem builders who stopped playing–either temporarily or for good. I want to find out what led to the depletion of their resources–either internal or external–and if there’s anything we can do to change course and stop that depletion. 

What happens when you decide or you’re forced to step away from your life’s work? We’ll get a little closer to an answer in this season.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• What complex adaptive systems can teach us about quitting
• Why ecosystem building is like an infinite game with shifting rules, tactics, players, and timelines
• Three perspectives on stepping away from the game of ecosystem building

Learn More About Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator

Resources:

• The Infinite Game, Simon Sinek
• The Infinite Game of Ecosystem Building, Social Venturers
• Bonus Episode: The Ecosystem Builders: Where Are They Now? 
• Ep 4.8: Succession Planning: Transferring Social Capital To The Next Generation with Rick Turoczy
• Ep 2.4 – Servant Leadership, Co-writing New Narratives and Burnout in Ecosystem Building with Jeff Bennett