Ecosystems For Change

My first guest this season is Fay Horwitt who joined me from the Forward Cities headquarters in Durham, NC.

Since 2014, Forward Cities has worked in more than 50 communities around the US and has a deep organizational well of knowledge that they share generously.

I invited Fay on the show to share some of her hardest-won lessons when it comes to managing conflict in ecosystems and to tell us more about how she builds trust every time Forward Cities shows up in a new community.

Fay Horwitt serves as the President & CEO of Forward Cities, where she oversees organizational and programmatic strategy and design. She specializes in the development of equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems as a catalyst for systems change. Fay is a sought after presenter, trainer, and thought leader on the topic of ecosystem building and inclusive entrepreneurship.

Her current thought leadership efforts prioritizes the reimagining of Black Wall Street in a post-pandemic economy. Fay has a passion for entrepreneurial program development and adult education and curriculum design. She has a passion to empower and uplift innovators from all walks of life and believes that entrepreneurial mindsets have the power to transform our society for good.

Let’s go on a tour of the U.S. through the lens of Forward Cities! 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How fear – of not getting funding, recognition, being heard – can drive conflicts in ecosystems
• How addressing fears with honest communication bursts the conflict bubble
• Why emails are the worst way to communicate about a conflict, and what to do instead
• How bringing in a third party facilitator can actually help build trust and social capital between local organizations
• Why stakeholders need to acknowledge and address the power dynamics at play as soon as possible

Learn More About Fay Horwitt:

• Forward Cities
• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn

Learn More About Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• The Rainforest: The Secret to Building the Next Silicon Valley, Victor W. Hwang
• Black Wall Street Forward
• ABIDE framework
• Fay’s feature on Social Venturers
• Book Fay to speak

Earlier this year, I was chatting with a fellow ecosystem builder who had just been hired to convene an entrepreneurial ecosystem. From the outside, it looked pretty mature. They had the right institutions, programs, a digital map, co-working spaces, an active angel network, and an active entrepreneurial community.

But when he got there, it quickly became clear that while the stakeholders wanted to see the ecosystem thrive, they all had vastly different ideas of what that journey should look like.

When I facilitated a session with that group, the tension in the room made my hands sweat. It felt like everyone was trying to defend their territory, even though, in principle, they all wanted the same thing.

Is this uncommon when diverse stakeholders come together? No.

Does this type of tension or conflict have the potential to break apart an ecosystem and stall all progress? Hell yes.

So, how do we build a culture of trust and collaboration within our ecosystems so that we might look beyond individual agendas and focus on what is best for entrepreneurs?

In short, how do we build social capital?

That’s what we’re digging into this season.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why trust and collaboration are essential to navigating complex adaptive systems
• Why we (myself included!) need to learn conflict management skills
• How the kinds of networks we’re naturally inclined to build influence our work as ecosystem builders

Learn More About Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• Robert D. Putnam
• Kauffman Foundation
• Social Chemistry: Decoding the Patterns of Human Connection, Marissa King
• The Strength of Weak Ties, Mark S. Granovetter
• Dunbar’s Number

Welcome to my fourth logbook, an in-between season update on all things ecosystem building.

I share with you what is going on in the field of ecosystem building here in the US, give you an insight into what I’m working on in my day job as Director of Ecosystem Building at the Shenandoah Community Capital Fund, and share some behind the scenes details of the show.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• A recap of our listening tours and inaugural Shenandoah Valley Entrepreneurship Summit
• Why I probably need to relisten to season 3 as I’m entering into a very busy season of my personal and professional life
• Details from the organizers of two exciting upcoming conferences
• What’s coming up in season 4

Learn More About Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• Startup Champions Network Summit Fall 2022
• Sparkyard
• Ms. Opal Lee
• Ebuilders Forum 2022
• INBIA.org

Welcome to the last Summer Skill Session of 2022.

I hope that you’ve gotten a fair amount of vitamin D and you were able to take some time off this summer to relax. And, of course, I hope that you found this series helpful.

Summer is winding down and we’re getting in those last ice creams, popsicles, and cold drinks, squeezing out the last of the sunscreen from the bottle, and starting to put away bathing suits and beach towels. But we’ve still got fall and winter ahead.

I don’t know about you, but the start of fall usually leaves me feeling super recharged and ready to tackle the rest of the year with a lot of enthusiasm and really, really big plans.

If you feel that way too, this episode might be super relevant for you and hopefully just what you need to get back into the swing of things.

Today, we’re talking about productivity.

But first, a confession. I may not be the best person to talk about productivity. 

I do think I am very productive! But I haven’t quite figured out how to be productive without also working myself into the ground. And admittedly, I’m not always the best at taking my own advice when it comes to how to be productive.

Which is to say, I need this episode as much as you do.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why I always put the personal stuff first when I’m building my calendar
• How to use each quarter to get more detailed with your plans and reflect on what you can realistically accomplish in 30, 60, and 90 days
• How to cluster your week to avoid bouncing between tasks and projects all day
• Why you should leave your emails for later in the day
• My best advice for taking breaks, creating rituals, and making your to-do list work for you

Learn More About Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• Racheal Cook
• The 5am Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life, Robin Sharma
• Bullet Journal
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear
• What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal Setting, Tara McMullin

I came to storytelling from a love of local business and their owners in Richmond, Virginia. 

First, I loved their products, from biscuits to T-shirts to local moonshine. And once I got to know these businesses and their owners, I wanted to shout their stories from the rooftops. I wanted the whole world, or at least the people in my city, to know about them and spend their dollars there.

These startups and small businesses made me proud of my community. So I told their stories in every way I could. I posted about them on social media. I told my friends about them. I wrote blog posts and articles.

I was celebrating these small businesses in every possible way, but I never called it storytelling. It was just something I did.

So let this be the first rule of storytelling and ecosystem building: It doesn’t have to be hard.

If you tell your friends about your favorite local businesses or you post about them on social media, you are already telling their stories; you’re just not thinking about it that way.

In today’s Summer Skill Session, I want to introduce you to my five-step approach to telling meaningful stories about your ecosystem.

If you tell your friends about your favorite local businesses or you post about them on social media, you are already telling their stories.  You're just not thinking about it that way. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Five key aspects to consider when building your storytelling strategy
• Why keeping it simple will help you keep it consistent
• How to set the tone for your stories so that they acknowledge what’s hard, while staying hopeful
• Five tips for successful storytelling

Learn More About Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• @FindLocalRVA on Instagram
• Manifesto for a Moral Revolution: Practices to Build a Better World, Jacqueline Novogratz
• Isaac Jeffries on consistent content creation
• How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from the Moth
• Unsung Heroes of Ecosystem Building (campaign)

Welcome to our second Summer Skill Session. 

I hope you’re kicking it by the pool, popsicle in hand, your headphones on, eager to add another skill to your toolbox as an ecosystem builder.

Today, we’re talking about entrepreneurial outreach.

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

We're launching a support program for entrepreneurs, but how do we make them aware of it?

Hey, I'm hosting this workshop conference event for entrepreneurs. Can you help me get the word out?

Or one of my favorites, there just are no entrepreneurs in our community.

If you've heard one or several of these statements in your ecosystem, today's episode is for you.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why listening deeply is the first step of outreach, especially if you want to connect to entrepreneurs from backgrounds different than yours
• Why an open door isn’t enough, you have to go out into the community you want to serve
• How to shift your language to make your outreach more specifically and intentionally inclusive
• The difference between short-term tactics that build awareness and long-term tactics that build relationships and trust

Learn More About Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• Enoch Elwell
• Ecosystems for Change, S02E02: Humanity-Focused Systems Design with Madelynn Martiniere
• Ecosystems for Change, S01E03: How to Build Trust Within an Ecosystem with Charlton Cunningham
• CO.STARTERS webinar: Unconventional Ways to Find New Entrepreneurs

I don’t know about you, but every time I go on social media, I see people vacationing in the Greek isles or somewhere on Bermuda, and while I’m stuck here in my lovely home office in my new hometown of Stanton, Virginia, I feel like summer as well.

So instead of a fully produced season that is a chapter in our playbook of ecosystem building, I am bringing you the Summer Skill Sessions.

I imagine you lying on a beach somewhere, kicking it with a cocktail or mocktail in hand, trying to keep cool and wondering how to become a better ecosystem building. Isn’t that what we all think about all the time?

The idea behind these Summer Skill Sessions is to bring you short snippets of episodes that introduce you to a very practical skill for ecosystem builders and walk you through some of the steps that you need to take to master that skill, and leave you with a lot of resources to dive a little bit deeper and become an expert on this skill.

 In our first Summer Skills Session, we are going to talk about ecosystem mapping.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Four key reasons why we map ecosystems
• Why you need to engage collaborators as soon as possible
• How defining the ecosystem, target audience, scope, and the question you’re answering shape the map you’re making
• How making sure you collect qualitative data makes your map more than just a directory
• How your research question will guide your data analysis and the way you present your findings

Learn More About Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• Ecosystems for Change S01E01: What is Ecosystem Building? 
• Ecosystems for Change S02E04: Servant Leadership, Co-writing New Narratives and Burnout in Ecosystem Building with Jeff Bennett
• Definition of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

DIY Resources

• E3 Scorecard, Forward Cities
• Guide for Mapping the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, GIZ
• Building a community entrepreneurial ecosystem: A self-guided training for communities, Main Street America

Selected Service Providers

• Sourcelink Resource Navigator
• EcoMap
• Economic Impact Catalyst

Articles

• Chad Renando: Mapping Innovation Ecosystems
• Jeff Bennett: How to Get Started Mapping Your Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
• Jeff Bennett: The Benefits of Mapping Your Startup & Innovation Ecosystem
• Startup Junkies: Venture Ecosystem Building Canvas

Welcome, friends, to my third logbook, the in-between seasons update where I share what’s going on behind the scenes of the show in my day job as an ecosystem builder in the Shenandoah Valley, in the field of ecosystem building in general, and in my personal life.

I will also give you a little sneak peek of what lies ahead and how you can get involved.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• We bought a house!
• Embarking on a listening tour and hosting the inaugural Shenandoah Valley Entrepreneurship Summit with SCCF
• Fall conference season is almost here
• Coming up in season four: social capital, conflict management, and collaboration

Learn More About Anika Horn:

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

Resources:

• Ecosystem Building Leadership Project
• EBLP Online Community

I set out on this season assuming that we all want to lead happier and healthier lives in which we don’t fall victim to burnout, stress and overwhelm.

And this, by the way, does not just concern ecosystem builders and do-gooders.

Most of us look for purpose in our lives, for work that fulfills us, for time and resources to spend on things we enjoy. Don’t we all dream of having meaningful, trusting relationships with our friends and families?

Am I the only one who fantasizes about an ideal version of myself as a healthy, strong, resilient, equanimous and happy person?

Some days, I still fantasize about the Anika who has her manageable workload under control, who breezes through her to-do list, resolves conflict and wakes up bursting with energy each day ready to make a difference in her community.

And then I remember that she is a product of my imagination.

This season confirmed that there is no magic formula, no secret ingredient. It all comes down to priorities, to looking at the big picture and deciding what kind of life we want to live, and making changes to our lifestyle accordingly. 

None of my guests revealed a secret that will magically prevent us from burnout. But each of them brought several pieces of advice that work for THEM and that hopefully can work for us, too. 

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why we have to learn to listen to our bodies and run slower
• How holding on to your boundaries and your ethics can help prevent you from burning the candle at both ends 
• Why we need to learn how to press pause on the to-do list
• The benefits of reaching out for help when we’re stuck
• Why entrepreneurship is always personal

Learn more about Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator
• Leave a voice message!

In today’s episode, you’ll meet Shelly Rose, a natural foods chef and one of my favorite people on this Earth!

In my humble opinion, Shelly is a gift to humanity because she is deeply invested in helping others–irrespective of age, background and current lifestyle–lead a healthy life.

In this conversation, we talk about sleep, nutrition, staying hydrated, taking good care of your nervous system - which I think we could all use some advice on. Shelly also shares how she is moving your body regularly, what she does to prepare her body for aging, and how we can integrate healthier habits into our day-to-day life. 

But rest assured, we don’t talk about raw kale or celery juice - Shelly enjoys pastries and the occasional treat like we all do. She is human after all! 

Shelly Rose founded Pure Roots Nutrition in 2011, a company dedicated to helping people implement a more joyful and peace-filled life through real food, movement, stress relief, meaningful connection, purpose, time spent in nature, and a good night’s sleep.

She has worked in medical practices alongside Naturopathic Doctors (NDs) specializing in food sensitivities, chronic conditions, and incorporating meal plans, culinary skills, and lifestyle changes into patient care plans. While working independently as an educator and consultant today, Shelly still actively partners in client/patient care with like-minded integrative, functional and naturopathic medicine healthcare providers.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How Shelly learned to connect how her body felt with what she was eating
• Why sleep is the foundation for a healthier lifestyle
• How to recognize when your nervous system is dysregulated
• How to evaluate and set priorities when it comes to making sustainable changes for your health

Learn more about Shelly Rose:

• Pure Roots Nutrition
• Instagram: @purerootsnutrition

Learn more about Anika Horn:

• Website: www.socialventurers.com 
• Instagram: SocialVenturers
• Newsletter: Sign up for Impact Curator
• Leave a voice message

Resources:

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, James Clear