Episode Details

The social impact sector has made community co-creation almost sacred. Design with people, not for them. Give everyone a voice. But what happens when the loudest voices aren't the most informed, and the planning process stalls because nobody can make a call? Taylor Stuckert, CEO of Lead for America, has lived this tension from every angle. Eric and Taylor dig into the question nobody in social impact wants to ask out loud: can too much community input actually be a problem?

Episode Highlights:

[00:01:30] Wilmington, Ohio and the day DHL disappeared

[00:06:30] The guerrilla flyer campaign that drew hundreds to a town hall

[00:08:30] When community input becomes a double-edged sword

[00:14:00] Stop trying to please everyone

[00:17:30] There is no "the community"

[00:28:00] Why the brain drain narrative misses the bigger story

[00:37:00] Why AI will widen the divide we never closed

Notable Quotes:

Taylor Stuckert [00:17:40]: "We act as if the community is this unified object that has complete consensus and you're either engaging them or you're not. And that's just so inaccurate to reality."

Taylor Stuckert [00:14:10]: "We have to get away from this notion that we're going to make perfect decisions. You're not going to please everyone — but that shouldn't take away from how we engage everyone."

Resources & Links:

- Lead for America — https://www.leadforamerica.org/

- American Connection Corps — https://www.leadforamerica.org/

- Carnegie Corporation of New York — https://www.carnegie.org/

Hosted by Eric Ressler, Founder & Creative Director of Cosmic, with co-host Jonathan Hicken, Executive Director of the Seymour Marine Discovery Center. New episodes every Tuesday.

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