It wasn’t until Amanda Cassiday (she/her) lived in a rural village in Burkina Faso that she experienced the resilient power of community, and learned that positive, abundant outcomes are not possible without cultivating the conditions that allow individuals, teams, and communities to thrive. For 15 years, this approach has been a driving force in Amanda’s personal and professional life, from facilitating a woman-led microfinance group in Takaledougou that continues to operate since 2009, to leading design teams responsible for some of the most successful launches in Johnson & Johnson’s history, bringing purpose and consumer needs to the heart of strategy & innovation. She is a maker, a student of permaculture, an advisor, coach, and facilitator to businesses, and most recently the co-founder of Engather which seeks to cultivate prosperous, resilient communities by activating local gift economies.
Our conversation weaves through her experiences and the wisdom that she’s gleaned through them including thoughts about how capitalism and our current economy is not taking care of the needs of the majority, the codependency inherent in capitalism and the patriarchy, how she was able to step away from the toxicity of capitalism and build community in Kingston, and how community interdependence and belonging is essential for our survival. Along those lines, she recommends the book Community by Peter Block as providing some answers to big questions on how to get community back on track.
You can find Amanda and her work in these places:
Engather: https://engather.co/# (sign up for local Kingston beta test by clicking the ‘Register Now” button at the bottom
Personal Professional website: https://www.amandacassiday.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insta.quoi/
Happy Lunar New Year!
Today’s show was engineered by Ian Seda from Radiokingston.org.
Our show music is from Shana Falana!
Feel free to email me, say hello: she@iwantwhatshehas.org
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