Episode 2 :: Ai-jen Poo

Minisode on Braided Strategy and Community Power

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Courtney: Welcome to the Green Room. I’m Courtney Martin. Today I’m thinking about all that I learned from the conversation with legendary organizer and Culture Changer. Ai-jen Poo. Is there anyone, more wise, more gentle, more led by love? Lordy. I am obsessed with how she leads. Anyhow, of the many things Ai-jen reflected on this has really stuck with me. Instead of thinking of policy and culture changes separate things, we have to think of them as braided together. We move forward on all the fronts all the time. The only way to do that, of course, is lots and lots of collaboration. I liked what she taught us about the phrase care as infrastructure and how it came about

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And made, released a white paper called Care as Infrastructure. And it was 74 organizations who co-wrote somehow this document. And I will say that I think we were pretty successful in the policy narrative. I mean, I think most everyday people don’t think of care as infrastructure, but a lot of people who are making policy understand why we say that it is, and sometimes have started to embrace that narrative as well.

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The only thing that made that moment possible was that Ai-jen and her people had been building relationships with folks working on care directly, folks care adjacent, sympathetic to the cause, but maybe not central to it. Folks in advocacy, government, nonprofit, philanthropy for-profit, Hollywood, dc everywhere and anywhere. When the moment struck, they were ready to round up their people and put out an idea, work together to create a sense of collective ownership and repeat, repeat, repeat, until it became so ubiquitous as to be accepted as real by so many people in power. What a fricking victory. Am I right? The other thing I can’t stop thinking about is that Ai-jen who has won every award and graced every stage, giving rousing speeches at a million rallies is still scared of public speaking and does it anyway. It just reminds all of us not to assume that those who we see step into the spotlight find it easy. For many it is not, and they do it anyway. You, my friend can do it anyway too.

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What did you learn from Ai-jen N’S episode? What do you hate about thought leadership? But do anyway? And how do you get yourself there? Send us an email at Green room@freshspeakers.com and if you like what you heard today, please give us a rating and a review and tell a friend. The Green Room is an independent production of fresh speakers produced by me, Courtney Martin, along with Vanessa Valenti, Casey Molina, and Alison Cook. Ali Bauman is our editor. The Green Room is possible. Thanks to the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I’m Courtney Martin. Thanks for listening.