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A man in a rural California town joined the Neighborhood Village Project and threw a potluck. Nobody came. So he asked what his neighbors actually cared about. The answer was the dried brush ringing their homes in a wildfire zone. He put up a new invitation. People who'd never spoken cleared 8,000 pounds of brush together, then stayed for dinner.
That's the method, according to August Elliot, co-founder of NVP. His own path to it started in Boulder's intentional communities, where a weekly open potluck called family dinner taught him that agreements, not intentions, are what let messy humans go deep.
When his co-founder Savannah moved into an ordinary apartment building and found neighbors averting their eyes in the hallway, she started knocking on doors. Within a year people had fallen in love and somebody noticed when a 91-year-old’s life alert ran out of batteries.
Charlotte asks for advice on her own street and gets three steps: start and forget perfection, attune to what's happening on your block, and think in heartbeats rather than lightning bolts. She shares her own breakthrough, knocking on a stranger's door with a measuring cup to borrow sugar and walking away with a standing invitation.
00:00 Welcome and Weekend Catch-Up
01:51 Today's Interview
02:58 Connected Cities Summit Update
07:11 August's Origin Story
11:44 Inside an Intentional Community
15:19 Building the Neighborhood Village Project
19:55 Three Steps to Start on Your Block
27:39 August's Vision for the Future
31:54 Reflection
34:55 Drumbeat of Community
39:51 Wrap and Gratitude
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The most creative artists in America right now aren’t in galleries. They’re in your neighborhood. How We Connected is a front-row seat to the social artists rebuilding human connection. Hear inspiring stories about roller skating crews, bad art clubs, jousting societies, city saunters, Georgian dinner parties, catch-playing challenges, midnight runners, and picnic societies. Hosted by Charlotte Massey and Aaron Hurst, co-founders of the US Chamber of Connection.
Aaron Hurst is the co-founder of the US Chamber of Connection. He’s a longtime entrepreneur focused on purpose and community. He founded Imperative and the Taproot Foundation and wrote The Purpose Economy. Charlotte Massey is the co-founder of the US Chamber of Connection and leads community programs nationally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and former organizer and founder, she works at the intersection of civic life and entrepreneurship.
Connect with Us
August Elliot, Co-Founder and Program Director, Neighborhood Village Project
August has spent more than a decade helping people build the community they wish they had. After civic organizing in Memphis, he's lived in intentional communities in Boulder for close to 15 years. With founder Savannah Kruger, he now runs the Neighborhood Village Project, a free six-month program that gives participants the guidance, accountability and peer support to turn their own streets into villages. Neighborhood stewards have built childcare networks, painted murals and cleared wildfire brush together in 171 neighborhoods across 10 countries. His advice for anyone starting out: ask for help as quickly as you can, because the second someone helps you, it's their neighborhood too.
Learn more: https://nvp.community
Heylo
Heylo is a community-management platform built for real-world groups of every kind, giving leaders a clean, branded home base to run events, manage members, communicate clearly, and handle payments without friction. It brings scheduling, RSVPs, waivers, announcements, topic-based chats, and membership tools into one place so clubs, teams, and interest groups can stay organized and connected without the noise of traditional social platforms.
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