Catalyst Pioneers Meeting

Catalyst Pioneers is a group for catalysts, change makers, paradigm shifters, innovators, out-of-the-box thinkers, and social entrepreneurs. We are about finding solutions to relevant social problems both locally and globally. 

Come to our next Catalyst Pioneers meetup gathering on Tuesday, Sept. 27th from 7-9pm at the Catalyst Space! $5 suggested donation to contribute to the use of space. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Our goal is to inspire each other, offer support, share ideas & resources, and collaborate. 

Click here to read more!

Where Good Ideas Come From

Translating Your Vision

I've got a vision. It's big, I suppose. I just want to help change our world. That could happen, right? Sure it could. I believe that. I believe it because it's a vision that requires others - a lot of others - to own. The key for me, and for all of us who are catalysts in our communities, is to take the things we are seeing in our vision and translate it into something people can understand and get excited about.

I've found that we've got to be patient with ourselves. It's hard when we're at that stage of seeing it but still trying to figure out how to tell people just exactly what it is we're seeing. They've got questions. They want to know details. They want to know how it's going to happen and all we want them to do is trust us on it even though we don't have those details - yet. But we can't just say "trust me" when we want them to own a piece of it. We want them to journey with us towards making the vision a reality so at some point, we do need to offer details.

So if you've got a really hot idea for something, first chew on it. Take some time to see more of it. For me, I know it comes in waves or pieces. I might have some kind of inspiration for something we can do to really help our community but I won't see the whole picture right away. If I invest some time thinking about it more and more, I'll find that the picture starts to become more clear for me.

Next, take some time to sketch it out on paper. For me, I can think about it forever, and it'll drive me crazy until I can write it out. I've got to get it out of my head. When I can see it on paper, even if it's sketched out on scratch paper, it's a way to get it into the physical world. Try starting with some key ideas and just write some bullet points. Or sometimes it helps to diagram a flow chart. Or it even helps to just write everything down without any organization or pattern or method. Just get it out of your head and on to paper. Once I do this, I find that I stare at this paper forever but it helps me to have more clarity about the idea, picture, or vision for good. Then I can start to organize the thoughts I've written down.

Once I've got a basic sense for what it is that I'm seeing could be done in our community, it helps to run it by some trusted people. I'm a verbal processor. And i've got a small handful of people that I can bounce ideas off of. I don't need to have all the details fully laid out. But it's good to see some initial reaction from trusted friends that won't abuse you by trashing your idea before it has a chance to be birthed. Talk through your ideas and your vision with someone and listen to their feedback. Listen to their questions. They'll naturally ask about certain details and that tells you which aspects of the vision you haven't addressed sufficiently yet. Feedback is always good! Just get it from people you trust.

After getting some initial feedback, work out some details and then try to articulate the vision into words. Form a vision statement. Keep it short, concise, and inspiring. When you can articulate your vision in one or two sentences while painting a picture of what could be - then you're well on your way to being able to cast vision in others, inspire them to own some of it and team up with you to make it happen.

When you're ready to share your vision, talk with key players who you feel your vision would resonate with. Who's someone you'd want on the team? Who could see and grasp this vision? Now that you can see the vision, your task now is to translate what you've seen into a way that others can receive and see it too.

As community catalysts and visionaries, we are artists and creators. We see something in our head and like the artist, we make it a reality by translating it into the physical world. We create the picture. We create the music. We create the movement. The community is our canvas! Our visions and ideas are not for us to hold but rather pictures for us to translate so that a community can own it. That's what we want - a community-owned vision!

The vision-casting process is so exciting! If you have some ideas for impacting the community in an awesome way and would like some assistance with getting started, let me know! Contact me here and I'd love to hear your idea. If I can help, I'm happy to!

Hope that helps, friends.

Connect and Affect!

Eric Leocadio
Founder/Executive Director
Catalyst Network of Communities

The Resilience of Young Artists

Resilience. The ability to bounce back. It's a quality that most successful people need because recovering from challenge or hardship or unexpected change is necessary to fulfill a worthwhile goal.

Last night, I watched some of the amazing young new artists from Urban Rhythm (a new show choir we launched this past summer) demonstrate that ability for resilience. In the face of disappointment, it's a choice to move forward, past former expectations, and towards the continued hope for being part of an amazing experience.

What is it that you are bouncing back from?

As a catalyst in the community, it's kinda normal to have your expectations unmet. It's the reality of working with people and trying to inspire, organize and mobilize towards anything. We're not dictators and we don't have employees, per se. Rather, we cast vision for what could be and hope that people begin to see the same thing. And better yet, that they would choose to walk towards that vision too. But at the end of the day, we can't make anyone do anything.

The key is being flexible. We've got to have that ability to adapt - to adjust our strategy, our approach. Keep the vision and the goal, for sure, but we need to get up and press on especially when it feels like we've been knocked down. That doesn't mean stay stubborn! It's okay to do some honest assessment to figure out what knocked us down in the first place. But learning from our mistakes, or even the mistakes of others contributes to the realization of the goal.

That's what I love about young artists. When they get knocked down, they don't turn away from their art. They turn towards their art. It becomes the outlet of their passions and frustrations. For catalysts, bringing community together is our art. And sometimes, when we get frustrated with individuals we might want to give up on community. Instead, we need to press in. We need to trust that building community - well, that's the point. We set aside the fact that some people or organizations will act like silos and we invest our energies with those who do share that common value for community.

It's this resilience that will help us to catalyze our communities to connect, and then stay connected!

Hope that helps, my friends.

Connect and affect!

Eric Leocadio
Founder/Executive Director
Catalyst Network of Communities

Identifying Your Issue

When I was 14 years old, I survived suicide. It was a crazy confusing time in my life and I felt alone. I thank God that I survived because life got better. Not easier. Just better. 

We can sometimes feel helpless when we observe things or events in our community that trouble us. We may hear news of suicides among youth across the nation. We may walk past the person in need just outside the grocery store hoping for some change or a carton of milk. We may learn of a death in the family of a neighbor. We may see the seemingly endless trash and styrofoam littered across the beach.

These things can make us frustrated and angry or sad and hopeless. As a catalyst for change in our communities, we should ask ourselves:

What can I do about it?
What can we do about it?

An important step towards creating a productive impact in our communities is making that shift from identifying a problem to articulating the issue. What's the real issue at hand? What's the root of the problem? This requires a reframing of the lens we're using when we look at our community. It's not simply about seeing the problems in our community and complaining about them with any friend or person who will listen. It's about looking at our community through the lens of ownership - I see something I don't like, I need to do something to change it for the better.

So the real issue may be youth empowerment, hungry families, neighborhood engagement, or clean beaches. What's the real issue you're concerned about? This is a way of beginning to develop a plan for impact. Because once you can identify a problem and then articulate the issue, you can then develop a vision for what you want. This vision is the solution. And this solution should include an actionable plan that can include the involvement of others.

In developing your plan, consider the scale, scope, and resources available and needed. What are your measurable objectives? Be specific. How large or small do you want your project to be? Are you wanting to keep this local or do you want this to be a national organization? Is this a one time event or do we need ongoing actions? Who can help? Who is currently on your team and who needs to be on your team? Are there specific jobs that need to be assigned? Do you need to raise funds? Do you need equipment? Most importantly, what's your timeline? What kind of time constraints do you have?

With most any plan, you need to rally people to join you in your effort. So a good way to get people involved in your cause is to keep your issue rooted in common values. Then connect those values to the way you tell people about your cause. For example, you too are concerned about the suicides among young people and we share a value for helping our youth feel loved, confident, and safe. So let's together get as many people and organizations as we can to hold a community rally for the youth.

What ever your issue may be, remember that you may encounter resistance. There may be people who just may not respond to your call for participation. Remember that resistance is an opportunity to create a better strategy or it's simply feedback that you just haven't found the values that resonate with people. Find the value they care about, and you'll make that connection.

If you'd like further tips, advice or support for catalyzing your community around a particular issue, contact us here and we'll see how we can assist.

Good luck and keep being a catalyst. Connect and affect!

Eric Leocadio
Founder/Executive Director
Catalyst Network of Communities

Note: some of these tips were taken from a workshop conducted by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force on "Barriers, Resistance, and Conflict" at the Believe Out Loud Power Summit conference this past weekend in Orlando, Florida organized by the Institute for Welcoming Resources.