Reimagining Us
With Nichole Argo & Scott Hutcheson
“Reimagining Us”
With Nichole Argo & Scott Hutcheson
Produced By Next Chapter Podcasts
ABOUT Dr. Nichole Argo
Dr. Nichole Argo Is a Social Psychologist Who Works at the Intersection of Science and Practice.
She is currently the Founder and Executive Director of TogetherUp, a nonprofit that leverages the science of social and behavioral psychology to support nonprofits, philanthropy, municipalities, and private companies with research, diagnostic tools, design strategies, and impact frameworks for building cultures of belonging and innovative local models of democracy
She also founded and co-directs a diverse community leadership assembly, the Needham Resilience Network, designed to bridge silos, tool leaders in skills to communicate across difference, and co-create solutions to local problems. Dr. Argo has recently authored or co-authored: The Belonging Barometer: The State of Belonging in the US, The Science of Polarization and Insights for Bridge Building, and several essays on how to communicate across differences in the midst of sacred values. She is published in leading political science and psychology journals and appears occasionally on major radio and TV networks. Dr. Argo holds degrees from Stanford, MIT, and the New School for Social Research. 
ABOUT Scott Hutcheson
Scott Hutcheson Is the Executive Director of E Pluribus Unum, a Non-partisian Organization That Focuses on Advancing Equity Across the American South.
Hutcheson previously served as Deputy Chief Administrative Officer and Director of Cultural Economy for the City of New Orleans. Prior to that he served as the State of Louisiana Assistant Secretary of Culture Development and founding Executive Director of the Louisiana Cultural Economy Foundation. He resides in New Orleans.
Description
Throughout America, Our Neighborhoods and Local Communities Find Themselves at an Unprecedented Moment.
Pundits and political leaders roil us in narratives of toxic polarization, and the country is in democratic decline. In many places, our communities are marked by mistrust, fear of or inability to engage neighbors across differences, and loneliness & isolation.
What can make us resilient? The answer is easy but profound: Each other. Our communities thrive when they are places of belonging for all. It’s time to rebuild the “we” - a bigger sense of “we” than what we see around us today. And no moment could be more critical to do this than now: Regardless who emerges victorious in November, half the country will feel left behind, or worse, betrayed. Local communities are the life force of democracy, but belonging doesn’t just happen by default. The way for folks to begin to imagine a feasible/fair future is to begin to experience themselves as mattering, as belonging in their communities, now – in their families, their neighborhoods, their grocery stores, their town halls, in all aspects of their daily lives.
And we’re not talking about being “nice” or polite. We–all of us— need to design our lives and communities for belonging, to be intentional about how we show up, and how we create spaces for others to show up—both through our interactions and the structures and systems we put in place. And we need to start at home, in our communities.Welcome to reimagining us podcast
Hosted by Nichole Argo, the Founder and Executive Director of the TogetherUp Institute
& Scott Hutcheson, Executive Director of E Pluribus Unum
Produced by Next Chapter Podcasts