How To Citizen with Baratunde

You’ve been told a story. That humans are selfish. That we don’t care. That we’re just consumers watching the world burn. But that’s a lie. And we’ve seen the proof. In our Week of Citizening, we found 8 stories from across the U.S. — across sectors, communities, and divides — where people are coming together to make life better, together. See them all at the link in bio. The story is everywhere. It’s happening in libraries, tech hubs, small towns, and fire-stricken neighborhoods. It’s happening in real politics, real businesses, and real lives. It’s what humans do — when given the chance. 🌎 We believe it’s time to tell a bigger, truer story about who we are. 💥 We’re just getting started — and we need you with us. 👉🏽 Sign up at stories.howtocitizen.com to get all 8 films + hear what’s next. Let’s tell this story. Let’s be this story. #HowToCitizen #CitizenStory #WeekOfCitizening #NewStoryOfUs #CitizensNotConsumers #HumanNature 🎥 Video produced by @chilli.app This series of #HowWeCitizen stories has been a collaboration between @thecitizensguy @howtocitizen @baratunde , Shira Abramowitz, and Elizabeth Stewart. These stories made possible by support from @popcollab

There is a model for how we rebuild and heal after the human-made disaster being inflicted on the USA right now. Welcome to @DenaHeals —a mutual aid marketplace and wellness center born in the aftermath of the Eaton Fire in Altadena. This is our final story (for now) in the #WeekOfCitizening. Join our mailing list and share the stories you’re seeing. stories.howtocitizen.com (or link in bio) When the 💩 hits the fan, we are told people become selfish and look after themselves alone. Every disaster ever proves otherwise including after the most devastating fire to hit Los Angeles. Something extraordinary took root. Not fear. Not isolation. But care for each other. Rebecca Solnit said it well: “When all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up—not all, but the great preponderance—to become their brothers’ keepers. And that purposefulness and connectedness brings joy even amidst death, chaos, fear and loss.” Rooted in Indigenous wisdom and the Black Panther 10-Point Program, Dena Heals is a blueprint for what happens when we lead with love, show up for each other, and practice power together. They’ve supported 3,500+ people from over 500 families. This is what it looks like to citizen in the midst of disaster. Not with despair—but with collective action, healing, and hope. We saved this story for last in our #WeekOfCitizening series because it reflects all the pillars of How to Citizen: 🌱 Show up & participate ⚡ Understand power 🤝 Commit to the collective ❤️ Invest in relationships (including nature) This is how we rise. This is how we rebuild. This is #howwecitizen. Happy #EarthDay 📍who else is transforming crisis into care? Tag them below. Like this? Join our email list: (or link in bio) 🎥 Video produced by @revolveimpact . This series of #HowWeCitizen stories has been a collaboration between @thecitizensguy @howtocitizen @baratunde , Shira Abramowitz, and Elizabeth Stewart. These stories made possible by support from @popcollab

In a world being ripped apart, how do you make bringing people together truly count? Welcome to SeaCHANGE. A multiracial, multi-everything gathering co-created by artists like Najee Brown, Beth Tener, and Robert Sapiro. In a time of disconnection, they’re showing us a better way to come together. Instead of endless panels and rigid schedules, SeaCHANGE centers movement, art, and human warmth. It’s a conference that opens with dance. That weaves creativity into every corner. That makes space for belonging—especially for artists of color. It doesn’t just talk about change. It embodies it. This is what it looks like TO CITIZEN: 🎨 Use creativity to bridge divides 🧠 Design gatherings for meaning, not just agendas 🕺🏽 Move together to move forward with trust, joy, and belonging In a time of division, intentional gathering is resistance. 📍 Know a person, space, group, or event that reimagines how we come together? Tag them below 👇🏾 🎥 Video produced by @TessNovotnoy 🧭 More stories: [link in bio] or stories.howtocitizen.com These stories made possible by support from @popcollab #HowWeCitizen #SeaCHANGE #ArtofGathering #CitizenAsAVerb #Creativity #HowToCitizen #CitizensNotConsumers #seacoast #maine

Are you tired of limited political choices? So are the people of West Virginia. But instead of waiting for someone else to fix it, they decided to fix it themselves. Sign up at (link in bio) Meet @rosemaryketchum and the movement behind West Virginia Can’t Wait (@wvcantwait ). It’s political innovation straight outta Appalachia — powered by a deep love of place by people who never thought they’d run for office. In a state often dismissed as too red, too rural, or too far gone, a coalition of everyday folks is proving that democracy isn’t broken — it’s just been left in the wrong hands. This is what it looks like to citizen: 📍Turn frustration into fire 📍Turn neighbors into candidates 📍Turn small towns into big ideas Watch now, then head to to sign up for more (link in bio) 🎥 Produced by @tessnovotnoy . This story is part of a #WeekOfCitizening sprint, a collaboration between @thecitizensguy , @baratunde , and @howtocitizen . These stories made possible by support from @popcollab #HowToCitizen #WestVirginiaCantWait #WVCantWait #WeekOfCitizening #Appalachia #RunForSomething #CitizensNotConsumers #CitizenAsAVerb #RosemaryKetchum

💥 Since 2018, one initiative born out of @ChiHackNight has helped unlock over $2 BILLION in food benefits for people across the U.S. Yeah. *Billion.* In an era of DOGE and digital distrust, it’s easy to think tech is just tearing things down. But in Chicago, it’s doing the opposite—building things up by involving ALL the people. Sign up for more of these at stories.howtocitizen.com (link in bio) At @chihacknight , technologists, designers, policy nerds, and everyday residents come together to make their city better. Projects like @mRelief , a woman-led group of technologists, prove the power of this type of collaboration. This is what citizening looks like: 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 People-powered innovation 🏙️ Tech rooted in place 💡 Making tools *with* communities, not just for them Know another story of people using tech to make things better in their community? Tag ‘em in the comments ⬇️ 📬 Want more stories like this? Sign up: stories.howtocitizen.com (link in bio) 🎥 Produced by @anneguttridge This story is part of a #WeekOfCitizening sprint, a collaboration between @thecitizensguy , @baratunde , and @howtocitizen . These stories made possible by support from @popcollab #HowWeCitizen #ChiHackNight #PeoplePower #CitizenAsAVerb #TechForGood #CivicTech #Leadership #CitizensNotConsumers #chicago

🛑 What if helping people started with *listening* to them? Today’s #HowWeCitizen story comes from Lexington, KY, where @sbslex works with young single mothers aged 12–24 — *not* by telling them what they need, but by asking. For more stories like this: (link in bio) “They all left with a sense of empowerment. We asked for this, it got done. And now we’re walking out with knowledge.” — Tanya Torp, Executive Director, Step by Step. These moms didn’t just receive services. They shaped them and led the way. As @thecitizensguy says, “People need to be needed.” We all want to participate in and shape our story. And people who seem to have the least often have the most to offer. This moment is about unleashing that brilliance. This is what it looks like when we move at the *speed of trust* and practice power together. 👉 Know an org that starts by LISTENING to community? Tag them below. 🎥 Video produced by Alexa Lim 📰 More stories like this: (link in bio) This story is part of a #WeekOfCitizening sprint, a collaboration between @thecitizensguy , @baratunde , and @howtocitizen . These stories made possible by support from @popcollab #HowToCitizen #MutualAid #Narcan #LexingtonKY #PeoplePower #CitizenAsAVerb  #HowToCitizen #CitizensNotConsumers #Leadership

We’re told America is divided. Just look at the national headlines or scroll your feed. But zoom in to the community level—like a school board in South Central Pennsylvania—and you’ll find something else. You’ll find Steph and Lance. A conservative and a liberal. Neighbors. School board members. People who were expected to toe their respective party lines, but with the help of Urban Rural Action (@URAction ) chose something braver: relationship. Instead of leaning into division, they leaned into curiosity. Instead of demonizing each other, they built trust. Not because it was easy, but because the kids in their district deserved a functioning school board. This is what it looks like TO CITIZEN: 👂 Listen deeply. 💬 Speak honestly. 🤝 Resist the pull to polarize. 🌱 Build something different—together. Because when we invest in relationships, division doesn’t stand a chance. 📣 We want to hear from you: Know someone or some group working across differences in their community? Tag them below 👇🏾 🎥 Video produced by @AnneGuttridge 🧭 Want more stories like this? Join us at stories.howtocitizen.com (link in bio) This story is part of a #WeekOfCitizening sprint, a collaboration between @thecitizensguy , @baratunde , and @howtocitizen . These stories made possible by support from @popcollab #HowWeCitizen #SchoolBoard #BridgeBuilders #BetterTogether #CitizenAsAVerb #HowToCitizen #CitizensNotConsumers #Leadership

Even layoffs can be done differently. (Also happy tax day there is no correlation between this talk of layoffs and recent government action). When tough times hit, most leaders feel they have to go it alone. But what if the hardest decisions are actually best made together? Meet Kate Sassy (@katesassy ) who helped an organization face layoffs with consent. The team co-created the solution. They shared the burden. They kept humanity intact. ✨ It’s easy to see a participatory approach as a “nice to have” but this story proves that “citizening” isn’t just for sunshine moments — it’s for stormy ones too. 📣 We want to hear from you: Have you seen or been part of a big decision made WITH people, not FOR them — especially when things got hard? Share in the comments and tag those involved. 👉 Visit or the link in bio to sign up and get more of these drops all week long. This story is part of a #WeekOfCitizening sprint, a collaboration between @thecitizensguy , @baratunde , and @howtocitizen . Video produced by @tessnovotnoy These stories made possible by support from @popcollab

What if every library in the world was a hub for citizening—a space where people could come together, tell their own stories, and build new ones? It’s already happening. And @cossittlibrary (part of the @memphislibrary ) system in downtown Memphis is leading the way. 🎙️ Meet @enaesco — Innovator-in-Residence for podcast programming. In a city that’s majority Black and shaped by deep economic challenges, Ena is turning a traditional library into a platform for power. Inside this public library you’ll find: 📸 A podcast studio 🎥 A video + photo lab 🎭 A performance space All free. All open to the public. “We live in an era where a lot of people are being silenced. I’m proud to mentor folks and watch them realize: they can say what they truly want to say.” — Ena Esco This is what it looks like to practice power. To citizen. 💡 Know a library or organization making space for storytelling, innovation, and community? Tag them in the comments! 🔗 Want more stories like this? Visit stories.howtocitizen.com or click the link in bio. 🎥 Video produced by @tessnovotnoy This is part of the #WeekOfCitizening stories jointly amplified by @howtocitizen @thecitizensguy and @baratunde These stories made possible by support from @popcollab

What if democracy isn’t something you have—but something you do? We’ve seen the power of that idea. So now, we’re teaming up to share stories of people across the U.S. who are showing us how to citizen—not with slogans or speeches, but with real action, care, and community. For one week, we’re dropping a new story every day. Real people. Real solutions. Real democracy in motion. 🌱 Follow @howtocitizen @thecitizensguy @baratunde 📩 Sign up at stories.howtocitizen.com you don’t miss a story: link in bio 📲 Comment, share, send to your people 📣 Tag someone doing this work 🙏🏾 Help us prove there’s demand for this kind of storytelling The stories are already out there. Let’s make sure the world sees them. These stories made possible by support from @popcollab #citizenisaverb #howwecitizen #howtocitizen #storytellingforchange #communitypower #democracy #citizensnotconsumers

We the people… got work to do. And joy to spread. The way out of this polycrisis isn’t more fear—it’s more imagination, more connection, and a bigger “we.” That’s what I shared at @bioneers and what we’re building with How To Citizen. In this clip, I break down the four principles of how to citizen—as a verb—and remind us of the power of story. Because the stories we tell shape the world we build. 🎥 Starting Monday, we’re dropping a new story every day for our #HowWeCitizen Story Sprint—real people, real action, real interdependence. Today’s post is a taste. Stay tuned for more from @howtocitizen and @thecitizensguy 👆🏾 Hit the link in bio for the full Bioneers keynote. Let’s citizen like we mean it.

Back in September last year I hosted @baratunde at @theconduitlondon to discuss the @howtocitizen project, as part of the “Adventures in Democracy” series I host there Towards the end he dropped this - which I reckon is the single most compelling articulation of what’s going on in the world right now, and what we need to do as a result I’m on my way to spend some time with Baratunde and his brilliant wife Elizabeth to make some plans as to what we might do next with the HTC concept Watch this space 👀 #citizens