One Billion (StartUp for Social Innovation)

We entered into this Season determined to find a way to navigate the phase change we're experiencing without losing sight of our mission and our values. After diving deeply into the hearts and minds of every member of the Civilla team we've landed on 3 core elements of our culture that must not change as we grow and evolve. But we know it's not that simple. Tune in...

Rachel has guided our audio voyage through two seasons of One Billion. In this episode our host transitions from being the interviewer to being the interviewee. She shares her own story of learning about design thinking, becoming a professional designer, and landing a place on the Civilla team. Amidst all the change going on in Civilla, Rachel's advice to the team is to share what's actually going on inside each of us.

While every member of the Civilla team has left fingerprints on the organization, Civilla would not exist without Michael Brennan. By title, he is our CEO, but his impact extends far beyond the four walls of the studio. His story helps us understand how Civilla grew from a seed of an idea to an organization rooted in values, real relationships, and deep work, and his reflections provide tangible advice we can all learn from.

Since childhood, Scott put all his eggs in one basket: he was going to be an artist. And no one or nothing could stop him. While today, he's living that dream at Civilla, he'll be the first to tell you the journey was all but direct. In this episode, Scott illustrates how his confidence, conviction, and open-mind have helped him to take the phase changes he's experienced in stride. And he encourages us all to do the same.

In this interlude, we go behind-the-scenes with 6 individuals who have a unique, but critically important perspective on the phase change we're navigating: over the last 3.5 years, they've each lent their time and talent to Civilla. As a result, they have a deep understanding of our culture. However, they also have an outside perspective on they change that's occurring - today, the live and work in cities and organizations around the world. Tune in to hear their provocative stories and powerful advice.  

What in an organization should stay constant amidst change? What should evolve? This week, we dive into these questions with the one and only: Gaby Dorantes. Since Civilla's early days, Gaby has helped to steward our mission into the world. And while she may describe herself as risk-averse, she took a leap of faith to join the team at a time when the organization's future was fuzzy at best. Tune in to hear how she's helping us stay focused on what matters most, while also challenging herself to grow.

This week, we dive deep into Rachael's journey of self-discovery. In her interview, she illustrates the power of investing in our whole selves, rather than just the people we are at work. Then, she challenges us to face a growing tension: the tension between our insatiable desire to grow as individuals, while also maintaining health as our top priority.

If you need help jump starting a project, Adam's your guy. However, this phase change is challenging him to think differently about how to leverage this superpower here at Civilla. In this episode we explore both the beauty of Adam's strength as an activator, and its shadows. He leaves us with a powerful point of view about how to create synergy between an organization's growth and the growth of its team members.

Meet Sam: a designer, a researcher, a policy maker, a data guru, and a project manager. His role at Civilla has grown exponentially since he joined the team full time. But he'll be the first to tell you that when he came to Civilla, he didn't have many of these skills. So how has he grown so quickly? Tune in to hear Sam's first hand account of his journey, and the lessons he's learned along the way.

This week, we hear from Lena Selzer, one of Civilla's founding team members. She walks us into the heart of her journey as the organization's Design Director: the ups, the downs, and the lessons she's learned along the way. She leaves us with a powerful provocation about how to step into the future without losing sight of what's important.

Here at Civilla, things are changing - quickly. And so, this season we’re bringing you right into the heart of that evolution - the fun, the pain, and the fear. Our goal? To determine how to grow our impact without compromising our culture or our belief system. www.civilla.com

In this interlude, we hear from Paul Seibert, the designer who gifted Civilla with it's name. Listen in to hear the story and learn from his process. www.civilla.com

This is the season 3 finale! Lena, Adam, and Michael all join in to share their conclusion after 10 podcast episodes about how change actually happens in the world. www.civilla.com

Meet Leon Stevenson. He'll share the story of how the Mack Avenue Community Church came to be. Learn more about the role of unwavering personal commitment in the pursuit of social justice. www.civilla.com

Meet Lena and Michael, two Civilla teammates with a point of view on our previous podcast episode and guest Amy Kaherl. Tune in to hear their thoughts about giving oneself permission to take care of your own needs as a leader. www.civilla.com

Meet Amy Kaherl. She'll share some of the story of how Detroit Soup came to be and where the journey has taken her. Learn more about the toll change work can take on the individual and at least one strategy for addressing it (it involves a week of solitude in the desert). www.civilla.com

Meet Michael Arena, the Chief Talent Officer at General Motors. He's spent much of his life passionately exploring how to lead change inside large complex organizations during which he's learned a thing or two. www.civilla.com

Meet Bryan Boyer, a true pioneer in the application of design to large government systems. He'll share incredible stories about his experiences traveling the globe and helping launch the esteemed Helsinki Design Lab. This is an episode you won't want to skip. www.civilla.com

Meet Rachael, a Civilla design researcher with a very relevant point of view on our previous guest, LanVy Nguyen. Tune in to hear her reactions to the interview and episode. www.civilla.com

Meet LanVy Nguyen - the founder of Fashion4Freedom, a social enterprise that aims to transform establish a sustainable, ethical, supply chain featuring the work of some incredible artisans. Hear her incredible story and learn from her perspective on how change actually happens.

Meet Taavi Kotka - the Chief Information Officer of Estonia (the former Soviet nation that borders Russia). Taavi helped lead Estonia's digital transformation to become the world's first e-government. He has an amazing story and a bold perspective on how change happens. www.civilla.com

Listen in as we discuss THE biggest problem in the world. Literally. Institutions are the entities with the greatest impact on our lives that are simultaneously the hardest to change! Fear not: we're going to figure out what the equation for removing friction and restoring humanity across the world's largest and most complex organizations. www.civilla.com

Meet Rachel. In just 10 weeks she's leaving to bike across the U.S.A. Before leaving she has decided to answer one extremely difficult question: how does change actually happen? She's going to chronicle her adventure from the Civilla podcast studio so you can follow along! Hang onto your hats, this is going to be an action packed season of One Billion, the behind the scenes podcast about the way change happens. www.civilla.com

In this final interlude from Season 1 we hear the entire Civilla team read the feedback they received from applying to the Macarthur Foundation's 100&Change grant. www.civilla.com

In the eighteenth episode of One Billion we listen as the Independent Sector executive leadership team responds to the user research work their team has conducted. We hear what excited them and what scared them. And then we hear the answer to the question: did the time at Civilla change your life? www.civilla.com

In this seventeenth episode of One Billion we meet the CEO of Independent Sector Dan Cardinali. He and his team made the choice to send 4 key staff members to Civilla for a month which leaves us asking: Why? As it turns out, he has a fantastic answer. http://www.civilla.com

In this sixteenth episode of One Billion we prepare for the inevitable conclusion of our time with the Independent Sector crew. It turns out that design work is a roller coaster but by constructing an immersive story and painting a bold vision of the future maybe just maybe they'll be able to influence their leadership to lean into the work. www.civilla.com

In this special interlude we field questions from the folks back home. Tune in as the visiting team responds to question after question from the mothership. www.civilla.com

In this fifteenth episode of One Billion we dive into the topic of design research synthesis. We learn what a difference deep synthesis makes in drawing meaning from your user interviews. The work concludes in a design review where the team gets feedback. The result of this work has started posing fundamental questions about the relationship between the conference and Independent Sector's mission. www.civilla.com

In this fourteenth episode, the Independent Sector team conducts its first user interviews and starts working in a new way (it doesn't really feel like work). Life may never be the same. Tune in to learn about the pursuit of a different set of work inputs rooted in human-centered design methodology.  www.civilla.com

Listen to the adventure of four leaders from Washington D.C. as they head to Civilla, a design studio dedicated to changework. Learn about the role of Immersions in readying learners to take on a beginners mindset. Isn't it possible that they are confronting the same types of challenges that are resident in your organization too? www.civilla.com

Welcome to Season Two (in which we learn whether or not our podcast was a one hit wonder)! Tune in to discover why we don't do workshops but will gladly invest four weeks into the personal growth of a small delegation coming to stay with us in Detroit for a month. www.civilla.com

In this interlude, we learn that we've passed the administrative review for the MacArthur 100&Change $100mm Grant. Turns out the Civilla application beat out 1100 other candidates and is now in the bottom 800. www.civilla.com/onebillion

In this interlude, we wait to hear back on the status of our $100 million grant application to the MacArthur Foundation. In the meantime we discuss the music that was written and recorded for One Billion and unpack what it means for people to bring their whole self to their work. www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is One Billion's final full episode in Season One. We reflect on the experience of starting a podcast, assembling a $100 million idea, and share out our actual application. A major thank you to all who have contributed their voice to our podcast. Wait, just wait, till you see what we have in store for One Billion, Season Two. www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the tenth episode of the podcast: One Billion. In it we share out each step of our effort to create a short video pitch as part of our MacArthur 100&Change application. www.civilla.com/onebillion

In this interlude we share out where the name One Billion came from...cuz people have been asking. www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the ninth episode of the podcast: One Billion. We hear from Mr. Ken Whipple, former CEO of Ford Europe, Former CEO of Consumers Energy, and Board Chair of Civilla. He tells stories of meeting President Truman, drinks with Margaret Thatcher, $150 Billion loans, and why it is that he wouldn't place a $100mm bet on Civilla. Sorta. www.civilla.com/onebillion

When we sat down with Civilla's Board Chair Mr. Ken Whipple we didn't expect to learn his 3 ingredient recipe for success. Now we'd like to share that with the world. - Integrity: if you don't want your mom to read about it in the paper, don't do it. - Intensity: what would I have to do to really take this up a couple of levels? - Do what you said you were gonna do: every single time. www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the eighth episode of the podcast: One Billion. We look at the challenge of providing public benefits through a third perspective: the caseworker. And so the story barrels on forward... www.civilla.com/onebillion

We've got some good news - the pilot for Civilla's marquee initiative Project re:Form gets early funding! www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the seventh episode of the podcast: One Billion (StartUp for Social Innovation), a behind-the-scenes look at how change happens. In it we discuss tiny teams on the fringe who are able to make the impossible happen.  Greg Gorshman from Ad Hoc tells his teams' story uprighting healthcare.gov www.civilla.com/onebillion

Follow along with the tiny team that could as they pull out all the stops to promote One Billion. Top 5 marketing tips and tricks that you won't read about anywhere! http://www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the sixth episode of the podcast: One Billion. We work our way through questions related to evidence of effectiveness, risk mitigation, and evaluation in our pursuit to poke the universe.

In this first Interlude Michael Brennan shares out where the name 'Civilla' came from. http://www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the fifth episode of the podcast: One Billion. In it we work to frame up the challenge of providing high quality public benefits through the lens of Tim Becker, Chief Deputy Directory of MDHHS. It's a behind the scenes peek into the challenge of leading a complex government agency. www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the fourth episode of the podcast: One Billion. We frame the problem we are trying to solve by meeting Dr. LaTina Denson, an amazing woman who had to engage the public benefit system after having a life-changing stroke. www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the third episode of the podcast: One Billion. We try to assemble our team for an idea that doesn't yet exist by making 3 phone calls. Couldn't get through to Michelle Obama. www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the second episode of One Billion. In the show we start to develop the executive summary for an idea that doesn't quite exist yet. www.civilla.com/onebillion

This is the first episode of the podcast: One Billion. In the show we meet the entrepreneurs who founded Civilla (a center for social innovation based in Detroit) as they set out on a journey of raising $100mm www.civilla.com/onebillion