Culture Building for Democracy

The following essay of this publication is made possible in part by support provided by 4Culture Heritage and Open4Culture Grants.

One of the through-lines that has emerged in my conversations with the folks I’ve interviewed so far for Seeds of Climate Justice is that what we did together here in Seattle when building the Equity & Environment Initiative was special for many reasons - but the reason people name the most?

The culture of the work itself.

Folks have shared how the vibe in the room from the jump felt different - it was leader-full. It allowed for trust-building. The relationships we cultivated have lasted over a decade. There was joy, camaraderie, shared values, and a bold vision.

It would be easy to say I came up with that playbook all on my own. The truth is that it’s simply that I applied the movement organizing playbook I learned from growing up hearing stories from and studying the civil rights, freedom, and justice movements in India, South Africa, and the USA, and later from my own experiences in environmental justice, workers’ rights, racial justice, and immigrant rights organizing and power building.

Successful organizing requires an orientation to culture. When we build with people, we create the cultural backing for long-term change. We help people see policy not as being done to us, but rather as being with and for us. And when people see themselves in the policy, and better yet, as co-creators in local government, we get NYC Mamdani vibes and durable wins.

I’ll share more about the specific ways we infused culture and narrative building for long-term wins in a future post, but today I’m delighted to share my conversation on some of these topics on the “How We Build This” podcast hosted by May Boeve, a longtime climate and movement leader.

As May put it - “It’s a funny, frank, and practical conversation about what happens in our cities when we change who decides.”

I hope you’ll check it out and join me here in the comments to share your thoughts, questions, and reactions.

I loved hearing May connect the dots to Mayor Mamdani’s approach to leadership. Mayor Mamdani understands that a key role he plays as a city leader is to be a cultural standard-bearer. His expertise in digital media and creating cultural moments helps him provide exactly this leadership.

Too often, people think it’s enough to simply replicate or champion a specific policy, but the more meaningful playbook is the one working upstream on the culture and narrative backing for change.

Leaders who want to build political will for their agendas understand that it takes more than the right policy position to do so. It takes people. It takes organizing. It takes relationships. And that’s the conversation May and I get into during our podcast conversation.

“The conversation lands on a powerful lesson for this moment: durable wins come from building with people from the start, practicing democracy locally, and creating the politics of possibility even in hard times.” - How We Build This

After you listen, let me know what you think in the comments. And, thank you to May Boeve for inviting me to be on the pod and for amplifying Seeds of Climate Justice and our approach to creating durable wins.

Here’s to building a just climate future together,

-S

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As a co-founder of the Equity & Environment Initiative, I’ve carried these stories for over a decade. I’ve watched people discover our region’s climate justice history and light up with possibility. I’ve seen organizers connect the dots between past innovations and current opportunities. I’ve heard the hunger in people’s voices when they ask: How did you do it? What can we learn?Here’s what I know:

🌀 Imagination is a strategy - especially when the national tide is going the wrong direction.
🌀 Power-building must accompany resourcing, or nothing truly shifts.
🌀 Visionary change is collective work. Audacious ideas need co-dreamers, bridge-builders, and people who persist through the ups and downs.

This is about heritage work. This is about movement building. This is the narrative work that expands what’s possible and reinvigorates our imagination.

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About Seeds of Climate Justice: This project is supported by 4Culture and developed in collaboration with the original leaders of the Equity & Environment Initiative and other climate justice leaders in King County. The initial posts will be freely accessible online as a public benefit of the 4Culture grant.