Community Rolodex: Where We Are Now

Brave + Humble Ambition

I still have moments where I cannot quite believe I am saying this, but Community Rolodex is getting close to soft launch. For a long time, this project lived mostly in notes, spreadsheets, conversations, drafts, and a lot of questions. Now, it is beginning to feel much more real. The board is starting to take shape, the website is nearly finished, our forms and program information are being refined, and we are beginning to think more seriously about volunteers, outreach, physical space, and what it will actually look like to introduce Community Rolodex to the community in a more visible way.

There is still work to do, and I do not want to rush that work simply because I am excited. But I am excited. Soft launch no longer feels like a distant idea. It feels like something we are actively moving toward, and that has made me think a lot about the kind of organization I want Community Rolodex to become and the kind of leadership I hope helps shape it.

Two ideas I keep coming back to are bravery and humble ambition. Brené Brown has written about the idea that who we are is how we lead, and that has stayed with me. As our board begins to form, I have not only been thinking about professional backgrounds, titles, or experience. I have been thinking about alignment. I want people around the table who value collaboration, who are willing to ask thoughtful questions, who can look at systems while still seeing the person inside them, and who understand that strong leadership does not mean always having the answer.

I also keep thinking about Adam Grant's work around rethinking, curiosity, and confident humility. I appreciate the idea that we can believe deeply in a vision while still remaining open to learning from other people. That feels especially important right now because I have big hopes for Community Rolodex, but I do not want those hopes to turn into the assumption that we need to create everything ourselves.

There are already incredible leaders and organizations in this area doing meaningful work. Some have been serving people for years or decades. Some have built programs I admire. Some seem to have a deep understanding of their corner of the community, and I think there is a great deal of value in simply paying attention to that. I want us to notice what strong organizations do well, how respected leaders build trust, how they communicate, how they create access, and how they respond when people face barriers.

I think observation is part of leadership too. Sometimes we do not need to reinvent something. Sometimes we need to look around, recognize excellence, ask questions, and be willing to learn from people who have more experience. That is part of what humble ambition means to me. It is possible to have big goals and still remain teachable. It is possible to want Community Rolodex to grow while also recognizing that the community already holds a tremendous