CCB: Welcome back to the ONEder Podcast, highlighting connections between people, culture, and human-centered design. Today we’re finding out if building community is really harder than assembling IKEA furniture. Spoiler alert, our guest makes it look really, really easy. Grab your allen wrench and get comfy. This episode is all about fitting together leadership, learning, place, and play. Joining me is Ashanti Bryant, Senior Program Officer at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Ashanti has spent his career advancing opportunities for children, families, and communities with a deep focus on equity and access. In his role, Ashanti not only oversees programs that support early childhood education, but he also embraces the broader practice of placemaking, thinking about how the spaces where we live, play, and learn can be powerful drivers of health, equity, and belonging.

CCB: We’re going to talk about Ashanti’s own journey as a leader, the work he’s doing right now at the Kellogg Foundation, and this really exciting idea of placemaking, how the places we live, learn, and gather in can shape connection, equity, and belonging. Ashanti has such a thoughtful perspective, and I know you’re going to walk away from this episode with a new way of thinking about the power of place. Let’s jump on in. Welcome, Ashanti. Okay, wait.

Ashanti Bryant: Thank you.

CCB: If building community really is like assembling IKEA furniture, what was the first piece, experience, lesson, or even surprising twist that set you on the path to leadership and brought you to your work at the Kellogg Foundation?

Ashanti Bryant: I think it started in my childhood, growing up in Detroit, Michigan, in the Midwest, in a really hardworking family with a group of five siblings. And being an older sibling, who, in the culture of our family, had to provide care, supervise, and manage younger siblings and cousins, and sometimes even neighbors’ children, in terms of just the dynamic of families working together to care for their children and keep them safe as parents were working or going about their everyday lives. And so I think those early days of growing up as an older sibling and being given responsibility—I’m of that generation that we would call and label those young people the “latchkey generation”—where you were given responsibility and even sometimes keys to your own home, to be able to get off of the school bus, get yourself into the house, get a meal, and get started on your homework until your parents or family or caregivers landed back at home from whatever work or responsibilities they had. Those were the early days of cultivation, of being attuned to leadership, managing other human beings towards a goal. And that really just continued for me throughout my education in Detroit Public Schools and then on to college, where I majored, interestingly, in elementary and early childhood education.

Ashanti Bryant: And so, again, African-American male—just under 2% of all teachers throughout the United States are Black males. So I believe that is all interconnected in terms of my journey of leadership and the incredible work that I get to do today.

CCB: Well, we’re going to definitely jump into all the amazing work that you get to do today. But I have one question that your intro just made me think of, and that is the idea of nature versus nurture. And the reason why I’m asking that question is I can imagine not all eldest kids with that set of responsibilities end up committing themselves to something so purposeful. So how would you answer that question?

Ashanti Bryant: That’s a good question. And I would just say that that would be accurate. I think, though, I believe in the power of nurture. And so I think there are human beings who come to the planet who have an aptitude towards leadership. But I also believe in leadership being the influence of other human beings. In that way, all of us influence, just by being present on the planet. I think leadership can be nurtured and cultivated, but that we need to broaden our definition of what leadership really is, right? Is it positional? Is it authority? Is it charisma? Or is it just the ability to influence other human beings toward a worldview or action? I believe in the power of nurture, and as an educator—again, an early childhood educator working with children from birth through age five—I have seen, in living human beings, the ability to nurture things that then come about in terms of the outcomes in the way that they live and learn.

CCB: I also am very empathetic to the description coming from a very large family, myself being number two but first girl, having the overseer responsibilities, the manager, and being able to look at and scan a situation and see things immediately. However, there’s that element that you’re talking about when you’re talking about nurturing leaders. There’s that element of expectation. In my experience, I have seen that it’s almost like we could use a Pied Piper-esque definition, but leaders who also have a set of expectations of the folks that they are nurturing into their growth. There is something there. How would you respond to that?

Ashanti Bryant: I think so. I think I agree. There is something there, and I think that something could be defined as vision or passion for a certain outcome or a certain dream—this internal driver toward a dream or vision of something that doesn’t currently exist. Some of us have that naturally; some can have it nurtured or ignited in us; and others carry the role of bringing about that dream or vision that may not directly come from us but who are the supporters, the helpers, toward bringing that vision about. I think that is what gives me hope as I consider the future of communities across our country—there will always be those who have vision and will see differently what life can be like for children and families, and then catalyze others to come alongside to bring that about.

CCB: Okay, that’s a perfect intro to the catalyzation of your current role. But help us understand the Kellogg Foundation, what your responsibilities are, and what led you to be the right person to have that role.

Ashanti Bryant: Well, thank you for that. I serve as Senior Program Officer at the W. K. Kellogg Foundation in Michigan, specifically on the Grand Rapids team—Grand Rapids being the second-largest city in our state. I have the opportunity to serve with three fantastic female leaders who are brilliant and bold and deeply committed to investing in opportunity and pathways for families—families being able to work and build wealth for their children—and also centering children in their education and care. Having gone through a global pandemic half a decade ago, we know childcare holds the world together. I and our team strategically invest in place and support partners to build a different reality for those communities that have historically faced disinvestment.

CCB: Okay, you just brought up something that we want to dive deeply into, but let me remind our listeners that the episode page will have this transcript, links to Ashanti and the Kellogg Foundation, and other references. You said the word “place.” We’re very interested in placemaking and how central that is to your work, given that One Workplace is committed to building the best places for people to do their best work. Take us to how place is central to your mission.

Ashanti Bryant: Absolutely. In my journey as an early childhood and elementary educator, I then moved into school administration. That was intentional—I left my classroom of 28 students to create environments for children to learn and be in community. Teachers are placemakers, crafting environments with whatever resources they have. Later, as an elementary principal, I opened new schools, again creating environments for learning. Beyond that, I worked in a nonprofit focused on place-based investment in Grand Rapids neighborhoods, and later with a community development financial institution directing early childhood services—providing capital, data, and research for childcare investments across ten Midwestern states.

That experience brought me to the Kellogg Foundation. I’ve seen communities—families in lower- to moderate-income neighborhoods—needing safe, inspiring environments for their children. Placemaking begins with listening to those who live in the place, trusting their visions, dreams, and solutions for how to meet their community’s needs. Our work is human-centered: meetings, picnics, barbecues, door-to-door conversations. It’s about building with people, not just for them.

CCB: Okay, you just make me so happy. I’ve got a big smile on my face from all the amazing work. This reminds me to ask what “quality” means when we’re talking about these investments and deep listening. How do we arrive at quality solutions?

Ashanti Bryant: I think we define quality as utilizing the ideas and values of the people in a community and understanding how physical spaces are informed by those ideas. All human beings need safe and healthy environments—access to natural light, clean air, colors that affect mood, opportunities for solitude and for social connection. Quality means following the community’s vision while incorporating these universal elements that support health, learning, and belonging.

CCB: Huzzah, I’m going to say. And if you ever need another job, I’m sure we could find one for you here at One Workplace. As you describe this, could you share an example of a placemaking initiative that really transformed how families and children experience their community?

Ashanti Bryant: Yes. One example connected to early childhood education: our team invested in home-based childcare providers on the southeast side of Grand Rapids to help them transform their homes into nurturing learning environments. These aren’t large centers but women—many African-American, African, and Latino—running small, home-based businesses. They provide care not only during the day but overnight for parents working shifts. We partnered with architects, designers, and local contractors to realize their vision, meeting all state licensing and quality standards while honoring their leadership. These are women-owned businesses growing their impact and serving more children safely in inspiring spaces.

CCB: Oh, my gosh. Ashanti, you keep answering questions before I can ask them! I was going to ask who all the collaborators are, but you’ve already covered that. So instead—how do these solutions get shared more broadly?

Ashanti Bryant: There are multiple ways. We should never minimize the power of storytelling, person to person. These childcare providers are the heartbeat of their neighborhoods—they know everyone, and they share information naturally. Beyond that, we intentionally invest in storytelling: photos, written narratives, presentations, partnerships with public media, platforms for providers to tell their own stories. What we did in Southeast Grand Rapids can be replicated in rural or suburban areas across the U.S. where home-based childcare is vital. Storytelling connects communities, helps others see possibilities, and builds shared learning.

CCB: So you’ve developed program templates, in a sense. How do you make change viral without losing the uniqueness of each community? Does the Kellogg Foundation share that kind of information?

Ashanti Bryant: Absolutely. We do. We have platforms like Every Child Thrives where we share stories of community investment—not to spotlight ourselves, but to elevate the work happening on the ground. We also partner with communications professionals and media outlets to help inform policy, attract further investment, and connect ecosystems within communities. Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do is convene people—across sectors, across silos—to learn from one another.

CCB: We’re enormously grateful to have this conversation and share it across our own networks. I’m wondering—given how broad and purposeful this work is—what advice would you offer to others working at the intersection of education, community, and social change?

Ashanti Bryant: I would say: understand and invest broadly. Investment isn’t just financial—it’s strategy, friendship, relationships, shared knowledge, and connections. We can scale our work by sharing stories so communities learn from one another. Each place can adapt proven models to its own needs. For funders and institutions, it’s crucial to listen and uplift these models. We can’t fund everything, but we can spotlight examples that inspire others. And we can use our convening power to bring people together—across political, racial, and socioeconomic lines. That’s where the magic happens: when we see our shared humanity and create solutions together.

CCB: Wow. The practical realities of community-based change are so clearly articulated by your work, Ashanti. We’re at the end of our time, which always comes too quickly. You get the last word. Is there anything you’d like to leave with our listeners?

Ashanti Bryant: I’d reinforce this: in placemaking, always consider the youngest human beings in our communities. What would they say about or need from what we’re creating? They’ll inherit our decisions. So let’s make places flexible and responsive for their future. And listen—really listen—to stories, dreams, and even pain. Listening shares power, and that power catalyzes new ideas. That’s what shapes the future of place in our communities and beyond.

CCB: Thank you very, very much, Ashanti, for joining us on The ONEder Podcast. The ONEder Podcast is available on all streaming services, where we continue to have astonishing conversations with incredible human beings creating better places. Thank you, Ashanti.

Ashanti Bryant: Thank you, I’m honored to be a guest.