I’m Jennifer Brandel.

Here are some answers (in progress) to questions I couldn’t let go:

2023-current

• Q: Could a newly discovered system in the body (the interstitium) provide the metaphor for what’s been missing in our mental models and economy and someday advance societal health?

  • A: TBD! But you can:

    • Learn about the science of it at Radiolab.

    • Read my sketch of thoughts at Orion Magazine.

    • And take this survey if you're interested in being in conversation about this!

2015-current

• Q: Could helping top-down institutions better listen and respond to the people they serve improve outcomes for all involved?

  • A: Yes. See: Hearken

2019-current

• Q: Could centering elections coverage on what the electorate wants politicians to be talking about as they compete for votes increase trust in journalism and efficacy of political reporting?

  • A: Yes. See: The Citizens Agenda

2020-current

• Q: Do journalists have the support and training they need to adequately meet the needs of a polarized public in their elections coverage?

  • A: No. Enter Election SOS

2022-ongoing

• Q: What kind of proactive and reactive support is needed to help newsrooms shift their reporting paradigms to meet this moment and context of a fragile democracy?

  • A - Proactive: Democracy SOS (now called Advancing Democracy)

  • A - Reactive: The Democracy Toolkit, Democracy Day

2012-ongoing

• Q: Could flipping the model of journalism on its head so that the public has a say in what reporting is created expand the democratic imagination and improve outcomes for all involved?

• A: Yes. See: WBEZ’s Curious City

2016-current

• Q: If venture capital isn’t a fit for the values-based companies and founders we need for the future, what is needed to replace it?

  • A: Zebras Unite - creating the culture, capital and community for the next economy

• Q I never could have dreamed to ask: Could a government adopt the principles of zebras unite into their economic strategy?

  • A: In fact, yes: Japan! The third largest economy in the world.

2018-2022

• Q: How might a place-based civic learning community create collaborations with outsized impact?

  • A: Civic Exchange Chicago

2006-ongoing

• Q: What are the conditions needed for women to be liberated and move their bodies without shame, judgment or sexualization while getting a great workout in?

  • A: Dance Dance Party Party

A Brief Bio

Jennifer Brandel is a serial entrepreneur and innovator who works between industries to address the same problem set: how to design systems that listen, respond and evolve with their stakeholders. Her curiosity and listening-based approach has yielded the kind of change that shifts sectors toward a co-creative paradigm. She is co-founder of Hearken, Zebras Unite, Civic Exchange Chicago, Election SOS, Democracy SOS and WBEZ’s Curious City.  Brandel received the Media Changemaker Prize by the Center for Collaborative Journalism, was named one of 30 World-Changing Women in Conscious Business, is a Columbia Sulzberger Fellow, an RSA Fellow, a member of the Guild of Future Architects and the National Civic Collaboratory.