Changemaker Spotlight Series – Johnna Flood, Elevated Denver
Welcome to Strat Labs’ Changemaker Spotlight Series! This blog series is dedicated to showcasing the inspiring journeys of remarkable individuals who have transformed their passions into purposeful endeavors, leaving a significant impact on the world around them every single day. Join us as we delve into the heart of innovation and commitment, celebrating the extraordinary stories of those who are not just dreaming of a better future but actively shaping it in their journey as a changemaker.
Johnna Flood is the CEO and Co-Founder of Elevated Denver, a startup nonprofit working to solve homelessness. Johnna leverages her expertise in design thinking, collective impact, and participatory research to lift marginalized voices and collaboratively design solutions to homelessness. She is a seasoned entrepreneur, community designer, and social impact leader.
What inspired you to embark on your journey in the social impact space?
I’ve been in the social impact space for just over 20 years now and even as a kid growing up, I always had a very strong sense of justice. I felt a wonderment about how I might be involved in setting some of those injustices straight. When I was an undergraduate, I took a class that was about communication and we watched a video of someone with Down Syndrome who was on trial for violating parole. The jurors had to answer questions about whether this individual technically violated parole, but there was no room in accounting for his mental capacity and how that might have influenced the decisions. That sparked in me this avenue of exploration, starting with research on how we can better understand and dig deeper into the core root of injustices to then dismantle them and reconstruct the way these systems work so that they actually work for people, and not against people. That kind of started my career.
I started in research, doing program evaluation for social programs and conducting community-based participatory research, eventually evolving my work to include o community-centered design. I explored the question: “How do we really engage the folks most affected by an issue in understanding that issue in depth, and also understanding how to address it?” Then, I moved into thinking about how we co-design with those folks to really get into something that will work for them, and how do we bring partners along and make sure that we’re collectively driving towards that change. That’s been the basis and infrastructure for my career since.
How has Elevated Denver evolved over its history?
In 2020, everyone will remember very acutely that COVID hit and in many ways, all of our communities were in crisis. In one very visible way, homelessness became front and center as a primary crisis in our community. At that time, I was feeling like I wasn’t quite satisfied in my career and that I hadn’t been able to be a part of change that I felt was necessary. As I was sitting with the question: “How could I apply my skills to create waves of change?” I realized there was something that needed to be explored in relation to what our community was experiencing around homelessness.
My partner and I decided to go explore and figure out what’s really happening in our community, and whether or not there is room for another player to help move solutions forward. In that learning journey, we ended up sitting with a number of folks who had experienced homelessness themselves or were actively experiencing homelessness. We talked to service providers, outreach workers, affordable housing builders, and policymakers.
We learned two things. First, while there were a lot of things happening in the space, there was still room for more. Second, the stories we heard were so powerful, but the broader public did not have access to them or the nuanced details around the crisis that we were in.
We decided to put those stories forward in the form of a podcast. Elevated Denver, the non-profit, started with Elevated Denver, the podcast, which is accessible on all platforms. The first season of the podcast was basically a documentary on what was happening in our community around homelessness: how we got to that point and what the experts were saying about how we were going to move forward.
We continued with the podcast and as I shared my background with community-based research, community-based design, and collective impact, we felt like there was a real space for that in the work around homelessness and addressing the crisis. We formulated Elevated Denver, the nonprofit, to fill that void by inviting folks to look at homelessness through the lens of what’s happening at the systemic level and how that is prohibiting people from moving out of homelessness, or from never entering it.
How can people get involved with Elevated Denver?
First and foremost, you can always tune into the podcast that’s available on any major platform. We have two seasons out with 30 episodes. We encourage folks to listen to get a broader depth of understanding of the issue. And while it’s focused on Denver, a lot of it is applicable beyond Denver as well.
Second, we are about to drop our issue brief with the community landscape of nearly 40 in-depth interviews with folks experiencing homelessness. This is to understand how they’ve navigated the system and where they’ve had a lot of support, and where they’ve faced barriers. That will be on our website soon.
Third, we’re always looking for more folks who are invested in finding new solutions and supporting live experts to be a part of our stakeholder group.
Finally, as a startup nonprofit, we are always seeking and needing additional funds to keep the fires aflame. You can support our work at www.elevateddenver.co/donate.
How do you define “Changemaker”? Can you give an example?
For me, a changemaker is anyone who is willing to give voice or action to a change they want to see in the world. It could be really big or it can be small. It could be as simple as walking down the street and saying hello to every person you meet, whether they are in a business suit or sitting on the sidewalk struggling. It’s being willing to stand up for your own values.
Recently, my 10-year-old had a school project learning about the pillars of justice. Students were assigned to pick something that was important to them and create art. The students organized a poetry slam and art show, open to the public, where kids stood up and shared their vision for the world. It was the most moving display of changemakers that I have seen in a long time. In the end, changemaking starts with what is in your heart, and then being bold and brave enough to bring it forward.
What are some emerging trends or innovations in your industry that have the potential to drive change?
I’m very hopeful about a potential shift in the philanthropic model – how social endeavors, big or small, are funded because, at the end of the day, the reality is to create change, you need resources.
My hope is that the philanthropic model is going to shift away from requiring a program or service to be proven before it can get funding. Instead, shifting to a values-based model that allows for innovation in our sector in a way that has never been allowed before, where the major funders invest because they believe in what you’re trying to do and are aligned with your values.
I think that shift in philanthropy would facilitate a level of innovation that we have never seen in the social sector. It is absolutely critical and so timely that this happens now.
What are a few things you wish someone told you when you first started your journey in the social impact space and why?
Not everybody in a position of leadership has all the answers. In fact, a good leader doesn’t have all the answers and instead asks questions, is open to input and feedback, and holds space for the unknown. You don’t have to know everything about a topic to start change, but you must be willing to create space for the unknown and take a risk anyway.
Why should people pay attention to the issues you work on?
In our society right now, we’re experiencing quite a socioeconomic divide. The further that divide gets, the more that we see ourselves as separate beings from one another.
It’s very important to start questioning ourselves on how we view people in situations different from ourselves and consider how we are affected as a whole when anyone in our community suffers. When we do that, we open up the possibility for how we move forward together. That also opens up this idea that there are other solutions that we can start implementing that don’t just rely on a nonprofit providing a service, but rather wrap a system of support around any one of us who could suffer at any time.
Homelessness is just one example of one of the greater sufferings and crises of our times. We need to tune in and tune up to what’s happening around us. We need to be open to multiple solutions and how we do that together. My greatest wish is that we all start honoring the folks who have had to navigate these crises by honoring their stories and their expertise, and then reintegrating them into positions of power so that we can move forward in a way that is not just effective and sustainable but meaningful and unifying.
To learn more about the impactful and important work that Elevated Denver is doing, visit their website at www.elevateddenver.co.
If you are interested in connecting with Johnna Flood to learn more about her changemaker journey, you can contact her at johnna@elevateddenver.co or connect with her on LinkedIn.