I was recently re-watching Beyond the Blackboard, and it hit me: we talk about “community engagement” in fancy boardrooms, but Stacey Bess was doing the real work decades ago in a homeless shelter.
She walked into a “classroom” that was essentially a storage room. No books. No desks. No support. Just kids the system had decided weren’t worth the investment and parents who were exhausted from the sheer weight of survival.
Stacey had two choices:
- Show up as the “hero” with a clipboard and a pitying smile.
- Show up as a partner.
She chose the latter. She didn’t treat the shelter residents like a “demographic” or a “problem to be solved.” She treated them like experts on their own lives. She built a PTA not because it was on a checklist, but because she knew that surviving is a full-time job, and those parents were the most resilient stakeholders she’d ever meet.
The “Hero” Complex is Killing Impact
In the world of social impact, there’s a massive problem: The Boardroom Gap. Well-meaning organizations design solutions for neighborhoods they’ve never spent a night in. They use words like “empowerment” while keeping all the decision-making power for themselves. They treat community members like data points rather than partners.
In the movie, the district ignored those kids because they were “temporary.” In real life, we see this all the time, communities are treated as “too hard to reach” or “lacking capacity.”
That’s a lie. The capacity is there. The brilliance is there. What’s missing is the dignity.
The FairGround Rule: Build With, Not For
At FairGround, we’ve made a choice: we don’t do “charity.” We do collaboration.
We take the Stacey Bess approach to every government contract and nonprofit project:
- Junior Consultants aren’t tokens. We hire local youth and pay them as the experts they are. They know the streets; we know the systems. Together, we actually get things done.
- Ditch the Jargon. If a resident needs a PhD to understand your “engagement process,” your process is broken.
- Show Up When it’s Boring. Real trust isn’t built at a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It’s built in the months of listening before a single shovel hits the ground.
The Bottom Line
Stacey Bess didn’t change those families’ lives because she had a big budget. She changed them because she stayed in the room. She listened. She co-created.
If you’re tired of “performative” programs that don’t move the needle, let’s talk. We’re not here to check boxes. We’re here to build things that actually matter, with the people who matter most.
