Listening as Strategy: Building Trust in Changing Communities with LaToya Thomas of Brick & Story
Description
How do you move public engagement beyond checking the box?
On the latest episode of Beyond Streets, we sit down with LaToya Thomas, founder of Brick and Story, who has built a practice around one powerful idea: engagement should be meaningful, strategic, and rooted in community stories.
We talk about:
👉 Why “listening” is a strategy, not a checkbox
👉 What trust looks like in neighborhoods facing gentrification and displacement
👉 The role of storytelling in shaping better projects and decisions
👉 How rural and urban communities both wrestle with growth—and what we can learn from each other
LaToya reminds us that engagement isn’t about post-it notes on a wall. It’s about creating spaces where people feel heard, respected, and part of shaping their future.
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