Josh Schachter on The Power of Participatory Storytelling

Key Points

  • At its best, assessment is storytelling.

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On this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast, Mason Pashia is joined by Josh Schachter, Founder of CommunityShare and long-time storyteller of environment and community. CommunityShare is a platform that connects young people to local opportunities and mentors to grow their networks. Their website prompts visitors to “Imagine your community as a human library.”

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Outline

Mason Pashia: You’re listening to the Getting Smart Podcast. I’m Mason Pashia. How do you tell the story of change? For the last few months, I’ve been asking this question to anyone who will listen. In our work, these stories often showcase the incredible resilience, connection, and creativity of communities. They often begin with difficult conversations about alignment and vision and exciting design sessions about the future. Luckily for me, one of the people I asked this question to was Josh Schachter, founder of CommunityShare and longtime storyteller of environment and community. CommunityShare is an awesome platform for connecting young people to opportunities and growing their networks. We’re going to hear more about that today. Josh, thanks so much for being here. I was doing some research on you and saw a lot of really great photo portfolios.

Josh Schachter: Thanks for having me.

Mason Pashia: I’m super curious. What was the first subject that you loved taking photos of?

Josh Schachter: Yeah, I mean, I think it speaks to my passion for nature because I was always one of those kids in the backyard looking for bugs and trying to find creatures in the world. Then I really discovered the camera as a way for me to express who I was in a way that words just never felt right to me. So, I got excited about trying to tell the story of the natural world, whether it was leaves or trees or ants, you know, strange things that you notice as a kid but maybe as an adult you don’t. It was a way to understand a world that I felt so connected to in terms of nature.

Mason Pashia: Yeah, that reminds me of a great poem by the poet Yusef Komunyakaa. I don’t remember the name, but I’ll link it. It’s all about lifting up a piece of plywood in the yard and looking under it, questioning how, for them, the light is bad and the darkness is good. It’s like a total frame shift all the time. So, you started taking photos and eventually that morphed into video and storytelling work. What was your pathway towards pursuing art as a profession?

Josh Schachter: Well, initially, I kind of discounted art. I never felt particularly artistic, which ties into why I’m also passionate about education. In art class, I did not get good grades in all the other classes because I felt like I couldn’t fit the directions. I didn’t want to follow them. So, I sort of pushed it away. But then I started to realize that my photographs were really capturing people’s attention. I didn’t really understand why. I just did what felt natural. Then I went to graduate school in ecosystem management and ecology and started photographing the world around me. People started asking if they could publish my photos in magazines, books, or on websites, and I thought, sure, not really thinking much about it. But then, as that became a pattern of real interest in how I could tell the story of the natural world the way I saw it, I decided to quit my job pretty abruptly doing conservation work. I started to wonder if I could tell the story of the natural world in a way that could help protect it and build people’s connection to it. I loved what I was doing as a researcher, but I thought stories could be another pathway to helping protect what I feel has given me so much in terms of connecting to nature. So, I quit my job with no real formal training in photography. I did a couple of workshops to make sure I had some grounding in the technical aspects, but I spent a lot of time looking at photo books, studying different photographers, and trying to understand why certain ways of telling visual stories spoke to me. I had some amazing mentors along the way, professional photographers, and little by little, I took the leap of faith, hoping someone would hire me. I started working for nonprofit organizations in Tucson and around the country, and it just grew from there. It was really stepping into the void and hoping I had enough belief in myself as an artist that someone else would see the value in what I had to contribute.

Mason Pashia: I love it. You mentioned education as another piece of your puzzle. When I was looking around your website, I saw a quote that says, “Perhaps most importantly, I do this because my students are my mentors, reminding me daily about the power of listening, laughter, humility, patience, and empathy. Through the process of making and sharing images, they can remind us all.” I loved that. Having met you before, I feel like that’s very true. It’s a good thing to have on your website. Where did the story of stories start to change? It seems like the lens shifted a little from being in your hands to coaxing it out of other people and weaving different images and perspectives together. You’ve referred to this as participatory storytelling before. When did that shift start for you?

Josh Schachter: For sure. One thing I forgot to mention that might be relevant to the shift is my passion for lemurs. I swear it’s relevant. I was studying lemurs in a zoo, and one day I saw a National Geographic article about lemurs. I thought, you know what, I want to go study them in the wild. I wrote a letter to the woman who wrote the article, and several months later, I ended up in Madagascar studying lemurs. I share that because I followed lemurs 13 hours a day, recording their behavior, gestures, interactions, and patterns within their troops. This taught me to critically observe the world, which is essential for documentary photography. As a photographer, I observe behavior and relationships and try to compose a story through space, time, and light. My students have been mentors to me, much like the lemurs helped me develop my capability to critically observe the world. When I was in graduate school in New Haven, Connecticut, I photographed the city and started to wonder how the kids there saw New Haven. I spent a semester working with young people, asking them what the environment meant to them. Their photographs powerfully revealed their unique lived experiences, so different from mine. They taught me so much about the world they saw. One student said, “My friends are like the grass to me.” This made me realize that we need to listen to communities and young people to understand how they see the world. We need to put the camera or whatever tool in their hands to better understand their perspectives, challenges, and opportunities.

Mason Pashia: That’s beautiful, saying that my friends are like the grass to me. It’s a great reframing. I want to keep moving into the CommunityShare direction. You’ve built this nonprofit and a platform alongside it. Tell our listeners about the impetus for building this and the role CommunityShare can play within communities.

Josh Schachter: Sure. It’s really tied to storytelling. I worked in a high school for eight years as a visiting artist, using photography to support literacy development for English language learners. The first year, I asked students what it meant to have a home or to feel at home, considering they were refugee and immigrant youth. They came back with photographs and writings showcasing isolation and disconnection from the broader Tucson community. This shifted my thinking about supporting young people in education. Over eight years, I became a matchmaker between students’ passions and community experts who shared those passions. They co-created projects addressing social and environmental issues. When I left the high school after eight years, I realized that the social capital, or all those relationships, went with me. That wasn’t sustainable for long-term relationships between the school and the community. I wanted to democratize connectedness so that access to community resources was more equitably distributed. I wondered if we could create a human library of human books where any young person or educator could access the lived experiences, knowledge, and wisdom of community members. This idea led to CommunityShare. Educators post project ideas, and the platform matches them with community partners. We also support educators through fellowships and professional development to engage students in real-world community projects.

Mason Pashia: There’s a lot in there to unpack. What does the story of CommunityShare look like now? You’ve had all these encounters and communities working with educators and partners. What does that story look like?

Josh Schachter: It evolved from a small group of educators and community folks in a living room to meeting with educators monthly for nine years to ensure our work is grounded in reality. Initially based in Tucson, we’ve now expanded to seven states, working with various organizations. These organizations include counties, maker spaces, school districts, and networks of schools, all focused on engaging their communities to support young people and educators regionally.

Mason Pashia: Is there a portfolio feature where, at the end of projects, you can see what has been built and get a high-level view of what regions are thinking about?

Josh Schachter: Yes, we have a platform that matches projects with partners and another that allows a region to see all the connections happening. It shows who is connecting with whom, about what, and helps evaluate the impacts of those connections. It’s like a window into a learning ecosystem, showing who’s stuck, who needs help, and who needs resources. It’s a dynamic, organic unfolding process, like theater, where you’ve created a stage for collaboration without dictating the exact actions, providing pathways for requests and responses, and regional entities stewarding the learning ecosystem to ensure needs are met.

Mason Pashia: You have two decades of experience observing and facilitating mentorship and intergenerational collaboration. What are some key learnings from these relationships, and what tips do you have for those who might occupy a mentorship role for young people?

Josh Schachter: It’s a great question. One key learning is to let go of control. Initially, I taught photography with a structured approach, but then I questioned my methods. I realized that when I gave students more freedom to explore and create, they produced more authentic and powerful work. Another important lesson is to listen deeply. Mentorship is not just about imparting knowledge but also about understanding the mentee’s world and experiences. Be open to learning from them as much as they learn from you. Encourage curiosity and provide a safe space for experimentation and failure. It’s in those moments of trial and error that the most profound learning happens. Lastly, build genuine relationships based on trust and respect. Mentorship is a two-way street, and both parties should feel valued and heard.

Mason Pashia: That’s really insightful. As we wrap up, what excites you the most about the future of CommunityShare and the broader movement towards community-based learning?

Josh Schachter: I’m excited about the potential for deeper, more meaningful connections between schools and communities. There’s a growing recognition that learning doesn’t just happen within the four walls of a classroom. By leveraging the assets and expertise within a community, we can create rich, diverse learning experiences that prepare young people for the real world. I’m also excited about the potential for technology to amplify these connections and make them more accessible. CommunityShare is just one piece of the puzzle, and I look forward to collaborating with other organizations and stakeholders to create a more interconnected and supportive learning ecosystem.

Mason Pashia: Thank you so much, Josh. It’s been a pleasure talking with you and learning about your journey and the incredible work you’re doing with CommunityShare. I’m sure our listeners will be inspired by your story and insights.

Josh Schachter: Thank you, Mason. It’s been great to share my story and the work we’re doing. I appreciate the opportunity.

Mason Pashia: Thank you, listeners, for tuning in to this episode of the Getting Smart Podcast. We hope you enjoyed today’s conversation and feel inspired to explore the power of storytelling and community-based learning. Until next time, keep learning and stay curious.

Getting Smart Staff

The Getting Smart Staff believes in learning out loud and always being an advocate for things that we are excited about. As a result, we write a lot. Do you have a story we should cover? Email [email protected]

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