Connection takes effort.

It takes showing up. Returning. Participating. Making room for other people in our lives.

A short conversation about friendship, third places, belonging, and why service may be one of the shortest paths to community.

To Celebrate Jane Jacob's Birthday, Sidewalk Ballet is launching a new series of bonus episodes that we are calling Small Blocks. Short stories about people and places that you can listen to when you just have a few minutes. 

Our first Small Block comes from Susan Hughes, a Children's book writer from Toronto and her story about, well, Jane.  

Mara Mintzer is co-founder and Executive Director of Growing Up Boulder, a child- and youth-friendly city initiative rooted in the University of Colorado Boulder’s Community Engagement, Design, and Research Center. She leads efforts to embed young people’s voices into city planning, writes and speaks internationally about participatory planning with youth, and helped launch projects in Boulder that put children’s perspectives at the heart of policies, parks, housing, and public safety.