Our thought leader of the day is Hadiya Masieh, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Groundswell Project. The Project is committed to counter violent extremism with peace and community building. Hadiya’s vision is to build empathy among neighborhoods, helping people to celebrate their similarities instead of pointing out their differences. The Project is playing the long game, building systems to free people from prejudice, hate, and extremism.    Listen to Hadiyah and make our neighborhoods extraordinary!   Disclaimer: This podcast contains affiliate links! That means if you purchase from the companies we promote using the links we provide, we receive a small commission. Thank you for your support! You can see our full affiliate disclosure here. [00:01 - 07:34] Introduction Introduction of Hadiya’s story How she was influenced as a youth to join a non-violent extremist organization Hadiya explains how extremist organizations capture the idealistic views of young people How she removed herself from the extremist group [07:35 - 12:35] Offering Solutions to the Passion of Youth Giving youth an alternative to radicalization Being on a quest… Asking yourself, “What do I do next?” Putting our passions into something positive Bringing others back to center and then on to a positive next stage [12:36 - 21:03] Solutions Way Cooler Than Any Extremist Groups Can Offer  Beating extremist groups at their own game Going into small communities of people… universities, neighborhoods that are places where there are low prospects for people Finding the people doing good in those communities and then help them flourish An explanation of how the Groundswell platform is structured How the Groundswell system promotes the cross-pollination between efforts in communities Connecting the dots in a given location so people know what good is going on around them Building a deterrents to hate and radicalization in our communities [21:04 - 31:03] Some Antidotes to Hate A great example of people coming together around building a community garden People will protect the things they create together The story of Brad Galloway - former Neo-Nazi - who now helps bring people out of far-right, hate organizations. Life After Hate - organization in North America much like GroundSwell [31:04 - 38:31] Where are the Peace Builders? The pretense of caring Facilitation - a puddle, makes a river, makes a sea The benefit of being Hyper-local How to interact with the maps at Groundswell Links to 3-minute inspiring stories in GroundSwell videos [38:32- 46:55] Handling Adversity Having a sense of humor The law of attraction and feeling like chaos keeps finding you Coping skills when trying to make the world a better place Patience Routines and doing work for the greater good Allowing yourself to focus on the good, rather than constantly focusing on the chaos Hadiya’s practice way of handling a really bad situation that takes her by surprise [46:56- 54:07] How Groundswell Grows Connection/contact information The one thing Hadiya needs to grow. She’s built the ship,... now she needs a crew What keeps Hadiya knowing it is still an amazing world   Tweetable Quotes: “We’re all about showing that we’re listening, that we’re showing some kind of kindness and compassion and understanding to that other person in a way that they haven’t been offered before.” -  Hadiya Masieh “You have to learn patience. You can’t force things to happen and often things happen when you’re least expecting it.” -  Hadiya Masieh   Resources Mentioned: Life After Hate Videos to watch brought to you by the Groundswell Project: Start here Conspiracy of Goodness previous episode Institutionalizing Hopes and Dreams For Children with Linda Cliatt Wayman   Affiliate Partner: Learn from the best! MasterClass provides 100+ classes across 9 categories. Learn science from Neil deGrasse Tyson, songwriting from Alicia Keys, or style from Tan France! Their insights are not to be missed. Sign up today!