Community-Led Growth: Natural Wisdom to Strategic Reality
December 11, 2024
Human tradition and nature’s world offer profound lessons in community—helping us design communities rooted in wisdom as we create the conditions for organic growth. When we shift our perspective from seeing communities as an extractive tool for growth and instead embrace them as living ecosystems we build communities that foster true connection over transactional relationships.
In this episode, we chat with proven community builders and special guests: Tre' Cates, Director of nRhythm, Elliot Coad Founder of Ecologi, Izzy Ahrbeck Head of Community at Impact Hub Berlin and, Judit Sáez Gonzálvez Founder of Connection Camino and Community Nurturer at Regenerators as they share their stories and insights on how a regenerative mindset can transform the way we cultivate communities.
Meet Your Host & Our Guests
Co-Founder, Zebra Growth
Moh Al-Haif
Moh Al-Haifi is a social entrepreneur and growth marketer looking at marketing from a regenerative lens. After working within the agency, innovation and startup world as a marketer for over 10 years, he founded and now runs the impact focused growth marketing agency, Zebra Growth. Moh has worked with a variety of social and climate tech startups globally, supporting them to grow with a new type of playbook that is future-fit and aligned with a life-centered economy.
Director of nRhythm
Tre' Cates
Tre’ Cates, Founding Partner of nRhythm, has 25+ years of senior-level consulting experience across six continents and 35+ countries. Tre' has proven to be indispensable in designing, developing, and implementing an organization’s purpose for the future. Tre's industry experience is very diverse from the development of faith-based community organizations, a publicly-traded technology company, to a multinational NGO working in 20+ countries. One of his companies made the INC 500/5000 list twice. He has also won several top awards, including Entrepreneur of Distinction in Boulder and semi-finalist for Colorado’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Founder of Connection Camino Community Nurturer at Regenerators
Judit Sáez Gonzálvez
Change nurturer, conscious leadership mentor, and regenerative strategist with more than 15 years of experience leading teams, nurturing communities, shaping organisational culture, and developing businesses across Europe.
I lean into complexity blending active listening and reflective thinking. Fluent in remote and hybrid environments, I lead with inspiration and compassion, empowering others to challenge the status quo while prioritising self-care and collective well-being. I embody change and experimentation, putting innovation, collective evolution, and mindset shift at the core of my work.
As a burnout survivor, I understand what disconnection means professionally and personally. Connection Camino results from my years of awe at what we achieve when we align with ourselves and each other.
Izzy Ahrbeck
Tokyo-born to German and Canadian parents, Izzy's life has been fueled by curiosity and wanderlust. Having called 8 countries home, she currently resides in Berlin...for now. A lifelong storyteller, Izzy began creating "newscast" videos as a child, later becoming a freelance journalist and then immersing on film sets herself in Toronto's arts scene.
After working in film and music, she felt a lost sense of purpose, prompting a career switch and move to Barcelona for a master's in Sustainable Business & Innovation. Now, she is the Head of Community at Impact Hub Berlin and in her spare time, Izzy also hosts storytelling workshops for social impact. She joined the Berlin storytelling community in late 2020 and has won 5 "favourite story of the night" titles. But her favourite part about coming to THE bEAR is reconnecting with the very vibrant and diverse community of storytellers.
Ecologi Founder & Climate Startup Advisor
Elliot Coad
I am dedicating my working-life to the restoration of the planet by supporting ambitious impact entrepreneurs.
Having founded one of the fastest growing climate tech startups in Europe, I’m now using my experience and network to ensure many others achieve meaningful scale.
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