The Groundswell Way — Episodes 2, Part 1 & 2: Building Community Power & Resilience
The Groundswell Way launches with a powerful two-episode exploration of what resilience really means in communities across America, beginning with a deep, place-based look at Southwest Atlanta’s Westside Resilience Corridor. Guided by host Matthew Wesley Williams, Senior Vice President for Community Development at Groundswell, this opening series examines how neighbors, faith leaders, civic partners, and utilities are coming together to co-create a more resilient future grounded in equity, legacy, and local power.
In Episode One, Matthew introduces Groundswell’s approach to community and economic development through clean energy, cutting energy bills in half for neighbors who need it most, and frames the central question of the series: What does resilience mean in times like these? Through national context, lived experience, and years of resilience hub development, Episode One sets the stage for understanding why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work, and why resilience must be rooted in local history, culture, and community leadership.
Episodes Two and its continuation take listeners to Atlanta’s historic Westside, where a coalition of four anchor churches and community partners are building the Westside Resilience Corridor, a cutting-edge model of community resilience focused on energy affordability, workforce development, food security, housing repairs, and comprehensive health. Through intimate conversations with local leaders, including Chief Sustainability Officer Chandra Farley, pastors from the corridor churches, Westside resident Alison Smith, Georgia Power executive Latanza Ajayi, and scholar Dr. Gregory Ellison, listeners hear how resilience is shaped by generational memory, spiritual infrastructure, neighborhood history, and the urgent need to address systemic inequities.
Across the episodes, themes of self-determination, sacred memory, justice, community care, and imagination emerge. Listeners witness how solar + storage resilience hubs, home repairs, energy efficiency upgrades, and trusted community institutions can anchor hope, protect legacy homes, create economic opportunity, and ensure that families can stay rooted in the neighborhoods they love.
Together, Episodes One and Two offer an inspiring look at how communities can move from reacting to crises to building the conditions for resilience every day, through partnership, vision, and the belief that neighbors hold the power to shape their own future.