Deep Roots, Green Shoots: living transition at Huddlecraft

As the Huddlecraft core team continue their transition towards co-leadership and co-ownership, Anna and Dan had a chat about the journey so far - the feels and the future they are hoping for.

A founder leaving an organisation is always a tectonic shift — and with Zahra Davidson stepping back from Huddlecraft at the end of March, it certainly feels like deep change is underway. The team have been on this journey for some time now, and as Anna and I step into co-leadership, we felt called to share some reflections on the process, the feelings and the complexities involved — and a little more about us and why we’re taking on this challenge.

The questions we explored were:

• Who are you to Huddlecraft and what is Huddlecraft to you?
• What has this journey been like for you so far?
• As we approach the moment of Zahra stepping back, how are you feeling?
• What would you love to see in Huddlecraft’s future?

Here’s a summary of our conversation…

We share our deep roots in Huddlecraft as an organisation, having both been involved since the early days. Our early experiences of the power of the learning model — and the impact it had on us personally — has led to us sticking around! We’ve been walking alongside Huddlecraft since the beginning — at different distances at different times — but have remained loyal friends of the organisation, eventually both joining the core team in the last two years.

The transition journey itself has been a ride! It’s been a fascinating process — with moments of stuckness and moments of rapid change. The in-person times, as a team and together with our Collaborative Transition Circle (shout out to Bailey, Reuben, Sarah and Vanessa), have supported us through challenging, stewarding and witnessing some of the deeper changes we’ve needed to embark on, and given us space to delve into the tensions we’ve been experiencing.

There are lots of feelings co-existing at the moment: uncertainty, excitement, potential, readiness and presence. And feelings of standing on the shoulders of giants and the amazing creativity of Zahra and the different people in the team over the years: Anneka, Katie, Sarah and our Collective of Hosts and Host Mentors too. There’s an abundance of appreciation for this process of change too, and a sense of really practising what we preach in how we’re leaning into the learning and growth of the transition experience.

When it comes to the future of Huddlecraft, we’re excited about who else is going to join us in building this, how the team is evolving and how this will feel and be different (are you our new Creative Lead? Apply by Thursday 29th Feb if you want to join us!). We are buzzing about the potential of our work to support tight-knit learning communities to create some of the shifts we want to see in the world, and would love to build more collaborative and strategic partnerships with people, organisations and movements looking to accelerate, deepen and broaden their impact in the world.

If you are interested in what Huddlecraft is and the impact it can have, you can pre-order a bottle of 7 years of Huddlecraft (a book that collect that our learnings from the past 7 years).

Has this conversation whet your whistle?! Are you curious to learn more about our transition process and where we’re heading? If yes then we warmly welcome you to join us at one of our Community Sharing Sessions, set to take place in March. Just email daniel@huddlecraft.com and he will send a calendar invite to you.

You can find the full transcription of our conversation here. Some of the key words that were pulled out by our transcription software feel pretty appropriate to mention here: Felt, Zahra, Huddle, learning, group, support, moment, transition, journey, craft, stepping, organisation, host, love, community, experience, potential, people.

A huge thank you to our most excellent community for continuing to engage with, support and shape Huddlecraft. We appreciate you!