Cultivating Joyful Resistance: Jennifer Yonda, Founder, Skate Hunnies

Hosts Charlotte Massey and Aaron Hurst debrief Seattle’s first “Best Day Ever” event in South Park, organized with Cultivate South Park and the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. The neighborhood has a tight-knit, majority-Latino character and some unique challenges. Best Day Ever brought people together from across the community for a day of fun, chocolate tasting, pizza-making and a stilt-led walking tour. This week’s featured interview spotlights Jennifer Yonda, founder of LA Skate Hunnies, detailing its beginner-friendly, all-wheels skate community, pandemic-era growth, and the organising realities, including safety, permits, and liability.00:00 Welcome and Introduction04:35 Best Day in South Park22:31 Introduction: Jennifer Yonda, Skate Hunnies LA25:57 Early Roots in Community Building29:24 Starting Skate Hunnies32:09 The First Meetup and Fear of Failure36:09 Growth: From 4 People to 100s47:38 Permits, Insurance and the Unglamorous Side50:27 Going Full-Time with Skate Hunnies52:38 Upcoming Events55:43 Community Impact56:41 Reflection---How We Connected explores the conversations that power communities across the United States. Aaron Hurst and Charlotte Massey share what they’re building at the US Chamber of Connection and speak with leaders whose work strengthens local connection. Episodes offer human stories, practical insights, and ideas you can use in your own community.Aaron Hurst, Co-Founder of the US Chamber of Connection, is a longtime entrepreneur focused on purpose and community. He founded Imperative and the Taproot Foundation and wrote The Purpose Economy.Charlotte Massey, Co-Founder of the US Chamber of Connection, leads community programs nationally. A Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and former organizer and founder, she works at the intersection of civic life and entrepreneurship.Connect with Uswww.chamberofconnection.orgLA Skate Hunnieslaskatehunnies.comJennifer Yorda, Founder, LA Skate HunniesJennifer is the founder of LA Skate Hunnies, the largest roller and inline skating community in Los Angeles. Originally from upstate New York, she moved to LA chasing year-round outdoor life - and discovered she could skate nearly 300 days a year. After finding the city's existing skate scene too advanced for beginners, she hosted her first meetup in July 2020 with four people on the boardwalk. By spring 2021, weekly attendance had exploded to over 100. Today, Skate Hunnies hosts its signature Thursday Night Skate in rotating LA neighborhoods alongside pop-up events, skate lessons, and retreats - all wheels welcome.Heylohttps://www.heylo.comHeylo is a community-management platform built for real-world groups of every kind, giving leaders a clean, branded home base to run events, manage members, communicate clearly, and handle payments without friction. It brings scheduling, RSVPs, waivers, announcements, topic-based chats, and membership tools into one place so clubs, teams, and interest groups can stay organized and connected without the noise of traditional social platforms. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.