PRIME MEMBER EXCLUSIVE | 3 Months Free Trial

Auto-renews at INR 199/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends 15 July, 2026.
Debra Ross | Mobilizing for Totality: How an Eclipse Built a Community cover art

Debra Ross | Mobilizing for Totality: How an Eclipse Built a Community

Debra Ross | Mobilizing for Totality: How an Eclipse Built a Community

Listen for free

View show details
(00:00:00) Cold Open: What is the Eclipse Effect?
(00:00:45) Welcome Back and the Non-Conformist Oath
(00:03:47) Ella's Five-Year Plan and the 2017 Missouri Eclipse
(00:06:00) Building Rochester's Eclipse Task force: 750 Volunteers, No Budget
(00:12:00) Co-Chairing the National Eclipse Task Force
(00:14:27) The Dreadful Lack of Agency and What To Do About It
(00:17:21) Bonding vs. Bridging: The Two Kinds of Social Capital
(00:21:09) The Network Graph: Making Invisible Connections Visible
(00:28:51) Stories From the National Eclipse Effort
(00:39:09) On Failure, Grade, and Raising Kids Outside the System

Deborah Ross watched the 2017 solar eclipse from a field in Kimmswick, Missouri and came home convinced of two things: Rochester needed to be ready for 2024, and it was going to be her job to make that happen. What she built with 750 volunteers, no budget, and six years of monthly meetings became both a defining moment for this region and the foundation of a book.

In this episode, she breaks down how an eclipse becomes a community organizing tool, what servant leadership actually looks like when you're asking hundreds of people to work for free, and why the principles behind The Eclipse Effect apply to any catalyst, a natural disaster, a federal funding cut, or the Olympics coming to your town.

CONNECT
The Eclipse Effect → https://theeclipseeffect.com
Kids Out and About → https://kidsoutandabout.com
ROC Vox → https://rocvox.com

New episodes every Tuesday.

Recorded at ROC Vox Recording & Production in Pittsford, NY. Learn more at https://rocvox.com
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet