In the social impact sector, we talk a lot about systems. Structural barriers. Root causes. Power structures. But I've watched systems-focused thinking become its own kind of trap: top-down, abstract, and alienating the very people it aims to serve.

Because systems aren't just structures and policies. They're people. And you can't change a system by imposing solutions from above. You have to build with the people living inside it.

My guest today calls herself a practical radical. After her father died when she was eleven, basketball saved her. For eight years, she coached high school girls in West Philadelphia, taking a program from 0-18 in her first season to state champions in her last.

But she noticed something: for some kids, sports is a hobby. For others, it's a lifeline. We celebrate the ones who make it out but rarely ask why so many need a lifeline in the first place.

Beulah Osueke is the Executive Director of New Voices for Reproductive Justice and the founder of PILR, a new initiative transforming youth sports into spaces of wellness, equity, and growth.

Episode Highlights

[00:00] Introduction

[02:11] How basketball saved her after losing her father

[03:05] Why do we require resilience instead of building better systems?

[05:34] Sports as hobby vs. sports as lifeline

[08:47] From faith-based organizing to reproductive justice

[09:55] Releasing toxic theology

[13:30] "I don't have the answers. People have the answers."

[16:44] The three pillars of reproductive justice

[18:30] The People's Portal: Making social justice accessible

[24:38] Making the movement irresistible

[26:06] PILR: Transforming youth sports

[29:30] Testing assumptions through co-creation

[34:44] Why the most effective leaders are servant leaders

[38:27] Discipline and learning to see rejection as data

[42:47] "What's destined for you is far greater than what you desire"

Notable Quotes

"Why do we require resilience of individual people as opposed to making tenacious structures and systems that look out for the good of people?" — Beulah Osueke [03:05]

"There are some people that get to play sports as a hobby, and there are some people that are playing sports as a lifeline." — Beulah Osueke [05:34]

"I believe in being a practical radical — showing people what's possible through the lens of what already exists and just improving what already exists." — Beulah Osueke [08:00]

"We have to be very careful to build power with our people, otherwise we're going to replicate the very same power structures that we're now critiquing." — Beulah Osueke [25:26]

"You cannot say something is co-created if you're not willing to make shifts once people show up and give you free wisdom." — Beulah Osueke [32:08]

"What's destined for you is far greater than what you desire. This is why surrender is essential." — Beulah Osueke [42:47]

P.S. — Struggling to make your message accessible without watering it down? Cosmic helps social impact leaders build trust through story-rich brands, compelling campa

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