With Love and Gratitude: Zoe’s Next Chapter

Jul 27

When Sara, Kyle, and I formed City Thread in 2022, the idea was both simple and ambitious: help cities and their community partners deliver better streets, public spaces, housing, and mobility options faster, and do that work in a way that reflects local priorities and treats relationships as core to the work – a have-to-have, not a nice-to-have. It has been a gift to help shape that effort from the beginning.

I am a people person, a partnership person. Conversing with and coaching people on our Playbook approach continually reinforced my firm belief that we need good ideas, a structure for implementation, and resources (always resources!), but we also need relationships. The trust we build is what sustains us when the going gets hard. Spoiler: it will get hard. But work is what we choose to make it, and it can, and should, be joyful, too.

This week marks my retirement from my role as Partner at City Thread. While stepping away from this amazing organization was not an easy decision, it is also the right one. I leave with full confidence in City Thread’s future and in the staff, board, and leadership guiding its direction.

So, a heartfelt thank you to the city leaders, coalition partners, funders, board members, and colleagues who have helped give City Thread its heart and purpose. Thank you for your trust, your partnership, your candor, your patience, and your belief that together we can make cities and city government better and stronger.