Building Resilient Communities I Ruth Achillah and Katie Hodgetts | S5E5

In the West, resilience often means “bouncing back” - by yourself. An entire industry has been built around this. In Africa, it means “standing together.”

This episode brings together two inspiring women, each offering a unique perspective on how we build both individual and collective resilience - and what it means to move from self-care to shared care.

In this conversation:

• How African communities embody resilience as a shared, collective process - where challenges are faced and overcome together.

• What we can learn from cultures where there is no single word for “resilience,” yet where it is deeply lived through connection, care, and community.

• How this contrasts with Western approaches that often frame resilience as individual wellbeing or the ability to “bounce back.”

• The role of inner development in bridging these perspectives and fostering deeper forms of collective strength.

• Why rethinking resilience may hold the key to more sustainable and compassionate responses to global challenges.

With:

Ruth Dawn Achillah is the Global Lead for Learning and Development at One Acre Fund, an organization supporting millions of smallholder farmers across Africa with the tools, knowledge, and innovations they need to thrive.

Katie Hodgetts FRSA is a British changemaker and author who founded The Resilience Project to provide psychological and inner-led support for young people experiencing burnout and climate anxiety. Her forthcoming book, Act, Rest, Reset, Repeat, explores how to navigate cycles of action and renewal in times of crisis.

With thanks to the The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation for their support of the Inner Green Deal podcast which is hosted and produced by Tamsin Walker. Executive producer is IGD co-founder Jeroen Janss. For more information, visit  innergreendeal.com or write to info@innergreendeal.com.

This episode was recorded at the Inner Development Goals Summit where we hosted a full day track on strengthening social and environmental impact.

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