business, marketing, entrepreneurship, startup, brand strategy, community building, business growth, brand, branding, brand experience, gen z, politics, democracy Natasha J business, marketing, entrepreneurship, startup, brand strategy, community building, business growth, brand, branding, brand experience, gen z, politics, democracy Natasha J

Ep.29 / Daniel Sqaudron & Melissa Walker, The States Project

National politics gets all the glamour, but state legislatures hold all the power. In this episode of Professional Jealousy, host Natasha Jakubowski breaks down the mechanics of movement-building with Daniel Squadron (former NY State Senator and author of The Fourth Branch) and Melissa Walker (former young adult author turned activist). Together, they pull back the curtain on The States Project, an organization that inverted traditional top-down political structures into a hyper-effective grassroots engine. Discover how they use the "Giving Circle" model to turn fundraising from an intimidating chore into a simple, community-driven math problem, and how narrative-first communication can explain complex political infrastructure to spark real, systemic change.

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