This probably isn’t the face you’d imagine when you think of someone who could take six figures from tech every month. (What face would you imagine??)

Anywho, Liz is an engineering leader, educator, artist, and music producer who helped found Hackbright Academy, Hipcamp, and a technical interview prep program now running at over 35 universities across the US.

They’ve shaped the careers of 1 in 14 software engineers globally.

And now they’re teaching people how to leave Big Tech behind.

Not with a list. Not with some 47-step guide you’ll screenshot and never open again.

One thing.

Per month.

Together.

Because that’s how your brain actually works.

You’ve probably already seen the posts — platforms to switch to, data to delete, apps to replace. And you’ve done nothing. Not because you don’t care. Because the list was too long and your brain shut down.

Liz knows this. So the class is 90 minutes, one concrete action, and then everyone hits cancel at the same time.

The last time we did this? We collectively took away over 100k in subscriptions from big tech.

AND saved ourselves money in the process.

What!?

Yes. Really.

Open source tools are cheaper, often free.

You’ve been paying Big Tech for the privilege of being the product, here’s the exit ramp.

Register for the class here.

Next virtual session: Saturday 9 May | 11am PST | 2pm EST | 6pm GMT

100% Scholarships offered. Or chip in to help support the course creators.

I jumped on my first Hylo Community call not expecting much.

I didn’t know anyone. Wasn’t sure why I was there.

Then they put us in breakout rooms.

And I ended up talking to someone building an eco-village. Someone who’s been doing this work for 20 years. A social enterprise founder who was solving a problem I’d been thinking about for two years.

Small scale neighborhood stuff. Big systemic stuff. Everything in between.

All of them, quietly doing the work and none of them on my radar until that moment.

That’s the thing nobody tells you about this movement. It’s not small. It’s just scattered. And most of us are building in isolation, assuming we’re more alone in this than we actually are.

Hylo is where that changes.

It’s an open-source, not-for-profit platform built specifically for people doing this work. No ads. No data harvesting. No algorithm feeding you outrage.

With a public commons feed and a map so you can find organizations near you that are already active.

And this monthly community call where you will meet people who make you realize the world you’re building toward is closer than you thought.

Register for the call here.

And if you’re interested in hosting your community on Hylo, find more info at https://www.hylo.com.

Not in a dramatic way. Just the quiet, modern kind. Neighbours he’d never met. A street full of strangers. A nagging feeling that it shouldn’t be this hard.

So he tried something.

He knocked on doors. Hosted a backyard thing. Found one person who got it. Then another.

Five years later, his neighbourhood is the kind of place where someone texts the group chat at 7pm, a projector appears in a front yard, and three families are watching the playoffs together by 7:30.

“Less than 30 minutes from invitation to hang out,” he says. “Which I feel like is pretty impossible in modern society.”

It’s not impossible. It’s a skill.

Graham has now taught hundreds of people how to do exactly what he did. And this works in suburban America, urban Europe, and rural Kenya.

The community you’re missing?

It’s only 30 feet and enough bravery to knock on some doors away.

There’s a free class every Friday where Graham walks you through it, step by step, with a room full of people doing the exact same thing you’re about to do.

You don’t have to figure this out alone.

Someone already did.

And now you don’t have to be alone.

👉 Register for Graham’s next free class here: [link]

Hey Neighbor Hub Website

See Graham on Tiktok and Insta.

The two questions I get asked more than any others after hearing we are building an economy that works for all of us are:

“What can I do?” and “Where can I start?”

This workshop is the answer.

Once a month, we get together to work through a simple, non-linear framework you can apply to any situation, repeat as many times as you need, and use to make real progress — no matter where you’re starting from or what resources you have.

Every community is different. Every person’s circumstances are different. But the building blocks of change are the same.

This workshop teaches you how to use them — through real stories of people who’ve already done it, in places that look a lot like yours. And the wisdom of someone who’s done it the wrong way — a lot! — and can help you avoid those pitfalls.

You’ll learn how to follow your joy without burnout, how to connect with the right people to help, and how to keep going when it’s not linear (because it never is!).

The next workshop is Thursday, May 14th, 2026 19:00 BST/2pm EST.

Tickets: Free for paid Connectioning members. £30 for everyone else. 100% scholarships available — just email friday@connectioning.io.

(I will email paid members a coupon code, please look for a special invite!)

Sign up for the workshop here.

Co-produced with Dan Edelstyn, Writer, Film maker, and Entrepreneur who has crowdfunded gigantic amounts of money to fund things that matter, like his film, Power Station, which is basically a how-to guide for turning your street into a solar power station. (Check out Dan’s Substack here.)

Is 7pm BST/2pm EST not a good time? Help us plan the right times for future workshops, in the comments or via this poll.

This page is kept up to date with upcoming workshop dates. Bookmark it and come back.

A selection of free events appears in the newsletter each week. To access the full list, you’ll need a paid subscription OR

Can’t afford one right now? Email me at friday@connectioning.io. No questions asked, no explanation needed. 100% scholarships are always available.

Have an event to share? Submission requirements and instructions here.

Regular Events

Take the little steps that add up to big change, turn your neighborhood into a community, connect with a rapidly growing network across hundreds of movements worldwide.

Read more

Most of us know exactly what we want more of.

Connection. Play. Joy.

A life that actually feels like yours.

And most of us are trying to get there alone.

That’s not a personal failing. That’s just what happens when the culture around you optimises for productivity over meaning, and you’re left with a to-do list that grows and a quiet sense of dread or overwhelm.

There’s a different way to do this.

And it starts with one step.

Meet Joheem Loh

Joheem Loh has spent decades building other people’s visions. Quietly, on the side, she was working on her own. Inspired by something she’d seen again and again: that small steps, taken consistently, change everything.

Not the grand gesture. The small one.

The one that’s actually possible today.

This year, after many years of building with care, she launched Little Steps Today.

And the moment she introduced me to it, I knew we had to build something together.

This is no ordinary to-do app.

This is an app that connects us and actually shows us how our small acts ripple out.

Here’s what I love about it.

Firstly, these steps are the antithesis to productivity culture. Rooted in joy, play, care, and stretching yourself just a little bit at a time.

The home screen shows you one thing. No productivity dashboard here.

Just one step at a time.

You can create your own or take one someone else has shared.

Characters like Tito reflect the heart of the app and there are quotes to inspire you :)

And here’s the best part.

When you finish a step, you don’t check a box. You reflect.

This part is so important, because reflecting, rather than just checking a box, is essential to our growth.

You write something, or share a photo.

And then you can see the whole chain of people who took that same step before you.

That part matters more than it sounds.

Because the steps I’ve been building follow our connect, create, share, reflect, ground rhythm.

This is the growth rhythm for creating a better world, starting with a better life for you.

Things like knocking on a neighbour’s door if you want to turn your street into an actual community. Sending a genuine compliment to someone whose work you admire. Asking for help. Receiving it.

Small things that sound simple and somehow never happen, until you connect with others! So here’s how to make that happen.

Want to start your own?

Download the app and register.

Browse steps or create your own.

Then find a few people and meet weekly.

Connect, reflect on what’s led you to this point or the steps you took last week, share a step, take it together, plan the week ahead. Repeat!

The app is free. The steps are yours.

Little Steps Today Community of Practice

Want to join our community of practice? It’s Wednesdays at 2pm EST and free to Connectioning members, we also have a Whatsapp group chat to nudge one another during the week and share steps.

And we offer 100% scholarships if you can’t do the monthly membership right now. Just email friday@connectioning.io to request yours!

Read more

I was SO excited when this landed in my inbox y’all, I just had to share it immediately!

over at Work Matters in partnership with are helping us rebuild the social bonds we so desperately need right now through a simple five week challenge culminating in a virtual party on Halloween. And it’s FREE.

Already sold? Here’s the article with more details and the signup!

Work Matters

Join Us In the Couch To Community Challenge

Mona and I think it's time to do another big push to make new connections, and in the process, face our people fears. It is, after all, the season to celebrate and embrace ghosts, ghouls and goblins, right? This FREE challenge is designed to move us from our couches and into our communities…

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8 months ago · 8 likes · 3 comments · Lola Here

Not quite convinced? Take it from a wellbeing economist. Though the benefits of community are not quantifiable, the estimate is that, within a year, investing in community will reap at least a million dollars in value.

Not to mention by practicing community you’re reweaving the fabric of a healthy society and a fulfilling life!

So what are you waiting for? Take the leap and sign up here.

And if you’re reading this after the date, subscribe for more community building opportunities and stories in the future, including a highlight on Graham from Hey Neighbor, who gives away his knowledge on how to turn your neighborhood into a community every Friday on his Weekly Community Building Class here.

What other opportunities would you like to see? Please let us know in the comments and we can round up more resources for you.

Xoxo

J. L. Friday