The Murmuration Effect: Why the Future of Social Change Depends on Communities

What if the secret to fixing America’s democracy isn’t in Washington, but in neighborhood meetings and local organizing? Emma Bloomberg believes that’s exactly where our civic future lies.

After seven years at Robin Hood Foundation, Emma saw a critical gap: while philanthropy addressed today’s crises, it couldn’t prevent tomorrow’s. The community organizations working to create systemic change were stuck with yellow legal pads, lacking the data tools they needed.

So she founded Murmuration – named after flocks of starlings that move as one while staying individual. Her nonprofit provides cutting-edge civic engagement tools to grassroots organizations across the country, helping neighbors drive change at the block level.

Today we’ll explore why Emma believes real systemic change happens between elections, how she’s reimagining philanthropy, and why local conversations might be our path through national polarization.

This is democracy from the ground up. Stay with us.