In our continuing series, H22 CEO and Founder Heather Jerrehian connected with Avery Little, a Community and Programs Associate at Virgin Unite. Virgin Unite, the independent non-profit foundation of the Virgin Group and Branson family, is the first philanthropic partner in H22’s Core 22 program.
In a world that is being reshaped by AI and automation, where Gen Z is facing unprecedented and accelerated change, H22 believes that clarity about who you are and why you’re here matters more than ever. The First Rung is designed as a conversation between Heather and Gen Z guests as a way of exploring the ways self-knowledge contributes to purpose and passion.
As a nonprofit professional, Avery is passionate about utilizing her skill set to empower change-makers and challenge the status-quo. Her work focuses on facilitating partnerships, mobilizing community networks, and contributing to reparative impact.
Heather: When do you feel most energized — what are you doing?
Avery: Problem solving is my drug of choice, especially when the solutions come in the form of social introductions and community building. My belief is that stronger communities will naturally fill a great many of the voids that we are collectively trying to replenish as a society; it’s all just about bringing the right people together in a cultivating environment where those relationships can take root.
Heather: What is a strength you have that the world hasn’t fully seen yet?
Avery: Invite me to host your next garage sale. Everything — even Great Aunt Theresa’s kitschy knitted coasters — is going to a new happy home. I can thank my Las Vegas roots for that bona-fide saleswoman side of me. Growing up, my older brothers would offer to buy me things if I could negotiate them down to a certain price. While not applicable in all situations, I have experienced how negotiation can act as an intimate form of communication to facilitate relationship building. It can be a fun form of interaction to go back and forth with someone and then come to a mutually beneficial agreement. Plus, I’ll honour that deal by marketing them to someone else. Two happy customers for the price of one, that’s the real art of the deal.
Heather: What skill are you deliberately building right now, and why?
Avery: Artistic practice is vulnerable and messy and spasmodic, relying on an underestimated amount of personal reflection and self-assuredness. I’m working to claim this identity by offering my creativity more readily — an act which I hope will ultimately bolster my artistic practice by improving my confidence in my artistic decision making. What this journey has exposed, which I’ve come to enjoy, is how easily it reduces to basic training. I share my ideas and work with a single person, receive the positive reassurance of an intellectually stimulating conversation on shared interests, and then find it easier to share with someone else the next day. It’s funny how our brains and insecurities tend to complicate simple things.
Heather: In a world where AI can do more and more, what should remain deeply human?
Avery: Creativity and co-creation first come to mind. I’ll out myself as a Gen Z luddite in that I primarily use AI as a tool to execute tasks, like pulling together a tedious document, or for skills support to figure out processes where I lack experience or technical know-how. While some certainly use it more creatively, I feel deeply protective of my desire to generate ideas and the need to nurture that creative impulse — especially if those thoughts are taking place in dedicated spaces for human-to-human collaboration. The thoughts chat bots tend to regurgitate so often lack nuance and — let's just be honest, are often just plain boring. The working world has also gotten into a habit of using AI to complete endless mundane tasks which we send back and forth to each other thoughtlessly. Think of all the creative experiences we’re missing out on now that it’s my preferred AI talking to your preferred AI instead of you and me.
Heather: Do you have a favorite quote or saying that strongly resonates with you?
Avery: “Do your best, f*#! the rest.” Comparison comes too easily, especially when we all have access to what the rest of the world is doing at any given moment. This self-comparison can trap us, fixating us to focus on how to do things in a conventional/established manner while forcing a predetermined result. All of this also necessarily vaporizes the potential of individual interpretations and unique approaches. Sometimes it’s just so good to remind yourself that it’s ok to be bad at things and even (god forbid) to do something for fun instead of performance.
You can find Avery on LinkedIn.
