Feb 18, 2021 · 27m · how-i-built-this
How I Built Resilience: Beverly Leon of Local Civics
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this Resilience Edition of How I Built This, host Guy Raz interviews Beverly Leon, a former professional soccer player and founder of Local Civics, about her educational technology platform that equips middle and high school students with the critical thinking, civic habits, and leadership skills necessary to participate meaningfully in local democracy.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 30.4% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Leon directly counters Raz's binary question about whether democracy is broken, arguing instead that it was designed to be exclusive and needs structural inclusivity.
Hardest push from Guy ▶ 19:35 Raz on ballot exhaustion and election overloadRaz presents a provocative and self-admittedly controversial viewpoint that the US holds too many elections with overly complex ballots that overwhelm citizens.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 11:30 Leon detailing nationwide civic literacy gapsLeon provides concrete data showing that only one in four adults can name the three branches of government and young voter participation remains critically low.
Guy holds their own ▶ 9:58 Raz framing the post-2020 civics crisisRaz demonstrates domain awareness by detailing the constitutional limitations of the Vice Presidency during election certification to highlight widespread civic misunderstanding.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Guy as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Guy pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Event Announcement with Jay Shetty | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Guy Raz introduces the show and asks straightforward foundational questions to understand the concept of Local Civics. Beverly Leon explains the platform clearly using the analogy of an Eventbrite or fitness tracker for civic engagement. | |
| Beverly Leon's Journey from Soccer to Entrepreneurship | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Raz prompts Leon to share her personal backstory transitioning from professional soccer player to founder. Leon shares an uncontested, narrative journey across multiple countries and youth coaching experiences. | |
| Tackling America's Civics Crisis and Youth Disempowerment | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | Raz sets the premise around the contemporary American civics crisis and constitutional misconceptions. Leon educates the audience with stark statistics regarding youth voter turnout and basic adult civic knowledge gaps. | |
| Mid-Roll Break and Book Announcement | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | After the mid-roll break, Raz presses Leon on how a for-profit edtech company can build a viable, scalable business model. Leon breaks down their enterprise SaaS structure, professional development revenue, and corporate sponsorship channels. | |
| Ballot Complexity and Fostering Critical Thinking | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Raz offers a personal take that America has too many elections and overly complex ballots. Leon politely pushes back on the fatigue framing, arguing the real issue is providing citizens with critical thinking skills to evaluate policy choices. | |
| Reimagining Democratic Inclusivity and Civic Opportunity | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Raz asks whether the American democratic model is broken or just poorly understood. Leon reframes the premise, stating democracy is not broken but historically exclusive, emphasizing the need to invite youth into civic spaces before age 18. |