human beings, we are wired for connection.

We cannot survive without each other.

We are deeply interdependent, and we are meant to be in community with each other.

Even the most like hermetic person needs other people for something.

So what do you think of when you hear the word family?

Well, for some, it's feelings of love and belonging and support.

And for others, it's a strangement and friction and angst, especially over these last few years,

which is why the notion of chosen family and the role of friends has become an increasingly important part of the conversation

or about really who we surround ourselves with, how they make us feel and how together we can expand the idea of family and friendship

to create a bigger impact ripple, both in our own lives and in society.

So this is one of the topics that we dive into in today's powerful best of conversation with Mia Birdsong.

As the founding co-director of Family Story, Mia lifted up a new national story about what makes a good family,

and as a vice president of the Family Independence Initiative,

she leveraged the power of data and stories to illuminate and accelerate the initiative

low-income families take to improve their lives.

Mia is a senior fellow of the Economic Security Project was an inaugural Ascend Fellow and faculty member

with the Aspen Institute, a new American California fellow and advocate in residence

with the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice.

And in her book, How We Show Up, Reclaiming Family, Friendship and Community,

she examines community life, she really reimagines family and this term chosen family

and points us towards the promise of a sense of collective vitality with other human beings,

which is something that I think we all yearn for so much these days.

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