Meet Catherine Huckaby | Community Engagement Strategist & Speaker; Executive Director, Community Positive

We had the good fortune of connecting with Catherine Huckaby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Catherine, how does your business help the community?
I launched Community Positive because we need more people in public service careers and volunteerism. I don’t think the biggest barrier is ability. It’s people not believing they belong at certain tables or thinking volunteering is for “someone else.”

We share real paths into public service. Not the sanitized version where everyone has a master’s degree and a perfect trajectory. The youth coordinator, who started as a barista. The transit manager who left corporate America. The nonprofit director who never saw their career coming.

When you see someone with a background like yours making a difference, it shifts something. “Wait, if they could do it, maybe I could too.” People struggle to believe their skills matter as much as someone with more letters after their name. We help change that thinking.

There’s another piece. So many people are doing transformative work, and nobody’s telling their stories. By spotlighting them, we’re saying: your work matters, you matter, and your community sees you. That recognition keeps people going when things get hard (and it always does).

And then there’s the impact we’ll never hear about. Someone reads about a program and thinks, “My city needs that.” Someone who nominates their church volunteer, who was on the verge of quitting. A college student discovers a career path they never knew existed.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My greatest strength comes from my family. I wanted to tell my kids they could be everything they dreamt of as long as they were willing to work hard and fight for it. I couldn’t say that without living it myself. I wanted them to have and be more than the circumstances they were born into. I had to show them I believed my own words were true. That’s what I’m doing, every day.

While a young wife and mom of three, I worked in full-time children’s ministry. Those memories are ones I’ll never forget. At the same time, I finished my first degree and did hundreds of family mediations before moving into municipal government as a Volunteer Program Coordinator. That led to managing Fort Worth’s Community Engagement division, before moving into the independent Office of Police Oversight Monitor. Designing communications and engagement strategies for the city’s most challenging, emotionally charged conversations showed me how communities either thrive or struggle based on how well their government actually listens.

What sets me apart?
I refuse to accept that “community engagement” means checking boxes or performative town halls where people yell and nothing changes. When it’s done well, this isn’t “fluffy” work. It’s strategic. I believe genuine connection is possible, even in the messiest situations.

I also struggled with imposter syndrome. I earned my degrees while on the job and usually led teams with more qualifications. I questioned whether I belonged in certain rooms. What helped was realizing my non-traditional path gave me perspective others didn’t have. My ability to connect with diverse communities wasn’t despite my journey. It was because of it.

Was it easy?
Not even close. I made a lot of mistakes early on. I thought good intentions were enough. I learned the hard way that empathy without strategy accomplishes nothing, and strategy without empathy alienates everyone.

The biggest challenge was accepting others’ difficult emotions without taking them personally. When you’re facilitating conversations about police oversight or neighborhood safety, people bring their pain, their anger, their lived experiences. I had to develop a thick skin while keeping my heart open. That balance nearly broke me a few times.

The lessons I’ve learned:
People want to be heard more than they want to be agreed with. Create genuine opportunities for input and actually respond. Skepticism transforms into partnership.

Translating technical jargon into clear language isn’t dumbing things down. It’s respecting people’s time and intelligence.
Trust is built in small moments. Returning phone calls, following through, admitting when you don’t know something. Consistent integrity matters more than grand gestures.

The best solutions come from the people closest to the problem. My job isn’t to have all the answers. It’s to create spaces where the right people can collaborate.

What I’m most proud of?
That I’m all in, no matter how big or small the opportunity. The Community Positive project. Creating a platform to shine a light on public servants who rarely get recognized and watching it inspire people to believe in themselves. Being a first-generation college graduate and earning my MPA while working and raising my family.

What I want people to know:
Communication and community engagement are the foundation of effective governance. When done right, it saves money, builds trust, and creates sustainable solutions.

Everyone’s so focused on AI taking away jobs, but COVID taught me that people will always prefer face-to-face interactions with city staff and elected officials. Most people have a difficult time trusting local government or seeing its real value. Building strong, relatable, and reliable community engagement divisions is more important than ever. That means hiring people who can answer tough questions and help build trust. It also means mentoring the next generation or those changing careers and inviting them into these important careers.

Ordinary people really do have an extraordinary capacity to shape their communities. Whether I’m consulting with a city struggling to rebuild trust or featuring a local hero who’s quietly changing lives, it comes back to the same belief: meaningful change happens when we bring people together with intention, respect, and genuine curiosity.

I’m not interested in performative engagement. I want to help organizations build real relationships that lead to real results. And I want to show people who think local government careers or volunteering isn’t “for them” that there’s a place at the table for everyone willing to show up and do the work.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The thing about living in DFW is that I could give you a completely different itinerary next month and it would be just as good. This region is massive, constantly evolving, and full of hidden gems I’m still discovering.

Day 1: Welcome to Weatherford
We’d start close to home. Breakfast at R&K. Even if they don’t know your name, you’ll feel like they do. Then we’d walk around the historic downtown, pop into the shops, maybe catch whatever’s happening at the Chandor Gardens if the weather is nice. Dinner at Twisted Root for burgers, then sunset at Clark Gardens. They have an amazing koi pond and decorate for every season.

Day 2: Fort Worth Culture Day
Definitely going to the Cultural District. Maybe visiting the Kimbell Art Museum because the building itself is worth the trip, then lunch at the Paris Coffee Shop. If it’s for a special occasion, we’re heading to the Stockyards for dinner at H3. If there’s a rodeo, we’re going!

Day 3: Fort Worth Neighborhoods
Brunch at Fixture in the Near Southside. They have amazing food and a great vibe. We’d explore Magnolia Avenue and check out some vintage shops. There’s probably a new restaurant or brewery that just opened that everyone’s talking about.

Day 4: Arlington
If the Rangers are playing, we’re going to a game. If not, we’re doing a tour. Lunch at Babe’s Chicken. It’s family-style comfort food (my husband prefers Sweetie-Pies). Then we’d check out River Legacy Park for a walk to recover from all the eating.

Day 5: Frisco & The Colony
Frisco has an energy I love, and it keeps on growing. We’d start at The Star (the Cowboys’ headquarters) for a tour. Dinner at Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill. Their patio overlooking the lake at sunset is perfection.

Day 7: Grand Finale
We’re going back to Fort Worth for my favorite day. Breakfast at Fixture Kitchen, then the Fort Worth Botanic Garden for a peaceful morning. Lunch at Joe T. Garcia’s on their massive patio. Probably exhausted at this point and ready to relax back at home.

What I love about this region is how each city has its own personality. Fort Worth keeps that Western heritage alive while being surprisingly progressive and artsy. Weatherford has a small-town charm, where people still wave at strangers and hold open doors. Frisco is booming with new energy and development.

The best parts aren’t always the tourist spots. They’re the local coffee shops where people know your order, the neighborhood parks where families gather, the pop-up markets and community events that bring everyone together.

Living here means you’re constantly stumbling onto something new, whether it’s a mural that just went up, a restaurant serving something you’ve never tried, or a community space you drive past a hundred times before finally checking it out.

That’s what I’d want my best friend to see: not just the attractions, but the energy of these communities and why there’s always another adventure waiting. (In case you can’t tell, I love going on adventures.)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Every single person I’ve interviewed for Community Positive deserves this shoutout.

I started by interviewing about 100 peers and volunteers I’d personally worked with. I thought we’d discuss “that one project or season” where our paths crossed. I knew they’d share wisdom and inspiration, but it’s been so much more. The insights and personal challenges they’ve fought through gave me even more proof this project mattered.

Now, with over 200 stories under our belt, we’re continuing to grow. These public servants and volunteers have taught me more about resilience, creativity, and leadership than any book or conference ever could.

They’ve been generous with their time, vulnerable with their stories, and patient with my endless questions (and I ask a lot of questions). They’ve trusted me with the messy parts, not just the polished ones. At the end of every interview, people are either smiling as they remember relationships they haven’t thought about in years, or crying through tough situations they’ve survived. Sometimes both.

It means everything that they trust me with their stories, knowing I’ll protect the important work they’re part of. And beyond the interviews, there’s the people who read the articles, share them, nominate their local volunteers, and reach out to say, “This inspired me to apply” or “I finally see how I could make a difference.” That feedback loop is what keeps this project alive.

Also, my family. When I said I wanted to create this project and make it up as I went along, they supported me instead of trying to talk me out of it. Not everyone has people in their corner cheering them on.

Website: www.communitypositive.com and www.engagementedgeresources.com

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/catherinehuckaby and www.linkedin.com/companycommunitypositive