Houston Housing Equity
Houston economist, Maya Ford, joins me for episode 153 of Gratitude Geek podcast tp talk about housing equity in Houston, Texas. Maya used her Standard of Love framework to redesign inequitable public spaces in Houston. Her work shifts how we think about housing equity, gratitude, and community currency.
Originally aired: January 24, 2023
This post has been updated and republished as part of rebuilding the Gratitude Geek podcast archive.
Key Takeaways
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- Gratitude, kindness, and reciprocity function as real community currencies that can reshape housing equity.
- Houston’s prosperity without equity creates a “modern plantation” where diverse talent fuels growth without fair compensation.
- The Standard of Love model starts with what residents truly value and protects those values through policy and design.
- Safe, accessible, predictable public spaces are a basic human need, not a luxury reserved for affluent neighborhoods.
- Solopreneurs gain a competitive edge by embracing diversity, hiring the best talent they can afford, and treating technology as a tool, not the whole business model.
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Gratitude as Community Currency
Gratitude is more than a feel good habit, it is a powerful community currency that compounds over time. I share in the episode that “gratitude is a currency, it really is, and the law of reciprocity is one that’s actually true.”
When I bring Maya’s voice to my audience, her message ripples outward and eventually that energy returns, not always as a direct favor, but as expanded opportunity, deeper relationships, and more equitable ideas in circulation.
Kindness belongs in this same category of currency; it fuels trust, collaboration, and sustainable change.
Houston’s Modern Plantation Problem
Maya explains that Houston ranks in the top ten nationally for prosperity, yet only thirty second for equity. People in Houston are doing phenomenal work, but they are not compensated equitably for their contributions, and that “makes Houston a modern plantation.”
Her language is intentionally uncomfortable, because comfort hides the truth that scarcity is being manufactured for those doing the work while others capture the gains.
Environmental shocks like hurricanes and floods expose this gap, especially when historically underserved neighborhoods see their homes and land undervalued compared to affluent areas.
Standard of Love Housing Framework
FordMomentum!’s Standard of Love model starts with residents’ lived values and builds policy from there. Maya describes their process as asking, “what do we call it, what do people value the most, what is the most important element of home for them.”
From there, her team identifies which forms of community currency need protection, how municipal dollars should be used, and how to align infrastructure with real human needs.
The goal is to move beyond talking about equity to actually building systems that use all of our best tools and talents instead of centering a single, colonialist perspective.
Safe Accessible Predictable Spaces
One of my favorite moments in the conversation is when Maya says, “everyone deserves a River Oaks.” She is not arguing that every neighborhood must look like an elite enclave; she is insisting that every person deserves safe, accessible, predictable spaces that allow them “to commit to more than production and consumption.”
We are not just here to work and go to the grocery store; we are here for exploration, fun, curiosity, study, rest, and quiet. The housing study surfaces practical desires like walkable neighborhoods, bike access, and green spaces within a ten minute walk, all rooted in that deeper need to feel grounded and at home.
Diversity as Solopreneur Superpower
When I asked Maya to bring her global perspective down to the solopreneur level, she did not hesitate. She shared that “you can’t beat the most diverse person in the room,” because they know other possibilities exist and they know how to ask better questions.
Her mantra has been to “work with the best talent that I could afford for however long I could keep it,” understanding that high quality people will move on. Each time someone joins and leaves her team, the vernacular, perspective, and network of the business expand, creating a living example of reciprocity in action.
Meet Maya Ford
Maya Ford is the founder of FordMomentum!, a communications firm focused on culture, inclusion, and measurable equity. She blends communications science, complex mathematics, and economic thinking to redesign public spaces from the ground up.
Her Standard of Love framework helped Houston, Texas reimagine more than one billion dollars in public space investment, and her work extends to places like Lagos, Nigeria and Mexico. At the heart of everything she does is a deep love for humans, diversity, and the belief that we can build the America many of us thought we already lived in.
“Everyone deserves to have safe, accessible, predictable spaces that allow them to commit to more than production and consumption.” – Maya Ford
Connect with Maya Ford
- Website: FordMomentum!
- Social: LinkedIn
- Book: Nigeria Is For The Nimble
Note: Some of the links here are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission, at no additional cost to you, if you choose to purchase.
Final Thoughts
Equity is not a side project, it is the project. When we treat gratitude, kindness, and reciprocity as real currencies, we start seeing communities and businesses as ecosystems, not machines.
Housing equity, bike networks, mixed use buildings, and inclusive policies are all expressions of how much we value human life beyond production and consumption.
As Gen X solopreneurs, we have the power to design our businesses in alignment with these values instead of defaulting to outdated models.
Continue the Conversation in Gratitude Geek Lab
If this episode stirred something in you, I invite you to keep the conversation going inside Gratitude Geek Lab. It is where Gen X women solopreneurs experiment with sustainable, resilient business models that honor real lives and real limits.
Bring your questions about equity, gratitude currency, and designing a business that serves both you and your community, and let’s workshop them together. Learn more and join us at kandasrodarte.com/lab.
Stay Groovy!
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