A staff photo with JJ after he presented the results from a study he performed around Open Book's efficacy

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JJ Singh Kapur began his work at CultureALL with the goal of building bridges. 

He hoped to help people from different backgrounds and persuasions get to know one another. Republicans and Democrats. Christians and Muslims. Rural farmworkers and corporate CEOs. Older adults and members of Gen Z. 

By the end of his 2-year service, he understood these bridges lead in more directions than he thought. Including inward. 

“I realized I am much more interested now in building the bridge with oneself. The inward journey is a prerequisite before we can build a bridge with someone else,” JJ said. 

That realization came as he wrapped up his projects as an AmeriCorps Service member with CultureALL. He was teaching a capstone course at Scattergood Friends School and Farm,  a day and boarding school located in rural West Branch, Iowa.

The school includes an organic farm, livestock, and vast prairies to support the students’ learning. It’s an inclusive, all-gender space where “you can be who you are,” as stated on the website.

Scattergood is funded by a statewide association of Quakers known as Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) or IYM(C) for short. Members of IYM(C) had been feeling disconnected from the students and wanted to find ways to strengthen those relationships. The Quakers saw CultureALL’s Open Book project as an opportunity to build a bridge between students and funders. 

JJ started to experiment. He converted the Open Book concept into a digital storytelling project. He recorded the stories of IYM(C) members and tasked the students with editing the raw footage into a narrative Open Book story. Each student then used the video equipment and editing software to capture and craft their own Open Book story. 

One student in particular edited the Quaker story with ease but struggled when it came to their own. The student broke down in tears. JJ took time to listen. He learned this student didn’t like hearing their own voice. The student had begun taking hormones recently and was frustrated their voice hadn’t changed like they’d wanted it to.  

JJ showed them a text-based feature on the software that allowed them to delete words off the transcribed audio, deleting the corresponding video. That meant the student didn’t have to listen to the audio at all. 

“It was this huge moment of relief for the student, who then went on to finish the video with a gold star,” JJ said. 

Joy in Connecting Community 

As a Sikh-Indian man growing up in Iowa, JJ has had his own experiences of feeling isolated and othered. But, he’s also experienced the pure joy of connecting with community through service and care. 

As a theater and performance studies major at Stanford University, JJ dug deeper into his appreciation of community building through live theater performances. It was towards the end of his senior year, trying to decide what he might do after graduation, when JJ received a message on LinkedIn from Lead for America, asking him if he’d like to go back to his hometown and serve with an organization he believed in. He thought of CultureALL.

“In high school, I was an Open Book, and I really liked CultureALL,” JJ said. “Getting that chance to explain who I was brought me a lot of joy because I come from a background where I’m traditionally stereotyped.” 

Coincidentally, JJ’s retired high school English teacher, Karen Downing, had joined CultureALL as the Special Projects Coordinator. She refreshed the Open Book program with the goal of helping strangers get to know each other in the same way that energized JJ. Meeting with Karen before he began his service with CultureALL cemented his goals.

“I sat down with Karen Downing and talked to her about what it would look like to do an AmeriCorps service with CultureALL,” said JJ. “I told her I wanted to build bridges. I wanted to help Iowans talk to each other.”

JJ calls this conversation “the seeds” of his service, where he established what would drive him for the next two years. Now he’s reflecting on the hope, connection, and belonging he was able to harvest with CultureALL and Open Book. Over the course of a year, he helped grow the Open Book “Library” from 8 to more than 40 books. He facilitated conversations with Iowans across the state. He connected with Books from all walks of life who taught him about breaking down stereotypes in his own life. 

Innovating Beyond Open Book 

JJ's partnership with Karen encouraged him to expand Open Book beyond what he could have imagined. 

“Karen has a way of making any idea feel normal. When I imagine some new possibility, Karen will sit there with me and make it feel like it’s all possible,” JJ said.

He began to explore one of those ideas more deeply during his second year of service. He wondered how bridge building could serve us in different ways than what he originally thought.

“I’m realizing bridge building can happen not just with people who are so far removed from us, but also with people we have connections to already, but we just don’t know them well enough,” JJ said. “What if we build bridges among communities? What if we made weak ties stronger? I’m interested in a different kind of bridge building that’s much more inward-focused.” 

JJ decided to focus his second year of service on bringing Open Book to rural Iowa communities. As state demographics evolve, JJ wants these communities to have access to the tools they need to be able to welcome their new neighbors. 

“I think folks in rural communities get left out and stereotyped,” JJ said. “I see how these small towns are changing quickly. I want to be supportive of these communities that perhaps don’t have the resources to adapt to all of this very fast change.” 

It was this drive that led JJ to Scattergood. It’s what brought him to communities across the state. It strengthened his belief that building bridges between people and within communities is key to building harmonious communities. 

His work in rural Iowa also showed JJ how digital storytelling can enhance the process and connect more people than ever before. The Scattergood students enriched their storytelling with photos, videos, and music from people’s lives, showing more layers of a person in ways that a traditional Open Book program cannot. 

Award-Winning Work 

JJ’s endeavors to connect people in rural Iowa were recognized at the AmeriCorps State and National Symposium. He received the 2024 Innovative Service Award in September at the Excellence in AmeriCorps Award Ceremony. These awards recognize individuals and programs doing outstanding and innovative work in their service. 

As he begins his next chapter pursuing a PhD in Counseling Psychology, JJ holds his experiences with Open Book dearly. They’ve uncovered much about human connection and how it helps us to see and value one another, a skill that he anticipates will be useful as a therapist. 

“My biggest tool is being a storyteller, but I feel like I’m missing being a story listener,” JJ said. “That is what the next chapter is going to be about. It’s another tool in my toolbox as I try to figure out what it means for someone to feel seen, heard, loved, accepted, and to feel like they can call Iowa their home. To feel like they belong.”