We are living through a moment that is exposing both the fragility of our systems and the strength of our interdependence.

Climate instability, economic uncertainty, political division, displacement, burnout, and shrinking public trust are reshaping how people move through their daily lives.

And yet, even under pressure, people continue finding ways to gather, care for one another, and create more resilient ways forward.

For many communities, especially those historically asked to survive instability long before it became widely recognized as crisis, this work is not new. Across generations, people have developed cultural practices, informal infrastructures, mutual support systems, and creative ways of making life possible under changing conditions.

These practices often emerge through relationships, storytelling, organizing, art, food, ritual, public gathering, and collective care.

We’re Cooked! explores how communities, cultural workers, organizers, artists, and institutions are developing more adaptive and collaborative ways of working together. Using the cookbook as a conceptual framework, this publication gathers reflections, practices, provocations, and recommendations that emerged through relational research.

Rather than offering a singular solution or fixed roadmap, we approach collective futuring as iterative and relational — shaped through experimentation, shared practice, and ongoing participation. Like any good recipe, what works in one place may need to be adjusted in another. Some practices require time. Others require trust, flexibility, or entirely new ingredients.

What matters most is that we continue learning how to prepare for the future together.

MEET THE COOKS This publication was shaped through conversations with cultural leaders, artists, and community organizers exploring more collective ways forward. We extend sincere thanks to the many contributors whose insights helped inform this work.

Thank you to: Raul Altamura-Zbengheci Leonardo Bravo Monique Davis Claude Grunitzky Em Joseph Gabby Malavé Lorie Milward Anna Raginskaya Jordan Weber Moe Yousuf

ABOUT THE AUTHORS In Good Company and The McGuire Consulting Group work at the intersection of culture, community, and sustainable futures. Together, they combine storytelling, strategy, and public engagement to suppor t more collaborative approaches to cultural and institutional change.

Kent Harris Whitney McGuire Vinay Kumar Mysore