Climate change, housing insecurity, homelessness, rising infrastructure costs, and post-pandemic recovery have transformed municipal government into one of the most challenging arenas of public leadership. Rather than confronting a single crisis, local leaders increasingly govern amid multiple, overlapping pressures that require balancing urgent needs with long-term community wellbeing. For London City Councillor Skylar Franke, these turbulent times did not draw her away from public service; they drew her into elected office.
Franke's career reflects a broader pattern found throughout civil society. Community organizations often identify emerging social and environmental challenges, mobilize citizens, and develop innovative solutions. Yet the long-term success of those initiatives frequently depends upon decisions made by governments. Leadership, therefore, sometimes requires crossing the boundary between advocacy and public office.
From Community Activism to Public Leadership
Franke's commitment to public service began long before she entered politics. As a high school student she volunteered extensively, participated in social justice initiatives, and developed a strong interest in improving society. That commitment continued through her studies in Social Justice and Peace at King's University College before leading to positions with ReForest London and later the London Environmental Network, where she eventually became Executive Director.
Reflecting on those experiences, she explains:
I had worked for a social agency that did harm reduction with youth, called P.O.S.S.E. . I'd volunteered a lot. I was part of a social justice club in high school, and I was just very interested in trying to change society for the better. So, I came to London for university [B.A. Social Justice and Peace] and ended up staying after I graduated working for ReForest London, which is a tree planting charity. … After ReForest London, I worked at London Environmental Network for 5 years and I ran that charity. The main reason why I got involved in politics is because, having worked in the nonprofit sector and having done all this work in the environmental sector, I saw how quickly change could happen when a new government took power.
For example, in 2018 Doug Ford became the premier of Ontario. The London Environmental Network was supposed to get funding to do corporate sustainability programs, and all that funding was cut because it was tied to the cap-and-trade money which was cut. I found that very frustrating because I'd been working for years trying to make this happen, had everything lined up and then, just snap your fingers, cut it all. I don't want to just sit back. I want to be a part of the action and make those decisions. The reason why I chose municipal politics is because I don't really like parties and partisanship.
Rather than abandoning environmental advocacy, Franke concluded that the next stage of leadership required entering the institutions where public decisions were made. Years spent building community initiatives had demonstrated both the possibilities and the limits of civil society. Community organizations could educate, organize, and innovate, but governments ultimately determined the policy and funding environments within which those initiatives could succeed. Rather than remaining on the outside advocating for change, Franke chose to help shape those decisions from within municipal government.
Her journey reflects a broader pattern found among many contemporary public leaders. Leadership increasingly moves across the boundaries of civil society and government, with experience gained through community organizing becoming a foundation for democratic governance. In an era of climate change, housing pressures, and other interconnected challenges, turbulent times require leaders who can translate community knowledge into public policy while remaining grounded in the collaborative values that first drew them into public service.
Leading Through Multiple Crises
Franke entered municipal government at a time when local leaders were confronting not one crisis but many simultaneously. Climate change, housing affordability, homelessness, rising infrastructure costs, and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have combined to reshape the work of municipal government. Rather than addressing isolated policy problems, today's councillors are increasingly required to navigate interconnected challenges in which decisions about housing, transportation, public health, environmental sustainability, and municipal finance influence one another. Leadership in turbulent times therefore demands more than technical expertise; it requires balancing competing priorities while remaining grounded in clear public values.
For Franke, crises do not fundamentally change what leadership requires — they reveal it. Reflecting on the challenges facing municipalities today, she explains:
Leadership is being able to live your values, being able to have difficult conversations but explain your perspective and listen to other people's even if you don't agree with them. To do it in a way that you still are moving forward on an issue. I also think leadership a lot of time is servant leadership. I want to serve my residents and I want to understand what's going wrong, what I can do to help, are there things that I can improve on. I have my own personal version of what I believe to be a strong leader. I prioritize things like making sure people are housed rather than people feeling uncomfortable about being near homeless people. Of those two I will prioritize people needing housing more.
Rather than treating crises as exceptions to normal governance, Franke understands them as moments that clarify a leader's priorities. Leadership, in her view, is not about avoiding conflict or attempting to satisfy every competing interest equally. It requires remaining grounded in core values, engaging respectfully with differing perspectives, and making difficult decisions that advance the public good even when they generate disagreement. Her willingness to prioritize housing for vulnerable residents over public discomfort illustrates an important feature of democratic leadership: elected officials are responsible not simply for reflecting public opinion, but for exercising judgment in ways that advance the long-term wellbeing of the community. In turbulent times, effective leadership therefore depends upon maintaining a clear moral compass while navigating increasingly complex and often competing public demands.
Franke also argues that today's leaders are being tested not by a single emergency but by several crises unfolding simultaneously. Reflecting on the realities of municipal government, she observes:
We have a crisis of housing. We have a crisis of homelessness. We have a climate crisis. And I think it puts us to the test in what we are willing to do and able to do to deal with it. And how much we are willing to withstand public pressure trying to get us to do things that maybe don't solve the problem but make people feel better.
With COVID there are major disruptions in our supply chains, in the cost of things, and in labour pools. Even with… our own staffing ability. … For example, with rapid transit we've had to stay the course. Even though the cost doubled, we didn't just throw our hands up and say we're going to stop now. We are putting our heads down and saying this is important to the city. We need to get it done.
The distinction between short-term political pressure and long-term public problem-solving runs throughout Franke's interview. Whether discussing investments in public transit, affordable housing, homelessness strategies, or environmental sustainability, she repeatedly emphasizes the importance of staying the course when evidence suggests a policy is in the community's long-term interest. Leadership, in her view, requires resisting the temptation to pursue popular but ineffective responses in favour of decisions that strengthen communities over time. In turbulent times, governing becomes not simply a matter of responding to today's emergencies but of maintaining the conviction to continue building resilient, equitable communities even when immediate pressures encourage leaders to abandon long-term goals.
Why Municipal Government Matters
Although climate change is often framed as a global challenge requiring international agreements and national policy, Franke deliberately chose municipal politics because she believed local government offered the greatest opportunity to improve people's everyday lives. For her, the complex challenges facing communities are ultimately experienced and addressed at the local level.
As she explains:
I chose municipal because I see it having the closest impact on people's daily lives. So as much as the federal and provincial [governments] have overarching policies and have the most resources and funding, at the municipal level, this is where we change people's lives. Being from the environmental sector, transit is a big issue for me and cycling because in London our number one source of emissions is from personal vehicle use. In order to get people to reduce driving their cars, we have to give them good transit, good cycling, good walking, and that's municipal… It's the same with tree planting. Having worked at ReForest London, one of the programs I did was Neighbourhood ReLeaf, choosing low-income neighbourhoods to plant trees and give trees away for free because there is a correlation. If you live in a low-income neighbourhood, there's not as much tree coverage and therefore higher rates of skin cancer and issues with breathing and lungs.
For Franke, effective public leadership begins with the everyday decisions that shape how people live. Transportation, housing, neighbourhood planning, parks, public infrastructure, and environmental sustainability are not separate policy areas but interconnected dimensions of community wellbeing. Her experience with ReForest London reinforced this understanding by demonstrating that environmental policy is also a matter of social justice. Tree planting, for example, was never simply about increasing canopy cover; it was about directing resources to neighbourhoods that had long experienced fewer trees, poorer air quality, greater exposure to extreme heat, and higher rates of related health problems. Environmental stewardship therefore became a practical expression of environmental justice, improving public health while addressing longstanding social inequalities.
This integrated perspective continues to shape Franke's approach to municipal leadership. Rather than separating environmental sustainability from housing, transportation, public health, or social equity, she consistently views them as interconnected challenges requiring coordinated solutions. Municipal government becomes the place where broad public values are translated into everyday governance and where the overlapping crises facing contemporary communities are addressed not through isolated policies but through integrated approaches to community wellbeing. In turbulent times, local leadership is therefore not simply about delivering services; it is about recognizing how environmental, social, and economic challenges intersect and building communities that are healthier, more equitable, and more resilient.
From Collaboration to Governance
Franke's years in the nonprofit sector shaped not only the issues she champions but also the way she governs. Community organizations do not solve complex problems alone; they depend upon partnerships, shared expertise, and ongoing dialogue with diverse stakeholders. Those same habits continue to guide Franke's approach to public leadership. Rather than viewing elected office as a position of individual authority, she sees municipal governance as a collaborative process that draws upon the expertise of municipal staff, community organizations, researchers, and residents.
As she explains:
Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than not fully understanding. And that happens. I will read through a planning report and the language and the nuance and the legislation are so complex in certain cases that I don't know what I'm voting on. So that's when I go to talk to staff. I do all that background work, I want to talk to the community, I want to talk to experts, and I want to talk to people I trust for their input… I think that as councillors, we make decisions, but we're not experts in everything.
For Franke, effective leadership begins with intellectual humility. Rather than assuming elected officials possess all the necessary expertise, she views democratic governance as a process of learning, consultation, and informed judgment. Experience in the nonprofit sector taught her that durable solutions emerge when leaders bring together different forms of knowledge—professional expertise, community experience, and lived realities—before making public decisions. In this sense, collaboration is not simply a leadership style; it is a practical method of governing through complex, interconnected challenges.
The greatest test of this approach comes when consultation does not produce consensus. Municipal leaders must often balance competing public interests while recognizing that no decision will satisfy everyone. Reflecting on development applications, Franke explains:
Development applications… are a good example where I can say we need housing across the city. There's a housing crisis and I understand that's going to impact your neighbourhood… I had one resident after a development application say, 'I understand, but I'm still quite upset, and I wish I hadn't engaged in the process because it felt like a waste of my time.'… I say, 'Yes, your voice matters. It's really important, even though we're probably not going to support your perspective.'
This commitment to listening, even when disagreement remains, reflects an important principle of democratic governance. Public participation is not valuable only when it changes an outcome; it is essential because it allows citizens to contribute to public decision-making and to understand how competing interests have been weighed. Franke's role, therefore, is not to eliminate conflict but to ensure that difficult decisions are made transparently, respectfully, and in the long-term interests of the community.
Her approach illustrates how leadership developed in civil society can strengthen democratic institutions. The collaborative practices that characterize successful community organizations- building relationships, drawing on diverse expertise, and working across organizational boundaries – become equally valuable within government. Rather than leaving advocacy behind when she entered municipal politics, Franke brought its collaborative ethos into City Hall, demonstrating how the skills of community leadership can become the practices of democratic governance during turbulent times.
Changing Municipal Leadership
Franke's journey into municipal politics also reflects the changing face of public leadership. Running for office while pregnant challenged long-standing assumptions about who belongs in elected office. She recalls being repeatedly asked, "Who's going to take care of the baby?" — a question rarely directed toward male candidates. While she describes these experiences as relatively minor, they illustrate the subtle gendered expectations that women continue to navigate in public life.
Rather than allowing these assumptions to define her experience, Franke sees greater diversity as strengthening democratic governance. She notes that London's previous council included almost as many members named Steve as women councillors, a light-hearted observation that underscores a serious point: representative institutions make better decisions when they reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. Her presence on council, like that of many women entering municipal politics today, contributes to broadening both who governs and the experiences that shape public decision-making.
Conclusion: From Advocacy to Democratic Leadership
Skylar Franke's career demonstrates that some of the most effective public leaders begin outside government. The skills developed through community organizing, building partnerships, mobilizing communities, listening across differences, and translating shared values into practical action, provided a strong foundation for public leadership long before she sought elected office.
Rather than leaving environmental advocacy behind, Franke brought its collaborative ethos into municipal government, where it now informs decisions about housing, transportation, environmental sustainability, public health, and community planning. Her leadership illustrates that civil society and democratic institutions need not operate in separate worlds; each depends upon the other. Community organizations identify emerging challenges, build public support, and develop community-based solutions, while governments possess the authority and resources needed to translate those ideas into lasting public policy.
In an era marked by climate change, housing pressures, economic uncertainty, and growing demands on local government, Franke reminds us that leadership is not simply about responding to one crisis after another. It is about remaining grounded in public values, working collaboratively across sectors, and maintaining the long-term vision needed to govern through multiple, overlapping challenges. Her journey from environmental advocate to municipal councillor demonstrates that some of the strongest democratic leaders emerge not from traditional political pathways but from a sustained commitment to serving their communities long before they ever seek public office.