Todd Capps
President of the Lois and Walter Capps Project
Todd’s passions lie at the intersection of community, connection, and creativity. He’s especially interested in transformative experiences, which he defines as “anything that can take us out of our everyday context and have us realize we’re all in this together”, and has set out to create such experiences through his work. After spending a majority of his career as a musician, Todd recently joined the non-profit sector as president of the Lois and Walter Capps Project. The project, named after his parents who both served in Congress, focuses on building a healthy democracy through civic engagement and conversation. From closing off an entire block of State Street for an outdoor public dinner, to hosting community music and arts events, and their latest program “Conversation with the Other”, Todd and the foundation are creating real connections and change in Santa Barbara.
Keep reading to learn more about the programs Todd is working on, his take on the power of conversation and a monumental point in his career.
Q: What’s keeping you busy?
A: “Right now I’m working on a non-profit foundation, The Lois and Walter Capps Project, that was set up with my mom’s participation after she retired from serving 18 years in Congress. The mission started really with an organization in my dad’s name. He taught at UCSB for 35 years, was elected to Congress himself in 1996, and died suddenly nine months into his first term. That’s really why my mom got involved. There’s an unwritten policy that when a member of Congress passes, their spouse steps in to keep the staff in place and finish the term. She agreed, ended up liking it more than she thought she would, and stayed for a really long time. Her participation in this organization has been really critical to where we are now. It was also really critical to me wanting to be involved in it. The foundation really serves as a vehicle for bringing people together in conversation.”
Q: Can you tell me more about the Lois and Walter Capps Project?
A: “Our mission is to connect our community through essential and authentic dialogue. We believe that inclusive, authentic dialogue among people of all backgrounds is the heartbeat of a healthy democracy; it is essential in giving voice to those in society’s margins, and critical in developing a culture of participation and collaboration.
During an era of chronic opposition and division, we are committed to helping provide a variety of opportunities to come together as neighbors, to create relationship around the sharing of experiences and the civil exchange of ideas. Our programs and events serve as seedbeds for cultivating, demonstrating, and celebrating our fundamental connectedness.
My role is to help coordinate each program within the project. Every program has its own committee and I serve in each one so I’m essentially the conduit.”
Q: What programs are you currently working on at the Lois and Walter Capps Project?
A: “One is called Our Common Table. We did two of those events last year and we’re continuing to expand that. Sitting down for a meal together is one of the most fundamental ways to bridge divisions and build community. It’s a basic starting point toward deeper understanding and relationship-building. So Our Common Table has been established as a rather uncommon series of public events in the Santa Barbara community around doing just that.
Our Common Table gathering on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara. Hundreds of residents came together to eat at a communal table running down the 1200 block of the street.
Todd and Rebecca Capps at Our Common Table gathering
Our second program is called Creative Democracy. In the same way that Our Common Table uses food as the commonality, Creative Democracy uses art and music. People from different genres and styles and cultures artistically come together in one place for the evening.
There are two other programs in development. One has to do with helping facilitate school-based health clinics in various neighborhoods.
The newest program that I’m really excited about is a series called Conversations With The Other. We kicked it off at THE SANDBOX with James Joyce who recently joined our board and holds these events called “Coffee With a Black Guy”. Unlike Our Common Table, where there’s no control of the conversation, we’re curating the conversations in a more focused direction by emphasizing the concept of the other. Hearing the experience of someone else will invite the opportunity to recognize that we have more in common than we think.”
James Joyce speaking at Coffee With A Black Guy at THE SANDBOX
Q: What were you doing before this?
A: “I’ve always been a musician. I recorded and toured with some bands when I was younger and then I became a fulltime composer for film and television. About 5 or 6 years ago, I reached this point in the composing world where I wanted to take a break, get out of the windowless studio and get more involved in my community. I’ve never really felt like a gung-ho Santa Barbara resident but I realized that there was this need to engage more.”
Q: How did you go from working as a musician to entering the world of nonprofits?
A: “I realized that there’s this similarity between music, and what music can do, and these programs around conversation and what conversation can do. I’m really drawn to experiences that are transformative. And what I mean by transformative is anything that can take us out of our everyday context and have us realize we’re all in this together. You get that when you go to a concert. You can be in a stadium full of total strangers and it can be this almost religious experience. We’re all kind of sharing this moment together. You can also get that experience by taking the time to chat with the person who’s behind you in line at the grocery store. It doesn’t have a huge grand thing like a concert, or a community event, the things that remind us of our humanity. That’s what I’m drawn that, that’s what I continue to work on in THE SANDBOX.”
Q: What effect do you hope these programs will have on Santa Barbara?
A: “There are so many different layers of what we’re hoping will happen. The most immediate goal is to get to know your neighbor a little better. Everything branches out from that. But if we continue to live more and more in isolation, it’s very likely that you’ll know your neighbor less. That will hopefully have a ripple effect that will help a lot of people who feel like our democracy is threatened at the moment. This seems like one of the most accessible ways to help heal that process because you’re not saying we need to agree or I’m going to convince you that you’re wrong, that rarely works. It took me a long time to realize that keeping it simple like getting to know your neighbor is valid and necessary.”
Q: What do you love about what you do?
A: “I love getting excited about a possibility and then watching it come to fruition because of the participation of people who also resonate with that possibility.”
Todd Capps with his sister, Laura, and mother, Lois Capps
Q: How do you measure success in your career?
A: “When you get feedback from people who’ve been a part of something you help put together and they report back that it was worthwhile. That’s about it. Our mission is to help bring people together hearing from people that they enjoyed an event and now feel more connected to the community is the best. That makes me feel like we’ve succeeded in what we set out to do.”
Q: What has been a monumental event in your career?
A: “I once scored 65 episodes of a TV series and when that series ended I had to go out and find more work. I remember the first day I went down to LA I went door to door to production offices. The last place I went to was Rhino Films in Santa Monica, the guy who worked there invited me in and I ended up hanging out there for a while. He said he didn’t have any work at the time but he offered to take my demo. About six months later I received a phone call from a director wanted to hire me for a feature film. Well, that film ended up getting into Sundance and it was this one thing that launched my career. When I asked the director how he got my information he said he got it from the guy at Rhino Films. It was a cool coincidence and a lucky break.”
What brought you to THE SANDBOX?
A: “I’m going to give my son props for this. My son was at Santa Barbara High School in the VADA (Visual Arts and Design) program and they had a field trip to THE SANDBOX. He told me about how cool it was and that’s when I thought we should check this place out. As soon as we walked in and saw it we knew it was perfect.”
Q: What is something you read, watch, or listen to regularly?
A: “Read: I’m reading this book called 21 Lessons for the 21st Century which is blowing my mind. It’s about these 21 areas that are on the verge of changing quite rapidly because of AI and technology.
Watch: Too much CNN
Listen: I listen to classical music in the car. It’s the only thing I listen to since I listen to so much music elsewhere.”
Q: What is something adventurous you’ve done?
A: “I’ve done a fair amount of traveling in places like southeast Asia that were, at the time, difficult and challenging. I remember getting stuck in a train in the middle of Java during monsoon and water was rising up to the windows. I think it’s good to get out of your comfort zone. I miss that to some degree.”
Q: What is something about you that most people don’t know?
A: “I’m pretty shy and introverted. The work that I do involves a lot of socializing but I kind of have to force myself to do it. It’s not where I naturally go.”
