Baking Dreams into Reality: From The Great British Bake Off to Running for Office

Shared by: Cate M. (Founder & Director, Be The Ones)

In October, I found myself at an event talking to a group of folks about our mutual love of The Great British Bake Off. We chatted about our favorite contestants & episodes, aquafaba, and drifted in and out of what the show means — individually and collectively.

“I’m not great in the kitchen, but I watch & think maybe I could do that? What would it take for me to be the ‘star baker’?”

“ I love watching these charming contestants (who aren’t professional bakers, just everyday folks who happen to enjoy baking in their spare time) shuffle around the tent overcoming challenges and rising to the occasion (some more beautifully than their sponge).”

“I’m always captivated by the sense of joy, curiosity, and power of community.”

“ I feel like the show helps people believe in themselves and what’s possible.”

Driving home later that evening, I kept thinking about The Bake Off tent and an August afternoon I spent in a small rural town in South Carolina. Over the course of this very warm late summer day, 23 high schoolers gathered in a gymnasium to learn from local community leaders on topics ranging from college prep, financial literacy, leveraging job opportunities to mental health. Be The Ones led a workshop on local civic participation and exploring your role in the individual and collective civic journey.

I kept thinking about 17 year old Angela.

At the end of our workshop, we asked if there were questions. Similar to the other youth programs & sessions we hosted this year, the high schoolers looked around the room coyly; it was almost as if you could see into their minds churning “who is going to be the first one of us to ask a question?”

Angela raised her hand.

“Do I have to be 18 years old and graduate from college to be able to run for office?”

18, yes. Graduate from college, no.

Since our inception, we’ve been committed to creating spaces where everyday folks — especially younger folks — have the opportunity to envision themselves not just as passive observers but active participants in the future of their communities. Like Angela.

Whether there were moments that led up to her considering a run for office one day or something we said in our workshop, we created a space for her to further explore her own civic journey and imagine herself running for office one day.

At the end of each season of the show, one person is crowned “Star Baker.” If you read interviews from previous contestants, you learn that while this is what they’re all working towards, the measure of “success” for many of them is the experience, the joy, the “little learning community” that’s built over the course of the show.

Some folks would measure the “Star Baker” of this day by the number of high schoolers in attendance (23), or the newly registered 17 year old voters that day (4), or maybe it would be if and when Angela runs for office. But, for us, the greatest measure of success, our “Star Baker,” if you will, was knowing that we were able to provide this experience for Angela.

As we look to 2024, we’re excited to expand our programs allowing everyday individuals to imagine the roles they can play in local civic engagement and provide continue to develop and provide the tools and techniques needed to participate.

We hope you’ll join us as we continue to stir hope, curiosity and opportunity into our pots and pans in the Be The Ones kitchen next year.

Maybe baking isn’t your thing, and that’s totally cool. But, I think we can all agree that building healthier communities where we, and our friends, are not just surviving — but thriving — is no piece of cake.

We’d be grateful if you would consider making a donation so we can continue to remove barriers to local civic participation and create spaces for folks like Angela in 2024.

So, as they say on the show, on your mark…get set…donate!
(or, may be it’s bake).