Today we’d like to introduce you to Godfrey Riddle.
Hi Godfrey, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Civic Saint is led by Founder and President Godfrey Riddle, MPA, an artist, public speaker, and serial social entrepreneur whose life as a Black, queer man and cancer survivor informs the mission to build safe, healthy homes for all using its proprietary GeoNova™ compressed earth block (CEB) ecosystem. Godfrey holds a Master of Public Administration and B.A. in Architectural Studies. He is a 2024 Echoing Green Global Fellow and 2026 Aspen Institute Ideas Fellow.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Civic Saint evolved from a mission-driven apparel brand—born during my cancer recovery and the 2020 unrest—into a high-performance housing industrialist. While apparel grossed $27K in early revenue, my background in architecture and city management drove a pivot toward solving the housing crisis. After 75 research interviews with industry experts, I saw a systemic gap: traditional construction is crippled by carbon-heavy, volatile supply chains.
Our most significant pivot was from manual, stationary CEB production (Auram 5000) to the BloxTruck™—a novel, mobile factory with semi-automated hydraulic tech. When a stationary factory proved capital-inefficient, I engineered this mobile fix to decentralize production. My pivot allows us to make GeoNova™ blocks on-site that exceed ASTM standards by more than 4x, cutting carbon by 70% and insulating us from global timber/steel tariffs–while turning a site constraint into a proprietary, scalable delivery model.
As you know, we’re big fans of Civic Saint. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
U.S. housing is trapped in an obsolete paradigm. Most modern builds are petrotimber structures—wood frames filled with synthetic insulations and finishes that off-gas toxins (VOCs, phthalates, formaldehyde) while providing an organic breeding ground for mold, which already affects 47% of American homes.
Civic Saint disrupts this cycle through GeoNova™, a high-performance compressed earth block (CEB) ecosystem. We utilize local soil and excavation waste to manufacture non-toxic, innately fireproof masonry units. Compressed at 2250 PSI—exceeding code minimums—our interlocking blocks allow for rapid, mortarless deployment, reducing specialized labor needs and eliminating flammable timber frames that mold. CEBs also outperform concrete in cost, structural longevity, embodied carbon, and climate comfort from thermal massing. By marrying ancient wisdom with modern engineering, we deliver homes that are indestructible, carbon-negative, and significantly more affordable over their lifecycle.
We don’t just build houses; we build regional manufacturing infrastructure that creates high-wage workforce pathways and restores community agency over the built environment. We are stopping the cycle of rebuilding into risk by providing a proven, permanent, biologically inert alternative to petro-timber.
Most recently, we completed a private commission for a rammed-earth service bar for Current State Coffee’s flagship location in downtown Shawnee, KS (Nieman Rd + Johnson Dr) opening this May 2026. Hand-rammed using a signature palette of pigmented local soils, the bar is a tactile demonstration of earthen materiality in a contemporary commercial setting. It’s also a preview of the rammed earth feature walls integrated into every Stonehome design.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
“Nothing beats a failure but a try” — wisdom my late mother, Goldie, shared with me time and time again.
In business, I think we canonize the myth that entrepreneurship happens early in life and immediately leads to radical success. The fact of the matter is that the most enduring business ideas come from lived experience (your unique perspective in the world), and take countless iteration.
As I’ve grown in business and hit roadblocks, I’ve learned to adopt a “value-add” mindset to problem solving. In other words, don’t just aim to fix the problem–create a solution that adds value to your company while lowering your odds of making the same mistake again. And remember that it’s all trail and error toward actualizing your business vision in the world, especially if you are in the process of creating a new product or changing a system.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.civicsaint.com
- Instagram: @CivicSaint
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CivicSaint/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/sjY-ahqFPJw
- Other: https://www.civicsaint.com/stonehome/ancestral-grounds
