On today's episode, we visit Professor Claudine Tomlinson-Burney's Radio and Podcasting Class at Valencia College to explore the question of a successful life.  The student guests on today's show Felice Mathie, Tim Hetz, and Makenna Waller, are all students in the radio and podcasting class.  Felice, Tim, and Makenna engage Jerrid in a conversation on what success looks like in their lives and share a bit about their current journeys.    

Teaching Change

Episode 49 - What is a Successful Life? with Student Guests

On today's, episode we spend time with the Founder of The VIBE Movement Tina Median.  Tina shares her journey from teaching in Korea to teaching middle in Los Angles and San Diego to founding the VIBE Movement to inspire educators to vibe at a higher level.  She offers professional development programs for school staff and a Bold Educator Coaching Program aimed at teachers to re-engage in what their "why" is as a way to remain energized inside and outside of the classroom.    BiographyA natural rebel and rule interpreter, Tina has promoted social change since her youth, risking her reputation with bold fashion statements like shaving her head when she was only a freshman in high school. Tina spent much of her youth living, working, studying and volunteering abroad in humbling places like South Africa, India, and Vietnam. With almost 30 countries and 20 states under her belt by the time she was 26, Tina got a good glimpse of a world that was full of both love and destruction. She realized at a very young age the meaning of global citizenship, the duty we owe each other as human beings, and the impact one person can have.With 12 years of teaching experience, Tina earned her Red Badge of Courage on the battlefields of some tough schools between South Central LA and San Diego. But she wanted more and felt confined by the four walls of the classroom and stifled by a bureaucratic education system. With a master's in peace and justice studies, Tina found her passions for education and peace align through restorative practices. Linkshttps://www.vibemovement.com/https://www.vibemovement.com/vibe-deck Use Promo Code FREESHIP for free shipping if ordering within the United States.mailto:tina@vibemovement.comInstagram _thevibemovement_Facebook Page @vibewithvibe https://taylormali.com/ A Brooklyn-based Poet and Educator   

Episode 48 - Peace, Passion, and Educator Burnout with Tina Medina of The VIBE Movement

Episode 47 - Center for Peace and Commerce's Work in the US Mexico Borderlands with Rachel Christensen

On today's episode, we are joined by authors Narayan Sundararajan and Jacen Green to discuss their newly published book "The Rule of One: The Power of Intrapreneurship". We discuss the journey of Grameen-Intel Social Business a partnership between Grameen and Intel Corporation from the beginning to now 9-years later.  We also discuss the desire of the authors to share the successes and failures of their social business to inspire other corporations and individuals to pursue untraditional partnerships to improve the world.  

Episode 46 - The Power of Social Intrapreneurship with Authors Narayan Sundararajan and Jacen Greene

In today's episode, host Jerrid Kalakay takes us on a journey into the concept of balance and how it applies to his life. Is balance possible? We have all heard the phrase "work/life balance," and is it possible what other types of balance do we truly need for the long-term. Jerrid proposes thinking about balance as different seasons and what is necessary for our lives for each season. Transcript Jerrid Kalakay 0:09 Welcome to the Teaching Change podcast, where we explore issues social entrepreneurship, education, and innovation. I'm your host, Jerrid Kalakay. So in today's episode, we're going to be talking about finding balance. What does that mean? How does someone go about finding balance? And is it even possible? So on a previous episode, we talked about basically recharging your batteries, and understanding the need to restore oneself to stay in the game for the long haul. And the finding balance everyone talks about work-life balance.Jerrid Kalakay 0:46 Is that a real existence? Is that even possible? You know, the thing that's difficult about finding balance is what are you finding balance with? So a lot of times people talk about their personal lifeJerrid Kalakay 0:59 and theJerrid Kalakay 1:00 Their work-life, you know, and then balancing the two or balancing one's family life with their friends' life, or balancing your work life with your family, friends, personal growth, all those kinds of things.Jerrid Kalakay 1:18 I think it's a work in progress for pretty much everyone I don't know if anyone has would say, honestly, they found complete balance because it's, it's an ever-moving target, right?Jerrid Kalakay 1:31 You feel like you're doing pretty well. And then you get thrown a curveball.Jerrid Kalakay 1:37 You feel like you're on top of the world, and then all of a sudden you backslide, or tumble down the front of the hill, all the way down to the bottom. And so it's kind of a constant struggle, a continuous battle to try to figure out where is your balance and where can it be I know for me in my life as a professor as a social entrepreneur.Jerrid Kalakay 2:00 As a father, as a husband, as a son balance is ever elusive, many times, I'm trying to continually figure out what's the right amount of work to put in here, whether it be in my personal life or whether it be in my work life, whether it be my, my academic life, so forth and so on. And I think that it's probably a healthy conversation to have with yourself, not only with yourself but also with your family, with your friends, if you have a partner, so forth to really try to figure out what, what right now and this exact stage of my life, what does balance look like? What could balance look like?Jerrid Kalakay 2:41 And I don't know if it's, I don't think it's going to be a perfectly balanced thing. Like I'm looking, I'm thinking about a seesaw, you know, and I'm, I'm looking for, you know, what point is a seesaw utterly horizontal with the ground. Very rarely have I ever in my life and all the playgrounds that I've taken my kidsJerrid Kalakay 3:00 too, and probably all the playgrounds I've ever gone to as a child myself, have I ever seen a seesaw exactly horizontal with the ground?Jerrid Kalakay 3:10 And so using that as a metaphor for life, is it possible to have a perfectly balanced life to have your work? Have your academics or your extracurricular activities, your clubs, your organizations, the things you do on the weekends, your family? All the requirements that go along with with having a family and so forth is is it ever going to be a possibility that it's going to be perfectly balanced?Jerrid Kalakay 3:39 I don't think so. I think the answer to that question is no. And the reason why I say that is because I believe at certain times, it naturally should not be in balance ultimately, right. You've got a deadline and work, and so that's probably going to, you know, coming up that's going to be it's going to take a little bit more energy from you.Jerrid Kalakay 3:57 One of your children gets sick if you are fortunate.Jerrid Kalakay 4:00 have to have kids, or we know one of your dogs or animals get sick or your partner gets sick, or you get sick, then you know, obviously that's going to take energy away from your work.Jerrid Kalakay 4:12 If you're pursuing if you're on a softball league or you're in a bowling league, or you know anything like that, if something goes wrong with that, and you're having a tough season or tough go of it, that might take more energy to try to try to remedy that situation try to get better at whatever it is you're trying to do. Right. And so I think it's natural to kind of oscillate between projects and activities and things that you're doing. And not necessarily be super caught up with everything has to be 5050, you know, exactly even across the board or 3333 33 and don't forget about the third and each one of those.Jerrid Kalakay 4:50 That's probably not a healthy way to do things. I think a much more robust is to realize that with each season, different things are going to be taking our energy andJerrid Kalakay 5:00 Our focus and so what we need to do, and what I need to do more telling myself than I am, my listeners are, is to realize that every season requires different things from us and that we need to be able to focus on those things and not feel guilty aboutJerrid Kalakay 5:20 that, and then paying more attention to one thing over another,Jerrid Kalakay 5:25 You know, realizing that the season will pass and that there'll be a new season and the new season will require something different from us. I think that's what right balances. I think, in the end. That's what we really matter. You know, what do we spend our time doing, and how we do it on a day to day basis is essential. But I think in the long run, it's much more critical that we're in balance.Jerrid Kalakay 5:50 On the long haul, you know, the long term for short term, so many things in this world, come down to the long time versus short time, you know, what can we get done now in the short termJerrid Kalakay 6:00 You know, whatever that looks like, that's a day, a week, 30 days, 90 days a quarter, or whatever it might be, versus the long term, you know, what, what will matter a year from now, what will matter two years from now or four years from now?Jerrid Kalakay 6:15 The short term versus long term folds into the seasons, and that concept I was talking about earlier with trying to figure out what the season of now is, and how you can find balance overall in those seasons. You know, with this being said, you know, I'm not advocating that anyone forget that they have a family for six months to get a project done at work. That's not what I'm saying. That probably wouldn't Bode very well for you, or your family, for that matter. Likewise, I'm not saying that suggesting that you forget about the fact that you have to go to work from you know, nine to five or whatever you whatever your work looks like because you know, something's going on in your personal life.Jerrid Kalakay 6:58 But rather, maybe thisJerrid Kalakay 7:00 It's a day or two that you need to spend in the office only and not worrying about other things. And perhaps or maybe the exact opposite is a day or two or so that you need to spend away from the office and not worrying about anything but your personal life or your family life. And being honest with yourself, and being honest with those around you, both your employer or the folks you work with, and also your family about kind of where you are, I think is right. And I think that's a healthy scenario. I think a lot of times people try to deal mainly, men that I know, myself included, try to deal with everything on their own. I know I get caught in that often. Where I'm trying to deal with things entirely by myself, you know, if I, if I'm not able to do this and work, then people will think less of me they will need they won't think I'm as productive. They won't think I'm as good as I would like them to, you know if I can't deal with something in my personal life and my family life. You know,Jerrid Kalakay 8:00 Well, what would that mean? So I mean, I'm not a good husband, I'm not a good father, I'm not a good son, so forth these all these kind of negative concepts, negative thoughts, that kind of go could go and permeate our mindsJerrid Kalakay 8:16 Exists when we're trying to find a balance that may not be exactly possible. But when we're open and we're honest with the people that are in our lives, whether they be employees, employers, people we work with in general, our families, our friends, about where we are and what season we believe we are in and kind of what's on our plate. I think that we will more easily find balance in our own lives and in doing so will be much more successful on all fronts. And so, I'm inquisitive I'm interested in finding out from you all as, as my listeners as our listeners.Jerrid Kalakay 9:00 What do you see balance? As? Do you believe finding balance is possible? What is finding balance mean to you? You know, one of the things that I grew up on as a professional in higher education was taught was in graduate school andJerrid Kalakay 9:20 in graduate school at Florida State University in their higher ed program shut out to FSUJerrid Kalakay 9:26 Not doing so well in football, but that's okay. They're still doing well in the classroom. So good, good, good going. But in Tallahassee, Florida, Florida State, I will I went there for my Master's in science in higher education. And one of the very first things one of my professors talked about was finding work-life balance, and how can we do that as professionals, and I remember thinking as a 20, something-year-old and a professional preparation program toJerrid Kalakay 10:00 To work as a professional at an at a, you know, university or college, and we're thinking, wow, you know, the, that's probably not that big of a deal. Like I don't need to worry about finding balance because I'm just going to go out and I'm going to do the best job I could do. And I want to make a name for myself this in this field of higher education.Jerrid Kalakay 10:20 And I dismissed it all. And I think a lot of my classmates did as well. I don't believe that any of us focus the time and energy that we needed to on having a conversation with ourselves about what that could look like. And I think partly because it's all in the abstract.Jerrid Kalakay 10:37 You know, when you start to think about what your life is going to be after x or after y,Jerrid Kalakay 10:45 whatever those x's and y's are, whether they're the graduate program, law school, medical school, college in general, after you get married, you buy your house, you you know, whatever, whatever those X & Y's are you, you start to thinkJerrid Kalakay 11:00 Somewhat intellectually about what that's going to be like, but you don't know what it is. It's all in the abstract. Right? You never you don't know what it's like being a parent until you become a parent if you happen to be fortunate enough to do that, you don't know it's like to get married until you get married. Right if you're lucky enough to do that, you don't know what it's like to buy a car house, you know, so forth like you, you know what it is intellectually, but fully, you don't have any idea. So it's the same. It was the same thing for me when I heard about the work-life balance in graduate school. And it wasn't until many years into my professional life,Jerrid Kalakay 11:38 that I start to realize that I needed to take some time for myself and my relationship.Jerrid Kalakay 11:46 And for my partner and for, for our life together and so forth. And it was a long, hard roadJerrid Kalakay 11:55 and lesson for me to learn because what I was basicallyJerrid Kalakay 12:00 Doing is I was trying to make the most significant impact in my professional life as possible. And so, you know, eight 910 15 hours a day, you know, working during the day and then going to events in the afternoon in the afternoon or evening for workJerrid Kalakay 12:22 was perfectlyJerrid Kalakay 12:25 Perfectly acceptable, not only accept the Buddha is encouraged. So I would work, you know, my nine to five, and thenJerrid Kalakay 12:33 I worked in campus activities, so I put up to put on events and concerts and different things, which is a lot of fun. But it also still works. And so I would get home at you know, midnight, or one o'clock in the morning sometimes. And I did this pretty extensively for the Liesl first, on a three-four. If you asked my wife probably ten years of my professional lifeJerrid Kalakay 13:00 I what I did in that is yes, I've made somewhat a name for myself at some level.Jerrid Kalakay 13:07 But in doing that, I also neglected a lot of things I neglected myself my well being, and I neglected my relationship, I neglected my life outside of my work completely.Jerrid Kalakay 13:25 And in the long run, that will never work. In the short term, it might have worked well in a particular focused area, but it won't work in the long run. And I and I still have a lot of colleaguesJerrid Kalakay 13:38 Who I knew from that time, that that seem to be still doing that same thing or the seem to be still trapped in that same rat race. So I encourage you to think about, you know, what, what does balance look like for your life? What season Are you in? have that balance, you know, where do you think you need more excellent stability? Where do you think youJerrid Kalakay 14:00 Let's balance. Do you feel like you're in pursuit of that, that balance for yourself? And I would, and I would argue that and ask you is if you don't feel balanced, do you feel rewarded by that imbalance or you burdened by that imbalance?Jerrid Kalakay 14:24 And that's pretty it's a pretty profound concept. So do you feel rewarded by that unbalanced? So if you are,Jerrid Kalakay 14:31 whether it be in work or your personal life, are you getting the rewards wherever they may be for that imbalance or are you being penalized or you beingJerrid Kalakay 14:43 Martyred or hurt by that imbalance? And realize that whether you're being rewarded or whether that imbalance is punishing you that the pendulum Chloe swing the other way,Jerrid Kalakay 14:57 that your reward today could be a punishment tomorrow.Jerrid Kalakay 15:00 vice versa.Jerrid Kalakay 15:02 And the pendulum swings. Like I said both ways, the door swings both ways the pendulum swings both ways, whatever metaphor you want to use. So what we're rewarded for today might be what we're punished for tomorrow.Jerrid Kalakay 15:16 And that's something that we all have to deal with, and we have to think about it. And so I would, I would encourage you to think about where's your balance? And where can your balance take you? And what does that look like? For social entrepreneurs for social innovators, balance is a really, really, really important concept. Because of balancing the the triple bottom line that people profit planets, they're they're balancing the social value creation, the doing well in the world, with the profit and the profit-taking models, the revenue, and so there's a lot of balance to be found in that there's a balance of the storytelling. How muchJerrid Kalakay 16:00 How much of the story do you tell versus how much of the money do you try to make? You know, and realizing that you as one individual, as a social entrepreneur, social innovator can't do everything all at once? Right? You've got to build a team. Again, that is balanced. And soJerrid Kalakay 16:18 What does that look like in each one of your lives? I encourage you to spend some time this next week, thinking about that, analyzing that figuring that out. And then I will we will talk next time.Jerrid Kalakay 16:34 Thank you for helping me kind of figure out some of my balance. This is an I have not done a single show. Just by myself in a while, I've had only guests on, and this week, I thought that we would like that I would analyze balance a little bit with you all, just as Jerrid Kalakay not as Jerrid Kalakay interviewing someone so I appreciate it. Hopefully, you enjoyed this episode.Jerrid Kalakay 17:00 Your listenership, you probably noticed that we'd redone our website we've redone Teaching Change podcast calm. We've also rebranded some of our stuff for our third season, which debuted last week.Jerrid Kalakay 17:15 Appreciate and honor your journey with us, and if you dig our podcasts you dig the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or Stitcher, or the highest compliment would be to share us with one of your friends. Till next time, be nice and change some stuff 

Episode 45 - Finding Balance in a Hectic World

Episode 44 - Growing an Economy And People Through The Global Links Program With Mary Conway Dato-on, Yasmin Mesbah, and Denise Delboni

On today’s episode, we have our 7th and final episode in our special series Ashoka U on Teaching Change with our conversation with Rachel Maxwell, Head of Learning and Teaching Development at the University of Northampton. Rachel shares her work in developing changemaker learning outcomes to be adopted institution-wide, her own philosophy around change-making, and the impact the upcoming Ashoka U publication will have on the field of changemaker education.BiographyDr. Rachel Maxwell is Head of Learning and Teaching Development in the Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILT) at the University of Northampton in the UK. She is currently leading a number of projects supporting the student experience, including improving the first-year experience and the development of a framework of graduate attributes embedding employability and Changemaker skills across our curricula. Since starting work at the University of Northampton in 2012, Rachel has displayed a strong interest in Changemaking, primarily through her work to embed the skills and attributes associated with Changemaker into our curricula. In this way, her desire is to ensure that all students at Northampton receive a meaningful, on-programme entitlement to engage with Changemaking, thus supporting the institutional strategy: Transforming Lives + Inspiring Change.

Episode 43 – Ashoka U on Teaching Change Series with Rachel Maxwell

We continue our special series Ashoka U on Teaching Change with our interview of Jacen Greene, Director of Impact Entrepreneurs at Portland State University. Jacen shares his winding journey from the private sector to consulting to higher education and working with change-making education. He also shares how his private sector experience influences his work in education and how important learning outcomes are for a strong educational foundation. Listen to find out why Jacen believes that every decision he makes to be more inclusive in his programs has benefited every student participating.BiographyJacen Greene manages social innovation programs in PSU’s School of Business, including the Social Innovation Certificate and Elevating Impact Summit, and co-founded PSU’s new Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative. He teaches design thinking and lean startup courses in social entrepreneurship, initiated the student-run B Impact consulting program, and leads an award-winning case writing program. He serves as PSU’s Change Leader, official representative to the Ashoka U Changemaker Campus network, and is one of Ashoka U’s global Network Advisory Committee members.Jacen’s case studies have won the Oikos Case Competition, placed 2nd in the Next Billion Competition, and been used by more than 2300 students and faculty. He has published in the International Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Learning, VentureWell 20th Annual Conference Proceedings, Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability, and the Oikos Case Quarterly.In addition to overseeing the planning team for the yearly Elevating Impact Summit, he has presented at or led workshops for the Fulbright Program, AmeriCorps, Net Impact Conference (2011), GoGreen PDX (2012), VentureWell OPEN (2016), Ashoka U Exchange (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018), and Social Enterprise World Forum (2018), among others.Jacen graduated Beta Gamma Sigma with an MBA in sustainability from Portland State University and magna cum laude with a B.A. in China Studies from Willamette University. He has previously worked or taught in India, China, Cambodia, Honduras, and Nicaragua.LinksLearning Objectives Guide DOWNLOADhttps://guides.library.pdx.edu/c.php?g=527355&p=3605354 

Episode 42 – Ashoka U on Teaching Change with Jacen Greene

Today’s episode brings us the 4th installment of our special series Ashoka U on Teaching Change with our conversation with Rebecca Riccio, Director of the Social Impact Lab at Northeastern University. Rebecca shares her philosophy of change-making education from the ways of thinking, ways of being, and ways of doing, to her disdain for placing too much emphasis on specific terms like “social entrepreneurship” or “social innovation” and lastly her chapter in the forthcoming Ashoka U publication. BiographyRebecca Riccio is the founding Director of the Social Impact Lab (SIL) at Northeastern University, an experiential learning hub that prepares students for lives of citizen-leadership and social change through systems thinking, complex problem solving,  and ethical community engagement.  Throughout her career, Rebecca has developed and managed cutting edge projects around the world, including the first federally funded teacher training program in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall; satellite-based email networks connecting health facilities in Africa and Asia before commercial options became viable; and the world’s first massive open online course or MOOC on experiential philanthropy, which engaged thousands of students around the world in awarding grants from the Buffett family’s Learning by Giving Foundation.  She continues to break new ground by researching and developing experiential learning methods that challenge students to grapple with the complexity and ethical implications of engaging in social change using techniques such as network and systems visualization, real-dollar grantmaking, and community-based service-learning. Rebecca is a leader in the growing use of experiential philanthropy education to illuminate the study of the nonprofit sector, civil society, and social justice by having students confront the power and privilege of managing scarce resources in the face of vast need. The model she developed at Northeastern, Northeastern Students4Giving, is now being adapted in countries around the world through SIL’s Global Philanthropy Initiative. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, and social change at Northeastern University and has lectured on philanthropy, social justice, and policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.LinksSocial Impact Lab website: https://cssh.northeastern.edu/impactlab/Social Impact-athon website: https://www.socialimpactathon.com/Rebecca’s talk at Ashoka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXxSIGdyPv4For more information about Rebecca’s philosophy and work in experiential philanthropy, see Riccio, Rebecca. “Checks and Balances: Experiential Philanthropy as a Form of Community Engagement.” Service-learning through Community Engagement. By Lori Gardinier. New York, NY: Springer, LLC, 2017. 39-56. Print.  

Episode 41 – Ashoka U on Teaching Change Series with Rebecca Riccio

Today we continue with our 3rd episode in our special series Ashoka U on Teaching Change by learning from Molly Ware, Professor of Education at Western Washington University. Molly shares her own journey to change-making through the classroom, her work as an educator of educators, and her chapter in the upcoming Ashoka U publicationPreparing Students for a Rapidly Changing World: Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, and Changemaker Learning Outcomes.  BiographyHow can we accomplish more together than is possible alone? It’s the question that’s driven my work since I left my science teaching gig in GA public, middle schools. Since then, I’ve worked as a teacher educator in partnership with public school teachers in WA state – supporting the growth of new changemaker teachers. In addition, I’ve worked to support organizational innovation & evolution at Western Washington University & beyond through a variety of leadership roles including Faculty Senate President, Director of Western Reads, and organizational change & innovation consulting work. I currently teach classes focused on leading systemic change and am finishing a memoir on adventures in system change.In addition to her work at Western Washington University, Molly is founder & lead consultant at We Evolve where she supports organizational change & innovation in higher education & the social impact sector. https://www.we-evolve.org She is also finishing a memoir on her adventures in learning to create transformative change that will be completed this summer.Linkshttp://www.we-evolve.org 

Episode 40 – Ashoka U on Teaching Change Series with Molly Ware

On today’s episode, we continue our special series Ashoka U on Teaching Change with Hattie Duplechain, Research and Evaluation Specialist at Ashoka U. Hattie shares her own journey into change-making through the K-12 system, her role, and the process she helped lead in writing the upcoming Ashoka U publicationPreparing Students for a Rapidly Changing World: Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, and Changemaker Learning Outcomes.   BiographyResearch and Evaluation Specialist, Hattie leads measurement efforts for the Ashoka U team. Hattie focuses on cultivating and working in partnership with Ashoka U’s research community to document the effects of changemaking education and share learnings through knowledge products. Before joining Ashoka U Hattie worked as a primary level teacher, initially as U.S. Fulbright grantee to Nepal and later as a founding teacher at a Nashville, Tennessee middle school. Hattie began her work at the intersection between social innovation and higher education as a Vittana Fellow, supporting the microfinance organization’s work to fund higher education internationally. Hattie holds dual B.A. degrees in English and Communication Studies from Clemson University and an M.Ed. in International Education Policy and Management from Vanderbilt University.Linkswww.ashokau.org40 Conversations about Changemaker Learning Outcomes3 Critical Questions Changemaker Learning Outcomes Can Help us Answer Recommended Evaluation Resources_Summer 2018

Episode 39 – Ashoka U on Teaching Change Series with Hattie Duplechain

Today we kick off the special series Ashoka U on Teaching Change with an interview with Co-Founder and Executive Director of Ashoka U Marina Kim. Marina shares her passion for change-making, how she got involved in the field as an undergraduate and reflects on the last 10 years since she co-founded the organization. She also discusses her hopes for the field and the upcoming Ashoka U publication Preparing Students for a Rapidly Changing World: Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, and Changemaker Learning Outcomes.  BiographyMarina’s work in social entrepreneurship dates back over 15 years. She co-founded and leads Ashoka U, which works with colleges and universities to embed social innovation as an educational focus and a strategic approach to aligning the university’s culture, programs, and operations. To date, Ashoka U has worked with over 400 institutions globally. Marina’s writing on institutional change and higher education innovation have been featured in Forbes.com,SSIR.org, and the Diversity & Democracy Journal and Ashoka U has been featured in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Huffington Post and The New York Times. Marina was named in the Forbes 30 under 30 for Social Entrepreneurship, received the post-graduate Tom Ford Fellowship in Philanthropy from Stanford, and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Northampton. Marina holds a BA in International Relations from Stanford University.Linkswww.ashokau.org 

Episode 38 – Ashoka U on Teaching Change Series with Marina Kim

On today’s episode, we learn about the 50 billion tons of waste the fashion industry generates per year goes into our landfills and how Melissa Feezor of Raw Materials by Melissa is determined to change that fact.  Melissa Feezor shares her journey of operating a boutique one-off fashion business to struggling to pay her bills and take of her two children and back again.  Melissa is creating cool stylish looks out of unlikely sources specifically “old man pants”.  BiographyMelissa Feezor worked in the creative field most of her adult life. She founded a graphic design company, enjoyed a fine art career and launched raw materials, an upcycled fashion line. Then she lost everything. During the economic downturn of 2008, she went thru a divorce and lost her home. With two small children to care for, she gave up on her creative career and worked as many odd jobs as she could to keep them afloat. It was a dark and humbling time. The loneliness, isolation, and shame of living below the poverty level nearly broke Melissa. But, it never got to her sweet and incredibly brave kids, age 6 and 9 at the time. Mia and her brother Michael sat vigil outside mom’s bedroom door during Melissa’s “time outs” to cry, and would say under the door; “breathe mommy, just breathe”. As she got back on her feet the strength of her children stuck with her. She felt a desire to help other children who came home after school to a parent in a desperate situation and through no fault of their own had to be a kid and an adult all at the same time. She knew the only way to help these courageous kids was to help their parents get back on their feet and help make the family whole again. Melissa learned, through her own challenging experiences, that kids just want their parents back to being parents.Melissa eventually went back to the corporate world. There she tried to rally coworkers to see the needs of the poor and show them how thoughtfully designed products and programs could “solve the world’s problems, with the world’s problems”. This crusade leads to several humanitarian programs, including a virtual food drive and a volunteer engagement program. These ideas caught the eye of top-level executives of her billion-dollar employer. Although she had CEO level support, corporate red tape and layers of management caused the eventual demise of her big, world-changing ideas.What can only be described as divine inspiration thru a Christian faith-based journey, Melissa was led to her earlier love of upcycling clothing. Her son, Michael, once told her after a particularly upsetting episode early in the divorce, “mom, you take everything bad and make it good”. Focused on that principle, equipped with the skills of being able to design wearable fashion out of old clothes and a special vision to see textile waste as a valuable commodity, Melissa relaunched raw materials. This time to benefit humanitarian causes in addition to environmental benefits.With the blessing of a second chance at love and the support of her new husband she left the safety of her corporate job and is devoting herself full time to raw materials and its basic principle: making high fashion from old clothes for good causes. Through product line development, pops ups, fashion fundraisers and workshops she is hoping to fill a great need as a social enterprise element for those needing way back to society. She currently is focused on several non-profits who serve sex trafficking survivors and is teaching what she knows to others. Melissa hopes this will provide not only trade for these survivors but also a dignified, sustainable way back to society.Linkswww.rawmaterialsbymelissa.comFollow @rawmaterialsbymelissa on InstagramRaw Materials by Melissa on Facebook.http://greenorlando.com/sustainability/high-fashion-with-the-right-vision.html  Article on Raw Materials by Melissa   

Episode 37 – Refashioning 50B Tons of Waste Into Runway Worthy Clothes with Melissa Feezor

On this episode, we speak with a Dani Chesson who is a Business Transformation Consultant with Chesson Consulting in New Zealand.  Dani shares her journey from New York to New Zealand with a few stops in between and shares her excitement for helping businesses to not only becoming more profitable but also more rewarding.  Dani’s work and passion are in building the capabilities needed for change!BiographyDani Chesson, Ph.D.With a unique blend of design, business, and organizations development skills, Dr. Dani Chesson’s helps companies tackle complex challenges to reach their full potential. Dani is the creator of Chesson’s DESIGN THINKER PROFILE, Dani takes a Design Thinking approach to creating innovative yet pragmatic solutions to complex business challenges.Throughout her career, Dani has taken a design perspective to help organizations create new products and services, adopt emerging technologies, and successfully implement large-scale transformational change. Prior to starting Chesson Consulting, Dani was a former Vice President at Bank of America where she led global teams in operationalizing innovation, managing change, and responding to regulatory requirements. She has also held leadership and consulting roles at Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting, Sherpa, LLC, and HSBC.Dani holds a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communications with a focus in graphic design. She holds a Master of Science in Business Administration and a Master of Science in Organization Development from Queens University of Charlotte where her research focused on how designers approach their work. As part of her graduate work, Dani also completed a Certificate in Executive Coaching. She is also accredited in the DISC Value Index, a certified Six Sigma Green Belt, and a trained facilitator of the Immunity to Change process. Dani earned her Ph.D. in Leadership and Organizational Change from Antioch University where her research involved developing an assessment for measuring the capabilities of Design Thinkers and expanding the use of Design Thinking in organizations. Dani is a scholar-practitioner who brings insights from research into organizations and whose research is informed by her work with clients.LinksDani Chesson contact – dani@chessonconsulting.comhttp://www.chessonconsulting.comhttps://designthinkerprofile.com/

Episode 36 – Transforming Business with Dani Chesson

On this episode with speak with a current doctoral student and aspiring social entrepreneur Sara Frost.  Sara is finishing up her coursework for the Ph. D. in Leadership and Change, from Antioch University and will be embarking research on risk-taking in social enterprises.  Sara shares her aspirations to begin her own “Art Bus” social enterprise that would travel around the United States bringing the Arts to school children.  She also shares her own journey of discovering, studying, and practicing social entrepreneurship.BiographySara Frost, Ed.S.Data Systems Manager at The Guild for Human Services and Ph.D. Student at Antioch UniversityBy day, Sara is the data systems manager at a special education school in Massachusetts; she uses data to inform the agency in decision-making. By night, she is a Ph.D. student at Antioch University. Her dissertation is on barriers to Risk-taking for Social Entrepreneurs. She has been excited about social entrepreneurship since 2008 when she came up with an idea for a social enterprise that she wants to start. At the time she was unaware of the exciting world of social entrepreneurship.Along the way, she has tried to gain the necessary education to start such an endeavor. Although she hasn’t quite gotten her idea off the ground, she has learned about some really cool people who are changing the world.Sara is also a sloth enthusiast, a mom to a human and two dogs, and wife to a 3D Animator and video game designer.Sara has a BA in Theater from Florida State University, an MS in Human Services Administration from Louisiana State University Shreveport, and an Ed.S. in Special Education from Bay Path University.Given the opportunity to tell you what to do, she would encourage you to be kind to everyone, do one thing that excites you every day, and stay awesome.LinksSara Frost contact – sfrost3@antioch.eduJerrid Kalakay’s Dissertation – “JUST” Business and Often Personal: An Exploration Into the Incidents Social Entrepreneurs Identify as Critical to Leading Their EnterprisesGuild for Human Services Website – www.guildhumanservices.orgAmeriCorps NCCC – https://www.nationalservice.gov/programs/americorps/americorps-programs/americorps-ncccSara also encourages you to buy the coloring book that has a picture of her baby, called Dogs Are Mean: The (ADULT) Coloring Book (Animals Are Mean) (Volume 2) https://www.amazon.com/Dogs-Are-Mean-Coloring-Animals/dp/1729812589/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542998965&sr=1-1&keywords=animals+are+mean+dogs+are+mean

Episode 35 – Social Entrepreneurship as Scholarship and Practice with Sara Frost

Social Entrepreneurship Education and Innovation

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Teaching Change

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