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Bob Blake is the owner and creator of Solar Bear, an innovative solar installation company that uses an interdisciplinary approach to addressing some of our most pressing issues, particularly climate change. Here we discuss:   Being motivated by the spirit of protection Working with an innovative multidisciplinary mindset The significance and impact of making change through education The connection between racism and climate change Recognizing our connection to nature and our essence as nature Indigenous cultures and addressing climate change   Bob’s contact info: Robert@nativesun.org Robert@solarbear.earth   Nativesun.org Solarbear.earth  

Davida Ginter is a change-maker, a person who cares, a writer, a mother, and an optimist. She is the author of Burning Out Won’t Get You There and she works with leaders and organizations to prevent burnout. She approaches her work with deep care, consideration and expertise. Here we discuss:   -Creating change through a human-centered approach -The capacity of every individual to make change -Stepping out of our own story through self-inquiry -Seeing challenges as invitations -Preventing burnout in creating change -Frustration vs. anger vs. cynicism -Other topics   Book: Burning Out Won’t Get You There   Davida’s website: davidaginter.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davida-ginter/  

Carolyn Deters is the Executive Director at Gifts for Seniors, an organization that provides resources and life-affirming personal contact for isolated older adults. Here we discuss:   The inevitability of aging & our curious aversion to thinking about growing old The value of providing space in which to feel purposeful Socialization as the primary determinant of health The collaborative impact approach she uses in her work Aiming for quality of service over quantity of service.   Link:   Gifts for Seniors: https://www.giftsforseniors.org/   Carolyn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolyndeters/   Blue Zones: https://www.bluezones.com/live-longer-better/original-blue-zones/ - section-1  

Kate Dehmer is a fundraiser at Minnesota Public Radio (a major and planned giving officer), a board member of Impact Hub MSP, a holder of a masters degree in conflict mediation, and in her own words, a supporter of things that inspire her. Here we discuss: Embracing what it means to be human The human ability and tendency to normalize The value in acknowledging fear rather than dismissing it Self-work as the beginning of systemic change Redefining “normal” The necessity of having grace for ourselves and others in the midst of creating change The radical connectedness of everyone and everything Taking action as a way of working through anxiety The medicine of saying “I don’t know”

Susan Hammel is a uniter of two worlds- the world of finance and the world of social impact. She is an impact investing advisor and a capital-raising consultant whose mission is to change the way people think about the relationship between money and social impact. From community organizing to Wall Street to public policy to consulting, Susan’s journey has included a wide variety of experiences and perspectives that have much to teach about how to move forward in effectively creating a more human and equitable world. Here we discuss:   -The connection between money, profits, and social impact -Addressing the human capacity to be apathetic and complacent -Paul Wellstone, his way of making change, and his influence on Susan’s path -The necessity of meeting people where they’re at -Bringing the language of empathy into sterile places -Our current epidemic of not being able to be human -The notion of wisdom residing in communities   Relevant link:   Cogent Consulting website: https://www.cogentconsulting.net/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/susan_hammel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cogentconsultinginc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cogent_consulting/ Susan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-hammel/ Cogent Consulting on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cogent-consulting-pbc/   Tony Lloyd’s podcast: https://tonyloyd.com/episode/

Terri Barreiro is a co-founder of Impact Hub Minneapolis-St. Paul and has an extensive background in leadership of nonprofit and philanthropic organizations. She is also Principal at Cogent Consulting, PBC. She has also spent a great deal of time in the higher education world and was the founder and director of the Donald McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship at Saint John’s University. She has always taken an interest in systems change and how people interact and communicate with each other. This interest has led her on a journey of learning and attention toward fostering a more robust future for the social entrepreneurship arena. Here we discuss:   -Having an attention toward how people engage with others and accomplish change -The nature of systems change and the significance of asking “why?” -The work of bringing a diverse group of people together to achieve actual outcomes -Thinking of a career path as a web rather than a linear path -Generational divides on attitudes toward work and career -Her work doing organizational strategy -The history of social entrepreneurship -The meaning of community engagement strategies -Orienting our public language toward constructive change   Relevant links: Terri on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terribarreiro/ Impact Hub Minneapolis-St. Paul website: https://minneapolis.impacthub.net/

Chris Dykstra is a creative entrepreneur who mindfully and curiously approaches the world as a canvas. He is the creator and founder of several businesses in the software and media industries where he exhibits a strong sense of mission-driven attention. He’s passionate about connecting unexpected ideas, bringing a spirit of creativity into every area of work, and orienting toward greater communal and society equity and justice. Here we discuss:   -“Liberation Capitalism”- the applicability of liberation theology to entrepreneurship -Humanity’s central struggle as finding its place in nature -Behaving our way toward our goals -Academic conversations vs. living conversations -Eliminating our limiting internal conversations -Humility as a realistic inventory of one’s strengths and weaknesses -“The price of being me” -Leading not with a finished plan but with a community-building mindset   Relevant links: Warecorp: https://www.warecorp.com/ Chris Dykstra art: https://chrisdykstra.com/about Brown Venture Group: https://brownventuregroup.com/ The Uptake: http://theuptake.org/ The Contributor: http://thecontributor.com/ Drupal Squad: https://drupalsquad.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cdykstra/

Miki Huntington is an educator, speaker, facilitator, mentor, military veteran, and life coach. She specializes in energy leadership, intercultural communication, and development of actionable goals for positive impact as well as personal and professional fulfillment. She brings a highly humanized intention and focus wherever she goes and seeks to carry openheartedness in the process of learning, both in the classroom and in every day life. Here we discuss:   -Teaching as a partnership, a mutual exchange, and a two-way street -The role of perspective in our ability to learn -The wisdom in doing things before you’re ready -Questions as a way of opening up new possibilities -Subjective, objective, and intuitive listening -The importance of creating space for ourselves so that we can offer it to others -The necessity of humanizing the teaching and learning process   Relevant links: Website: MikiHuntington.com LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikihuntington/ The Humanizing Your Online Class infographic, by Michelle Pacansky-Brock: https://brocansky.com/humanizing-infographic

John Noltner is a photographer, storyteller, educator, advocate, activist, and a Christmas tree farmer. He’s also been known to go by the title “untrained migratory earth-bound theologian.” He is the creator of the multimedia arts project called A Peace of My Mind, which uses stories to highlight our shared humanity and to address our worlds most pressing issues. Embracing a spirit of whimsy has led him on a journey across the geographic world as well as the world of the human spirit on which he has gathered and curated stories of what it means to be human and how our individual and collective understandings of peace play a vital role in our greater unfolding story. Here we discuss:   -His work as an entrepreneur and an artist -Leaving room for the mystery and the unexpected -Embracing a whimsical spirit -Questioning the line between foolish and visionary -The meaning of recalling our common humanity -Practicing the skills of vulnerability, courage, and grace -The simultaneous celebration of our common humanity and our diversity -Story as a way of understanding experience and distilling a bigger picture -Amplifying constructive voices as a way of creating a roadmap forward -We all are the help the world needs   Relevant links: Website: https://apomm.net/ Cry Out Indiegogo campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a-peace-of-my-mind-cry-out - / Instagram: @apommstories Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/A-Peace-of-My-Mind-186355973157/ Twitter: @apeaceofmymind1 (https://twitter.com/apeaceofmymind1) Podcast: How Life Changed (available wherever you get your podcasts) John on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-noltner-a6b13b14/

Kayla Yang Best is a systems thinker with a drive to do the on-the-ground work in addressing some of the most pressing issues of our collective community today. With a broad range of experiences working in government, entrepreneurial and philanthropic sectors, she brings an informed perspective of changemaking. Her most recent initiative is Seasoned Specialty Foods, which enables micro producers to bring their food products to consumers through co-retail, allowing them to retain 100% of the proceeds of their goods. Here we discuss:   -Humility as a tool for understanding the community better -Doing the most good for the most people with the most people -Cultivating the ability to mindfully choose which ideas we focus on -Being an advocate for your own mission -Making progress toward cross-sector collaboration on societal issues -The providing of experiential perspectives through storytelling -Developing a common language for which to talk about change   Relevant links:   Kayla on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kayla-yang-best-4bb7585/ Seasoned Specialty Foods on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/seasoned-specialty-foods/ Seasoned Specialty Foods website: https://seasonedspecialtyfoods.com/ Seasoned Specialty Foods on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seasonedspecialtyfoods Seasoned Specialty Foods on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seasonedspecialtyfood/ Kayla on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BestYangkayla  

Beatrice Adenodi is an Awareness Advocate, an original thinker, the creator and founder of innovative initiatives, and with the release of her upcoming book, now an author. Her business, Mirror Ink, works with individuals and businesses to holistically integrate work and life. Her other initiative, Mindless Behaviors, is a social-experiential initiative that seeks to build awareness and personal development by offering effective communication tools in order to provide people with different perspectives of thinking. Here we discuss: -Reclaiming your power -Language as a form of energy -Questioning personal and societal narratives -The value of questioning identity -Our external world as a manifestation of our internal world -Telling stories as a way of highlighting what’s relatable on a human level -Emotions as our most powerful tool and how we’ve been robbed of them -How the inability to see others as human robs us of the ability to be joyful -Changing the pervasive narratives of repression Mirror Ink: https://www.mirrorink360.com/ Mindless Behaviors: https://www.mindless-behaviors.com/ Blog post- Feeling Worthless: https://www.mindless-behaviors.com/blog-posts/feeling-worthless Pre-order the book Mindless Behaviors: https://www.mindless-behaviors.com/the-book (pre-sales for the book begin August 10, 2020. The book release date is October 1, 2020) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beatriceadenodi/  

Chris Johnson is a courage and renewal facilitator, a seeker and teacher of wisdom, a highly intentional practitioner of compassion, and truly one of the best listeners you’ll ever meet. He is the founder of The Milkweed Group, which creates safe, courageous spaces that nourish inner wisdom, sharpen clarity of purpose, and fuel capacity to live and lead for a better world. Here we talk about:   -The practice and posture of deep listening -A story of great synchronicity -Choosing the road less travelled -The different versions of our own stories that we tell -Navigating discomfort and pain along our vocational journey -The wisdom of children -Developing capacity for discernment   Relevant links:   The Milkweed Group: http://milkweedgroup.com/   Chris Johnson on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-johnson-tmg/   The Overstory by Richard Powers: http://www.richardpowers.net/the-overstory/  

Molly Fuller is a “vision-holder,” leader, and designer in both the health services and fashion world where she seeks to use human-centered design in order to create a more human-centered world. Her current entrepreneurial initiative, Molly Fuller Design, brings both of these worlds together by creating stylish clothing for children and teens with autism and other sensory needs. Here we discuss:   -Her experience in the health systems field -The importance of talking and connecting with people -Creativity in the medical field -Human-centered design -Systems and people -Adapting to change -Keeping in line with our purpose -Taking action for impact vs taking action for action’s sake  

Mark Hiemenz is a lover of metaphors, a wise path-of-life traveler, and a genuinely authentic consultant who works with individuals and organizations to be more effective at what they do by building effective means of working together. His business is called Wiser Paths. As a business owner, he knows the essentials of building relationships inside and outside of organizations, defining goals, clarifying objectives and unifying teams, and clear communications. Here we talk about:   -Approaching tough dialogues as invitations rather than as commands -Stepping outside of our bubble -Going beyond transactional relationships as businesses -Traveling the paths of life -The importance of sharing our questions and wondering with others -How learning about others teaches us much about ourselves -Metaphorical interpretations of The Wizard of Oz   Relevant links:   www.wiserpaths.com mark@wiserpaths.com  

Life happened this week which in this case means we ended up without an episode. Embrace the unexpected! But we make an announcement about our upcoming series of workshops, Skills a la Carte, which are focused on self-development and personal growth. Check out the list of available workshops here: https://minneapolis.impacthub.net/skills-a-la-carte-2/#:~:text=Welcome%20to%20Skills%20%C3%A0%20la,stage%20of%20their%20entrepreneurial%20journey.&text=Just%20pick%20the%20workshops%20that,need%20%E2%80%93%20%C3%A0%20la%20Carte%20style. We'll be back next week with a full episode!

Michelle Tran Maryns is driven by a humble yet firm passion to enable others to do what they most want to do. Her entrepreneurship journey in the tech world has been fueled by this very notion. With an array of varied professional experiences from the government sector to the private sector to the nonprofit world and now into entrepreneurship, she brings a unique perspective on what we need as humans and how to design systems and services that address these core foundational needs. Here we discuss:   The notion of “underestimated entrepreneurs” Her story and how it informs the work she does The growth of social entrepreneurship and the reasons behind its growth The human hunger for authenticity Incorporating human-centered design into your work The desire from consumers to tell your story as a business owner Building bridges between communities The power of listening Self-care as a way of taking action Relevant links: org AI communications assistant: ai Minnesota Healing Justice Network: https://www.mnhealingjustice.com/  

We take a break this week from the regular humanship format and opt instead for an inspired monologue. Be forewarned, this is Nick speaking for an hour so if you’d rather not listen to him ramble, feel free to pass this episode on by. But with that being said, there’s some good nuggets in here. This comes following an 8-day solo silent Boundary Waters retreat. So in a note of irony, I’ll be talking about silence and a plethora of other related things. Including:   -The fruitfulness of being centered -Becoming aware of the stories we hold about ourselves and the world -Identifying as the soul -The posture of seeking with humility and curiosity -The potentially paradoxical wisdom of loving everything -The “spiritual” and the “political” -The importance of the small things in life -Laughing at the world  

Michael Sophia is a highly intentional individual with an array of life experiences despite his youthful stance in life. After a relatively brief but robust career in the fitness industry, Michael became a full-on student of life and traveled for a number of years in an earnest effort to learn as much as he could about the nature of what it is to be human. Now he’s turned his attention toward a number of efforts to cultivate the full human potential of each individual. His insight on creating a culture of transformative change both in our world and within ourselves is a much-needed message for our rapidly changing world. Here we discuss:  The notion of participation is perpetuation What it is to be an active agent for transformative change Living from a posture of curiosity and insights on the freedom that comes with thriving The importance of continuous intention The self-evident nature of everything The need for sense-making and the willingness to say “I don’t know” Relevant links: Prosper & Purpose: https://prosperandpurpose.com/ Advancement Academy: https://advancement.academy/

Adam Schneider is a wonderfully intentional and encouraging spirit. His approach to life is one of thoughtful consideration and expected-unexpected improvisation. He seeks to empower individuals in a full expression of themselves through a variety of avenues including music, wellbeing, and purpose-driven entrepreneurship. Here we discuss:   -Being a catalyst for freedom -Journeying on the path of understanding -The narratives that direct our lives and how becoming increasingly aware of them allows us to live more fluidly and freely -The value of encouragement -Aligning with an attitude of receptivity to our efforts in personal growth -Being authors of our own lives -Being receptive to the phenomenon of remembering   Relevant links:   Adam’s band- The Most I Am (upcoming album- Becoming)- com Facebook: @themostiam Prosper & Purpose- growth marketing agency for purpose-driven entrepreneurs. He’s director of media devel https://prosperandpurpose.com/ adam@prosperandpurpose.com Advancement Academy- community of ppl that want to support each other through the process of personal growth https://advancement.academy/

Anthoni McMorris-Rice is, in his own words, a spiritual man, a believer in the divine, a philosopher and scientist in his own right, a person who is interested in thought and the choice of thought, a human being (not 2/3 of one), and a descendent of a slave who seeks to make change and provide a new perspective and narrative of reality. I met Anthoni at the intersection of 38th Street and Chicago Ave in Minneapolis, MN, just days after George Floyd was murdered there by police. Anthoni’s words are ones for anyone and everyone. Here we talk about:   -The primacy of perception in shaping reality -How the need for survival shapes our mode of being in the world -The errancy of judgment -The life-giving necessity of empathy -Freedom as a fundamental state of being -“Living for” vs. “dying for” -The consequences of choice -Tuning into self-knowledge -The validity of all emotions