Living the Mission

The experimenter innovates, pioneers, invents, course-corrects, pivots, etc. And that’s what we’re chatting about on today’s episode! Please welcome Living the Mission’s #1 fan and CSSA’s Assistant Director for Community Partnerships, John Jackson. He reminds us that when we experiment, there will be failure. But we know that mistakes are proof that we are trying. It’s okay to be humbled and it’s okay to make mistakes and it’s okay that things aren’t always perfect. Anything worth doing is going to be challenging. So let’s live up to the challenge and experiment in every role.

This week on Living the Mission, we are reflecting on the role of the Caregiver with Leah Berdysz, founder of Empowered and Poised.  We will discuss how to nurture and nourish the people around us by creating a community of care and connection. Leah believes that in order to be a changemaker, we cannot just work for others, but rather we must walk with others through life and help them discover their own strengths. On this journey of caring for others, we have to be patient with ourselves and with one another and give everyone a little bit of grace.

Join Jim Krukones, V.P. for Academic Affairs at John Carroll on this episode of Living the Mission. Our discussion draws attention to the influence of all the different members of the JCU community. The builder is the person who develops, organizes and executes the ideas -- the person who tends to actually get the things done. We discuss the importance of giving a quick and authentic apology so that we can rebuild to move forward. Also, we are able to acknowledge and trust the feeling that we’re living the mission.

Join us as we chat with a well known storyteller in the John Carroll Community, Dr. Carrie Buchanan. As a journalism professor and advisor of The Carroll News, she strives to integrate, craft, and share the stories of different communities. She opens up platforms to expand the possibilities for stories to be heard in a unique way. She reminds us how much we love stories, how they are a part of us, and how they help us to navigate our role in the social change ecosystem.

On this episode of Living the Mission we chat with principal of St. Francis Elementary, Scott Embacher. We’ll uncover the role of the guide (and a few other roles) as we learn how to be well rounded for transformational change. Scott reminds us how to stay within our mission so that when the tough times come, our values are already defined. When we do this we’re not shooting into the dark but we are guided by a light.

Welcome back to Living the Mission! This semester we are going to focus on The Social Change Ecosystem and the roles that this model abides by. Our hope is that in the season of life and in this season of the podcast you can identify where your strengths lie according to these roles and where you may have some room to grow. Today we focus on the role of Visionary as we imagine bold possibilities and dream big for the direction of the podcast, directing our efforts towards social change. We’d like to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of this journey and can’t wait to see how we can continue to Live the Mission.

For more information on The Social Change Ecosystem please visit: https://buildingmovement.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Ecosystem-Roles-2020.pdf

As we wrap up the first season of Living the Mission, we are so glad that you have joined us on this journey. We reflect on our conversations around the Social Change Model of Leadership and being a Socially Responsible Leader. We’ve explored the hardships and the struggles and how to embrace all of it, right where we are. This is us—learning, growing, and reflecting. Thank you for being a part of this experience. Give yourself some grace for how far you’ve come, then join us next year for Season 2.

Let’s be honest. We all have different viewpoints and outlooks, but we shouldn’t let that be a barrier. In today’s episode we bring on some members of the Center for Service and Social Action’s Student Leadership Team (SLT) to talk about how disagreements are inevitable, but we can air them openly with civility. We question whether we’re able to lean into controversy or if we run away from it, far and fast. Our conversation leads us to the truth that if we just tolerate controversy, we’ll do ourselves a disservice. Being intentional in discomfort can result in even more peace, and that’s our goal. Just remember: it takes time to make change happen, but acknowledging that we’re going to have to face things like controversy is a good first step.

This week on Living the Mission, we’re reflecting on the value of Citizenship with Dr. Krista Stevens. Dr. Stevens believes that citizenship has to do with our belonging in local areas, across the globe, and even our membership in the human community. We uncover our role in discovering social and moral issues, then discern how to be a faithful citizen when it comes to promoting the common good. It's not all black and white. We’ll discuss how nothing we do on this Earth may be perfect, but we won’t lose sight of the work that still needs to be done. Working for change is more communal than giving up because we feel we cannot reach perfection. It’s gritty and it’s imperfect and that’s okay.

As individuals, service participants, and leaders we strive to have common purpose. In this episode we will be exploring the roots of connectedness and how that entails having shared aims and values. Our guest today is Chris Knestrick, who we believe is someone living a life of service and justice. His formal title is the Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. He’s walking through the world with a purpose. A purpose that has concern for the betterment of others and a shows preferential option for the poor. A purpose that loves people fiercely.

Let’s work with one another for a common effort. In the spirit of collaboration, join us and our TWO special guests, Carolina Kane and Blake Yoho. We are continuing our journey by uncovering again just how much more we thrive when we are connected to those around us; when we are able to rely on other individuals for inspiration and not just ourselves. How can we build that trust that we all bring something to the table? Like most good things, collaboration challenges us to dig a little deeper in order to grow. And we have to let others in; that’s where the magic happens.

Join us today to talk about congruence with our special guest, Dr. Tracy Masterson. She’s a clinical psychologist, Associate Professor in the Psychology department, and teaches many of the Child Development courses at John Carroll University. Let’s explore the way we think, believe, behave, and act with consistency. We want to be aligned and congruent, even when, and especially when, it is difficult. We thrive off of congruence as individuals, even to our own detriment sometimes. Dr. Masterson reminds us that we have to "walk the walk" in aligning our lives with our beliefs and leadership.

Delaney and Caroline sit down with their friend, Andrew Cera. Andrew shares about how the consciousness of self-value has aligned with his Jesuit formation. He talks with us about how we are called to live the discerning life by: being aware of the world, accounting for our emotions, and taking action. We hope that you’ll join us on the journey to live as people of greater of depth, individuals with our eyes wide open.

Welcome to the first official episode of the Living the Mission podcast. Today we chat with someone who is truly committed to John Carroll. This person has inspired us in many ways to be the best version of ourselves. He brings enthusiasm to the JCU community and loves Diet Coke. Our first guest is none other than Kyle O’Dell. As the Director of Student Engagement, Kyle says he plans the “fun events” on campus. Today, he shares with us the passion that we need for commitment and advice we may for when our commitments shift. This guy lives the mission.