Nikole Lim is a speaker, educator, freelance filmmaker, author of Liberation Is Here, and Founder/International Director of Freely In Hope, an organization that supports and is led by survivors of sexual violence in Kenya and Zambia. We had a conversation with Nikole about the true meaning of allyship, what we all need to do to support survivors, and the role of faith-based institutions in both helping and hindering this work. We continue to explore this season’s theme of the reclamation of agency and faith for marginalized people, no matter where you are in the world.

If your organization is interested in partnering with Freely in Hope to create a more equitable and supportive environment for survivors and other marginalized groups alike, please reach out to the Freely in Hope team: https://www.freelyinhope.org/contact/

A recurring theme we’ve seen throughout this season has been the importance of rest. On this episode, we sat down with Danielle Hawthorne, VP of Programs at Code2040 just after her three-month sabbatical. Danielle shares how she was able to reset and refresh herself, her spirituality, and her work with Code2040, a people of color Organization that serves to mobilize the largest racial equity community in tech. As the leader of a team that equips Black and Latinx technologists to be racial equity advocates in their careers, communities, and on their college campuses, she shares how important and how much of a privilege it is to be able to take time off in a world that rewards the hustle. Danielle also offers inspiration on how marginalized communities can still renew themselves and their spirits in the day-to-day. This is a soulful message every leader needs to hear.

Who is Jalen Seawright? Aside from being the fabulous new face and voice of Season 3 of Change Happens Now Podcast, Jalen is a young dreamer who wants to amass a lot of change in this world! He’s passionate about justice, watching people come together, and bridging gaps between communities that are different from each other. He’s an entrepreneur who started WeCollectively, a nonprofit working on that works on creating content, helping people grow in their empathy and understanding of each other. He’s a mentor and a figure in the lives of the kids and youth in his community. He’s also a father and husband!  In this Season 3 opening episode, our very own Jonathon Murillo sits down with our new host to talk about some of his origin story moments, those moments that really shaped who he is and got him to where he is now. He takes us through his journey of pain and possibility, starting at 14, an inflection point of his life, with the awkwardness, emergence, confusion, complexity, and fire that started in his heart back then, to begin to leverage his musical and artistic abilities to get into circles in places where he could amass change and make beauty out of spaces of difference. He also talks about his vision of justice, offers encouragement to our community of emergent leaders, and shares his hopes for Season 3!

“You don’t have to have it all figured out! There’s this expectation young leaders put on themselves, because we do feel a weight of the calling and we want to be able to thoroughly think through exactly what we want to accomplish. But I think that if we realize, and we understand that we’re all on a journey…I think we have to live in the moment. It’s not about what you have going on five years from now, while it’s great to dream and build, it’s really listening for the voice of the spirit to tell you and lead you to the next step. Don’t worry about the expectations of having to have it all figured out. Do it!”  Follow Jalen and his work on Instagram @seawright__

In this episode, we sit down with Arlene Mendoza, a dynamic leader in our community with 14 years experience in the tech space, who recently pivoted to Software Product Strategy/Management, and sits on the Board of Moran Consulting and Pacific School of Religion. She was invited to be a guest speaker in our Certificate in Wisdom-Based Leadership program, talking about creative communication, because of her success around transformational leadership and her passions at the intersection of spirituality, technology and innovation.

Arlene talks with us about her journey as a Latina in tech and her appreciation for the duality of culturalism.  She sheds light on integrating her commitments to justice, spirituality, and creativity and offers wisdom and inspiration for emerging leaders who may be feeling stuck in this moment. We also learn about the Oaxacan concept of ‘tequio’ in relation to the collective.

“With tequio, I didn’t realize it was a philosophy of my grandparents. I just thought it was a way of life. Every culture, every ancestral wisdom, has those nuggets of what some of our ancestors did that contributed, in some way, to improve the collective.”

On this episode, we drop in with Grace Martino-Suprice, a young leader with a heart for community development and desires to help the Church create bridges of love with the world around it. Since an early age, Grace has served with various congregational and parachurch ministries including UrbanPromise in Wilmington, DE and Because Justice Matters in San Francisco, CA.  She is currently the Outreach and Growth Specialist at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,  where she seeks to cultivate engagement and partnerships with individuals, organizations and churches. Supporting Familia, CBF’s Latino Network and the Pan-African Koinonia Network, she ensures the growth, participation, and true belonging of people of color within the Fellowship.  She’s also on the Together for Hope team that works alongside organizations in the 301 poorest counties in the U.S. through an asset based community development model. Grace is a Puerto Rico native and currently resides in New London, Connecticut.

We learn some of the shaping moments on her own leadership journey and why she still chooses to serve in her local church and the community she came from. She talks about the impostor syndrome phenomenon that affects emerging and established leaders alike and how we can change the narrative inside our own heads to move past that, for ourselves and the communities we serve. Grace also shares her hopes and dreams for the future and offers some practical advice for leaders navigating these times.

On this episode we have a conversation with Dr. @michelleamireyes about the vital connection between our faith and our cultural identity. Michelle is an Indian American author, speaker, church planter, and activist who is deeply engaged with anti-racist work. As the co-founder of a non profit called @madeforpax, she inspires and equips the next generation of like-minded communities of color, to pursue peace, justice, and wholeness in the world. We hear about some of the challenges and victories getting her non-profit going and insights for emerging leaders wanting to take on such a movement. Michelle takes on the big issues of cultural difference, stereotyping, appropriation, and racism, and talks about what it takes to build cross-cultural relationships that lead to healing. We also learn what inspired her to write her new book, Becoming All Things: How Small Changes Lead to Lasting Connections Across Cultures, and what she hopes readers will take away from it.

On this episode, we sit down with Andrew Kim, the Teaching and Small Groups Pastor at Kensington Church in the metro Detroit area. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Andrew has traveled widely, throughout Asia, Europe, Central America and Africa. One of his greatest passions is to see Asian Americans live more fully into their God given identity. He shares an epiphany he had at the beginning of the pandemic and how that has fueled his leadership journey. We learn how Asian American identity is minimized, and why it’s not an obstacle to overcome, but rather a gift to be embraced. Andrew also offers up some critical wisdom for young + established leaders about continuing moving forward in this time.

In this Episode we have a heart to heart conversation with Renjy Abraham, the Dean of Spiritual Life and Cultural Integration at Multnomah University. Serving in the Diversity and Inclusive Development Department, Renjy is passionate about walking with BIPOC leaders as they discover their true selves. As an Indian American, born and raised in the Pacific NW, Renjy brings a unique skill set and view of collaboration with his 17-year career in multicultural leadership in Oregon. He talks with us about how he encourages young emerging leaders to be agents of change right where they are in Portland, and expanding that out to the world. We learn about the connection between spiritual formation and cultural identity and the dangers in keeping these two areas of development separate from one another. He also offers encouragement to our community who are committed to spirituality, justice, and wisdom in their leadership. Resource Mentioned: Mixed Feelings, Poems and Stories

On this episode we have a conversation with Dr. Martha Hernández, an incredible young leader with extensive clinical and research experience working with underserved populations in schools, universities, community mental health clinics, and hospitals. As Director of the Spanish Training Track and Associate Director of Family Support Services of Ronald McDonald House, her service work includes advocacy on behalf of the children, adolescents, and couples there, as well as families residing there with a critically ill child. Her immigration work includes working with attorneys so that immigrants are not re-traumatized on their journey. Dr. Hernández is a recipient of the American Psychological Association Henry Tomes Award for the Advancement of Ethnic Minority Psychology, an award given once every 8 years to an emerging Latinx psychologist who has made many significant contributions toward the empowerment of ethnic minority individuals and communities. She talks with us about growing up in the Central Valley of California, fighting for her rights and for those around her, and how being a Latinx female, born to Mexican immigrant parents, and a farm worker with her parents, has shaped her life and leadership journey. She sheds light on the importance of creating educational opportunities where there is almost no emphasis on higher education for Latinx communities, the critical need to use our voices when so much is at stake in these times, and how finding resource in a collective can be helpful.