We’re celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month on this episode, highlighting 12 Latinx leaders from our community and some impactful insights they shared as previous guests of the show. From Season 1 to our most recent wrap on Season 4, we’ve had the privilege and honor of sitting down to have deep, important conversations around spirituality, identity, and justice, “en conjunto”, or all together.

Reverend Adam Russell Taylor, president of Sojourners is as much a minister as he is an activist and community organizer. We hear how he weaves his faith into his political activism, how he discovered his passion for building and strengthening social movements, and the power of one person in making change. He also talks about his book, A More Perfect Union: A New Vision for Building the Beloved Community

Meet our new Host! @Krisellemg is a writer and entrepreneur with a passion for sharing stories, connecting people, and empowering those from marginalized communities to go for their passions. She’s also the founder of @EmpoweredInColor, a movement and podcast dedicated to helping people of color thrive in both business and in life. In this Season 4 opening episode, our very own Jonathon Murillo sits down with our new host to talk about her work, her unique vantage point, and her hopes for the season!

On this episode, we sit down with national trainer, spiritual director, and professor, Dr. Kit Evans-Ford, founder of Argrow’s House. She shares how she was able to live out her calling in life by combining her love of ministry and serving female survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence with social entrepreneurship. We hear about her own healing journey and the nurturing community/social enterprise she created to help others through their healing process to achieving social and economic vitality. She offers our community inspiration on creating something that’s deeply connected to who you are and practical wisdom on how to move forward with purpose.

*Argrow’s House is a safe space where free services are offered daily for women healing from violence and abuse. Services range from domestic violence support group, spiritual direction, art therapy, massage therapy, and more. To learn more or donate, visit: https://argrowshouse.org/pages/donate

On this Episode, we sit down with @niviachanta, writer, speaker, and founder and CEO of @soapboxproject. With a passion for sustainability, social justice, and all things tech, Nivi helps people create positive social impact in the world. She shares her origin story, and talks about building community around climate justice, and how busy people can truly tackle issues they care about! She also shares inspiration with our leadership community on how to find hope in the beauty of small acts of service adding up.

On this Episode we have a conversation with Jonathan Dumas, founder and owner of @commonculturecc. As an Organizational Psychologist and Leadership Coach, Jonathon works with organizations to create more equitable and inclusive work environments. He talks with us about why he started his consulting business, reclaiming parts of himself on the journey, and what it takes to be a culturally conscious leader. We hear about his podcast @rtwdpodcast, why leaders should create space for their teams to be unafraid of failure, and the importance of finding support and resource in community.

What does it look like to reclaim taking up space, standing firm in your capabilities? Dr. Jessica Taylor, CEO and founder of Leadership Training Initiative, sat down with us to share what it looks like on her journey, awakening agency, saying “No,” and kindly rejecting what is not for her. She talks about reclaiming one’s value in the workplace, especially as women of color, and what equitable leaders actually look like. We hear about the long term gain of having internal check-ins and making sure we’re engaging our teams and organizations out of a thriving wholeness rather than obligation. Our community also receives inspiration on what it means to protect one’s peace and about the impact self-work has on future generations.

On this Episode, we sat down with friend of the podcast and Ignite’s very own Jonathon Murillo. Through his experience in community and organizational development and spiritual formation, Jonathon has developed a deep commitment to social transformation through meaningful work. He guides leaders, culture creators, and change makers into moments of epiphany and meaningful action through his work as a coach, consultant, speaker, and Director of Strategy and Content for Ignite. Jonathon talks with us about what leadership in the workplace needs to look like in the 21st century and how our innovative Wisdom-Based Leadership framework brings community into dialogue with the wisdom of our spiritual and cultural traditions and marginalized voices. We hear about some major shifts he has seen in his work with the social impact-oriented leaders taking our course, from where they started to where they are today as more courageous, creative and contemplative leaders that our moment needs. It’s a new way to lead, offering practical tangible skills to collaborate, communicate, and to care effectively.

On this episode, we sit down with Dr. Patrick Reyes, author of The Purpose Gap and Nobody Cries when We Die.  As the Senior Director of Learning Design at The Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE),  inspiring young people to explore their passion, purpose, and calling, Patrick oversees learning and resource development around vocational exploration, leadership, and innovation. He shares his personal story, professional journey, and how he wrote both of his books for communities of color to have a better understanding of why our dreams may not come to fruition as easily as others.  We learn about the purpose gap that exists when people don’t have access to the resources and opportunities to fulfill their purpose in life, and how the voices and spirits from our lives are the reason the gap closes for some and widens for others. He talks about his own upbringing in California’s Central Valley, and how people like his abuela, Carmen, encouraged him to keep going through his academic career even when many within these institutions made him feel like he shouldn’t. This episode is about the adversities many first-generation scholars of color experience in their journeys, and it reminds us all that we have the backing of our ancestors “carrying forward their spirit and fire of survival.”

On this episode we sat down with Heidi Lepe, a Honduran-Mexican writer, theologian, and storyteller from West Los Angeles. As the founder of Brown Beloved Co., a collective space at the intersection of faith, raíces (cultural roots), and justice, her work centers on the spirituality and liberation of Brown women, the Brown church, and Latine/x communities in the U.S.  Heidi is also a current student at Duke University Divinity School, pursuing her Master of Divinity degree, and she shares what it has been like for her as a Latina woman in seminary. This conversation explores what liberation could look like for communities of color, when we decolonize what most of us have been taught about Christianity, and center those voices instead.