In our Season 2 Intro Episode, members of the Ignite team share our hopes for this new season and talk about the Wisdom-Based Leadership framework of courageous collaboration, contemplative care, and creative communication. They explore what means to enact social transformation, together as a collective, and question what we have to unlearn about our own leadership journey so we can be part of a world where everyone thrives.

“Leadership doesn’t always look the same or feel the same. There are unique textures and ways that it gets enacted and embodied, based on our own genius and culture and tradition. Imagine ways in which we can come together, cherish our differences, and be able to dream and enact a new world together.” -Rev. Aizaiah Yong, PhD

In this episode, we sit down with Monica Rae Cortez, first generation Filipina American, certified yoga teacher in the Bay Area, Mindfulness Teacher for Elementary Education, and founding member of the Kapwa Yoga Circle, a collective that makes yoga and holistic healing more accessible to the Filipinx community. With thoughtful intention, Monica creates and holds safe spaces to foster community and connection. She inspires us, in this conversation, with stories of how she finds resilience and passion through her own practice of one of the aspects of Wisdom-Based leadership, called contemplative care. She shares how it’s about connecting to her body and helping others connect to theirs, and she invites us into practices that allow us to fully integrate all the wisdom we carry. Monica reminds our growing community that the kind of leadership needed for our current moment is one that embodies compassion and deep empathy for the self and others.

Links to Monica’s work:

https://www.yogaalliance.org/TeacherPublicProfile?tid=269702

https://www.instagram.com/kapwayogacircle/

https://www.instagram.com/sacredmoonyoga/

https://tiani.site/qtof/monica

In this episode we drop in with Victoria Rosales, holistic health coach, retreat leader, and community organizer. Founder of SHARED, a popup retreat and workshop space that exists to cultivate and support a conscious and wakeful community, her contemplative approach embraces ancient wisdom traditions and modern psychology to invite individuals into a life of wholeness. She’s also a consultant who partners with and trains organizations in contemplative spirituality and incorporating postures of silence and stillness toward individual and community wellness goals. In this episode she shares how she provides sustained support to the community, and offers practical invitations for the human spirit to be awakened to its true nature…one of wholeness, fortitude, and purpose.

You’ll be moved and inspired by her insights into self inquiry and interpersonal contemplative spirituality, which she shares is like an ancient technology that plays a key role in developing an inner witness, that allows us to see with clear eyes and clear perspective what needs to change.

Website: sharedsacredspace.com

Instagram: victoria_rosales

On this episode our President, Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy Levy, sits down with Rev. John Vaughn, who currently serves as the Executive Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously, Rev. Vaughn served as the Executive Vice President at Auburn Theological Seminary, a national leadership development and research institute that equips leaders of faith and moral courage for multifaith movements for justice. Prior to Auburn, Rev. Vaughn served as the program director for the Twenty-First Century Foundation, in Harlem, New York, advancing strategic giving for Black community change, and has served as the Executive Director of the Peace Development Fund, which provides funding, training and assistance for grassroots peace and justice community organizing throughout the United States and select countries internationally.

Here, Rev. Vaughn casts light on showing up in partnership for the collective by being authentically who we are and recognizing the breadth of spirituality that is present in any group, and speaking to that in ways that affirm the power of the divine. He also talks about the importance of action and that this is a spirituality grounded in that action. It’s truly about telling our stories with such clarity and conviction that it invites others to share as well!

https://www.ebenezeratl.org/leadership-team/ 

In this episode we sit down with Kriselle Mendoza, 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 one of our very own, as our podcast editor, supporting platforming our Ignite community. Founder of Empowered in Color, a movement and podcast dedicated to helping people of color thrive in both business and in life, Kriselle’s passions are rooted in growing up in a primarily immigrant and town of people of color and going to college in a primarily white community that opened her eyes to micro-aggressions and injustices towards people of color.  She talks about how many people of color are raised to believe there are only certain pathways to success, and how it’s historically been more about survival than about promotions or becoming a CEO.  We hear about her work to change that, and how it’s all about representation and helping the community make the connections they need to get to where they want to go.  We’ve all heard advice and lessons from people talking about their experiences when they are so far removed from it, but here Kriselle shares her thoughts on creative communication and why it’s so important for those in the entrepreneurial and leadership spaces to “build in public”, talking not just about wins when you’re already successful, but about downfalls, fails, and lessons in that moment. This is what truly supports and celebrates the diversity and creativity of the people around us.  Kriselle’s work: https://www.empoweredincolor.co/  Instagram  @empoweredincolor

On this episode, our Executive Director, Byron Chung, sits down for a deep conversation with TC Carrier, a heart-centered leader, author, entrepreneur, and spiritual teacher who lectures and carries out workshops globally. Founder of House of Sacred Harmony, offering metaphysical products, art made to raise consciousness, and enlightenment to be used in conjunction with his magical teachings and writings, TC brings ancient Egyptian wisdom traditions forward to heal community. He’s the author of 7 books and has appeared on the ‘Steve Harvey Morning Show’ as well as ‘The Dr Phil Show’ speaking about relationships. He talks with us about his passion working with the heart’s capacity to override the mind and how our leadership and life can benefit from tuning into this frequency. He also sheds light on the hero’s path, the energetics of the heart, and his approach to Courageous Collaboration, one of the three components of our Wisdom-Based Leadership framework. We also learn about the gems he sees in his own children, in their 20s, the gifts of their generation and the Junebug dance craze that went viral!   To learn more about TC’s work, visit : https://tccarrier.com/  Instagram: frequeofnature

On this episode we sit down with Liz Lin, the director and co-founder of PAAC and a senior fellow at Newbigin House of Studies in San Francisco. She’s also a writer and educator on the topics of race and culture with a PhD in clinical psychology.  With so much happening in this moment, and the rise in reporting of anti-asian hate and discrimination, this is an important conversation about what is needed in terms of our response right now, both within the Asian American communities and in our larger collective. We hear more about her journey into her current leadership role and the communities she’s part of building in the world. We also learn about how to dispel the model minority myth which refers to a minority group perceived as particularly successful, in ways that contrast with other minority groups.

Lin’s work: https://paachristians.org/

Podcast: https://anchor.fm/topfivepod

On this episode we drop in with Ashley Sikorski, of Sway Leadership. Sway serves leaders and their teams in developing emotional health and intelligence to create a culture of humanity in their organizations and through their work. In this conversation, we talk about the power of listening, the power of tending to our inner person as leaders, and why it’s important to bring our teams in on that work. We hear about the importance of doing the hard work of self-awareness in our own formation and about the trap of trend that even those most committed to emotional intelligence can still fall into. This episode provides timely encouragement with how to move forward as a leader committed to cultivating this kind of culture in your organization.

https://www.swayleadership.com/

On this episode, Byron Chung, our Executive Director, sits down with two phenomenal leaders in our community. Areej Masoud, a Christian-Aramean Palestinian, born and currently living in Bethlehem. Areej is justice oriented, takes action towards change through the faith-based communities she belongs to, and is passionate in raising awareness and promoting Palestinians’ struggles through local and public speaking events. Based on her experience in communication, development and advocacy, Areej is working on an online based startup in branding, communications and social media marketing in hopes she can help other startups rise, despite the economic restrictions the occupation forces upon Palestinians.

Reverend Michael Yoshii received the Pacific School of religion Distinguished Alumni Award in 2002, recognizing his pastoral leadership and social justice activism, including work on local racial justice issues, LGBTQ equity, and affordable housing activism. In post retirement Ministry, he serves on the International Committee for human rights in the Philippines Global Council, and is a co chair of the Friends of Wadi Foquin, a partnership started in 2009 through Michael’s previous congregation and other United Methodist Churches with the Palestinian village of Wadi Foquin located southwest of Bethlehem on the green line.  Wadi Foquin is a small and actually somewhat obscure village — but is emblematic of much of the West Bank Palestinian agricultural/farm reality.  It’s a microcosm of the larger Palestinian reality. Michael first met Areej in Bethlehem on one of his trips to the region, and a their connection has been fortified through solidarity.

On this Season 2 wrap episode, we continue the conversation on transformative leadership with @lamikiacastillo a powerful and inspiring Afro-Latina leader, born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. As a professor, consultant, and organizer over the last 20 years…a commitment to social justice, racial equity, and social change permeate every aspect of her personal and professional life.  We talk with her about how the twists and turns of her own personal journey set her up to make a unique difference in every aspect of her work and reflect on how seemingly symbolic victories in the work of justice can both help and harm the cause.  As a wisdom-based leader, La Mika also sheds light on a competency in this leadership framework; how and when collaboration becomes courageous. She also shares keys to being sustained in such challenging and meaningful work for the long haul.