In each friend group, there’s that one person who steps up as the sun — the one whose energy brings the rest of the crew together, the one whose spidey sense is uncanny in its reach, the one who is confident all major disputes can be settled by a dance-off. The one with whom we …
“I have other gifts.” That’s what I used to say on exam day at Booth, where I went to business school more than a decade ago. I made the choice to get my MBA in the second chapter of my career, because I had gotten a little comfortable. I was in a space where even …
In my first job out of college, I moved up fairly quickly — even becoming a VP at around 23. (That perhaps sounds more exciting than it was. In financial services, I recall these titles being passed out like candy, but at the time, it felt important.) As I advanced in my career, I remember …
I’ve been thinking a lot about chances lately. That one simple word can mean so many things. Luck. Opportunity. Even a gamble. And that got me to thinking: how lucky would I be if the odds were stacked against me? As advocates and evangelists for an inclusive economy, we know all too well the zip …
(It’s not the shoes.) There’s a saying when someone great moves on to a new opportunity, the person behind them “has some big shoes to fill.” I get it. When leaders are great, they ignite something in you – a sense of the possible that you didn’t feel before, and a sense of, “We got …
When I joined REDF in 2007, we were innovating with a handful of ground-breaking organizations in the SF Bay Area to develop what we now call ‘employment social enterprises.’ Today, we are a national organization that has worked with ESEs from coast to coast that have provided jobs and support to 74,000 people who are …
On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I sit in the imbalance of two truths: deep admiration for how Dr. King changed the world with his life and deep admonition for how that world has failed to live up to that change. Years ago I strolled the streets of Memphis and walked the …
Milestones have been on my mind lately. Likely because I’m hitting one this year: 50 years young. Or because REDF is hitting one too: 25 years strong. Or maybe because I just cleared the milestone of my first four months on the job. (And I’m still standing, phew.) The thing about milestones is that they, …
“Salt of the earth” is a phrase that comes from one of the most famous public lectures of all time. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used it to describe his followers — fishermen, laborers, and other regular working people. Today, this is how we describe people whose down-to-earth goodness we witness in their daily labors …
I’ll have to admit this is a bit surreal because I’m very accustomed to being on the other side of this virtual mic. My heart is beating fast as I talk because speaking to you — my peers, the leaders I’ve looked up to, the leaders with whom I’ve shared a cheer, a commiseration, and …