I think it’s safe to say that we are major fangirls of today’s Arc Bender & guest. This week we interview Maggie Kane, the Founder & Executive Director of A Place at the Table in Raleigh, NC, a non-profit social enterprise that provides community and healthy food for all regardless of means. The way A Place at the Table works is customers have multiple options to pay for their meal and to pay-it-forward. They can pay the suggested price, pay at least half of the suggested price, or pay by volunteering with them. To pay-it-forward, they can tip to help fulfill their mission or buy a $10 token to hand out themselves in the community. Not only is the mission inspiring, but their food is delicious!

There are so many topics we cover in this episode… from how do we measure impact to the power of persistence to the importance of asking for help.

“What got me started, if it was one piece of advice, my old mentor said to me, and this is prior to A Place at the Table, ‘Maggie, your greatest passion meets halfway with the world’s greatest need.’… to me, it really stuck with me and that’s why A Place at the Table is here. My greatest passion is loving people. My greatest passion is making people feel included and welcomed and loved and cared for. That means people with means and without means. I think Raleigh’s greatest need was a place like this. A place that really brought the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ together.”

– Maggie Kane, Founder & Executive Director, A Place at the Table

Here are a few of the key takeaways:

• We discuss how Maggie’s story is a perfect example of how there are different ways to measure impact. While creating systemic change is something important to pursue, starting with your neighborhood and changing 1 life at a time is still game-changing.

• If you want to change the world, you don’t have to do it alone. It truly takes a community to drive positive change.

• Persistence is key! It took Maggie nearly 3 years to open A Place at the Table.

• Storytelling is powerful. Sharing stories of how you have impacted even one life can make all the difference.

Learn more about Maggie Kane & A Place at the Table:

• Check out A Place at the Table’s website

• Follow them on Twitter and Instagram @tableraleigh

• Watch Maggie & A Place at the Table featured on the Today Show

Other links mentioned in the show:

• To find your local pay-what-you-can cafe, check out One World Everybody Eats

• Read Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas and let us know what you think!

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Closed Captioning for this episode is available on YouTube.

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Music Credit: Ryan Levin

Did you notice it took 3 weeks to release this episode? Well, guess what? We intentionally took an extra week because our podcast show schedule was starting to burn us out. So we decided we should actually start making positive changes now.

Today’s guest is Fagan Harris, the president and CEO of Baltimore Corps, an organization that enlists talented people in public service and social entrepreneurship in Baltimore City. Fagan co-founded the organization with Wes Moore in 2013 because he believes deeply in every individual’s right to opportunity and is committed to realizing a more just and equitable society.

Growing up, Fagan overcame a culture of low expectations, which pervaded his working-class community. As he puts it, “I grew up in Baltimore and lived the reality of post-industrial America. I was educated in public schools that barely graduated half of its students and watched close family members battle addiction and gang life. I lost friends to those forces. Caring individuals pushed me to reach higher, which led me to Stanford University.”

He is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has received numerous awards, including fellowships from Ashoka, Echoing Green, and The Aspen Institute. But, despite all these experiences and qualifications, it was the 6-months it took him to land a job in the non-profit sector — and his return to his native Baltimore — that finally spurred him to focus on re-imagining the social impact sector’s talent pipeline.

“Know what your goal is. Know why you’re going into it: what you’re trying to achieve or what needs to be different and try to stay proximate to that goal as you can.”

– Fagan Harris, the President and CEO of Baltimore Corps

Here are some of the highlights discussed on the show:

• We go deep into the root causes of burnout

• We explore whether gender plays a role

• We talk about the importance of boundaries

• Christina rants about the presentation of perfection

• Fagan shares his journey to founding Baltimore Corps

Links to Fagan:

• Baltimore Corp website

• Fagan’s Linkedin Profile

Other links mentioned in this show:

• Calend.ly

• Vu Lee, NonProfit AF

Non-traditional social impact career paths, transitions, and the importance of who you surround yourself with — just a few of the topics in this episode! We dive into the importance of prioritizing people + process and rave about our game-changing experience using the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), thanks to the help of Maria Kingery.

Today’s guest is Caitlin Kawaguchi, a social impact and communications strategist whose work spans three continents and includes projects with grassroots organizations, international NGOs, social enterprises, and corporations.

As you’ll learn in Christina’s interview with Caitlin, she is an inspiration to those who don’t want to be put in a box and is a successful professional with TWO JOBS! Caitlin is currently the Director of Marketing and Partnerships at Bird + Stone, a social enterprise jewelry company, AND a digital engagement strategist for Spark Action, a youth & children’s advocacy organization.

“If you don’t have a long term plan for success and the right people on board, it can be really hard to get beyond the first year or two of incredible impact & be able to scale.”

– Caitlin Kawaguchi, Director of Marketing & Partnerships at Bird + Stone & Digital Engagement Strategist at Spark Action

Here are some of the highlights discussed on the show:

* Christina shares how meeting Caitlin helped her embrace a less traditional path & helped her discover her passion for Consulting with mission-driven organizations that want to grow with a focus on honing their business, marketing, & sales strategy to improve profitability.

* We discuss the importance of designing a life with purpose… and the idea that you don’t have to accept unlivable working conditions or follow someone else’s path to make an impact. You can design your own professional life, on your terms.

* Transitions are ok. It is also ok to switch paths. You have to determine what success looks like to you. Even if you’re not working in social impact or you’re not in the ideal job, that’s ok.

* It’s important to surround yourself with people that live the kind of life you’re interested in. Caitlin found this through colleagues at Peacework, StartingBloc Fellows, & Dreamers // Doers.

* Caitlin discusses how burnout in non-profits is far more common than is acceptable. Funders need to recognize that overhead is a cost that needs to be paid because, in order to keep people, you need to support internal company culture and staff members.

Links to Caitlin and her work:

* Caitlin’s website

* Bird + Stone

* Spark Action

Even more links mentioned in this episode:

* Geraud Staton’s Arc Bender’s interview

* Danny Rosin’s Arc Bender’s interview

* Maria Kingery, EOS Implementer

* Peacework

* StartingBloc

* Dreamers // Doers

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Closed Captioning for this episode is available on YouTube.

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Music Credit: Ryan Levin

Christina and Alisa talk about the story of how Arc Benders was created, how we deal with insomnia, and the importance of collaboration. We also interview James Casper, the founder of Baya Build, a company on a mission to solve housing insecurity through innovation in the building and construction industry.

Baya Build uses a new method of construction that produces high-performance structures at a significantly cheaper cost and in a fraction of the time. Baya dwellings are environmentally friendly, infinitely customizable, and can range from low-income housing to luxury housing. Baya Build is a finalist for the Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability for their innovations in construction and design.

James describes the need for solving this systemic issue of sustainable development:

“In America, there is a deficit of 7.2 million homes for the affordable space…. And every year, we’re losing more and more laborers, which means that construction is only going to become more and more expensive — and more out of reach.”

–James Casper*, founder of Baya Build

(*Who also said, “You can quote me, just don’t make it sound too good.”)

Here are some of the highlights discussed on the show:

* Arc Benders was started by Christina as a photography storytelling project of people who are changing the world. It has evolved into launching this podcast to truly share the power of these stories & work to build a community of Arc Benders working to drive positive change.

* Alisa has been having stress dreams. Christina hasn’t been able to fall asleep because of a mixture of excitement & overwhelm. They both share their strategies to manage insomnia.

* Embracing progress over perfection: as evidenced by this episode’s so-so audio quality and Christina’s dog, Shadow, barking in the background.

James Casper talks about:

* What it took for him to feel confident enough to build Baya Build

* The amount of time he invested in solving this systemic challenge

* Baya Build’s approach to leveraging open source in architecture

* How housing innovation helps people with disabilities

* The importance of a strong team & collaboration for innovation and systemic change

Links mentioned in this episode:

* Baya Build’s website

* Washington Post article about Baya Build’s collaboration for high-tech housing for adults with autism

* Alisa’s Arc Benders interview

Not sponsors, just helpful things we discuss:

* Zenni Optical

* Headspace

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In today’s show, we talk a bit about our vision for the Arc Benders podcast and the community we hope to create. We also interview Dr. Tiffany Jana, the founder and CEO of TMI Portfolio, a collection of socially responsible and interconnected companies working to advance more culturally inclusive and equitable workforces.

“Understand what you value and understand what you’re willing to do to protect that integrity. I left multiple jobs while I had to support children because people expected me to do things that I considered to be unethical. And I chose to live on ramen and chose to suffer a little bit — even with two children in tow — rather than compromise my integrity and what I believe to be right and true… That’s what attracted me to the B Corp movement. Measuring that integrity and measuring ‘what is the impact we want to have on the world.’ So I would say know who you are and don’t ever apologize for that.”

– Dr. Tiffany Jana

Here are some of the highlights discussed on the show:

* We want Arc Benders to get you inspired & also get super honest about reality, which might be a bit tricky. We also know the last thing you need is another boring podcast or another reason to feel depressed, so we’re going to focus on ways to make actionable change.

* We’re going to have a theme for each season that ties each show together, and for Season 1 the theme is how to design a life with purpose.

* Alisa shares why dead squirrels led to her not being able to do this interview & why this is relevant to social impact work.

Dr. Jana talks about:

* Why diversity & inclusion are good for business

* What to do if you’re facing bias, sexism, racism, or prejudice

* How to build a grassroots movement in your company to improve diversity & inclusion

* If you or your leadership team want to improve diversity & inclusion, where you should start

* How to avoid tokenism

* Owning a job vs. building a business

* The importance of self-care and integrity

Links mentioned in this episode:

* Video of Tiffany Jana’s B Inspired talk

* More information on B Corporations

* Tiffany Jana on Twitter

* TMI Portfolio Website

Dr. Jana’s books on Amazon:

* Erasing Institutional Bias: How to Create Systemic Change for Organizational Inclusion (2018)

* Overcoming Bias: Building Authentic Relationships across Differences (2016)

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Closed Captioning for this episode is available on YouTube.

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Music Credit: Ryan Levin

We are so excited to be bringing you the Arc Benders podcast!

We created this show to challenge you to be bold enough to live an extraordinary life with impact.

Each episode we will be bringing you interviews with inspiring guests who are blazing new trails in driving positive change.

Our goal is to bring you these stories in such a way that it both inspires and entertains you. The last thing the world needs is another boring podcast!

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Music by Ryan Levin