In this episode, SPP’s Chief Learning Officer Uva Coles speaks with Jessica and Joanna Berwind about their family life and upbringing (as sisters!) and their journey conceptualizing and leading the establishment of Spring Point Partners with their siblings. They tap into the importance of making mistakes and unleashing creativity. They also reflect on legacy building with their personal passion at the center, just how their father inspired them to grow and lead. 

Guest/s

Jessica Berwind, Director, Spring Point Partners 

In her various roles across the multinational multi-sector Berwind Group of Companies, Jessica Berwind operates at the intersection of learning, art, and business. In 2017, she joined her siblings in conceptualizing and leading the establishment of Spring Point Partners, a growing Philadelphia-based social impact organization that invests in the transformative leaders, networks, and solutions that power community change. Through Spring Point, the Berwinds are advancing their family’s entrepreneurial legacy to center equity and achieve justice. As a director of the organization, Jessica focuses on the intersection of human-centered learning, community, and equity through ember. Jessica worked as an art dealer for almost 10 years and owned and operated a contemporary art gallery in Philadelphia. A practicing metalsmith, she has been producing gold and silver jewelry since the 1970s. She is also a proud mother. 

Joanna Berwind, Director, Spring Point Partners 

In her various roles across the multinational multi-sector Berwind Group of Companies, Joanna Berwind operates at the intersection of business, impact, social work, and youth development. She has contributed to the growth and vision of the fifth-generation family-owned investment management company, Berwind Corporation, for more than 20 years through positions in corporate development, marketing, and sales. In 2017, she joined her siblings in conceptualizing and leading the establishment of Spring Point Partners, a growing Philadelphia-based social impact organization that invests in the transformational leaders, networks, and solutions that power community change. Through Spring Point, the Berwinds are advancing their family’s entrepreneurial legacy to center equity and achieve justice. As a director of the organization, Joanna oversees strategy for Spring Point’s strengths-based youth development portfolio, The Hive, which amplifies voice, choice and opportunity for young people.

Our WellSpring Host

Uva Coles, Chief Learning Officer

Uva Coles serves as Chief Learning Officer for Spring Point Partners. As the organization’s external learning steward, Uva’s leadership ensures that equity, human-centered leadership, and narrative change are woven through every aspect of SPP’s partner-based learning deliveries. A writer, speaker, inclusive organizational strategist, and lifelong learner, Uva believes every room we step into is a classroom. Sometimes we are teachers; sometimes we are students. Our best learning happens, she believes, when we can be both.  

Key Takeaways 

• Elevator pitches don’t always work - you need to speak from possibility and from the heart. 
• Why listening to the connection between our bodies and minds can serve as the spark to ignite change. 
• Mistakes are not a tragedy. Mistakes are part of how you get from point A to point B. Nobody knows how to get from point A to point B unless they've already done it a thousand times.

Resource List 

• The On Being Project: Mary Oliver — Listening to the World (audio interview)
• In Other Words: A Memoir by Jhumpa Lahiri (book)
• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (book)
• Yo-Yo Ma — Bach Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor Prelude (YouTube video) 
• The Creative ACT: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin (book)

How to connect with us 

• Spring Point Partners