My guest this week is Lisa Bradshaw, who is passionate about inspiring people to take charge of their happiness through her DON'T WAIT PROJECT. The project encourages people to do things that give their lives meaning, joy and fulfillment, from the smallest acts of kindness to more profound life changes.  Bradshaw knows a lot about loss. She survived a bout of cancer at age 24, then lost her husband to a rare condition eight years later that left her and their five-year-old son with a profound hole in their lives. She found her way through the grief and transformed the pain into a book called, Big Shoes: A Young Widowed Mother’s Memoir. That powerful book is truly inspiring. The Don’t Wait Project is a logical extension of the book. She wants others to take charge of their happiness now and not wait for the unexpected to happen. She’s embarking on a six-state tour DON'T WAIT PROJECT tour this month, thanks to the sponsorship of Town Toyota. She’ll be focusing on stories of resilience in communities in the western United States. She’s quite an inspiration. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

#42 Lisa Bradshaw and the DON'T WAIT PROJECT

Exploring the power of collaboration and civic engagement in North Central Washington

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

My guest for this episode is Thom Nees, the executive director of Serve Wenatchee Valley who is also leading the effort to develop the Common Ground Community Housing Trust A community housing trust is a proven way to develop permanently affordable housing in a community. The simple mechanism is that a nonprofit owns the land and buyers purchase the home. This model has been successful in numerous communities, including Leavenworth and the Methow Valley.  The red hot housing market in the region is making it increasingly difficult for working families to afford homes, as anyone who is paying attention to the housing market can attest. This is an effort that can make a meaningful difference. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Look for an upcoming column on this effort in The Wenatchee World. 

#74 - A community housing trust is launching in Wenatchee Valley

My guest for this podcast is Christine Morgan, the executive director of the Icicle Fund in Leavenworth. Philanthropist Harriet Bullitt started the fund 20 years ago as a way of supporting arts and music, conservation, and natural history efforts in North Central Washington. The Icicle Fund has pumped more than $45 million into our region during that time. Christine and I spoke about her childhood in Denmark, how she developed a commitment to collaboration and viewing challenges from multiple perspectives, and how the Icicle Fund is making a difference by supporting local nonprofits. The Icicle Fund has provided transformational leadership by helping nonprofits dream bigger and make a more significant impact. It is a positive force for bringing people together to help us build stronger communities. 

#73 The Icicle Fund's major impact on the well-being of NCW

This episode features Yvonne Boyd, a member of the Braver Angels effort that seeks to depolarize political discussions and create a framework for honest discussions on difficult topics.    Braver Angels brings conservatives and liberals together in a format that has long been used in family counseling. The organization is growing by leaps and bounds as people on both sides of the political divide recognize the danger to America of not being able to have a dialogue.  Boyd talks about her background, how she came to be involved in Braver Angels, and talks about the virtual workshop that is being presented on Saturday, February 27. The title of the workshop is “Depolarizing within: Becoming a better angel in your own world.”   The workshop is about recognizing how we add to the polarization and offers techniques to have more constructive interactions with those we don’t agree with politically.   What happens in the conversations moderated by Braver Angels is that people see each other from a more nuanced and broader perspective beyond simple political labels.  Here’s a link to the workshop.  https://braverangels.org/event/depolarizing-within-standard-central-eastern-washington/  

#72 Depolarizing our politics with Yvonne Boyd of Braver Angels

My guest for this podcast is Jill Fineis, the principal of the fledgling Pinnacles Prep charter public school in Wenatchee, which will open its doors to sixth and seventh graders this fall in the Wenatchee Community Center on South Mission Street.  In our conversation, Jill shares her deep background in education and discusses the guiding philosophy of Pinnacles Prep. The learning environment they are committed to fostering encourages and supports students in finding their passion and taking charge of their learning journey. It’s an approach that has been successful in engaging students at other schools around the country.  Pinnacles Prep has a terrific and diverse group of board members and community ambassadors who are helping guide the design of the school’s academic program. They are doers with deep experience in public education here. 

#71 Jill Fineis of Pinnacles Prep charter public school

My guest for this episode is Jill Nielsen-Farrell, the daughter of longtime Wenatchee dentist Gerry Nielsen. She has started Wenatchee Community Acupuncture and treats  a wide variety of conditions, including doing trauma-informed acupuncture for depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and addiction. After losing her husband in a house fire, Nielsen-Farrell found that acupuncture helped her process her own grief and she decided to shift from a career as a social worker to helping people heal using Chinese medicine.   In our discussion, we talked about her personal journey, the unique aspects of community-based acupuncture, and her work with the Compassion Prison Project. She’s a delightful soul who I think will enrich this valley immeasurably.

#42 Lisa Bradshaw and the DON'T WAIT PROJECT

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