So much of our public life feels locked in contradiction: left vs. right, local vs. global, tradition vs. progress. The instinct is to pick a side, double down, and treat the other as wrong. Pope Francis, in Let Us Dream, offers a different lens. He calls us to see many of these tensions not as […]
When I graduated college in 2008, I was full of hope.The energy of Obama’s “hope and change” campaign was in the air, and my organizing work at Notre Dame had convinced me that institutions could evolve. But in 2009, when climate legislation collapsed in the Senate, I was devastated. It felt like the environmental movement […]
Pope Francis refused to keep faith locked inside a Sunday box. Laudato Si’ compelled us to connect climate, consumerism, loneliness—to see the only true way forward: spiritual conversion. When I finally stopped hiding from my quarterly statements, I imagined Pope Francis himself opening the envelope. What would he see? A letter that landed In 2019 […]
I remember hearing “the Catholic Church is like the Titanic: it can take forever to change course”. Or it takes the church 100 years to live into any meaningful change [referring to the changes made at Vatican II in the 1960s]. In that context, it feels momentous to be living during a time when the […]
One of the highlights of 2023 for me was spending time and getting to know the Catholic Impact Investing Collaborative (CIIC). CIIC has a beautiful story in John and Jake coming to know each other and building a relationship and inviting others “on fire” with impact investing to join together. I loved learning the stories […]
A couple years ago, I was advising an organization that was transitioning to employee ownership. In that process of their senior leadership asking me questions, I shared this excerpt — which draws on my own organizational leadership experience and the deep resonance I’ve felt with Pope Francis’ concept of “overflow” — which has now (in […]
With more than two years of anticipation, I was unsure what to expect. I think I was lowering my expectations so as not to be disappointed. But what I experienced today — the first day of the gathering — was full of surprises. Extraordinary Charisma + Track-record I noticed a Francisan cross on an African […]
I was inspired today at the Catholic Campaign for Human Development’s (CCHD) 50th Anniversary celebration. As I reconnected with old friends from Notre Dame and met new community land trust & worker center leaders via the Hubilo (virtual conference) chat, I realized how much CCHD is part of me. The farmworker organizing my dad helped […]
Pope Francis is inviting leaders everywhere to embrace more regenerative economic praxis. My reflections on what I’ve started doing and what’s next.