Changemaker Stories

The individuals below have all brought changes to their workplace which then rippled out into the wider world, often in unexpected ways. You can do this too!

Note: The individuals in the videos below describe career transitions they’ve made. Their journeys show what’s possible. They have not participated in Creative Transition programs.

In the video above, Ed Earl promotes an approach to construction project management he terms “collaborative construction” which is based on mindful communication, trust and shared objectives. He explains that construction is normally a top-down, competitive process between the architect, the contractor and subcontractors. When something goes wrong the blame game begins. With collaborative construction, however, everyone at all levels is empowered to speak their piece and to say “I think there’s a better way to do this”. It’s a method based on trust, co-operation, shared values, shared purpose and open communication. Ed states: “It creates harmony and lasting relationships” and he offers the opinion that “it can transform the construction industry”

For instance, at the 2013 Workshop on Mindfulness in Legal Education at Berkeley Law, Sujatha Baliga described (see video above) how connecting with deep wisdom helped her bring about a career transition. As a lawyer, she initially intended to be a victim advocate and a prosecutor which, she says, was a direct result of abuse she suffered as a child. However, a “transformation of heart and mind” aided by a mindfulness practice, led her through a process of forgiveness. In this way, her career choice changed completely and she began developing restorative justice programs. These types of programs are starting to provide alternatives to an adversarial and criminalizing justice process.

Dr. Melissa Crum is an artist, education consultant and diversity practitioner who works with many educators in urban schools. She noticed that many teachers had challenges teaching and relating to students who did not share their same cultural background. So, she worked with a museum educator to create an arts-based professional development series that helps educators think about how they are thinking about their diverse students. Her personal story and professional practice work together tell a creative, inspiring, and eye-opening message.

In the video above, police Lieutenant Richard Goerling describes a call he was on where he had to deal with a 12-year old boy who was totally out of control. The boy’s mother was an admitted prostitute and drug user. Goerling says, in the past, he might have been very judgmental to the mother but after learning mindfulness skills he has found it possible to be more compassionate. He comments:

“In that moment she found humanity in this encounter with police. And even though everybody around her in her neighborhood was likely judging her and had their own conclusions and knew the right answer and had a prescription for how she could change her life, in that moment she got to encounter a police officer who wasn’t judging her or her world and who was simply able to help her. Mindfulness can really transform the relationship between police and the people we are sworn to serve.”

In 1987 Rich and Yvonne Dutra-St. John started a program in schools that they called a Challenge Day. They understood that substance abuse, eating disorders, bullying, truancy, violence, and even suicide were symptoms of underlying problems of separation, isolation and loneliness.  

As Ray Anderson was preparing to give a speech at Interface, the billion dollar carpet company he founded, he had a stark realization.”I was running a company that was plundering the earth,” he recalls. While Interface fully complied with the law, Ray knew that wasn’t enough. This clip is taken from the Canadian documentary film “The Corporation” that chronicles Ray Anderson’s “paradigm shift” that led him to initiate a new direction for his company.

A film by Greater Good Science Center.

Investing and finance aren’t exactly fields synonymous with mindfulness and kindness, but some companies are starting to change that. During his annual review at an investment firm, Birju Pandya’s boss looked at him and said, “You’ve done well. What do you want?” Pandya, now a senior advisor at RSF, calls it “the ‘Godfather offer'” of the investment bank world. His mind teetered on the verge of a typical answer and then he took a totally different tack, “I’d like to start every team meeting we have with a minute of silence,” he said. There was a long pause, then came the definitive answer, “No,” his boss said. But the next morning, perhaps after reflecting on all that his employee could have asked for instead, he softened and agreed to the unconventional request. An intriguing first step, but even he couldn’t have anticipated what would unfold from there over the next few years. In this brief video, Pandya shares the compelling domino effect of the collective mindful minute at work. Video from KarmaTube.

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As a juvenile corrections officer, it broke Teresa Goine’s heart to see young offenders coming back through the California prison system time and again. Sending these youth back home without a support system to keep them on the right track seemed to be setting them up for systematic failure. Eventually, Goines came up with the idea of Old Skool Cafe, a 1940s-style supper club run entirely by at-risk youth. This film is a voluntary project by Still Motion – the first film in their “Share” project to give back to society by doing what they do best – tell stories.  Video from KarmaTube.

In order to understand how meditation is a transformative practice for the mind, and this transformation of mind can possibly change the face of medicine today, we must consider the differences between what it means to heal and what it means to cure. Charles makes this case through a careful rethinking of clinical practice and sharing important experiences from his own work with patients.

Design and engineering are both an art and science. Yet, while we teach methods and practices for hard design and coding skills; focus, empathy, and creativity, which are just as important for great product development, remain elusive for many and are often mystified as “creative genius”. How might we become more focused so we can deliver the one or two key features that would be most useful? How might we cultivate access to our empathy and insights to create usable products? How might we become more innovative and bring inspiration, delight, and heart to the people who use the products we design? Irene’s talk explores how through mindfulness, meditation and yoga we can acquire the most critical skills we need to be better designers, engineers, and product managers.

Drs. Kathy Beck-Coon and Sara Horton-Deutsch explore practical ways teachers can foster mindfulness and how critical this practice is to the preparation of new nurses to provision of safe, quality care. This video is part of “Mindfulness: Implications for Safety, Self-Care and Empathy in Nursing Education” the third in a series of learning modules developed by the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) project.

Judge Thelton E. Henderson encounters social problems, people who are suffering, scary times, and difficult behaviors…”