Here we are, at the end. Listen to this introspective with host Kenneth Brown Jr as he looks back at what he has learned while doing his project and gives some words of his own.
Here we are, at the end. Listen to this introspective with host Kenneth Brown Jr as he looks back at what he has learned while doing his project and gives some words of his own.
In this episode we cover,
Special thanks to Indiana University Bloomington for allowing us to use their fight song "Indiana, Our Indiana"
The Full Series Lineup. Check out each episode on our show page!
Kenneth Brown Jr: This is Pivots, a podcast about navigating transitions, negotiating change, and reimagining our world. Today is Part 2 of A Farewell. I’m Kenneth Brown Jr.
Music: “Sal’s Piano Solo” by Blue Dot Sessions
Kenneth Brown Jr: A note before I begin. While this project has been a joy, the reason it came about was anything but. The pandemic has been tough for everyone, massive loss of life, permanent disruptions in our society, not knowing what would come in the next hour let alone the next day. Our world will never be the same again. While I will be sharing some observations from this project, I do not want to romanticize the pandemic for there are lots of people still hurting, still processing, and still wondering what’s to come. To our first responders, Thank You and right now I ask that you join me in a moment of silence to (1:00) remember the millions of lives around the world including the 600,000 plus in the U.S. lost due to COVID
Music fades out and fades back in
Kenneth Brown Jr: Thank you for being here and listening. When this endeavour started last summer, it was at a time where I wasn’t as busy but I was observing all the things around me. It was one of the heights of the pandemic. The situation was changing day by day. My planned work had evaporated. I started to work on one project but still wanted to find a way to meaningfully contribute. I knew that in the early 2010’s the foundation had a podcast
(2:00) Funky music plays
Damon: Welcome to Conversations at Fletcher. I’m Damon Circosta, Executive Director of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation and we have a very special… fades out
Kenneth Brown Jr: so this wouldn't be new to us even though the logistics was new to ME I had to learn about audio editing and producing. My involvement with student media during my undergraduate career came in handy. So, I approached my boss, Damon and explained what I wanted to do. To start a podcast to tell the stories of how folks have been navigating this time and what they’ve been learning.
Kenneth Brown Jr: After a few meetings and name changes later, the podcast was born.
Our first episode was in November 2020 with Maggie Kane from A Place at the Table
Kenneth Brown: So, I was wondering how do you define pivot and what does that look like?
Maggie Kane: Well awesome, thanks for reading those newsletters. I agree (fades out)
Kenneth Brown Jr: Avid listeners may notice that I ask each guest how they define a pivot and if I fail to do that, my series of (3:00) questions also includes how their organization has pivoted. Instead of trying to come up with my own definition of pivoting, I looked back through what was said. Picked up common words and phrases and essentially came up with this.
Pivoting is adjusting and responding to a quickly changing situation. Being flexible and nimble while staying grounded in your core values
Rob Shields: I played baseball. I played a lot of sports growing up. But baseball was my favorite sport and I was a pitcher. So if people know (Rob fades out and Kenneth Speaks) This is Rob Shields of the ReCity Network in Durham. He was a pitcher because he wasn’t the best hitter so he worked hard to improve his pitching game, a motion that is both active and still. I thought it was a good analogy. Here’s Rob again
But what I was taught and I tried to aspire to get better, there was the importance of kind of keeping one foot on the ground and (4:00) kind of twisting your foot into the dirt as you swing. And I think that coaches would always tell you that's how you make sure you're using your legs, getting your power to have the right form
Kenneth Brown Jr: I would call that the core and we can all interpret it differently. Like the way Laura Collins, our incoming fellow, described it.
Laura Collins: There’s the pivot where you go down, kind of, to the larger institutional. You acknowledge that step and then pivot based on that. Then there’s also, kind of, the more immediate that happens too.
Kenneth Brown Jr: or the small powerful pivots Kristine Sloan of Leadership Triangle talked about
Kristine Sloan: I think it's any shift and I think it can be really small, I think the time that maybe we're in a conversation and we would typically respond in a particular way but we take a breath. Yeah, I think that's a pivot. It could be very big. It could be a huge thing but I often find that the most (5:00) interesting or powerful pivots are the smallest.
Kenneth Brown Jr: This project has been a masterclass in understanding how organizations and people operate in times of crisis. Don’t worry, there isn’t a pop quiz at the end of this but I do want to share some things I have learned and observed along the way.
Music: “Rapids” by Blue Dot Sessions
Kenneth Brown Jr:The concept of “LIVING YOUR MISSION” has been a constant theme through all of my conversations. This could also be your “WHY” or your “PURPOSE” and tangentially related is how your “VALUES” can play a role. But essentially, in a time of massive change, the thing that will guide you or center you is your mission. Many talked about that. Here’s Maddy Starr, one of the directors of the Intersect Conference on the campus of Elon University.
Maddy Starr: I really narrowed down my values to inclusive, one of them being inclusivity. (6:00) That's one of my big values. And so in remembering that big value and then remembering "My Why" is like, "Why did I apply for this position? Why am I doing this?" It's to make sure people's voices are heard and that we're educating ourselves on diversity and inclusion efforts because everyone has value and I want their value to be seen and heard. And so kind of, that's my, I feel like for me, that's my foundation. That's my one foot. Like, no matter what happens. This is what I need to make sure is happening. I need to make sure that people are learning about diversity and inclusivity and that they're understanding the value and worth of every individual. And however, we go about doing that, it'll change based on circumstances, but making sure I keep that in mind is super important.
Kenneth Brown: At one point, A Place at the Table (7:00) a pay-what-you-can cafe in Downtown Raleigh, was serving upwards of 350 free meals a week. It became a lot not just in the kitchen (which was small but has now expanded) but out of it as well. Fights were breaking out and more folks were coming. Safety became a concern. On top of that Maggie Kane (founder and executive director), her dad passed from COVID. They closed to expand, take a few breaths, and to refocus their actions and plans on their mission to serve the most amount of people and build community.
Maggie Kane: I have a lot of great people in our, in my life and in "a table's" life to help guide these decisions and to come up with what the best decision is, what we came to was. You know, refocusing or what we're coming to is refocusing our mission and looking at what is it. We filled this need in the community for six months and it was awesome and we were incredibly fortunate to do. We fed people. That is what we did. (8:00) Now that nonprofits are back open, now that there are other places such as the soup kitchen and things like that, we realized that our mission is not just that feeding people, feeding people is our tool towards building community. Our mission statement is to provide community and good food for all, regardless of means.
Kenneth Brown Jr: With no live concerts and pivoting their offerings online, the North Carolina Symphony has leaned on each other and their other talents to keep the music playing.
Sandi Macdonald: a member of our orchestra has a dual degree from Rice University in Cello Performance and he has a recording degree. And so, he has been our archival audio recorder, recording engineer and has become, has been developing his skills in film filming and so he is certainly continuing to be a leader in our organization in a very different way than we originally thought he would be
Kenneth Brown Jr: I believe that music can help people (9:00) escape from their realities for a little bit. Sandi Macdonald of the North Carolina Symphony says that they help people tap into their humanity. Something that I suspect has been around since their beginning.
Sandi Macdonald: This orchestra was created as a WPA project. So, it was the...way back in 1932, when the federal government was seeking to employ the artists across our nation. And so, this orchestra was created. And so, imagine what it was like, let's imagine you were in your twenties or thirties in 1932. Imagine what your life had been like those previous two decades, you had seen a pandemic, you’ve been old enough to know that someone in your family might've been ill, you would have known perhaps someone in your family had gone off to fight in World War One. And you knew what you know, you were (10:00) deeply affected by the depression. And so, imagine that group of musicians getting together and at that time we were getting, they were getting together in Chapel Hill. They would gather together, and they would get on school buses and they will travel around delivering music education concerts that you know, sort of up and down for that early day of the organization
Kenneth Brown Jr: The Symphony has been doing that. Go to their Youtube page where you can meet the artists behind the instruments, view virtual performances, or to take a moment of calm with “Musical Meditations”, a series of brief musical excerpts combined with breathtaking visuals from North Carolina landscapes. But what if your mission is to serve...period. Amber Smith of Activate Good is teaching people that you don’t need to be physically in a space to jump in and help.
Amber Smith: A challenge is the assumption that you can't do good from anywhere. There are lots of ways you can (11:00) help your community. Through remote, volunteering, virtual volunteering at home, using your computer. There's plenty of "do it yourself" service projects we've got on our site, activategood.org, lots of ways to get involved. You can donate from home. You can do phone calls from home. You can write from home. You can talk to people who are lonely from home. You can do so many things.
Kenneth Brown Jr: Nonprofits across the state went into overdrive, with fewer resources and increased demand, making sure that the people they serve are ok. They stepped up because they knew they were needed. I think Sandi summed it up well.
Sandi Macdonald: This has been a time where, you know, your mission matters and as it does in any tough moment. And our mission has the word "statewide service and music education”, and we are living that.
Music: “The Spinnet” by Blue Dot Sessions
(12:00)
Kenneth Brown Jr: I have been watching how people are imagining new ways of living and operating. The jarring part is not that we’re thinking of new things to do and be. We’re supposed to change but I think it’s the way and the speed it has happened with is a lot. Because it has happened so quickly, many of us have learned, whether we wanted to or not, how to be vulnerable, saying “I don’t know” or asking for what you need. We’re being challenged, which is essential to how growth happens. Here’s Paul Atkinson of The Fletcher Academy, A School of Achievement of which the A.J. Fletcher Foundation is a significant contributor.
Paul Atkinson: I was remarkably moved when it was time for the teachers to come back, early August (13:00) and we had pre-service week, a week of planning, of preparation for school, and everyone's attitude was spectacular. Were some people incredibly nervous about coming back and were some people, did some people question whether the protocols that we had put in place were going to be enough to keep infection from spreading amongst our community? And, yes, people had those questions, but folks came in with a willingness to, to think outside the box and to be open to information. And, and then they were also willing, and they've always been willing to raise their hands and ask hard questions and challenge common assumptions (14:00) and I think that's the key to any organization's success is, you know, you've got, you've got to, you got to challenge where you are. You've got to challenge yourself to grow. You have to challenge yourself to pivot because if you don't, you're done.
Kenneth Brown Jr: The American Alliance of Museums found that a third of directors said they were at significant risk of permanently closing. Museums have had to completely re-imagine how they do their work when they thrive on in-person visits. Seeing people engage and interact with the exhibits fills them up but some things have taken their place in the meantime. Here’s Eric Dorfman of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences”
Eric Dorfman: We do a podcast, so Dan Dombrowski our head veterinarian and I co-host a podcast called "Love Nature: The Biophilia Podcast." So that gives (15:00) a lot of pleasure to us and I think the other team members who are working on that, we're, you know, meeting lots of people and learning lots of new things by doing it. I also write a blog, which I really enjoy, just being creative around that. So, the other thing I want to say, you know, we have a pretty large research team and a lot of people on that team are continuing to write papers and do their fieldwork. And I think many people who are in the sciences take personal pleasure from being able to do those activities. Whether they're in front of people or not.
Kenneth Brown Jr: They have been learning too. Ernest Dollar of the City of Raleigh Museum says that digital outreach should stick around.
Ernest Dollar: I hope museums keep up this digital outreach program because the real bread and butter is getting those people in the door, donations, the gift shop (16:00) but at the same time they're becoming much more effective in reaching more people. They stick to this digital content that they can broadcast from around the world. And as we become more of a digital-savvy and digital-dependent culture, this is something that keeps museums fresh, keeps them popular, and makes them part of the community conversation rather than a relic.
Kenneth Brown Jr: Speaking of expanding audiences, while Brandy Bynum Dawson and her team at the North Carolina Rural Center miss being on the road they are engaging more people in their work.
Brandy Bynum Dawson: We have 80 rural counties across the state and not having those one-on-one personal connections has definitely been a loss but I think we've been really creative about how we continue to engage our communities from where they are. I think it has also allowed us to bring more people into the fold in this sense by not physically having to drive somewhere necessarily to attend an event or a session (17:00) but more so being able to click your mouse so to speak and kind of be able to engage in those ways.
Music: “Turning on the Lights” by Blue Dot Sessions
Kenneth Brown Jr: This project and my work as a fellow have helped me understand the power of being connected. I believe one of the ways out of the pandemic and finding solutions to our biggest challenges won’t be in silos but by coming together inside and outside various sectors and fields. Eric has been thinking about this too. He even edited a book titled “The Future of Natural History Museums”
Eric Dorfman: the museums that, that do well and, and maybe this is all kinds of organizations, but I know museums best...that those museums that do well (18:00) are the ones that can look across sectors outside their own field for best practice solutions. For instance, we looked at supermarkets for how, who, which of course had to stay open right through the pandemic. But when we were thinking about it, we were saying, well, okay, how does, how does the supermarket industry find a best practice of unidirectional flow through the museum? Right. So that's the same kind of lateral thinking. So we're not just saying, what are the best museums doing? We're saying, what are the best organizations to handle this kind of program?
Kenneth Brown Jr: Not just coming out but navigating this pandemic, connectedness has been a big help. Here’s Rob again.
Rob Shields: The leaders that we serve, we have seen them kind of double down on and leaning into (19:00) the people that were already in their corner to weather this storm, and I think the trust that our network has built, pre-pandemic really has been carrying us through.
Kenneth Brown Jr: In the midst of all of this, I have found it interesting to hear about what people have been dreaming about or hoping for. How people have become more open. You don’t go through all of this, so much death and devastation, a complete shakedown of some structures, AND NOT end up being changed by it and asking ourselves how we can fundamentally make our world better. I have appreciated the moments on the podcast when people have shared their hopes and dreams and you can sense a bit of excitement.
Kristine Sloan: I think one thing I have really appreciated about the pandemic is the ways in which we have learned our argument (20:00) for someone has to be in the office. I hope that I don't hear that argument as much. I think the elements in terms of accessibility and for the disability community to be able to work from home and have that be an option and opening up so many kinds of opportunities, that's really exciting to me. I do hope that sticks. I also hope our sense of understanding that people are people and they have whole, rich, beautiful lives outside of the workplace, where we now see it because they're right behind us and we can kind of like "Oh, there's your living room. Oh, there's your child. Oh, there's your dog" right, like those things still exist even when they are working in an office.
Rob Shields: The lesson that I've learned in the last five years about how what is really at the center of true transformation and justice when it comes to flourishing in our communities (21:00) for everybody, I think it really hinges on re-imagining how we view who gets to own stuff...I hope to see us people who are in positions of...that have access to resources and capital, being able to truly be transformative with making big bets around democratizing ownership in really bold ways that help redistribute that ownership.
Brandy Bynum Dawson: When it comes to rural communities what I want to see is more opportunity for folks. I want to see that there are jobs available. I want to see that folks are able to have the opportunity for coaching and skill development, to take those jobs that are 10 years from now. Not about taking a job that also exists but also about creating your own opportunity. I want to see more (22:00) entrepreneurs. I want to see more entrepreneurs of color. I want to see more communities that are thriving. More healthy food stores within communities, particularly marginalized communities. I want to see that our healthcare system is no longer struggling. I want to see that people have access to affordable, high-quality health insurance no matter their income. I want to see that every student has access to high-speed, every household for that matter, has access to affordable high-speed broadband, right. I want to see that our state's water and wastewater infrastructure system is stable. That people have access to safe drinking water and systems and local governments that are able to be stable and secure for the long haul.
Kenneth Brown Jr: What do you hope is different about service and engagement after this?
Amber Smith: I hope that there's more of it because it's needed. It's going to be needed (23:00) to repair, to rebuild, to create together something newer and better for everyone and it also heals the person doing it. When you volunteer, when you help someone else, your sense of worth, your sense of meaning, all of these things are built upon in a way that cannot be removed by other external forces. So, I think for the healing, for bringing people together for fixing things that are broken, and for creating things, that can be better than they were before.
Kenneth Brown Jr: The next two voices are new to this episode but worked with Maddy Starr as co-directors of the 2020 Intersect Conference at Elon University. The first voice you will hear is Paige Wilson followed by Gaby Jimenez
Paige Wilson: I think for me, in a broad sense, envisioning a new way, it's just like, Envisioning a (24:00) time in our society where, where everyone is just like, we're like, there's no sort of discrimination and stereotyping. No sort of racism, homophobia, like all-around board where there's like, it's kind of like what did they call it? Like a utopia type
Gaby Jimenez: I think what I've learned in this process of not even like Intersect, but just of like reimagining the new norm in the world is, is the importance of having collective action. You know, I think that's super important right now. And we've seen some of the outcomes of this past summer with all of the protests, we've seen changes occur and we continuously see changes
Kenneth Brown Jr: But sometimes you have to start by saying Yes.
Sandi Macdonald: So I spend a lot of time saying yes to people. Yes, we can do that. Yes. We can be involved in that civic activity. Yes, we can. (25:00) How can we help you? What, what can the creative minds at the North Carolina Symphony help lift up in your, in your world? How can we make your students think differently? How can we help your employees feel more relaxed in their workforce, in their workplace?
Kenneth Brown Jr: I also believe in the power that our words can hold and I hold a deep appreciation for the messages some of our guests have shared. They have been nice reminders
Kristine Sloan: For people who are going through transition, it's being as right-sized as possible or what is it that's going help them. What do they know that might help them feel more calm or steady or clear? Who can they call? Who do they trust to be able to talk through that with? Leaning on relationships, leaving on support systems is really critical (26:00) in points of transition and acknowledging that googling "The eight things to do when you're in a state of career transitions." may be helpful but may not be, that everybody has a different experience of a pivot or a transition and it could just be somebody to say "Yea, this sucks. I'm sorry."
Ernest Dollar: History tells us so many people who have overcome these that have done it under much more difficult circumstances than us. That we follow in the footsteps of the people who have already gone through this and probably a lot worse. So, it offers us a role model basically of some people who we can look up to and say "If they got through it, then so can we."
Paul Atkinson: "you have to trust, trust yourself" even in times like these that feel like there are no answers, (27:00) you have to trust yourself to find answers that work for you in the moment and work for your organization in the moment. And, you know, trust yourself to think outside of the box. Going back to the old playbook, just won't cut it in these times as most of us have learned. And so, I think thinking outside the box and, and trusting yourself to that, that, that you will land on answers that will get you through.
Eric Dorfman: Everybody's experiences are so different and so important to them. And the one thing that I would never want to do is diminished the importance of those by being too general. And so I think of a story and, you know, I'm probably getting a bit of this wrong, right, but a Zen master was asked, what is the one phrase that will cover every situation? And he said "This too shall pass”
Music: "Home Home At Last" by Blue Dot Sessions
and it's something that, with the kind of surreal nature of my starting this job and moving across the country, during the pandemic and the lockdown has given me strength and allowed me to find my inner resilience around all these changes. So even though it does sound so simple as almost to be trite, that's the one thing that I know has worked for me.
(29:00) Music: "Home Home At Last" by Blue Dot Sessions
Kenneth Brown Jr: Now for some words of my own.
Kenneth Brown Jr: Everyone experiences challenges differently so generic advice may not be the most helpful but if you are going through a pivot I do want to remind you of three things:
And in this (30:00) world that can give us more lemons than we can handle, there are lots of things that give me hope, and seeing people do their part is one of them. We have been witnesses to and participants in fighting and actively hoping for change. There are lots of folks myself included who believe that the best is yet to come and we would like to see it in our lifetimes. Seeing people treat each other with more grace and kindness, giving people their flowers, helping people learn, showing understanding helps turn the narrative. Sometimes in this battle, all we see are the things going wrong: the bickering, the fighting, the stalemates, the violence but in the midst of all of that, there are people doing their part, what they know is right and just to make their community better one action at a time.
I am looking forward to doing my part in Indiana. (31:00) Soon, I will begin a Master’s program in Higher Education and Student Affairs at Indiana University in Bloomington working on diversity education initiatives in their Residential Programs and Services Department. It's a big change for me as I move from this state I love. I’ll miss the Triangle, Dix Park, Dix Park Sunrises, hikes, NC BBQ, the mountains to sea vibe, the people and so much more. Culturally speaking, I am excited to see if Indiana Basketball lives up to the hype for I believe that North Carolina is the Hoop State. Most importantly, I am excited to learn more in this way. College was a transformative time for me. I know it is and can be for thousands of students out there. The field is undergoing a shift with new modes of learning, asking themselves how we can better serve students now, and how we can be better institutions in the future. I want to be a part (32:00) of that, helping to reshape the narrative while pouring into others the same way folks have poured into me.
Kenneth Brown Jr: North Carolina will always be home. I have family and close friends here so I anticipate that I'll be back a few times but it will be different not being here physically for the most part. But there’s a new adventure on the horizon
See you soon Indiana. Go IU
Music: Indiana University Fight Song “Indiana, Our Indiana” by the Indiana University Marching 100.
Kenneth Brown Jr: This is the Indiana Fight Song “Indiana, Our Indiana” performed by the Indiana University Marching Hundred provided by Indiana University in Bloomington.
(33:00) Music: “Dance of Felt” by Blue Dot Sessions
I want to say thank you to Maggie, Amber, Gaby, Paige, Maddy, Eric, Sandi, Paul, Brandy, Kristine, Rob, and Ernest for allowing me to share your stories of this time we have experienced.
Thanks to you for listening and providing feedback and sharing the ways the podcast has motivated you.
Finally, thanks to my team, Damon and Natalie. Thanks for trusting me with the AJF voice. You two have been a joy to work with. Thanks for guiding me and helping me grow. I will miss you two dearly. Laura, you have one heck of a team.
(34:00) With that said, you've been listening to Pivots, a podcast about navigating transitions, negotiating change, and re-imagining our world. Pivots is a project of the A.J. Fletcher foundation produced and hosted by me, Kenneth Brown Jr. Our music has been composed by blue dot sessions. Any Sounds effects you may have heard from freesound.org You can hear all of our episodes by going to our show page at www dot pivots-a-j-f dot simple cast dot com or on Apple, Google, and Spotify Podcasts
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