This is Candor Megan Doepker

Today’s episode features Lori Schwanbeck. Lori is a passionate advocate for creating lives of meaning and engagement in both personal and professional realms. 
In this conversation we hear about her journey from marketing, to psychology and mindfulness, how we can start to recapture our attention so we can live fully, bringing compassion and gratitude practices into the workplace, and the potential benefits of wider adoption of nature-based mindfulness.

Lori Schwanbeck’s Bio:

With a background in marketing, positive psychology, and mindfulness practice, Lori brings a unique set of skills and expertise to working with individuals and organizations. She has taught thousands of people in diverse global settings and is known for her ability to foster connection with warmth, humor and authenticity, while inspiring the best in others.

She is a senior faculty member at Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (SIYLI), an organization born at Google, where she mentors and trains teachers, and designs and facilitates both in-person and virtual mindfulness based emotional intelligence programs. Lori is currently involved in a 2-year project in Bhutan working in partnership with the Gross National Happiness initiative bringing SIYLI’s program to all levels of the Bhutanese government.

Lori is also a curriculum contributor and facilitator at: LinkedIn, Purpose Blue, Wisdom Labs, Mindfulness Rx and the Mindfulness Training Institute. Lori is a faculty member leading nature-based mindfulness retreats at Esalen Institute, Modern Elder Academy, and Canyon Ranch.

Lori holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Saskatchewan, and a MA in psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. She is a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, trained by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach through the Greater Good Science Center.

📍 California, USA
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🎙️ Hosted by Megan Doepker

📝 Show notes: https://www.thisiscandor.com/podcast/lori-schwanbeck

💡 Feedback?  Email megan@thisiscandor.com

On today’s episode I’m joined by Zécca Lehn. He’s the General Partner of Responsibly Ventures, backing U.S. PreSeed startups in both Social and Sustainable Tech. Zécca shares how his upbringing in an off grid house on San Juan island laid the early foundations for caring about sustainability and how he achieved a 20 year goal to be investing in sustainable companies.  His diverse portfolio of investments has a strong track record and you’ll hear about his process and what is perhaps an unexpected superpower!


Zécca J. Lehn’s Bio:

Zécca J. Lehn is the General Partner of Responsibly Ventures, based in California, backing U.S. PreSeed startups in both Social and Sustainable Tech—using multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a guidepost per investment.
Over the past 15+ years, he has worked as an Environmental Economist, Data Scientist, Non-Profit Board Member, and Co-Founder. He grew up in an off-the-grid Japanese-style home, on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. Through his world travels and living in Scandinavia during his early 20’s, he discovered a deep love for people, planet, and diverse cultures.
For the past years, he has produced the podcast posi2ive, on Venture Scale Positive Impacts. He also leads regular community events – for posi2ive’s current base of around 5k+ members across platforms.
He holds a degree in Environmental Economics from Western Washington University, and a Certified Specialization in Data Science from Johns Hopkins University. Additionally, he’s certified under the UN Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). He often speaks on pitch panels, podcasts, and publishes articles on the PreSeed VC Impact arena.
📍 California, USA
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🎙️ Hosted by Megan Doepker

📝 Show notes: https://www.thisiscandor.com/podcast/zecca-lehn

💡 Feedback?  Email megan@thisiscandor.com

On today’s episode, I’m joined by Laura Budzyna. She’s the Associate Director for Innovation Practice at MIT D-Lab. We chat about MIT D-LABs unique design mindset approach to development, different impact measurement strategies, and how you can make data more fun. 
Laura Budzyna’s Bio:

Laura Budzyna is a global development practitioner and evaluator committed to participatory, flexible, and learning-focused measurement for the social impact sector. Specializing in the evaluation of innovative pilot programs, she works hand-in-hand with impact professionals to design measurement strategies that can adapt to evolving projects with emergent outcomes.

Laura is the Associate Director for Innovation Practice and the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager at MIT D-Lab, which works with people around the world to develop and advance collaborative approaches and practical solutions to global poverty challenges. Laura leads the visioning and development of MIT D-Lab’s impact measurement strategy, has implemented evaluations on 20+ D-Lab inclusive innovation programs, and advises partner organizations on their impact measurement strategies.

Laura holds an MPA in Development Practice from Columbia University’s School for International and Public Affairs and a BA in International Studies from Middlebury College. She is the author of The Metrics Café, a framework that aims to bridge the divide between funders’ and grantees’ impact management needs.


📍Boston, MA USA
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🎙️ Hosted by Megan Doepker

📝 Show notes: https://www.thisiscandor.com/podcast/laura-budzyna

💡 Feedback? Suggestions for a guest or topic? Email megan@thisiscandor.com

On today’s episode I’m joined by Jana Amin. Jana is a 17-year-old Egyptian-American advocate for changing the narrative around Muslim Women and gender parity.

In this episode Jana discusses:
Hosting 17 speakers, ranging from Suzanne Ehlers, CEO of the Malala Fund to Nibras Khudaida, Refugee and Human Rights Activist, on her 17th birthday to bring awareness to the millions of girls that are estimated to have dropped out of school and will not return because of the pandemic. How she organized this birthday event in only a couple of weeks!Overcoming obstacles in archival research to curate an exhibit at the American University in Cairo titled “Princess Fawzia and the Duality of Egyptian Women”.The importance of youth voices and how we can better support them. 

Jana Amin’s Bio:
Jana Amin is a 17-year-old Egyptian-American advocate for changing the narrative around Muslim Women and gender parity. An avid speaker, Jana has given a TedX-Youth talk about her work and spoken at the United Nations General Assembly. She works closely with The Collateral Repair Project, an NGO based in Jordan to support refugee women and girls. Recently, she hosted a virtual event, #17for17: Advocating for Girls' Education. Her research focuses on the media representation of Muslim women; she curated an exhibit at the American University in Cairo titled “Princess Fawzia and the Duality of Egyptian Women”. She is currently interning at the Harvard Kennedy School. Jana is a member of the Youth Activism Project and one of the founders and podcasters on UnTextbooked. Recently, she was selected as one of Arab-America's 20 Under 20 and one of The Conversationa-LIST's 2020 Education honorees.
📍Boston, MA USA
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🎙️ Hosted by Megan Doepker

📝 Show notes: https://www.thisiscandor.com/podcast/jana-amin

💡 Feedback? Suggestions for a guest or topic? Email megan@thisiscandor.com

On today’s episode I’m joined by Curtis Smith. Curtis is the founder of Moment of Mindfulness where he empowers corporate and educational communities to activate their best intentions through culturally responsive and evidence-based mindfulness tools.

In this episode Curtis discusses:
Co-founding a school and leading the character development curriculum.How he expanded mindfulness programs to 1000’s of scholars in 33 NYC public schools and design workshops for Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance.Mindfulness exercises he uses with scholars and corporate clients.How affirmations and language have impacted both his and his scholar’s lives.---

🎙️ Hosted by Megan Doepker

📝 Show notes: https://www.thisiscandor.com/podcast/curtis-smith

💡 Feedback? Suggestions for a guest or topic? Email megan@thisiscandor.com
 

On today’s episode I’m joined by Paolo Gallo. He’s the author of “The Compass & The Radar: the art of building a rewarding career while remaining true to yourself” and the founder of Compass Consulting. Previously he served as Chief HR Officer at the World Economic Forum and Chief Learning Officer at the World Bank. 

In the conversation, Paolo discusses some of the essential tools for a successful career, helpful exercises that he uses as a career coach,  leadership traits needed to tackle the issues our world faces, and more.

📍Italy
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🎙️ Hosted by Megan Doepker

📝 Show notes: https://www.thisiscandor.com/podcast/paolo-gallo

💡 Feedback? Suggestions for a guest or topic? Email megan@thisiscandor.com