Blending Faith & Technology w/ Yvonne Carlson

Yvonne Carlson, CTO of Global Media Outreach, is on a mission to share Jesus with the world—one digital connection at a time. As a leader at the forefront of faith-based technology, Yvonne leverages cutting-edge tools to reach people across the globe, nurture their faith, and connect them to Christian communities. In this episode, she shares how emerging tech is shaping global evangelism, the power of digital discipleship, and the incredible impact of Global Media Outreach.

Guest Links:

• Yvonne’s LinkedIn
• Global Media Outreach

Credits: 
Host: Lisa Nichols
Executive Producer: Jenny Heal
Marketing Support: Landon Burke and Joe Szynkowski
Podcast Engineer: Portside Media

Transcript

Lisa Nichols  00:02
Chromosomes, little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions that tell us who we are. At birth, most people are born with 46 chromosomes, but each year in the United States, about 6000 people are born with an extra chromosome, making them a person with Down syndrome. If you've ever encountered someone with Down syndrome, you know that they are some of the kindest, most joyful people you will ever meet. They truly have something extra. 

Lisa Nichols  00:30
My name is Lisa Nichols, and for 30 years, I have been both the CEO of Technology Partners and the mother to Ally. Ally has something extra in every sense of the word. I have been blessed to be by her side as she impacts everyone she meets. Through these two important roles as CEO and mother to Ally, I have witnessed countless life lessons that have fundamentally changed the way I look at the world. While you may not have an extra chromosome, every leader has something extra that defines who you are. 

Lisa Nichols  01:00
Join me as I explore the something extra in leaders from all walks of life and discover how that difference in each of them has made a difference in their companies, their families, their communities and in themselves. If you like this episode today, please go to Apple Podcast or wherever you listen and leave us a five-star rating. 

Lisa Nichols  01:20
I am excited to have Yvonne Carlson on the show today. Yvonne is the Chief Technology Officer at Global Media Outreach. Well, Yvonne, I am absolutely thrilled to have you on the Something Extra Podcast today. Thank you so much for making the time. I know how busy you are, so thank you.

Yvonne Carlson  01:41
Thank you for this opportunity. I'm really excited for our time together. 

Lisa Nichols  01:45
Me too. I know we're going to have fun. That's what I told you. I said one thing I can guarantee, have a lot of fun. Well, this one truly, is really extra special for me, Yvonne. And it's because we partnered with the company that you're at, Global Media Outreach. We've partnered with you guys since 2019 and it has been such a beautiful, not just a beautiful partnership, but a very meaningful one to us. And we've got a lot to discuss there, and I want to dig in more to Global Media Outreach for our listeners who may not know about that, but I wanted our listeners to first learn a little bit more about you. So, I know that you're sitting in Charlotte right now. But did you grow up in Charlotte? Where did you grow up? Tell me a little bit about growing up. Would you like to do as a little girl? And then I do want you to tell me the VCR story. 

Yvonne Carlson  02:36
Oh, VCR story. Well, I grew up in Colorado, so I'm a Colorado native. My husband and I are both and I'm a third culture kid. So, my mother's from the Netherlands, is a citizen of the Netherlands, and my father is American. So, we had a few languages you know, that we were speaking growing up, which was wonderful, which really gives me a heart for just the international community, and I really want to dig in always to understand different cultural perspectives. What did I like to do as a little girl? Well, I think you already know this, but I love to take things apart. I was that kid that you know, my dad would say, Don't press that button, do not play with that power tool. And that just didn't seem to register for me. I just was so infinitely curious. So, like you said, I did take apart the VCR and I put it back together, and it worked just fine. But my dad had a minor heart attack, I think, because this is back when a VCR was pretty pricey yet, so he had faith in me, but there was a little bit of hesitation, will you be able to put this together? Because I didn't label the parts. Now, I organized them, but I didn't label them, so I just had to recognize eyeball them, to know what went where.

Lisa Nichols  04:04
Oh, my goodness. How old were you, Yvonne?

Yvonne Carlson  04:08
Six.

Lisa Nichols  04:10
No way.

Yvonne Carlson  04:12
Yes. 

Lisa Nichols  04:13
You took it apart when you were six years old, and you put it back together. 

Yvonne Carlson  04:18
I love to fix things. I fixed the stove, the dish, the dishwasher, the disposal, whatever it was. I just love to tinker and then play in my dad's garage. You know, we had all the good things, you know, soldering irons and such. And so, for me, it was just like, what could I make with the materials that were given to me? Or what could I remake? Or, you know, make something different. Something new.

Lisa Nichols  04:44
That's incredible. Well, when you're six years old, doing that, it is in your DNA. It's in your DNA, girl.

Yvonne Carlson  04:51
My dad's an engineer. That's his background. So, I'm surrounded.

Lisa Nichols  04:56
Yes, oh, my goodness. Well, you know what, I'm grateful. I'm grateful that you're still standing with playing with power tools and being you're a curious kid. I'm grateful you're still here.

Lisa Nichols  05:09
And science experiments, I didn't tell you about that. I'm pretty sure my mom thought that I would blow the house up someday.

Lisa Nichols  05:15
Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness, wow. I love that story. Well, well, what did you know you were you like to tinker? What did it teach you? I don't want to put words in your mouth, but just as a child, what? What were those attributes that you were really honing in on doing that? I mean, I'm thinking the obvious one is curiosity. But what else?

Yvonne Carlson  05:39
Well, I really wanted to understand the world around me and how it worked. It wasn't just enough for me to observe something, and I do observe. And I like to observe and take it in, but I really wanted to understand how something works deeply and thoroughly. You know, the joke in my family is this. Oh, never ask Yvonne if she has any more questions. The answer will always be, maybe not at the moment, but I will I always have questions. So, I think it helps me learn how to interact with my environment and partner with people to understand, you know, what is it that you need? What is it that you're looking for? What tool can I give you to help solve your need or meet your need? But really, it's that problem solving. It's that problem solving. Like, how do I get from A to Z? And there might be 50 ways to do that. And as a little kid, I love those you know, choose your own adventure books, and that's how my brain works, like I'm going to look at all of the permutations. 

Yvonne Carlson  06:44
I think the hardest part too, was just like finding people, you know, at that age, because I was so curious and I was always into something. You know, finding peers who wanted to go on that adventure with me. And of course, I found them. But as I was a peculiar child. I mean, I'm a female, and I was an engineer, you know, that was my brain from the beginning. So how, how do I, as a little girl interact in that world? This little different than a little boy, right? My reception was a little different. So, I had to, I had to sort that out. So, I think the people skills are really important. You know, when you're working in a space or a place where maybe you're the minority or you're not the norm, how do you work around that.

Lisa Nichols  07:32
Oh, that's so good. And we'll dig into that more. But, I'm glad you said problem solving, because they're probably, you know, learning how to solve problems, because as a tech leader, that's what you do all day long. 

Yvonne Carlson  07:46
365. Yes.

Lisa Nichols  07:47
Absolutely. Well, I know that you went to school and you got a BS in psychology, but you also had a pre-med background. So, were you thinking that you were going to be go to be a doctor, or what was that journey like from pre-med into IT?

Yvonne Carlson  08:05
Well, I wanted to be a psychiatrist, so I always was, again, a fascinated, not so like I said, I want to understand everything around me, and that includes people, right? So, people just fascinating or fascinating to me, the way their minds work, the way people interact. And then I also had this just really strong desire to do something that would help people. And so, I even then, you know, in high school, I recognized that there was just a need for more mental health professionals. You might ask me, was there anybody in my home or in my family that had need of a mental health professional, absolutely not actually like that was outside of my personal experience. But when I was thinking about med school, more and more people said to me, you know, where there's a big shortage is just really good psychiatrists that are not just really good medical doctors, but also have psychology training so they can bring the therapy and the medical aspects together. 

Yvonne Carlson  09:08
And so, that was my endeavor. That's the direction I was heading until I interacted with a psychiatrist who helped me see things differently. I'd done some clinical work for my internship, and what I understood is, I have this analytical side of my mind. I am mid brain, but I have this analytical side of my mind that I really can't turn off. And I was dealing with people with personality disorders, and that's very complex. And you know, there's no easy answer. And so, I realized that it's probably not the profession for me, because I would never actually be able to solve the problem 100% of the time. And even though I've had this really great conversation with you about where you're going and how you're going to care for yourself. You know, you know, in my internship, I had a patient who tried to commit suicide, and I just, I just felt like, Oh, wow. Like, What didn't I say? What didn't I do? 

Yvonne Carlson  10:12
So, I realized that I need to be in work that really leans into that analytical side of me and respects that. So, I made a change, and I went back and did some other coursework. I went to the University of Denver, and I got a job in medical manufacturing. So, I built medical devices, and was on a team that did that. And so, it married my love for medicine and my love for computers. Because the one thing I didn't tell you is that I started working in the high school computer lab in my sophomore year, and then I worked in the computer lab at my university. So, I after seventh grade, and I had basic on my Apple 2E I was in.

Lisa Nichols  10:58
You were all in. I love it. Well, that totally makes sense. That totally makes sense now, because I know you said medical manufacture, so you're at Sunrise Medical, but it did not realize that they were, you know, instrumentation, you know, manufacturer, whatnot. It really does make sense. Now, marrying that love for, you know, medicine with the technology. Well, okay, so you started there, I think you started as a technical PM, but you rose very quickly, Yvonne, to the web app and business manager. So, what was that journey like, going from an individual contributor to all of a sudden now having a team that reported to you, did you know a lot about leadership?

Yvonne Carlson  11:43
Well, I had to learn and managing technical people and managing in a business context are completely different, right? So, I went from okay, you know, here's my software engineering buddies, the people that I worked with, to okay, I'm on the other side of the business. And now, no, this was something I asked for. So, one of my bosses, I told him, I said, you know, I'm really interested in being in the business. I understand that I can contribute here and make a great impact here, but I want to align the business with the tech like so that was in me day one. And it was, it was a journey, thankfully, in that role, when I moved into the business, I moved out of technology and engineering into the global marketing arm of the organization. And I, and I had great bosses to help me manage that transition. So, my boss is an engineer. She came alongside, she gave me real time feedback. We would be in meetings together again, because I'm on kind of on the other side now, and I'm actually her client, you know. So, how do I interact differently, and how do I bring people together? Because if I'm going to be the voice of the business, the organization to really help the tech folk’s solution, well, that's, that's a totally different skill set. You know, in the engineering realm, it was like, you know, here's your conceptual design, here's your technical design, we sign we get the business sign off. Of course, I worked with the business teams, but it's different. It's, it's different having to manage stakeholders, you know, on our broader scale. 

Lisa Nichols  13:31
I can't agree with you more. And you'd said something at the beginning about working through people and having those people skills. So, you really you had to learn those things, and not that you didn't have EQ before you're clearly have a very high IQ. But I'll read something to you that's a perfect segue, because I took the liberty, Yvonne, of compiling a lot of attributes and ways people describe you. And I just want to read just a few of these. There's a lot here, but I was thinking that I could read these, because then maybe we can do a deeper dive on a few of these. Here's one person that said, positivity, leadership skills, ability to build trust, made working with Yvonne amazing. Yvonne is an innovative, well-informed leader. She is the joy to work with. Yvonne collaborates. Well, there's that word, again, stays calm and collected under pressure. That's a big one, especially in tech, when we always have deadlines and things don't always go as they planned, smart, organized, fun, thoughtful, detailed, oriented. Can do attitude, great, communicator, vibrant, tackles challenges with enthusiasm, joyful, hard working. Another person said, has a can do attitude, builds and maintains excellent relationships. Passionate. Here's one again, unparalleled, positive attitude. Wow. These are all testimonials from different people, Yvonne, that have worked with you and worked alongside you. You know so clearly, you're very competent, you are smart, you are intelligent. But look how many of these attributes that I just read really don't deal with that. They deal with the EQ piece, you know. So, can I just camp out here on a few of these?

Yvonne Carlson  15:29
Absolutely, let's do it. Let's do it. 

Lisa Nichols  15:32
So, this is one that I really want you to dig into. Over and over people describe you as having an unparalleled positive attitude, a joyful presence about you. Are these your superpowers? And where does this come from?

Yvonne Carlson  15:50
I don't know if I would say superpower, but I would say outlook. But that is really rooted in my worldview. So, as a Christian, as a believer, it's really important for me to show up in the workplace in a way that reflects my faith. So, you know, being kind, being considerate, I think positivity is part of that, and that you choose to believe the best in other people. And I think, and this is a challenge in tech, because tech is usually, well, I'll say it, the scapegoat, right? You find yourself awkward conversations, right? And giving people the benefit of the doubt and going to work every day believing in infinite possibilities. And I think, as a Christian, I think of God and how he's an infinite God, right? He's, he's endless, he's boundless. You know, he's the source of my creativity and who I am. So, I want to bring that into the places and the spaces that I occupy and, you know, Am I perfect 100% of the time? Absolutely not. But what is good about that outlook is that I have a place to go back to, and then I think that hopefully, you know, at the end of the day, it's that humility and that retrospection that we should all be doing, which, which links into, obviously, empathy. It's going for full circle, because it's not if you'll go through challenges or bumps in the road. It's when and how do you negotiate them? That's big to me. I think that's an important piece of being a technology leader. 

Lisa Nichols  17:39
No, I cannot agree more. Somebody said to me a couple of weeks ago, he said, there and this in the dictionary or not, but he said, it's the respond ability, how you respond to those things, right? And, you know, the way you just described yourself. I mean you try to when things don't go right or when you know a system fails, or an experiment that you're doing, you know, we talk about fail fast. You know, you want to fail fast in tech. But when that doesn't go right, how do you show up? You know, are you somebody else had said, I want to hear this one. I want to hear your perspective on this one. And it probably goes back to the kind of the same thing, Yvonne. People said that you stay calm under pressure, you know. And as I've already said IT, there, there are things that go wrong. You're sometimes pushing up against deadlines and budget constraints, you know. So, how do you stay calm under pressure? Do you have a secret sauce for this? 

Yvonne Carlson  18:35
Well, part of it is upbringing. My dad worked in the defense industry. He worked on very secretive projects, and he and there's a lot of what he did, I have no idea, you know. But one thing about my dad is that he was level headed and my uncles, too. I was really close to one, one uncle, who is also a software engineer. And they approach things, it's back to that curiosity, like, I'm not going to expect that I understand the full situation. I'm going to expect that I have a fraction of the information that I need in order to understand this, really understand this. And of course, that leans into good problem solving. So, I think it was modeled for me. But then again, I think it's back to that based on my worldview. It's working out of the idea of abundance instead of scarcity, right? So, we're, we're in this very performance-oriented world, and I'm not saying that I don't want to compete and, you know, show up well in that way. But I think it's important to consider that it's not just about winning, it's the manner in which you go about it. So, for me, I think that is related. I think that's interconnected. 

Lisa Nichols  20:00
That is so good. That is so good. It's not just the, the winning, but it's how the how that you get there, right? Because you can do it in a really destructive way, or you could do it in a constructive way where you're bringing everybody along with you. So, a lot of people say that you're a great communicator, and you are the CTO. You're the chief technology officer for Global Media Outreach. You're expected to communicate to a lot of different stakeholders, up and down and across the organization. You know what's been your approach to communication, Yvonne? Why would people say you're a really good communicator?

Yvonne Carlson  20:46
Well, the way I think this is my problem solving, kicking in. The way I approach it is, Who am I talking to? What problem are they trying to solve? How can I contextualize the message to help them understand how the solution will actually solve their problem and make their lives better, right? So, I'm a huge proponent of human centered design, and I think engineer, it's really easy to make the, the engineering the center of the design. And so, I always try to bring back the human factor. So, and my team knows this, I will be talking about a technical design and I'll say, Wait, but what does that mean to the user? How will the user feel about that? And it may seem counter intuitive to talk about feelings in a technical conversation, but I can guarantee you that people have a lot of feelings when it comes to their tech if their phone doesn't work, right? Or their internet drops on a really important zoom call. So, I want them to think about the way we're either enriching people's lives or not, and, and what does that look like? Because that's impact. It's not just a solution. It's the impact of the solution.

Lisa Nichols  22:07
That's really good. Well, tell me this, because you do have a background in psychology. How has that and I mean, I can only surmise, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but how has that informed your leadership style?

Yvonne Carlson  22:21
So, you've heard these words from other people psychological safety. So, for me, that means so much more because of that background. I want people to bring their full person, their full selves, to work. And I honestly believe in being a professional, and there's ways you go about that, but we compartmentalize so much, and this would be Western culture especially. It's like, you know, I'm this person at work. I'm this person at home. And I think if you live in an integrated way, like you're just your authentic self, 100% of the time, you're going to be happy, you're going to be healthier, you're going to be more productive. Because we so spend so much time context switching, like, Who do I need to be in this moment? Now, adaptability super important. I'm not saying that you don't want that, but if people know that. They can come to you and say, Hey, I'm struggling with something, and they know that the door is open and that they won't be judged for sharing their struggles, or judge for sharing their disagreement, like I don't agree with the direction you're heading, or, you know, I have real concerns there. I want to foster that kind of community in the workplace, because I think it's crucial. I think it's really important to avoid burnout, but just to honor people.

Lisa Nichols  23:49
Yes, I think that's so important. People have to feel safe in all of those things. But as a leader, you model that too, right? You know, Yvonne, you model being vulnerable when you don't know something, and not necessarily being the smartest person in the room. And, I mean, yeah, that's but people, people need that. I, I cannot agree more. And I'm thinking like, as you were talking about, you know, being this one person at work and this person at home. Listen, you know what I think about when I when I hear that I'm thinking exhausting. That's exhausting. There's freedom. When you can be your true, authentic self, there's so much freedom there. 

Yvonne Carlson  24:32
I think you bring more to the table, right? I think because people feel like they have to be viewed in a particular way, because image matters. That they may be leaving something off the table that's wonderful and could make a big impact in their role, in their work and their environment. But they're like, I'm just not sure if you're interested in that, but this is where you have to just really get to know people and invite them to be themselves. And once they know you appreciate them for who they are, they're like, okay, plug me in. Now, you know how I can really make a difference on a team.

Lisa Nichols  25:09
Yes, could not agree more. Well, you know what? I've got pages and pages of notes, Yvonne, we need to take a quick break. We'll be right back on the Something Extra Podcast with Yvonne Carlson. 

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Lisa Nichols  25:51
Welcome back everyone to the Something Extra Podcast where I'm talking to my friend, Yvonne Carlson. Yvonne, I'd love to pivot now to Global Media Outreach. A lot of our listeners may not know much about that organization, but what do you guys do? What's the mission of the organization? Tell us a little bit about GMO.

Yvonne Carlson  26:11
I would love that. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share a passion of mine, and that's digital evangelism and discipleship. So, think about using the internet and digital advertising to share the Christian faith. That is what Global Media Outreach does. So, as a person of faith, getting to use my tech skills in this organization, I love our mission and vision. We just we want to give every person the opportunity to know and grow in a relationship with Jesus Christ. So, we're doing that, like I said, through digital advertising. But the secret sauce here, I think the thing that sets us apart, we have online missionaries. So, you often think of missionaries as people who you know, they pack up, they move to another country to serve. 

Yvonne Carlson  27:03
Well, we have men and women serving from the comfort of their own homes. They're connecting with people who are seeking. They want to know about the Christian faith. They have real questions that need to be answered, so people are dialoguing with them answering those questions. And for people who really want to get connected and really have a longer journey, or, you know, look at it more long range. We, we disciple them. So, it's someone who says, you know, I really want to learn about the Bible. Would you walk through a Bible study with me? So, it's not just, you know, walking in the front door and inviting the person to have a cup of coffee. It's like, you know, come in, sit a while. I want to get to know you. I want to really connect with you. And that's what I really love about how we approach our ministry.

Lisa Nichols  27:53
Yes, I do too. And it's just, it's incredible to me, the impact that you guys have had already. But you said, Yvonne, that the mission is to reach every person on the planet. There's 8 billion people on the planet. How close are you to the goal? How many do you think you've reached so far? And I'd love to missionaries there are, because there's a lot.

Yvonne Carlson  28:13
Sure, so if people want to see this visualized, what you know, the people that we're reaching, the impact that we're making. They can go to globalmediaoutreach.com, and what they'll see is a map. So, this map has been live since 2004 so this is 20 years’ worth of ministry here that you're seeing, but you can see our Gospel reach. These are how many people have heard the gospel through GMO. And right now, it's at 2.85 wait for it, billion.

Lisa Nichols  28:46
Amazing! 2.85 billion, you're 25% of the way there.

Yvonne Carlson  28:51
Right. And then we have indicated decisions. So, those are the people who've raised their hand that said, you know, I would like to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, I would like to become a Christian, and then we have new contacts. Those are people who say, You know what, I'm going to give you my information, and I want to chat with someone. So, this map really speaks to the engagement that we have globally. Now note we, we advertise in 13 languages, but we interact in 41.

Lisa Nichols  29:25
That's incredible, because you're missionaries, if I'm remembering correctly, Yvonne. The missionaries are sometimes in the country, right? That's reaching the people in their negative language. Isn't that correct? 

Yvonne Carlson  29:38
Correct. So, we have teams in countries where they're living and working and they're part of the community, so they're helping us with our campaigns and the follow up the interaction, right? Because culturally, you know you have to go to know. So, we want people to come in and be connected to somebody that they can build rapport with, who will understand their context and be able to answer their questions, you know. From their vantage points, their unique perspectives, their challenges, their hopes, their dreams, and nothing better than to work with language teams who really understand that. 

Lisa Nichols  30:18
That's so good. Well, I want to talk about this because I know that you are a big AI advocate. You sit on the Faith Tech board. I think you're doing some things with an AI board. You know, let's talk about the role of AI at GMO. And in particular, how do you believe, how do you believe AI is going to influence the work of the future?

Yvonne Carlson  30:45
It will impact every industry. And when I mean every, I mean every, it's the first technology, general purpose technology, that is self-adapting, meaning it will evolve on its own. Now I'm not talking about sci-fi here. I'm talking about what's available today, the, the modern AI tools. They adapt, they learn, they understand more information. They provide better answers. So, really, you're seeing an impact on every industry, because things that normally took experts to do is being democratized. So, video creation, audio creation, writing. Now the question might be, how good is the work product in comparison to human creative or what a human could create. And of course, on my team, we debate the code generation tools, right? The AI based code tools that a software engineer or developer might use. And so, we're saying, are these tools on human parity, meaning the code that I'm seeing generated is as good as our senior engineers. We're not there yet, but we're getting there. 

Yvonne Carlson  32:05
So, the question will then be, the way I look at it is, if I am a leader in any organization, I'm going to look for two things. I'm going to look for places or use cases areas in my organization where AI could streamline. But then I'm going to look for net new opportunities, things that I can now do, that I would never would have done before, you know. And a really easy example of that is language, right? So, with AI, we are removing the language barrier. So, it doesn't matter what language you speak or interact in or with, these tools will allow you to move across languages seamlessly. So, I think we'll see shifts in how people communicate and how they have relationship and how they do almost everything. I mean, I have an AI informed sprinkler system. It knows the moisture of my grass. It knows when to turn on the sprinklers, so we're just going to see that infused into everything. 

Yvonne Carlson  33:15
So, the question will be, and this is something I wish people would talk more about, is, how do I measure efficacy? How do I measure productivity? Because, obviously, AI is the shiny tool, right? We're out of the AI winter. You know, we have this front door that got put on AI by chat GPT, you know, from open AI. So, now everybody can use it. But, but so what am I more productive? Do I have a better quality of life? You know, how do you measure that? So, I think leaders need to have some sort of metric or measurement that they're not just forging into these AI based projects, because it's exciting and new or the latest thing. I think it's, it's a back to, does this technology, whatever it is, meet the need of the organization. And are we really becoming better, or are we just staying status quo? 

Lisa Nichols  34:11
That's, that's a good point, Yvonne. Because what I have said to people, because, you know, the age-old question from people is, AI is going to replace people? You know, not going to be anything for people. And I said, Oh no, just like you. Just said, right? You do, you've got to look at, does this AI tool produce the same kind of code that a senior engineer, you still have to have that human interaction. I said, here's the way I look at it. It's going to give us all back time. 

Yvonne Carlson  34:45
Agreed. 

Lisa Nichols  34:47
Time. But the deal is, how are you using that piece of time now that you've gotten back, right? I mean, it's, you know. Are we doing higher value things with that time you, you have to look at all of that. 

Yvonne Carlson  35:05
If you don't have a baseline, right, if you don't know how you're spending your time now, when you try these ways of doing things, you know are net for net, are you seeing any significant change? Honestly, I'm really excited for time and margin for people, for creative thinking and for relationship building. The things that often get, you know, pushed to the side, busy deadlines. 

Lisa Nichols  35:33
I agree. I agree. Well, you sit on the board. We already kind of talked about this, of Faith Tech. Can you tell us a little bit more about Faith Tech? I mean, you've, you've told me a little bit, and you've whet my appetite enough where I'm like, Yvonne, we have to talk about this more. But how are you with being on that board? Are you seeing, are you guys sharing best practices? Are you seeing how AI is being used in other ministries?

Yvonne Carlson  36:00
Absolutely. So, through Faith Tech, I'm involved in a couple of AI communities. One is missional AI. Missional AI is a yearly conference around 800 men and women who are, you know, of faith, they love Jesus, they love tech, and they love AI. So, these are academics. They're people from big tech. They're pastors. There's theologians. I mean, it's really the gamut, but it's really that intersection of faith and technology. You know, what is the impact on faith when we think about the trajectory of this technology. And then out of that is a partnership between Faith Tech and Missional AI called the AI Collective. So, in at missional AI there, there are a lot of builders, and just like myself, I became part of the I triple E ethically aligned design project, because as somebody who's considering how these systems are built, I just wanted to make sure that I had an ethical frame of reference. 

Yvonne Carlson  37:11
So, yes, the AI collective, again, is, you know, cross disciplinary, but we're talking about things like ethics. We're talking about practical things, like, should I own my own Gen AI systems, or should I use a product that's off the shelf? So, it's, so some of it's really practical, and then again, it's educating leaders. I mean, that's the whole goal. Is to educate leaders to understand what AI can and cannot do for them. And Faith Tech, just simply put, is just like Missional AI, people who love Jesus, people who love tech. And we said to ourselves, what if we strategically worked in the major tech centers of the world, so we have chapters are all over the globe, at the biggest tech centers in the world, and our goal there is to meet people where they are. We want them to understand the person of Jesus. We want them to understand the Christian faith. But what is really beautiful about this, and this is what got me, this is why I became involved. It's like, as an engineer and as a believer, I can be my full self, like, there are so many times where I, you know, it's like, Okay, I can't talk about my faith. And of course, I was always really respectful in my work groups. But, you know, I felt like I had to leave that at the door. 

Yvonne Carlson  38:38
So, not only are you growing with other Christian professionals, we're also doing lab projects, so we're using our superpowers, and we're doing pro bono work for nonprofits and ministries. And I'm telling you things like working to identify people who are being trafficked by using data science to look at databases and match people who are online with missing persons data. That's the kind of work I'm talking about. I mean, it's deep and it's meaningful. We created an app for people to use during COVID. Instead of their family members dying alone with no message from the outside world at place. I mean, we piloted this at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. This app, you gave everybody a one 800 number, and they could record something so and then we trained the staff, and they could hear their loved ones talking to them. Imagine, instead of dying alone, you know that people are thinking about you. So, this is redemptive technology. At the end of the day, these communities, for me, represent redemptive technology.

Lisa Nichols  39:51
So, beautiful. Well, if somebody is listening Yvonne, and they want to know more about it, would they just go to faithtech.com, or what's the URL? How do they find out more?

Yvonne Carlson  40:01
Oh, and we do have a Slack community, so you can go to Faith Tech. If you just type in Faith Tech in your browser, it should come up, and it’s .com's as you say, and you can sign up in a for a Slack workspace. And we have different communities, so you can actually connect with people in your own locality, right? There's a map to show you where the different chapters are located, but it's actually a really good place, just in general, if and you don't have, again, you don't to be an engineer, you don't have to be a developer, you don't have to be like an uber techie person, even if you're just curious, or you're, you're some way involved in this conversation. We want you there so you can introduce yourself. There's an introductions channel. We have different cohorts. We have a cohort for AI. We have a cohort for founders. So, there's a fair amount of investors and entrepreneurs, but honestly, it's like the ultimate experts guide. Like you will certainly find somebody from every stripe in the community. People are very kind, they're very considerate, and they value each other and they value relationship.

Lisa Nichols  41:13
Oh, my goodness. So cool that that exists. Well, tell me this, what is your vision? What is your vision, personally, for GMO. I mean that every person on the planet is reached. I mean, what, what other things might you, you know, wish for, for the organization, Yvonne?

Yvonne Carlson  41:33
Well, when you think about how many people are on the face of the earth, I think of reaching everyone, everywhere, every time. So, being ubiquitous and that is totally possible through a smartphone. So, we so even in developing, developing countries.

Lisa Nichols  41:57
They all have smartphones. I know, I know.

Yvonne Carlson  42:00
So, we're really thinking about that, and we're looking to see how we can use AI to help increase our capacity and do a better job of just answering those questions and getting people connected with the right person. So, it's not that you're necessarily interacting with AI, but you're it's a vehicle to help us be better traffic directors, if you will. I see a lot of possibility we do digital advertising. AI is transforming the digital ad platforms so we can contextualize ads, we can optimize them for the audience. So very excited about that, and looking at how we can really leverage data. I mean, I think the AI conversation and the data conversation align, but how do we give people an experience so it's not just finding them and connecting with them, like, how do we give them a personalized experience. How do we connect with them in a meaningful way? So, we're thinking more and more about that. How are we serving the people that are coming to us? But if I put my innovation hat on, I've been thinking about something I call mission eternity. So, when I think about how man endeavored to reach the moon, that was a very, you know, earthly, you know, I know it was difficult, but it was thing that was achievable.

Lisa Nichols  43:35
Right.

Yvonne Carlson  43:36
And I've been thinking about what would that look like if it was a God sized dream, if it was a God size goal? What would that world look like? How might we use beyond AI? How can we use virtual reality? How can we you be involved in the crypto community? There are all of these, what we call fourth, you know, Four IR, if you've heard of it, right? We're in the fourth industrial revolution, right? So those, those new technologies that they're not something that we just think about or talk about, how do we actually employ them to do that, to do what I said, reach everyone, everywhere, at any time. And then create experience. I mean, imagine walking in the garden of Gethsemane with Jesus, or walking in the streets of Jerusalem. I mean, so these experiences are possible. 

Lisa Nichols  44:42
Yes, I don't know. I think you need to talk to the Bible Museum. You need to talk to the Green family, because I could see them implementing some of that in DC at the Bible, at the Bible Museum. Well, let me ask you this. I mean, you're a woman of deep faith, but you know, Yvonne, how do you personally stay grounded in your faith? Do you have a routine that you go through every morning? I mean, what? What are those things? Because there's, I always talk about the noises. There's so many noises coming at us from all directions every day that's trying to distract us from what's really important. So how do you personally stay grounded?

Yvonne Carlson  45:26
I think the most effective thing for me, and this is just really simple, prayer. Prayer has a huge role in my life. I pray often. I pray everywhere, anytime, and I keep a handwritten list with me. I know that's like what you weren't expecting to hear from a tech person. Of course, I have my list on my phone. I have an app, but there's something about writing out, you know, people's needs and challenges, and I'll ask people, no matter where I'm at, no matter who I'm talking to, how can I pray for you? People need support. Everybody's got something going on. So, I feel like prayer is just such a beautiful like relationship building tool, but a beautiful way to stay connected with God, because it's reminding you to be other centered, which is challenging in this world we live in. And then, and then the Bible, I mean, as you know, as a literature, as a as you know, God's word, is really inspiring to me. So, I, I endeavor for anything I'm working on to have a scripture associated, whether it's a project or just a prayer meeting, and we're talking about status updates. You know, each, each team lead has a prayer verse that they're centering around. I think people need hope. I think they need truth. And it doesn't get any simpler than that. 

Yvonne Carlson  47:02
And then, of course, the fun thing I do is I am classically trained in voice, so I am that crazy person who will be walking down the street singing worship music. So just so you know you might see me singing. Now, I sing other things besides worship music, but often there's a song of praise on my heart, and I feel like that brings me a lot of joy. You know, music is very powerful. When I'm having a tough day, or, you know, it's just a challenging day, I will take a five-minute break, I'll put on a praise song, and I will worship. I will worship, and it just resets me and helps me understand that I'm not alone, that this isn't about me. You know, even though, in the moments where we're feeling challenged, you feel like it's about you because you can't solve the problem, it's like, okay, no, I'm not looking. I'm not looking, you know, Mission eternity, I need to look at God and, and from his perspective, you know? How does he see things? And what does it mean to think big for him so different from, from an earthly perspective.

Lisa Nichols  48:10
You are speaking my language, girl, because I am a huge, I grew up singing my whole life, and I mean praise and worship music, and just put me in the throne room, you know, and our, our radio station here is joy. FM, 99.1 yours is probably KLove or something like that. But it's like, that's.

Yvonne Carlson  48:31
Light FM is ours.

Lisa Nichols  48:33
Okay, alright. You know, people say, Oh, have you heard this song? And I'm like, if it's not a Christian song, I don't know it.

Yvonne Carlson  48:42
I'm cheating because working for a broadcast network, it those artists would come into the studio and, and it would you, you will remember somebody if you've met them. You know, the other songs really stick in your mind. 

Lisa Nichols  48:56
Oh, for sure, for sure, I love it. Well, I got one last question for you, and then I want to talk about something extra. So, if you could give one piece of advice to possibly someone aspiring to be a tech leader, Yvonne, what would that be?

Yvonne Carlson  49:13
I think my one piece of advice would be this. There is wisdom in the multitude of counselors. So, the temptation when you're a leader is to try to do and be at all. And the tech leaders that I know are exceptional. They're brilliant, but sometimes that is the problem, because they have the answers a lot of the time. A lot of the time they do, but it's interacting with other people, seeing the problem from other people's perspective, and including other subject matter experts, our CFO. Dave says all of us is smarter than one of us. And so, as a tech leader, I joke about it. If you know me, I'll say, I'm gonna, I'm gonna phone a friend. And when I say that, I'm saying there's somebody who knows a lot more about this than me, and I recognize that I need to phone a friend and I need I need them to tell me what I don't know and help me think through this. That's paramount. With the breadth and depth of today's technologies, you definitely need that community around you. Also need that community around you to tell you, you know, hey, great job. You got that right. I think you were right on the money there. I think you're in. You know, where you're headed is good, or no.

Lisa Nichols  50:58
Or not so much, what were you thinking? 

Yvonne Carlson  51:00
Or not so much, right. Exactly. What are you thinking?

Lisa Nichols  51:05
Yes, exactly, exactly. 

Yvonne Carlson  51:08
So, community. I mean, community is, is the name of the game there and leaders from different industries, from different geographies, from different tech backgrounds, I really believe that diversity in that way is important. You'll, you'll be a better, more well-rounded tech leader, and you will have some wonderful relationships. I am very, thankful for those relationships. It's iron sharpening iron. It's good stuff. 

Lisa Nichols  51:46
Yes, absolutely. Well, Yvonne, what do you believe is this something extra every leader needs? And then I'd love for you just to dig into that a little bit, whatever it is. And I don't know. I never know until we actually are on the podcast, recording what someone's going to say, but if you've got a story behind it, or an illustration or, or maybe it was a time where you didn't have that something extra, and you, and you, and you learned through that. So, I'd love to hear your, your thoughts around that.

Yvonne Carlson  52:19
Well, we talked about curiosity and empathy, and psychological safety, which I think are really important. And of course, you have to have expertise, right? You have to be a learner. You have to study all the time, constantly challenge your assumptions all the time. But I'm going to go for something that maybe you haven't heard. I've been thinking about the idea of a philosopher builder. A philosopher builder, so somebody who's a builder, I use the word engineer, but that's really builder. We look at how things are constructed. We look at how we interact with our stakeholders to get them what they need and want. But I think about the questions around the questions. So, it's kind of back to strategic thinking, you know, who, what, when, where, why, how and how much. 

Yvonne Carlson  52:42
But it's going a level deeper and thinking about the and this is where it gets really human. Just because I can doesn't mean I should. How will this really impact the world around me? I think, I guess I'm thinking about this because of AI projects that I'm working on, and other friends are working on, like, you have to be a little bit of a philosopher, because this, some of these tools have social, economic, political, I could use a lot of different words, words impact. And are you thinking about that? Are you thinking beyond the first order impact and thinking about that second and third and fourth order impact. And I think you have to ask more philosophical questions. Now, this might feel really fuzzy to some people like, Oh, we're just building this thing, you know, I'm building this widget. Why are we talking about feeling things and, and how this is going to impact society and culture? Because what we build is part of who we are, and that and that is that tool, that technology, you know, we are being carried in it, like the creator affects the created. And so, this also speaks to. What kind of person are you as a builder?

Lisa Nichols  55:07
It's good that you're right. Nobody has ever said that before. So, you are the first. You are the first, Yvonne. I like that. Builder Philosopher. 

Yvonne Carlson  55:19
Faith, technology, ethics, what are the intersections? I mean that that's, that's how I approach it. But other people might be thinking about different disciplines. But are you thinking about the questions around the questions?

Lisa Nichols  55:36
That's so good. That's so good. And that's kind of what GMO does. It's the questions around the questions and peeling back the layer of the onion. And I don't think that there's any question that somebody can, can ask, right? That you guys shy away from, like, what is the behind the question, behind the question? That's really good. Well, Yvonne, this has been so much fun. I so appreciate you making the time to be on the show today, I cannot wait for listeners to hear more about you, your leadership journey. Understand a little bit more about GMO, maybe Faith Tech, so there's going to be some listeners out there that are going to be impacted in a positive way. So, I appreciate you taking the time to be on the show.

Yvonne Carlson  56:18
Thank you so much. Lisa, this was a joy. 

Announcer  56:22
Thank you for listening to today's show. Something Extra with Lisa Nichols as a Technology Partners Production Copyright Technology Partners Inc. 2019. For show notes, or to reach Lisa, visit tpi.co/podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcast, Google Play, or wherever you listen.  

*Please note, the preceding transcription has been automatically generated and should be used for informational purposes only.