DT_T Season 1 - Episode 1- Kim Jones - Co-Founder - Change Maker Initiative

DT_T (Do The _ Thing) Spotlights Kim Jones - CoFounder, Executive Director (she/her) of Change Maker Initiative

Kim spent 20 years as a pediatrician in Silicon Valley before being called out of that work into changemaking.  She was a Changemaker Fellow in 2018 and is passionate about enabling people to find their abundant, purpose-filled life.Sometimes the purpose we’re called to do begins long before we know how to name it.

About her organization -  As a large church in Silicon Valley, Los Altos United Methodist Church (LAUMC) embraced the vision of Senior Pastor Kathi McShane and partnered with the secular social entrepreneurship organization Ashoka for one year to learn about making change.  And more about Change Maker Initiative at https://thechangemakerinitiative.org/

Little bit about DT_T Podcast: 

The DT_T/Do The _ Thing podcast is a conversation series with nonprofit leaders and purpose-driven individuals who are quietly transforming their communities. The podcast highlights the human stories behind service — calling, compassion, courage, and small acts of love that ripple outward.

I created the DT_T(Do The _ Thing) podcast with the hope of supporting people who are searching for their next chapter and also those who sense something within them but haven’t yet named it as the series highlights nonprofit founders who first looked inward, and then chose to bring their gifts forward in service of others.

Humbly with Care,

Your DT_T Podcast Host Sheela

www.lightinactionmedia.com

Sometimes the purpose we’re called to do begins long before we know how to name it.

Transcript

Sheela 0:01

Welcome to the Do the Dash Thing Podcast. It's all about doing the dash thing. That unique gift, calling, or purpose only you can bring to the world. This podcast showcases the beautiful things being done by incredible individuals. And it's also an invitation for you to look within, recognize your own gift, and fill in your dash. This is the Do the Dash Thing podcast, and I'm Sheila, your host. Okay, thank you for being a guest on the Digi Dash T podcast Do the Dash Thing. How your gifts found their way into service. So that listeners who sense something more feel encouraged to take their next intentional step.

Kim 0:55

I'm really honored to be here. This is really a fun opportunity, and I'm delighted to do it with you. Thank you.

Sheela 1:03

Could you please share a little bit about yourself?

Kim 1:06

I am a mom to two young adult kids. I am a wife of almost 29 years, married to my best friend and soulmate. I am someone who grew up in the Midwest and moved a lot and have been firmly now planted in California for several decades as home. I am a person of faith. My background in Christian faith has been very formative for me and my values and the way I perceive and move through the world. I am a cancer survivor. I am a pediatrician who worked for 20 years and then left that to do the work I'm doing now, which is in the Changemaker Initiative. And I am continually learning and growing. That's me.

Sheela 1:56

Yeah, that's incredible. You know, I know a little bit about you, but so much I have learned actually today. Would you like to share a little bit about your organization as well?

Kim 2:08

Sure. The Changemaker Initiative was started back in 2018, emerging out of the church I was part of at the time. And there was a pastor who had a vision, and we kind of came together to develop this into something, having no idea where it was going to go. And now we're a 501c3 and we have some great national funding to do this work. Our main mission is to spark and equip people to be changemakers in their everyday places and spaces. So everyone has things they care about, things they've experienced, things they're passionate about. Everyone has values and everyone has connections in the community. How do those come together to make an impact? And we are mostly working with congregations. We also work with individuals and teams. And it is the most amazing privilege to watch people come alive, like you, Sheila. You're one of those people. To watch people come alive and take a risk to make a difference in a new way. And having a front row C to that is just an incredible place for me to be.

Sheela 3:26

When did you first recognize a gift or passion within you? Something that felt like this calls to me.

Kim 3:36

What a cool question. And how neat is it to just have the time to reflect on that? That's that's just so cool. I will say that I certainly felt when I was in high school, I certainly felt a calling to go into medicine. Like it was a pretty strong exploration for me at the time. And I, you know, it is one of those professions where people kind of feel called to it. I want to care for poor people when they're sick and struggling and do that. So I definitely felt that as a calling. The next time I felt a really strong sense of calling was when I left medicine because I had witnessed some things through the course of that career that were troubling to me. I started to see a lot of young people who were struggling and anxious and depressed and overscheduled, and parents who were barely keeping their heads above water, and people going through the motions and the frenzy of the fast pace of life. And there were just some things that weren't sitting right with me. And I had ways I could, you know, try to address that, but my the ways I was trying to address that didn't really feel like it was getting to the heart of the issue. And so I felt some unsettledness in my soul. I was really, I was really restless. And I will say, you know, on paper, everything was great. I had a wonderful career. I had an amazing opportunity with families and colleagues and stuff that was intellectually challenging and very, you know, rewarding and fulfilling. And but there was something deep in me that was just yearning for something else. And I went through a period of time not really knowing what that was going to be or look like, where it was going to go. It was just a sense inside me. And when some folks at the church started talking about some ideas around Changemaker, I had this visceral reaction inside that that is what I'm supposed to do. Like it clicked for me. It was really like a switch clicking that, oh, this has some of the things that I'm seeing that people don't, people are lacking, or or people are struggling because maybe they're not fulfilling into one of their passions or their purpose or things they want to do of meaning. And I just it clicked for me and I said, so I'm I've got to go do this. It was this the sense that this is it. I am prepared for this. The time is now. The status quo is not tenable anymore for what I was doing versus what I wanted to be accomplishing. And I felt there was a real need. And so four months later, I left my career of medicine to step into a new space. So I think part of what really enabled me to do that, because it's kind of crazy, right? It's really kind of crazy. And I'm actually pretty much a planner and kind of a control freak person. And so to sort of jump out into the unknown was kind of out of character for me. So it doesn't always happen that way. I'm very aware. Um, but I think one of the things that there was this just deep nagging within me that I couldn't ignore. But there also were people around me who were supporting me. The people at my church and my pastor who were talking about this, right? There were other folks exploring this stuff and really spending time talking with me. I did actually have a personal coach that I was talking with about this sense of feeling unsettled. And we were revisiting like values. And anyway, there were things we were doing where I felt supported. And my my partner, my spouse, was very supportive in me doing this too. And so I think that the combination of my own internal feeling and some of these external cheerleaders and people saying, I've got faith in you, go for it, was what was really needed in that time.

Sheela 7:59

Your heart and also the support structure. Thank you for mentioning both of them. So if my previous questions are the heart of this beauty dashly podcast, the next one is the soul. What inspired you to take action and begin sharing that gift with others?

Kim 8:21

I could call upon some very specific instances, some very specific people, but it was sort of a succession of watching somebody not thrive and having this ache inside me of young people at the time. Why this is an exciting time in their life? They should be dreaming about their future and all these exciting things, and watching sort of it slowly, you know, it kept increasing more and more and more in the later years of my pediatric practice where people were not thriving. And so even in the steps that we were doing, I was not seeing it really get to the heart of that issue that I that I deeply cared about. So I started just really feeling like I need to work upstream, I need to do something instead of rescuing people who are struggling. I want to try to prevent that or I want to try to make a different path. So there was certainly there was certainly a desire for change. Right. There was a and it was a vague vision of what that could look like. But I had also seen young, I had seen young people who were thriving, right? Like I had I had this contrast. So that was part of it was this isn't working. What could it look like? And exploring that a little bit. And life is short. We have one life to live. And I love the name of this do the dash thing. Like what are what are we waiting for? And I think I started to think, okay, I have some perspective because of the path I've been on, right? I we all have unique gifts and experiences, passions, pains, wounds, wishes. And if we will lean into those, that's really valuable for the world. I love one of my favorite quotes that we use in this change maker work is by Howard Thurman, who is a theologian. And he says, Don't ask what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive and go do that. Because what the world needs is more people who come alive. And I knew that I was not not only were young people and people I were around not fully alive, but I wasn't feeling fully alive either. And we we've got this one, we've got this one precious life. And if we can really pay attention to the unique things we all can bring into that space toward the flourishing of others on the planet, there's a lot of potential there. I will also say that about five years before this happened for me making a big transition. My husband had made a big transition out of his work into a new venture that was also kind of crazy. So he had done that, I had supported him, now he was supporting me and doing it. So we had been in spaces of deciding to take some risk and to just hold that and not be certain about things and live in that. It's an uncomfortable place, right? It's an unknown, it's new, it's change, there's risk involved. And so part of what enabled me to take a step was knowing that I was gonna be okay and we were gonna be okay. I mean, we certainly, you know, there is there is privilege in my journey, and I recognize that. But also part of it was saying, I can try something, and then I don't have to be stuck there, right? This is not a one and done thing. This is a this is an experiment, and if we can hold things a little loosely as we go, that's freeing. It was very freeing for me.

Sheela 12:21

How your values and strengths they come together, your faith and your zeal, the fire in your heart. Beautifully said, thank you for sharing. Is there a particular request that you would like to make for our listeners today for the organization?

Kim 12:38

That's very gracious of you. I think my only request is well, my first request is if you want to be a change maker, go be one. You don't need my organization to do that. People like Sheila were on the path and we connected briefly to help continue that path going forward. So that is amazing. If people want to visit our website, thechangemakerinitiative.org, they can find out more about what we do. We primarily are working with faith communities, but we also have worked with nonprofits and young adult activists and all kinds of things. So people can sign up for our newsletter and find out about events and reach out if there are ideas or ways that we can support. We would love to come alongside and be part of anyone's endeavors in change making.

Sheela 13:28

Wonderful. Thank you. Is there an insight or an encouragement you would like to leave with the listeners who are sensing that are named something are looking for the next thing, next chapter, or finding their dash?

Kim 13:44

Yeah, I have a few things that I would share here. And some of that's based on my own journey, and a lot of it is also based on walking alongside others who are doing this too, and doing change making and making pivots in their lives. Or and let me just say as a little caveat, like those can be small pivots. They don't have to all be big pivots. You do not have to quit your job like I did to be a change maker and do the dash thing. There are many ways we can do it in the course of our own daily lives, right where we are, and that's sort of the whole point. Where in your neighborhood, where in your workplace, where in your volunteer spaces, where do you see something that you wish was different? And how can your uniqueness contribute to that? So that's my caveat. Doesn't have to be huge. But what I see as some commonalities in folks doing this, doing this type of thing is the first thing is really to do some reflection and to notice. Like I had to notice, I was feeling some restlessness inside me and some dissatisfaction. And I had to sit with that and not dismiss it and not just rush through life pretending it's not there and burying it. I also did some reflecting, and a lot of our change makers do this, reflect on their life. What events have been formative in your life, what things have shaped you, what things have meant a lot to you, you know, whether it was an amazing celebration and an accomplishment or a big period of grief or loss or pain. Look at look back at your life and spend time sitting with that, and you'll see themes emerge. You'll see things that are just true to your core nature and who you are and who you were made to be. And I saw that in my life, and a lot of change makers see that, and that's how you can bring those things together. Um, so if you're sensing something, spend some time just reflecting back because it may connect the dots for you. The second thing I would say is you gotta talk to other people, you got to bring other people into this. If you're having a sense or a longing or an unsettledness or a dream or a desire, you can't go alone in this work in this direction. We do see a lot of folks trying to do change maker, and I would say across the board, the times when it ends up not going as far forward as the person or the people you know would like, it's because they're trying to go alone. They don't bring in thought partners or supports. I mean, I talked about all the people that helped support me when I was making this change, and to do this work now, I have to have a lot of other people. We've got this sort of cultural sense of rugged individualism and we can accomplish everything and be independent and be strong and all that. And you have to put that aside in in this type of work, in this type of endeavor, because you can't do it alone, right? The the African proverb: if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. So find people who believe in you and or believe in what you're trying to do and invite them along. That's my second piece of wisdom. My third piece of wisdom is this whole thing is one step at a time. One step at a time. You're not gonna have the whole thing figured out. You don't have to have the whole thing figured out when you start. You just have to start. I had no idea when I left medicine that I would be where I am today, running a nonprofit with significant grant funding from a national foundation. I had no idea. That wasn't, I didn't plan that. I just knew I was gonna take the next faithful step that seemed like the thing to do at the time. And we talk about this all the time in Changemaker. You you do what makes sense now, and you then you take the next step that opens up after that. It's really like we have this image in our office of a staircase going up these steps, and it's dark, and all you can see are the first two steps, and you can't see the rest. And that is really what I think this journey is like. And you don't have to have it all planned out. You've got people with you, you've got some dreams. Take one step, try one little thing, and then do the next thing, and then do the next thing. Don't get overwhelmed with there's too much I want to change, or there's so many big problems in the world. No, we're little corner, one little step. So those are my thoughts of what I've experienced and what I've seen in change making.

Sheela 18:39

Thank you, Kim. And once again, thank you for coming to DT_T Podcast. Thank you.

Kim 18:47

This was great. Delighted to have been here, and you know, you're part of what happens when people do this. This this whole endeavor is we want to share stories and inspire others to do it. So I want to thank you for for living into who you are and the impact you can make and doing it. Yay! Keep going.

Sheela 19:10

Thank you. Yes, Changemaker Initiative started it all for me. And I found my call on purpose. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Kim. Do the dash thing. If you would like us to celebrate your unique gift or maybe even feature you in a future episode, please subscribe to the Do the Dash Thing podcast and share your dash with us. Just answer these three simple questions. What is the gift that brings you happiness? When did you first recognize it in yourself? How are you sharing that gift with others today? That's my whole selection process. I simply want to hear how you're using your gift or how you are doing your dash thing. Thank you friends. See you next Tuesday. Yes, I always say, look within yourself and recognize the unique gifts that are in you. Then fill in the dash, your dash, in the community and the world around you. Sharing your gift brings happiness to you and helps build a better world. Tune in next Tuesday for another episode of the Do the Dash Thing Podcast. Thank you for listening and don't forget to subscribe.