Good People with Kelsey Timmerman

Americans associate a piece of chocolate cake with guilt. The French associate it with joy. American culture has a broken relationship with food, how we talk about food, diet culture, weight, and health. Kelsey and Jay are joined by Claire Moorman (Jay's daughter!) to help us sort it all out. Claire is a registered dietician who helps people have a healthy relationship with food.

Giving shouldn't be transactional, it should be transformational. Kelly Shrock, president of the Community Foundation of Muncie & Delaware County, joins Kelsey and Jay to share info on community foundations and Donor Advised Funds. Does Jay hoard his money at Gringot's? Does Kelsey know anything about the tax code? Why is 1 out of every 9 community foundations located in Indiana? Kelly brings the answers for all of our questions.

Pam Mandel left suburbia for a lifetime of travel when she was only 17. She writes about her early travel days in her new memoir THE SAME RIVER TWICE. Pam joined Kelsey and Jay to chat about hitchhiking, travel, questioning intentions while doing good, the time she went to the airport to help a refugee, founding a nonprofit, and, of course, jamming in a ukelele rock band.

Seren Fryatt didn't want to tape ankles the rest of her life. She quit her job to volunteer internationally with Mercy Ships. In Liberia she was recruited to play professional soccer. She saw what the sport meant to the women on her team and its potential to be a force of positive change. Eventually she founded L.A.C.E.S., an NGO that works to create a sustainable, replicable model of community development using sports as a tool to reach at-risk youth and empower their local communities.

Eric Henry’s T-shirt business and North Carolina community were turned upside down by NAFTA. Ever since, he’s focused on the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit. Eric is a champion for his community, cooperatives, chickens, electric cars, local economies, farmers, and now he’s seeking to represent all of these interests in the North Carolina House of Representatives.

In the summer of 2019, a violinist stood up at a city council meeting in Muncie, Indiana, and expressed concern over a factory that was coming to town. A local reporter wrote a story about the meeting. That story was passed around to concerned citizens who started asking questions. A few weeks later more than 1,000 people showed up at the courthouse protesting the Waelz Sustainable Products factory. A factory that would likely be the #1 polluter of airborne Mercury in the nation. Ultimately the billion-dollar corporation left town.

In the summer of 2019, a violinist stood up at a city council meeting in Muncie, Indiana, and expressed concern over a factory that was coming to town. A local reporter wrote a story about the meeting. That story was passed around to concerned citizens who started asking questions. A few weeks later more than 1,000 people showed up at the courthouse protesting the Waelz Sustainable Products factory. A factory that would likely be the #1 polluter of airborne Mercury in the nation. Ultimately the billion-dollar corporation left town. Kelsey talks with Josh Arthur, a local pastor, and Bryan Preston, a GIS technician, who were both in early on the action. This is a two-part episode. On this episode we discuss the build up to the 1,000-person protest and what happened at the city council meeting . . . it was like something out of a movie.

What does an economy of living within the means of our planet look like? Welp, according to economist Kate Raworth it looks like a doghnut. Kelsey and Jay are joined by John Motlotch and Scott Truex of the Sustainable Communities Institute for a discussion on Raworth’s TED Talk.

For kids, “The System” doesn't work in the best of times. And during a time of global pandemic, there are even fewer supports. Psychologist Janay Sander joins Kelsey and Jay to discuss how best to support kids facing traumatic circumstances.

Kohl Crecelius believes that jobs matter almost more than anything. He has helped lead the modern movement integrating social good and business, as he founded Krochet Kids and KNOWN SUPPLY. Kohl joins Kelsey and Jay to discuss Fair Trade, B-Corps, and how his journey started with crocheting.

Victoria Milko has reported from health clinics in rural Bangladesh, protests in the streets of Myanmar, and refugee camps in Thailand. She joins Kelsey & Jay from her apartment in Jakarta to discuss the global impact of COVID-19, the importance of journalism in today's society, and her path to becoming a Southeast Asia-based science reporter for The Associated Press.

Live from Patagonia! Kelsey tells Jay about his experiences visiting with the Arhuaco, an indigenous group in Colombia. This is Kelsey's first update from the road while researching his new book about regenerative agriculture.

Drop a quarter into a turnstile and you can cross from the U.S. into Mexico. Easy. The reverse journey is much more difficult, especially for immigrants searching for a better life. Scott Truex, who has spent his career learning and teaching about sustainability and community development, talks to Kelsey and Jay about his recent visit to the Mexican border and the infamous wall.

To be good you have to feel small. Kelsey and Jay discuss transcendent moments and what astronauts, meditators, and monks can teach us.

Give a man a fish? Teach him to fish? But what if he doesn’t want to fish? What if he wants to open a store, or sing, or be mechanic, or a pilot? Joe Huston, The CFO of GiveDirectly, joins Jay and Kelsey to discuss giving money to the poor and the positive ripple effects it makes in a community. Show notes at: whereamiwearing.com/GiveDirectly

Kelsey and Jay discuss corporate social responsibility and launch their 2020 presidential bid based on a platform of no taxes but forced giving. #TimmermanMormon2020

Happy Halloween! Not a full episode here, but a snack-sized story of the time I spent a night alone in Castle Dracula in Romania.

Roger Grein wouldn't be alive if not for the gifts of others. Against many odds, Roger has paid it forward. As the founder of Magnified Giving, Roger now encourages high school students to give.

Olivia Alaso, while growing up in Uganda, was told "white is right." White people visited her hometown and brought candy and "solutions." But then she went to college and became a social worker and begin to question the structures that elevated white people and suppressed Ugandans. She's a founder of the #NoWhiteSaviors Instagram account and organization. She joins Kelsey and Jay to share her experiences and views.

Kelsey and Jay discuss Kiva's microlending model and Kelsey's experiences in Bangladesh and Cambodia.

Rozy Mbone, a former gang leader, promotes peace in her community in Nairobi, Kenya. Kelsey shares his recording interviewing Rozy.

Kelsey and Jay chat about their brushes with activism, and why Kelsey is wearing his Boy Scout uniform for the first time in 22 years.

Kelsey Nielsen is a founder of No White Saviors. This is part 2 of our interview. She joins Kelsey and Jay on a conversation on responsible photography and tourism, collaborating with locals, exploring our own privilege, the hypocrisy of our existence, travel and white privilege, and the influence of social media on "white saviorism."

Kelsey Nielsen first traveled to Uganda to "love on babies" at an orphanage as a self-described "White Savior." Then she started to ask questions about privilege and power and how best to help people. She is one of the founders of "No White Saviors" an Instagram account that has turned into a movement.

Plastic straws! Recycling! Composting! Wishcycling! Climate Change! Fast Fashion! Products tested on animals! Micro-plastics! Ashlee Piper examines all of these topics and more in her book on sustainable living "Give a Sh*t: Do Good. Live Better. Save the Planet."

Nick Gross is an entrepreneur and philanthropist. He signed with a major recording label in his teens, was on a hit MTV show, and has worked with Ariana Grande. Nick chatted with Kelsey about helping students find their way, where drive comes from, and how social media inhibits self-discovery.

As a teenager in the 90s, Liz Boltz Ranfeld, trekked up mountains in Nepal carrying a leather bound Bible, intent on planting a church and winning souls. She looks back on the experience with regret, shame, and anger. Liz joins Kelsey and Jay to discuss mission trips, responsible travel, racism, and even the controversial work of Mother Teresa.

Heidi Ganahl has faced extraordinary adversity in her life. But her entrepreneurial spirit and leadership skills helped her focus on others allowing her to build a $100 million brand, found organizations that help empower women and entrepreneurs, run for office, and a whole lot more.

Laura and Bill Grindle, co-founders of See Kids Dream, empower kids to give back to their own communities, and in the process, teach us all how to be better givers.

Julie Austin had it all--big job, big salary, big house--and then she left it all behind to work as a social worker. Kelsey and Jay talk to Julie about her journey, happiness, and purpose.

Joshua Berman has volunteered with the Peace Corps, fought wild fires, gone on a 1+ year-long honeymoon, and written guidebooks. He's a dad, a teacher, columnist for the Denver Post, and he's good people.

On the 6th anniversary of the Rana Plaza factory disaster that killed 1,134 Bangladeshi garment works and injured thousands more, Kelsey shares his experiences in Bangladesh. This episode also features Christopher Cox of the Human Thread Campaign who, along with Kelsey, was a featured speaker at DePaul University's Fair Trade fashion show.

If you met the Colombian farmers who grew your Starbucks coffee, would you still drink it? Kelsey and Jay talk about Kelsey's time in Colombia with farmers.

Ben Conard's class assignment became a business - Five North chocolate. Ben shares his journey from farmer's market to national shelves and how and why Five North became the first to print the LGBTQ-owned label on its packaging.

Kelsey and Jay share a $40 beer and talk about that time Kelsey was guilted into buying a pair of $400 jeans. This conversation serves as an introduction to the concepts of Effective Altruism.

Author Kelsey Timmerman introduces the Good People podcast. Talks with his friend and cohost Jay Moorman. Interviews Justin Narducci of Lifewater international to discuss the global water and sanitation crisis.