On a Mission

Welcome back for Season 4! Today I'm talking with Ellie Hildago. She's on staff with Discerning Deacons, a recent effort to promote dialogue around the issue of reinstating women deacons in the Catholic Church. We talk about this recent movement to recover the true memory of women in early Christianity - shout out to St. Phoebe- and about Ellie's personal journey to doing this work. You'll love hearing how she started out in Catholic journalism, the inside scoop on Pope Francis' commissions on women deacons, and why Ellie says ordination of women deacons matters. Links we chatted about in the episode:https://discerningdeacons.org/New St. Phoebe hymnsbuymeacoffee.com/molleen molleendupreedominguez.com

My guest today is Kerry Robinson. She is an international leader in the field of excellence in Church leadership. She has spent the last 15 years traveling the world, bringing together outstanding leaders in the business and nonprofit worlds with the ordained leaders of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church to achieve excellence in leadership and management. We talk about what happens when Catholic women run into obstacles in offering their gifts to the Church, what makes an excellent Catholic parish, and what happens in her day job when best leadership practices run up against Church teaching. Listen in. Find all links at www.molleendupreedominguez.com/podcast

Kate Carter has lived a life dedicated to social justice. She became a Jesuit Volunteer in 1978, serving in Montana. She went on to work for JVC and became deeply involved in Central America solidarity work. She was a key member of a group that was bringing news of the oppression of the poor in Central America to faith communities in the U.S. during the tumultuous 1980s and 90s. We talked about what she’s learned from observing democratic elections in Central America, how those learnings apply here in the U.S., Catholic connections across borders, and where she discovered her passion for hospitality and community. Listen in.

**Trigger warning: we talk about sexual violence in this episode; listen with caution.** Emily Win is a writer and podcaster who is navigating so many intersections. She’s a queer person, a person of faith, and a person of color. And now she’s a Californian too! I came to know about her through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. It’s a volunteer program in the United States and a few other countries where folks learn how to live lives devoted to community, simple living, spirituality, and social justice. Anyway, she recently gave a presentation for JV alumni entitled "What do the Mass and queer poetry have to do with one another?" And I was like - I need to get this person on the podcast. She has incredible insights on the transformation of a primarily male image of God to that of a female image of God. You’ll love hearing about how coming out helped her feel closer to God, what she learned during her Jesuit Volunteer year, and see if you resonate with what she has observed about California spirituality. Listen in. Find more Emily at www.emilyrosewin.com Find detailed show notes at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Well, I did something different this week. See, I reached out to my old friend, Maureen Dunn Fetscher, to talk about her business, Mata Traders. We were best pals in middle school and then went separate ways for a long time. We’ve been in very loose touch, but we circle back about every 10 years… and this is our 10-year circle back. Maureen went on to become this impressive fair trade entrepreneur. She established her company, Mata Traders, almost 14 years ago in Chicago. The company has partnerships with women’s cooperatives in India and Nepal and sells their clothing and jewelry here in the U.S. It’s such a cool story. She spent her 20s and 30s building this business, which is thriving and doing so much good in the world. Simultaneously, she has evolved now into the role of managing partner and has hired a new managing director to run the day-to-day operations of the business. So, hers is actually a story of what happens after you’ve worked your tail off in your 20s and 30s and are ready to evolve. Also, p.s. she now has three kids - an 8 year old and twin 15-month-olds. And Maureen reached back to me to suggest that we have a different kind of podcast - instead of me just interviewing her, she wanted to record our conversation. That is, a back-and-forth of me asking her questions but also her asking *me* questions. So that’s what we did. What you’re about to hear is really an unscripted conversation between two women who were middle school friends about 30 years ago catching up on work, motherhood, and spirituality. I hope you enjoy listening! Find complete show notes at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Abby Rampone is the Communication and Activities Coordinator for Call to Action USA. It’s an organization dedicated to reform in the Roman Catholic Church. She grew up in a Catholic family in Vermont, but really became committed to her faith while in college, so much so that she felt called to attend seminary. She just finished her Master of Divinity degree in 2020, and now she’s committed to full time work of change in the Catholic Church. They want to see full inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals in the Catholic Church, ordination justice for all genders, and anti-racist actions from the top down in Catholic communities. We talked about her involvement with Dorothy Day’s community, Mary House, in New York City, the Re/Generation Project to activate young people in the work of Call to Action, and why she says activists should not forget about charity when working for change. Listen in. CTA's Re/Generation program: https://www.cta-usa.org/news/regen21 Find full show notes at www.molleendupreedominguez.com/podcast

Today we’re talking to Neha Sampat. She is the Chief Executive Officer , founder, coach, and consultant at GenLead|BelongLab, where she focuses on building belonging and true inclusion. She is an expert on Imposter Syndrome and internalized bias, generational diversity, and BELONGING. “Cool, Molleen. How do you know her?” The short answer is that we were introduced by a neighbor - we live in the same city… now. And it turns out - we lived in the same city 30 years ago when we were both growing up in Naperville, a large suburb of Chicago. We didn’t know each other then, but connecting about our “Naperville experiences” is an illustration of the impact of belonging. Spoiler alert: her experience as a brown-skinned child of recent immigrants from India and *my* experience as a white-skinned Irish-looking girl with two U.S.-born parents were a LOT different. It’s all about belonging and not-belonging - a subject upon which Neha is now a professional expert. She is a belonging strategist and offers her skills to companies about how to foster cultures of belonging in their workplaces AND she works with individuals to coach them in finding belonging at work, at home, and - most importantly, she says - within themselves. You are going to love her practical advice for unearthing your own power, her encouragement to go deep with your emotional courage, and how to foster communities of inclusion wherever you find yourself. Listen in. Find complete show notes at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Today we are talking with Gabrielle Blair. You might know her from blogging and social media as Design Mom. She is a powerhouse in the world of blogging and design. She has six (!) children and currently lives in Normandy, France where she’s renovating a couple of properties, blogging many times a week, and basically killing it as an entrepreneur. In our conversation, we talk about Mormonism 101, her personal spirituality, and her take on divisive political issues. Listen along as Gabrielle takes us on a basic sex ed class emphasizing how to prevent unwanted pregnancies (and she’s the mother of 6 - we best listen). We go behind the scenes of the writing and publication of her pieces about gun violence, dealing with Trump supporters, plus - don’t miss why she says men have zero interest in lowering the number of abortions in the United States. Trigger warning: we talk about suicide within the LGBTQ+ community and gun violence in the U.S. and also the impact of guns in suicide Also - a warning - this podcast talks about adult topics like abortion and gun violence. Parents, I encourage you to exercise caution when deciding whether to listen within earshot of the young ones. Learn more about Mormonism Read about the Mormon Patriarchal Blessing My Twitter Thread on abortion Twitter thread on guns not being the answer to protecting your family Defund the police Hey Trump Supporters: I Don’t Make Content For You Forgiveness post  What Are Your Thoughts on a Female God?   Follow Gabrielle @designmom on Instagram and Twitter.     Find complete show notes at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Jamie L. Manson wrote the column entitled Grace on the Margins for the paper for 12 years. She recently left that post to become the President of Catholics for Choice. We talk about her journey as an out-lesbian Catholic journalist. We talk about reproductive health as a human right. We talk about her deep sacramental spirituality. We talk about Pope Francis...who, by the way… does he read Jamie’s columns? Take a listen and see what you think. Find notes and links about this episode at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Zinzy Nev Geene is a Dutch queer Catholic activist and facilitator. She lives in Amsterdam where she has a day job as a digital designer and, on the side, she fosters safe places for queer people to “just be.” She calls it being a queer facilitator. She is on the board of the emerging organization Vine and Fig co, a online space for queer Catholics to find support along their spiritual journeys. We talk about what ‘queer’ means. We talk about a lot of Catholic stuff, including novenas and uncomfortable pews. You don’t want to miss what she observes about Christianity on Pinterest and the authentic reality of Christianity in our lived human experiences. * trigger warning: there is some talk in this episode about violence done to queer people in the world. Be sure to check out the show notes for this episode at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Wondering what it would be like to have a woman deacon at your Catholic parish? One who has a day job as a medical doctor? Let’s daydream together while we listen to Lydia Tinajero Deck. This is On a Mission - Episode 16! Find links to all the cool things Lydia mentions at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Today is Casey Stanton Day! I first heard about Casey through the Catholic Women Preach movement. Her homily knocked me off my feet. It’s so good. She’s a community organizer, a pastoral minister, and a superb preacher. It was such a blast to talk with her. Be sure to check out the show notes for this episode at molleendupreedominguez.com where you can hear Casey preach and learn more about the journey toward women's ordination in the Catholic Church.

Today I’m talking with Anna Mahony. She is an activist with Moms Demand Action and a mother of two. In our conversation we talk about the organization, which she calls just “Moms” and how setting gun violence activism as a priority in her life has focused her public advocacy. We also talk about setting boundaries and being a leader in your own life. She has learned a lot about this. We talk about being a person of service and how her Catholic upbringing imbued a responsibility to give out of her own abundance. Listen in. Find more details about the show at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Today I’m talking with Katie Lacz. She works for Women’s Ordination Conference, the United States branch of a worldwide movement to urge the Roman Catholic Church to reform and welcome women into ordained ministry. Find more details at www.molleendupreedominguez.com

Did you ever come into prayer with so much heaviness, grief, or misery that you just couldn’t put it into words? You might just need Fran Pratt. She’s my guest today. She’s known online at The Litanist. That is, she writes litanies. They’re beautiful articulations of emotion and truth, giving individuals and communities words to pray about hard stuff. They offer words when there are no words. So many more details and fun facts await at molleendupreedominguez.com where you can also sign up for my weekly email newsletter, which contains prayer tools, cool stuff to read, and links to other progressive, faith-based stuff around the internet.

Today I’m talking with Cameron Bellm. About a year ago, she started publishing her writing on Instagram- and, y’all, it blew up! She started publishing prayers during the Pandemic of 2020… they resonated… and they were shared and repurposed all over the world. She collected those pandemic prayers in an ebook. And now she’s writing a hardcover book. It’s about paying attention as a spiritual practice and being a contemplative in action. It will be out in hard copy in March 2022. She’s a writer, scholar, and mother who lives in the Seattle area. We talk about Russian literature, not needing to be God’s lawyer, and discerning what is ours to do. I think you’re going to love a sneak peek into the spirituality of such a sincere and thoughtful human being. Find the information about this podcast at https://molleendupreedominguez.home.blog/podcast/

Today I’m talking with Brian Stanley, an education nonprofit executive living in Oakland. He’s a Black Catholic man raising two Black boys, along with his amazing wife, Celeste. Our conversation covers the ways his faith influences his quarantine, why he thinks White people are waking up to racist policies in the U.S. NOW, and his work in the educational nonprofit world. Visit show notes at https://molleendupreedominguez.home.blog/2020/09/13/on-a-mission-season-two-is-back/

Gene Yang is a Bay Area native, author, and teacher. While teaching computer science at the Catholic high school where I now teach he also casually wrote an award-winning graphic novel, American Born Chinese. It was a finalist for the National Book Award in the category of young people’s literature. It did win many awards outright. Let me list them: the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award, the 2007 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New, the Publishers Weekly Comics Week Best Comic of the Year, the San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, the 2006/2007 Best Book Award from The Chinese American Librarians Association, and Amazon.com Best Graphic Novel/Comic of the Year. He also received the MacArthur fellowship in 2016.

Dr. Kellie McElhaney is the founding director of the Center for Equity, Gender, and Leadership at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. She started her career in banking, which she calls a heavily masculine industry, where women were compelled to exercise leadership in a masculine way. She is fighting the good fight in the corporate world to insist that yes - welcoming different skill sets, different personalities, different genders, and different ethnicities into the board room is not just a nice thing to do, but that it’s in fact good for the bottom line. She’s the author of a book called Just Good Business.

Did you ever inherit money? Did you wish you did? This podcast is the story of what my friend Rose Feerick did when she inherited a bunch of money after college graduation. How do we face and deal with our wealth when we call ourselves Christians? When you inherit a bunch of money - would you invest it for your progeny? Would you give it all away? Rose offers a third way - how Jesus! Now she’s the co-director of the organization, Wisdom and Money. She offers a way of participating with money that is grounded in meditative practice, open heartedness, and a deep understanding of God.

Today is a great for you, dear listener. Today I have the privilege of talking with Dr. Emily Reimer-Barry, associate professor of Theology and Religious Studies at University of San Diego. If you read my blog, you may recognize her name as someone who presented at Catholic Theological Society of America’s conference last summer - and received a standing ovation.

Today it’s Xouhoa Bowen. She is an activist, former PeaceCorps volunteer, and the founder and CEO of Community Impact Lab, a nonprofit organization in my neighborhood dedicated to taking action and to expanding opportunities for everyone, especially women and children. She’s a mom and talks about how becoming a mom made her more fierce in what she wants and expects. We got into it feminist-mom-wise, which I did not expect. She’s dynamic, energetic, and ambitious. I just love talking with her and being around her. Listen in!

On today’s episode we chat with Anne Symens-Bucher, co-visionary behind Oakland, California’s Canticle Farm, a Franciscan-inspired community of activists, families and other folks growing food, sharing with the neighborhood, and building community. Our conversation went in a bunch of different directions - we ended up talking about the Enneagram, being White women, as well as how to persist in activism decade after decade. Listen in.

Fumi Tosu and I went to school together at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. Since then, he has committed himself to following the spirit of God, which has glided him back across the globe to his home country of Japan to savor his cultural heritage, back to California to minister with people experiencing homelessness at the Catholic Worker house in San Jose - and now to Oregon as he supports his partner in her pursuits. You’ll hear about what he’s learned by living so close to people on the margins… how inappropriately both the Obama and Trump administrations have spent money on war… and what he now knows about the instinct to help people. Listen in.

If you don’t know Chase Tibbs, host of the Faith + Capital podcast, I’m so excited to introduce him to you. He’s a pastor’s kid from Indiana, raised in a conservative White evangelical community… but he started asking questions. “Is there only one Christian interpretation of sexuality?” “What about the Bible? Is there only one way to read that document?” and - most recently - “What about capitalism? Is this the best system for fostering the ‘beloved community’ about which Jesus spoke?” He’ll dive into those questions and more in today’s episode of On A Mission. Listen in.