Mission Forward with Carrie Fox

Dan Buettner is a National Geographic Fellow and multiple New York Times best-selling author and joins us this week to share his work researching and documenting Blue Zones around the world.  A Blue Zone is a geographically-defined and confirmed area of extreme longevity. Specifically, Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy, Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California, boast population...

To many people, narrative change is just another jargon term that gets tossed around in politics and philanthropy. To me, it’s a powerful tool to shift how we interpret and understand the world around us, with the goal of making the spaces between us smaller. This is week 48 of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights direct to...

Craig Newmark calls himself an “old-school nerd.” The way he frames his work is simple and modest: “doing what I can to support the people who fight to protect the values that America aspires to: fairness, opportunity, and respect.”  His work is, at its core, about connection. In fact, many of his efforts today in philanthropy stem from lessons clearly learned in his earlier outings. As founder of...

We can’t have it all.  We can’t expect that strong body without putting in the work, just like we can’t commit to a bold plan or a set of clear values and then decide to compromise them.  But how do you know,  clearly and definitively, who you are, and who you are not, at your core? This is week 47 of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communic...

Mitch Album is the author of Tuesdays with Morrie , which, if you have heard of none of his other books, you've likely heard of that one. His collected works have sold over 47 million copies and have been translated into 45 languages and if you've only read Morrie , you owe it to yourself to pick up his others. Check out Have a Little Faith or The Stranger in The Lifeboat to get started. This week...

This episode of Mission Forward is sponsored by Unit of Impact, a powerful new platform created for small businesses interested in measuring and sharing their social and environmental impact. Listen in for a brief interview with co-founder Polina Pinchevsky at the end of this week's show. For listeners of Mission Forward, visit https://unitofimpact.com and start a free trial with 20% off any annua...

If you’re a regular listener to this show, you know that our conversations run the gamut; from interpersonal communications to corporate communications, we’re interested in communications that change lives. Today on the show, we’re going even bigger.  Jeff Caporizzo is Senior Partner and Executive Creative Director at ICF Next , an agency dedicated to “Next-level participation.” That sounds like a...

In 2020, the video game world learned something special about Marvel’s newest Spider-Man character, Miles Morales. Turns out he’s pretty good at American Sign Language (ASL). Superfans already knew the character to be bilingual from the animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” But trilingual? This is week 39 of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that deliver...

There's a superhero origin story in all of us. We're convinced of it. But it's not the story you might think — learning how to fly, or figuring out how to lift cars over our heads. No, the real superhero story is the story we each carry in our hearts that reminds us of the first time we learned compassion, the first time we learned how to feel for another human being, and the first time we learned...

This November 17-19, 2022, thousands of people will gather for Facing Race: A National Conference, produced by Race Forward, to explore new and powerful ways to advance racial justice. It is, in a word, extraordinary in the way this conference offers advocates of all stripes to connect, to learn, and to love the work we all do, in our own ways, furthering the conversations of racial justice togeth...

Our words and our actions matter. This week, if you’re serious about what you say, make sure your actions reflect it. Otherwise, you may be the one apologizing. This is week 38 of the Finding The Words column, a series published every Wednesday that delivers a dose of communication insights direct to your inbox. If you like what you read, we hope you’ll subscribe to ensure you receive this each we...

As of this writing, 5,852 companies, representing 471,095 workers across 85 countries, carry the “ Certified B Corporation ” badge. Our firm, Mission Partners, is one of them. But broadcasting this label is more than just surface branding.  This week on the show, our Chief Operating Officer, Bridget Pooley, sits down with Carrie Fox to discuss purpose. Why does purpose matter? How does a business...

The stories we pass down need not limit the stories we are capable of writing for our future selves. Two little words have the power to change HOW we communicate and HOW we connect with and understand one another as a result. Those two words? This week we offer a lesson in what if . Thanks for listening. This is the 29th article in a year-long series called Finding the Words . If you liked this we...

This season, we’re looking closer at you how you can use communications as a tool for systems change and social justice. Our first guest, Mark Miller, along with his colleagues, has just written the book on the power of public health communications, Talking Health: A New Way to Communicate about Public Health . Carrie Fox sat down with Mark at an event hosted by the University of Nebraska Medical...

How do you define power in your brand’s social media? In this climate of mis- and disinformation, navigating a brand's path across the internet means facing difficult conversations head-on. How do you forge ahead, craft an image and perspective that is authentic to the culture of your team, and place it online in a way that aligns with your values? Our guest this week is Anthony Shop. Anthony is c...

Two little words have the power to change HOW we communicate, and HOW we connect with and understand one another as a result. Those two words? What if? Thanks for listening. This is the 32nd article in a year-long series called Finding the Words . If you liked this week's essay, we hope you'll forward it along. And a reminder that your family, friends, and colleagues can subscribe to Finding the W...

Our guest today is someone who is actively rethinking, rewriting, and redefining the status quo media landscape. Ashton Lattimore is Editor-in-Chief at Prism , an independent, nonprofit newsroom led by journalists of color, and as she says, “Prism was founded because mainstream media wasn’t reflecting enough of the truth—and it wasn’t bringing us closer to our vision of collective liberation and j...

Have you ever told yourself that you were going to do something — maybe launch a new initiative at work, make something of that hobby you’ve always loved, or take on a lofty personal goal — but found that something gets in the way of your progress? Thanks for listening. This is the 28th article in a year-long series called Finding the Words . If you liked this week's essay, we hope you'll forward...

According to this week's guest, "the word community has been co-opted to something that is a lie." While we might have a shared convention of community, when we use the word, our differences begin to rise to the surface. Our language is littered with words like this — family, culture, and yes, community — words that require us to stop, reflect, and ask: "when you use these words, to whom are you r...

Years ago, my dear friend and mentor Don Foley shared a story about Isaac Stern that I’ve never let go. The great violinist (1920-2001) was often asked why the music sounded so different when Isaac played it on his violin versus when the same song sheet was followed by others. “Anyone can play the notes,” he would tell students; “music is what goes on in between the notes.” Thanks for listening. T...

Linda Villarosa is a brilliant storyteller. In addition to her work as a journalist, author, editor, and educator, she's a New York Times Magazine contributing writer where she covers race, inequality and health. You may have come across her 2018 cover story for the magazine titled 'Why America's Black mothers and babies are in a life or death crisis,' which was nominated for a national magazine a...

Have you ever been given an assignment so daunting that it made you wonder, “How in the world will I ever do this?” Those responsible for communicating during the most uncertain times of COVID-19 surely know the feeling. Thanks for listening. This is the 16th article in a year-long series called Finding the Words. If you liked this week's essay, we hope you'll forward it along. And a reminder that...

Amira El-Gawly believes love is making a comeback at work. That's a pretty heady statement, and one you might be tempted to dismiss. What's love got to do with work? you might say. We're about engagement and KPIs and customer data you might say. Here's the thing: Amira El-Gawly co-founded her first company at 27 and across the arc of her myriad careers — journalist, marketer, designer, speechwrite...

Our words and our actions matter. The effect they can have on others is enormous. This week, a reminder to come at your conversations — with your employees, your colleagues, your children, your neighbors — with love. Thanks for listening. This is the 20th article in a year-long series called Finding the Words. If you liked this week's essay, we hope you'll forward it along. And a reminder that you...

Edgar Villanueva is a southerner. He’s a North Carolinian. He was raised in the church. He’s also a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and as such, was the only Native American in his K-12 education experience.  “When I got to the University of North Carolina, I was so hungry to connect with other native students. I began to understand there that there were things about my world view an...