The Ignite Institute : CHANGE HAPPENS NOW!

On this episode we drop in with Ashley Sikorski, founder, CEO, and head coach at Sway leadership. Sway serves leaders and their teams in developing emotional health and intelligence to create a culture of humanity in their organizations and through their work. In this conversation, we talk about the power of listening, the power of tending to our inner person as leaders, and why it's importan...

On this episode we sit down with Liz Lin, the director and co-founder of PAAC and a senior fellow at Newbigin House of Studies in San Francisco. She's also a writer and educator on the topics of race and culture with a PhD in clinical psychology.  With so much happening in this moment, and the rise in reporting of anti-asian hate and discrimination, this is an important conversation about wha...

On this episode, our Executive Director, Byron Chung, sits down for a deep conversation with TC Carrier, a heart-centered leader, author, entrepreneur, and spiritual teacher who lectures and carries out workshops globally. Founder of House of Sacred Harmony, offering metaphysical products, art made to raise consciousness, and enlightenment to be used in conjunction with his magical teachings and w...

In this episode we sit down with Kriselle Mendoza, a writer and entrepreneur with a passion for sharing stories, connecting people, and empowering those from marginalized communities to go for their passions.  Founder of Empowered in Color,  a movement and podcast dedicated to helping people of color thrive in both business and in life, Kriselle's passions are rooted in growing up in a primar...

On this episode our President, Rev. Dr. David Vásquez-Levy Levy, sits down with Rev. John Vaughn, who currently serves as the Executive Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. Previously, Rev. Vaughn served as the Executive Vice President at Auburn Theological Seminary, a national leadership development and research institute that equips leaders of faith and moral coura...

In this episode we drop in with Victoria Rosales, holistic health coach, retreat leader, and community organizer. Founder of SHARED, a popup retreat and workshop space that exists to cultivate and support a conscious and wakeful community, her contemplative approach embraces ancient wisdom traditions and modern psychology to invite individuals into a life of wholeness. She's also a consultant...

In this episode, we sit down with Monica Rae Cortez, first generation Filipina American, certified yoga teacher in the Bay Area, Mindfulness Teacher for Elementary Education, and founding member of the Kapwa Yoga Circle, a collective that makes yoga and holistic healing more accessible to the Filipinx community. With thoughtful intention, Monica creates and holds safe spaces to foster community an...

In our Season 2 Intro Episode, we sit down with Ignite Executive Director, Byron Chung, Rev. Aizaiah Yong, and Jonathon Murillo to share our hopes for this new season and talk about the Wisdom-Based Leadership framework of courageous collaboration, contemplative care, and creative communication. They explore what means to enact social transformation, together as a collective, and question what we...

Join our very own Aizaiah Yong and Jonathon Murillo, in a Season One recap of key insights gleaned from the business, nonprofit, education and tech space leaders we've featured, to talk about issues of social transformation. You'll hear highlights and practices from those, outside of explicitly religious or spiritual spaces, doing very spiritual work. We hope you've been inspired by...

On this episode, we sit down with Jeremiah Chan, an accomplished leader in the tech, government, and social justice spaces. Head of Patents at Facebook, he sits on the US Patent and Trademark Office Advisory Committee and is Chairman of the Board for the Bay Area Anti-Trafficking Coalition ( https://baatc.org/ ), a nonprofit organization that combats human trafficking in the San Francisco Bay Area...

On this episode, we have an enlightening conversation with Debbie Alvarez Rodriguez, a phenomenal leader, public speaker, champion for social impact, philanthropic innovator, and former Goodwill Industries CEO, who is deeply committed to advancing racial and economic equity and inclusion. She talks with us about the fundamentals of doing anti racism work, and more about what she calls racial equit...

On this episode we sit down with Rev. David Vásquez-Levy, a truly inspiring higher education and immigration leader and President of Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California, a progressive, multi denominational seminary and center for social justice. He is a committed pastor, a sought after speaker, and leads at the intersection of faith, higher education, and social change. He regularly...

On this episode, we sit down with Roger Heuser, an amazing leader, Professor of Leadership Studies at Vanguard University, and cancer survivor. He has a heartfelt conversation with us about gifts that exist, for emerging and established leaders, when they embrace spirituality, and invites us all to see spirituality as a journey inward to reframe the journey outward. He talks about why, in this tim...

On this episode, we drop in conversation with Joanne Rodriguez, Executive Director of the Hispanic Theological Initiative, and phenomenal woman who leads with a passion to amplify and promote the educational and theological formation of Latinx students across the United States. Here she talks with us about "en conjunto" partnerships are why they are so important to do impactful transform...

On this episode, we are joined by the fabulous Dr. Joyce Del Rosario, an assistant Professor on the practice of ministry at Pacific School of Religion, and a second Generation Filipino American whose current research is with an affectionately named group of Filipino American religious scholars called the "Theo Adobo Collective".  She’s run programs in various cultural and economic commun...

On this episode, we have an insightful conversation with Neil Goldberg, designer, entrepreneur, educator and author with a passion for seeing human centered design applied with artisanal care to every kind of artifact of the human imagination. He's served as design researcher at furniture maker Herman Miller, and brought the people centered innovation process he practiced there to Silicon Val...

On this episode, our special guest, Hap Klopp sits down with us to share some gems from his life as an adventurer, executive, academic, author and force behind the brand that is The North Face, where he served as President and CEO for over 20 years. He answers the big question of how this current moment (pandemic, poverty, and protest) demands us to shift our approaches to leadership and the beaut...

On this episode, we sit down with Keith Hall, Chief Diversity Officer at Azusa Pacific University , to talk about how he utilizes strengths-based leadership to lead teams based on where people are strongest and compliment each other. The heart of strengths based leadership is seeing others’ strengths as assets and unique—affirming them. 3 strands in strengths philosophy:  Self awareness Others awa...

On this episode, we drop in with Vivian Mabuni, national speaker, writer, wife, mom, Christian, and cancer survivor, whose different worlds influence who she is and how she leads in big ways. She shares her journey in coming to terms with her Asian American identity and applying her cultural background to how she leads, as well as being cognizant of how others from different backgrounds may lead....

On this episode, we are joined by Cliff Berrien, an amazing heart centered leader with over 40 years of experience as a professional drummer and percussionist, DJ and music educator. His passion is studying cultural expressions of collective joy and sharing that with the world to teach cultural dexterity and contemplative spirituality. He does so most often as a member of the Program Design Team a...