The PlayFull Podcast with Kristine Michie: Bringing Fun to the Serious Work of Changing the World

Google does everything big. So it’s no surprise they chose a guy with a big resume, a big agenda and most of all, a big heart to run a huge initiative in their most consequential market!  Meet Hector Mujica, Head of Economic Opportunity for the Americas for Google.org.  As he leads Google’s philanthropic efforts to create a just economy in Canada, the US, and the 33 countries of Central...

Welcome to the PLAYFULL Podcast!   White House advisor, MacArthur Fellow, author, and … avid card player.  On this week’s episode, you’ll meet the wonderful and accoladed Cecilia Munoz, who served POTUS #44, Barack Obama, for all eight years of his Presidency. You’ll hear tales of a career that, before and after her time in the West Wing, was complex, layered, impressive – and always foc...

In this final episode of our inaugural season, The PlayFull Podcast gives host Kristine Michie a chance to reflect on her own impact origin story and the dual mantras that fuel her life – and inspired the pod itself.  Learning from her grandfather that “if you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right,” and from her grandmother that “it’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness,”...

PlayFull host Kristine Michie uses a short three-part episode to unpack the secrets of good strategic planning, bravely suggesting that most plans end up marooned on a shelf for good reason.  They’re usually flawed from the start, trying to do too much and unclear about their destination.  Using evocative metaphors ranging from nautical to athletic to childlike, Kristine offers fresh thi...

Welcome to the PLAYFULL Podcast! Today we have a truly inspirational guest, Kathyann Powell, who was living a glamourous life in the dazzling world of high fashion in New York City until four years ago. That’s when, one morning, she awoke with a start and knew this was no longer enough. And this was no vague sense of wanting “to do something more meaningful.” It was dramatic, heroic, and specific....

Adding some practical tools to the issue exploration and whimsical anecdotes you’ve come to expect from The PlayFull Podcast, this episode describes activities you can use with groups of changemakers to grow camaraderie, community, and inspiration.  In its work with movement builders nationwide, ImpactFull (PlayFull’s sister company) uses creative, hands-on engagement to forge deeper connecti...

Decades ago, when Alden Stoner arrived home from a grade-school field trip to the Chesapeake Bay with a declaration to her parents that they needed to start recycling they were supportive but surprised. Activism around the environment was far from mainstream at the time, but they said they’d follow along if she took the lead. And she did. And she still does. As CEO of Nature Sacred, the nonprofit...

Punctuated by a cardiac arrest at age 35 and a “mini” stroke just months ago, my journey to share strategies of wellness, healing, and play is personal indeed. Having “checked all the boxes” (I don’t smoke or drink;  I eat right and exercise) but still confronting serious health crises, I believe I have arrived at the final frontier – addressing the pace of my life. This episode delves into m...

Coming to you again from the Dominican Republic, this episode brings you two women working in Sub-Saharan Africa, one bringing water to people in South Sudan and the other growing beauty and opportunity through fashion in Burundi. Lynn Malooly, who hails from Upstate New York, had her world turned upside down when she wandered into her local library years ago to hear one of the infamous “lost boys...

When hundreds of changemakers from dozens of countries converge on an all-inclusive resort to talk about systemic poverty, play and problem-solving are both on the agenda. Join us as we travel to the Dominican Republic to meet Charlie Grosso and Luis Daniel Ramirez Alfonso, activists working, respectively, with youth in Syria and Costa Rica. Charlie delivers education and life-skills training to k...

In this episode, our guest Topher Wilkins, the CEO of Opportunity Collaboration, shares his thought-provoking quote 'We're going to have to get a little weird if we're going to solve some of these big problems.' We launch into a discussion about innovation and creative thinking that can arise from play, especially when done in groups. He shares his insights on how trust is built through new ways,...

If you’ve ever enjoyed a tamale, churro, or taco from a street vendor in LA – and ever want to again – you’ve got the guest from this episode to thank. Which is saying something. For more than 100 years, LA’s best cuisine has been a target of police, regulators, and lawmakers who could not square the desire to apply reasonable health and safety standards to the wildly popular and insanely deliciou...

Orange boots and gumbo vie with activism in capital markets when the PlayFull Podcast welcomes its inaugural guest, PayPal’s Lisha Bell. On the episode, you’ll hear how a cartwheel turned Lisha’s personal and professional lives upside down during the Black Lives Matter summer of 2020, and ultimately led to a $100M corporate commitment from PayPal to entrepreneurs of color – that Lisha now oversees...

The world today seems plagued with insurmountable problems. And while there are tons of people working to solve them, and many more who want to, the newbies don’t know where to start, and the old-timers are getting burnt out. Enter the PlayFull Podcast , a fun and inspiring audio romp that dives into the issues of our times with folks on the frontlines of making change. And we do so with a twist....