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  • FROM THE VAULT: The Audacity to Build 988 - Kristen Christy on Suicide Prevention, Stigma, and National Change

    FROM THE VAULT: The Audacity to Build 988 - Kristen Christy on Suicide Prevention, Stigma, and National Change
    2026/09/21

    What does it take to turn private grief into national change?

    In this deeply human and unflinching conversation, I sit down with Kristen Christy — a national leader in suicide prevention, military spouse, and the originator of what became the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

    Kristen’s story is layered with both love and loss: a life-altering stroke as a teenager, the strength of community in military life, and the devastating reality of losing her husband to suicide. But the story doesn’t end there. She speaks candidly about what families live with in the aftermath — the ongoing weight, the unanswered questions, and the lifelong impact on children.

    Out of that lived experience came a radical question, asked in the quiet hours of the night:

    Why do we have a three-digit number for medical emergencies — but not for mental health crises?

    That question became a decade-long fight through stigma, bureaucracy, and relentless “no’s,” ultimately helping bring 988 to life nationwide in 2022.

    This episode is about audacity at a national scale — and the way one woman turned grief into action, persistence into policy, and heartbreak into hope. Kristen also shares her three-step definition of real resilience, why “No” means “Next Opportunity,” and why hope isn’t a feeling — it’s a practice we choose, again and again.

    Key Moments

    03:12 — A stroke at 15 — and the moment everything changed 07:48 — The night her husband died by suicide 20:53 — Living with uncertainty: her son’s disappearance 24:48 — A voicemail that reveals the generational impact of suicide 04:55 — The 3 a.m. question: why not a three-digit number for mental health? 08:27 — 988 goes live nationwide 12:13 — “No” means “Next Opportunity” 16:39 — The three steps of real resilience

    Resources & Support

    If you or someone you love is struggling, help is available.

    Call or text 988 (United States) to connect with trained crisis counselors 24/7. Free and confidential. Text and chat available.

    For LGBTQ+ youth and young adults, additional support is available through The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or thetrevorproject.org.

    Connect with Kristen Christy

    Website: https://www.kristenchristycares.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenchristy/

    Continue the Conversation

    The thinking continues beyond the mic. Explore essays, reflections, and extended conversations on Substack: https://substack.com/@robbinjorgensen

    Connect with Robbin Jorgensen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/

    Supporting Sponsor:

    As a woman navigating financial decisions — especially when the system wasn’t built with you in mind — having the right partner matters.

    For three decades, Godfrey Financial has intentionally centered women in financial decision-making — not as an afterthought, but as leaders.

    In a field where women are often expected to sit to the side, Godfrey Financial places women at the head of the table - creating space where women don’t just discuss confidence and agency, but experience it in practice.

    Learn more at: https://godfreyfinancial.com
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    52 分
  • FROM THE VAULT: Living Authentically in a World That Debates Your Existence with Gabrielle Claiborne

    FROM THE VAULT: Living Authentically in a World That Debates Your Existence with Gabrielle Claiborne
    2026/09/14

    Do we truly see one another — or do we reduce each other to labels?

    In this powerful conversation, Gabrielle Claiborne — author, TEDx speaker, leadership strategist, and advocate — shares what it means to live authentically as a trans woman in a world where identity is debated in headlines and policy rooms.

    This episode explores dignity, courage, visibility, and the cost of silence — and what becomes possible when we choose to see each other fully.

    Gabrielle speaks candidly about the quiet exhaustion of navigating systems that misunderstand you, the accumulated weight of small indignities, and the courage required to stay rooted in truth when your existence becomes political.

    She reflects on faith, family, leadership, and the responsibility each of us carries to move closer rather than further away from one another.

    This conversation is not about abstraction. It is about humanity.

    We talk about:

    • What it does to the spirit when your humanity is debated • The daily vigilance required to move through public spaces • The difference between symbolic allyship and real solidarity • The myths surrounding gender-affirming care • What bans and erasure communicate to entire communities • Why Gabrielle believes trans people model the hardest inner work humanity must embrace

    This is not a conversation meant to overwhelm. It is a conversation meant to humanize.

    Some of what you hear may land softly. Some may land hard. But at its core, this episode asks one central question:

    Are we willing to see each other as fully human?

    Key Moments

    7:48 — I am much more than trans

    10:59 — It’s like death by a thousand paper cuts

    22:24 — Your silence on matters that are personal to me will eventually become personal to you

    24:22 — Are you standing close enough to get hit by the same stones?

    40:54 — Trans people are the solution to humanity

    49:41 — Joy is a choice

    52:56 — You have to act on the truth of your heart

    Connect with Gabrielle Claiborne

    Website: https://www.transformationjourneysww.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielle-claiborne/ TEDx Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/gabrielle_claiborne_building_your_courage_muscles_jan_2020 Book — Embrace Your Truth: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735197408

    Continue the Conversation

    The thinking continues beyond the mic. Explore essays, reflections, and extended conversations on Substack:

    https://substack.com/@robbinjorgensen

    Connect with Robbin Jorgensen:

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/

    Supporting Sponsor: As a woman navigating financial decisions — especially when the system wasn’t built with you in mind — having the right partner matters.

    For three decades, Godfrey Financial has intentionally centered women in financial decision-making — not as an afterthought, but as leaders.

    In a field where women are often expected to sit to the side, Godfrey Financial places women at the head of the table - creating space where women don’t just discuss confidence and agency, but experience it in practice.

    Learn more at: https://godfreyfinancial.com
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    58 分
  • When Governments Come for the Universities: Mayda Hocevar on Venezuela, Academic Freedom, and the Erosion of Democracy

    When Governments Come for the Universities: Mayda Hocevar on Venezuela, Academic Freedom, and the Erosion of Democracy
    2026/09/07
    What happens when a government begins to see its universities not as places of learning, but as threats? Mayda Hocevar watched that transformation happen in Venezuela. She began her career as a professor of law and legal philosophy at the University of Los Andes, never imagining that one day she would find herself fighting to defend the institution that had shaped her life. But as Venezuela’s democracy slowly eroded, universities became targets. Funding disappeared. Autonomy was undermined. Students and professors were attacked. Independent thought itself became dangerous. In this conversation, Mayda takes us inside what that looked like as it was happening, including the warning signs that were easy to dismiss, the changes that gradually became normalized, and the moment she realized she could no longer simply remain a professor and look away. We also explore the larger questions her experience raises far beyond Venezuela. Why do authoritarian governments so often target universities? What happens to a society when political power begins determining what can be taught and what constitutes acceptable knowledge? And what responsibility do citizens have when democratic institutions they assumed were permanent begin to change? Mayda also reflects on growing government pressure on higher education in the United States, the January U.S. military operation that forcibly removed Nicolás Maduro, the limits and failures of international diplomacy, and the complicated road toward justice and democratic transition in Venezuela. This is not a story about a democracy disappearing overnight. It is a story about what happens slowly, incrementally, and sometimes almost imperceptibly, until the institutions people assumed would always be there no longer are. And what it requires of us to refuse to look away. In This Episode How a lifelong academic became a human rights defenderWhat happened inside Venezuelan universities as political repression intensifiedWhy authoritarian governments see independent universities as a threatWhat happens when governments begin controlling knowledge, education, and academic freedomHow Venezuela’s democracy eroded slowly enough that many people struggled to recognize what was happeningWhy attacks on universities can signal something much larger about the health of a democracyWhat Mayda sees when she looks at growing government pressure on higher education in the United StatesThe legal and moral questions surrounding the U.S. operation that removed Nicolás MaduroWhy protecting democracy ultimately requires individual responsibility, courage, and a refusal to remain silent Key Moments 01:26 — Before the Human Rights Defender 06:42 — When Being a Professor Was No Longer Enough 11:43 — Documenting the Attacks 16:37 — Why Authoritarian Governments Target Universities 20:50 — How a Democracy Slowly Erodes 26:30 — When Governments Pressure Higher Education 28:46 — Maduro, U.S. Intervention, and International Law 31:46 — The Failure of International Diplomacy 40:47 — Refusing to Look Away About Mayda Hocevar Mayda Hocevar is a Venezuelan lawyer, professor, researcher, and human rights defender whose work focuses on academic freedom, university autonomy, human rights, and democratic institutions. She is a professor at the University of Los Andes in Mérida, Venezuela, and founder and director of its Human Rights Observatory. The Observatory was established amid the violent repression of student protests in 2014 and has documented human rights violations and attacks affecting universities, students, faculty, and academic freedom. Her work has included advocacy before international and regional human rights mechanisms, human rights education, and extensive efforts to document and preserve the experiences of Venezuelan universities under authoritarian rule. Following Venezuela’s 2024 elections, increasing risks forced Mayda to leave the country. She subsequently joined the University of York’s Centre for Applied Human Rights through its Protective Fellowship Scheme, where her work has included preserving the memory of repression within Venezuelan universities and examining their role as spaces of resistance and human rights defense. Guest Links & Resources University of York — Mayda Hocevar, Centre for Applied Human Rights https://www.york.ac.uk/cahr/human-rights-defenders/past/mayda/ Scholars at Risk — Spotlight on Mayda Hocevar https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/spotlight/sar-spotlight-on-mayda-hocevar/ University of York — The Crisis in Venezuela and the Failure of International Diplomacy https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/public-lectures/sem2-25-26/crisis-venezuela/ Continue the Conversation The thinking continues beyond the mic. Explore essays, reflections, and extended conversations on Substack: https://substack.com/@robbinjorgensen Connect with Robbin Jorgensen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/ Supporting Sponsor As a woman navigating ...
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    45 分
  • When Silence Stops Keeping You Safe: Dr. Lubna Omar on Authoritarianism, Displacement, and the Cost of Finding Your Voice

    When Silence Stops Keeping You Safe: Dr. Lubna Omar on Authoritarianism, Displacement, and the Cost of Finding Your Voice
    2026/08/31

    What happens when the thing that once kept you safe begins costing you something deeper?

    Dr. Lubna Omar learned early that survival sometimes meant knowing what not to say. Growing up Palestinian in Syria under the Assad regime, silence wasn't simply caution. It was something you learned, absorbed, and carried with you.

    But what happens when those instincts follow you across borders? When the danger changes, but the calculation remains? And when staying quiet begins to feel less like protection and more like complicity?

    In this conversation, Lubna and I explore the complicated terrain between fear and conviction, displacement and belonging, history and identity, and what it means to find your voice after a lifetime of learning to protect it.

    We also wrestle with a question that reaches far beyond Lubna's story: How do we recognize the slow erosion of things we assume are permanent before we realize how much we've already lost?

    This is a conversation about the price of speaking. But perhaps even more importantly, it's about the price of silence.

    In This Episode
    • What studying ancient civilizations reveals about the patterns humanity continues to repeat
    • How Lubna learned as a child that silence could be a form of survival
    • What it means to inherit displacement before experiencing it yourself
    • The complicated question of who gets to decide where we belong
    • When speaking from your professional expertise becomes a political act
    • The moment silence can begin to feel less like protection and more like complicity
    • Why fear can become strangely familiar when you've lived with it long enough
    • What war destroys beyond people and places, including memory, knowledge, and cultural heritage
    • What someone who has lived under authoritarianism may recognize before the rest of us do
    Key Moments

    01:36 | What History Keeps Trying to Teach Us

    04:55 | Learning the Rules of Silence

    07:54 | Inheriting Displacement

    10:26 | Who Gets to Decide Where You Belong?

    23:45 | When Silence Starts to Feel Like Complicity

    30:22 | “Fear Is My Comfort Zone”

    35:00 | Returning to Syria

    42:10 | How Fragile Are the Things We Assume Are Permanent?

    56:18 | What Voice Gives Us That Silence Cannot

    About Dr. Lubna Omar

    Dr. Lubna Omar is a Palestinian archaeologist and scholar who grew up in Syria. Her work focuses on archaeology, zooarchaeology, cultural heritage, and the relationship between people and the past.

    Her own life has been deeply shaped by the histories she studies. Her father became a Palestinian refugee in 1948, and Lubna later experienced displacement herself as war transformed Syria and interrupted the life and career she had built there.

    Today, she teaches in the United States, where her work and lived experience inform her exploration of cultural heritage, identity, displacement, conflict, and the consequences of losing both people and the histories they leave behind.

    Continue the Conversation

    The thinking continues beyond the mic. Explore essays, reflections, and extended conversations on Substack:

    https://substack.com/@robbinjorgensen

    Connect with Robbin Jorgensen:

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/

    Supporting Sponsor

    As a woman navigating financial decisions — especially when the system wasn’t built with you in mind — having the right partner matters.

    For three decades, Godfrey Financial has intentionally centered women in financial decision-making — not as an afterthought, but as leaders.

    In a field where women are often expected to sit to the side, Godfrey Financial places women at the head of the table — creating space where women don’t just discuss confidence and agency, but experience it in practice.

    Learn more at: https://godfreyfinancial.com
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    1 時間
  • The Land Is Not Ours to Own: Leah Penniman on Power, Food Apartheid, and What It Means to Belong

    The Land Is Not Ours to Own: Leah Penniman on Power, Food Apartheid, and What It Means to Belong
    2026/08/24

    What if one of our most fundamental assumptions about land is wrong?

    For centuries, land in the United States has been tied to wealth, power, race, and who gets to belong. But for farmer, food justice activist, and author Leah Penniman, the very idea that land is something we can own demands a deeper examination.

    In this episode, Leah and I explore the systems and histories embedded in our relationship with the earth, from food apartheid and Black land dispossession to the Afro-Indigenous traditions that offer a radically different understanding of ownership, responsibility, and belonging.

    But beneath this conversation is an even bigger question: What changes when we stop asking what belongs to us and begin asking what we belong to?

    In This Episode, We Talk About:
    • Why Leah believes the history of Black Americans and the land is far more complex than the story we've been taught
    • What we fail to understand when we treat land primarily as property and an economic asset
    • Why Leah uses the term “food apartheid” and what it reveals about power within our food system
    • The connection between Black land ownership, independence, and systems designed to maintain economic control
    • What Afro-Indigenous farming traditions might teach us at a moment of escalating climate calamity
    • The relationship between spirituality, justice, and how we understand our responsibility to the earth
    • Why Leah's newest book, Children of the Land, takes her work into the realm of parenting and the next generation
    • What responsibility we have to plant seeds for a future we may never see
    Key Moments

    00:00 | The Land Is Not Ours to Own 01:13 | Finding Belonging in the Natural World 05:23 | Reclaiming the Land After Generations of Trauma 08:40 | We Belong to the Land 13:36 | Food Apartheid: Who Built the System? 20:46 | The Audacity to Farm 23:18 | Carrying Seeds Into an Unknown Future 31:41 | When the Earth Is a Relative, Not a Thing 46:47 | The Seeds We Plant for People We'll Never Meet

    About Leah Penniman

    Leah Penniman is a Black Kreyol farmer, mother, activist, author, scientist, earth-lover, and African Traditional Priest who has been tending the soil and organizing for a racially just food system for 30 years.

    She is the Co-Founder and Farm Director of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York, an Afro-Indigenous training farm dedicated to food and land sovereignty. Soul Fire Farm facilitates farmer training for Black and Brown people, a no-cost farm food distribution program for communities surviving food apartheid, and domestic and international organizing toward equity in the food system.

    Leah is the author of Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land and Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists. Her forthcoming book, Children of the Land: Kincentric Parenting at Soul Fire Farm, explores village-based care, kinship, and raising the next generation in relationship with land and community.

    Connect with Leah Penniman

    Soul Fire Farm https://www.soulfirefarm.org/

    Farming While Black https://www.farmingwhileblack.org/

    Black Earth Wisdom https://www.blackearthwisdom.org/

    Resources Howard Thurman, “The Sound of the Genuine” 1980 Commencement Speech at Spelman College https://youtu.be/QRKCfbV8eBU?si=JuKTn8av6hYiWIOm

    Continue the Conversation

    The thinking continues beyond the mic. Explore essays, reflections, and extended conversations on Substack:

    https://substack.com/@robbinjorgensen

    Connect with Robbin Jorgensen:

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/

    Supporting Sponsor

    As a woman navigating financial decisions — especially when the system wasn’t built with you in mind — having the right partner matters.

    For three decades, Godfrey Financial has intentionally centered women in financial decision-making — not as an afterthought, but as leaders.

    In a field where women are often expected to sit to the side, Godfrey Financial places women at the head of the table — creating space where women don’t just discuss confidence and agency, but experience it in practice.

    Learn more at: https://godfreyfinancial.com
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    51 分
  • The Declaration On Gender Apartheid: Karima Bennoune and Zarqa Yaftali Refuse to Normalize the Unacceptable

    The Declaration On Gender Apartheid: Karima Bennoune and Zarqa Yaftali Refuse to Normalize the Unacceptable
    2026/08/17
    Five years after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan, the world risks becoming accustomed to what should never be acceptable. Professor Karima Bennoune and women rights defender in Afghanistan Zarqa Yaftali discuss the newly launched International Declaration on Gender Apartheid and Its Destructive Consequences, why naming gender apartheid matters, and how the Declaration can become a tool for action. The conversation explores the international community’s growing normalization of the Taliban, the moral conviction behind their work, and why what is happening in Afghanistan is a warning for women everywhere. In This Episode What Afghan women and girls are experiencing five years into Taliban ruleThe history and legal meaning of gender apartheidWhy the International Declaration on Gender Apartheid was createdHow international law can become leverage for women on the groundThe danger of normalizing the Taliban and gender apartheidThe personal roots of Karima and Zarqa’s moral convictionWhy Afghanistan is a warning for women’s rights globallyWhat meaningful solidarity and practical action look like now Key Moments 00:00 – Introduction: Karima Bennoune & Zarqa Yaftali 01:42 – Zarqa’s Story: Growing Up Under Taliban Rule 09:13 – Karima’s Story: The Inheritance of Moral Conviction 12:53 – Five Years Later: What Has the World Stopped Seeing? 17:23 – Why We Must Name Gender Apartheid 33:00 – The Declaration Against Gender Apartheid 45:06 – Where Does Moral Conviction Come From? 51:35 – Are We Normalizing the Taliban? 1:02:02 – Afghanistan Is a Warning: What the World Must Do Now About Karima Bennoune Professor Karima Bennoune is an internationally recognized human rights lawyer and the Lewis M. Simes Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School. She served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights from 2015–2021 and has spent decades working at the intersection of international law, women's human rights, cultural rights and fundamentalism. She chaired the drafting group behind the International Declaration on Gender Apartheid and Its Destructive Consequences and is the author of Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight Against Muslim Fundamentalism. About Zarqa Yaftali Zarqa Yaftali is a women rights defender in Afghanistan, Founder and Executive Director of the Women and Children Research and Advocacy Network, and a 2026 Zayed Award for Human Fraternity honoree. Her advocacy is rooted in lived experience. As a teenager during the first Taliban regime, Zarqa attended an underground school established by her mother after girls were prohibited from attending school. Today, from exile, she continues working to advance education, freedom and human rights for Afghan women and girls, including efforts to provide online educational opportunities to girls inside Afghanistan. Resources Karima spoke during the conversation about the profound influence of her father, Mahfoud Bennoune, an Algerian professor, anthropologist and outspoken opponent of fundamentalism. His work and legacy are preserved online: www.mahfoudbennoune.com Take Action The launch of the International Declaration on Gender Apartheid and Its Destructive Consequences is not the end of the work. It's the beginning. Karima and Zarqa call on women human rights defenders, civil society organizations, governments, scholars, jurists, journalists and concerned people everywhere to use the Declaration: share it, translate it, build advocacy tools around it, convene conversations about it and help keep the rights of Afghan women on the international agenda. https://www.genderapartheiddeclaration.org/ Continue the Conversation The thinking continues beyond the mic. Explore essays, reflections, and extended conversations on Substack: https://substack.com/@robbinjorgensen Connect with Robbin Jorgensen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/ Supporting Sponsor As a woman navigating financial decisions — especially when the system wasn’t built with you in mind — having the right partner matters. For three decades, Godfrey Financial has intentionally centered women in financial decision-making — not as an afterthought, but as leaders. In a field where women are often expected to sit to the side, Godfrey Financial places women at the head of the table — creating space where women don’t just discuss confidence and agency, but experience it in practice. Learn more at: https://godfreyfinancial.com
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    1 時間 12 分
  • The Economy Isn't Broken. It Was Built This Way: Saru Jayaraman on Power, Wages, and Democracy

    The Economy Isn't Broken. It Was Built This Way: Saru Jayaraman on Power, Wages, and Democracy
    2026/08/10
    Episode Description What if one of the most fundamental assumptions about our economy is wrong? For more than 25 years, Saru Jayaraman has challenged the systems that determine who gets paid, who holds power, and whose work is valued. At the center of that fight is a staggering reality: the federal tipped minimum wage remains just $2.13 an hour, unchanged since 1991. But this conversation goes far beyond tipping. Saru traces the history of a wage system rooted in slavery and emancipation, challenges the belief that higher wages hurt business, and reveals what decades of organizing have taught her about concentrated power and the personal cost of confronting it. Together, we explore the connection between economic insecurity and democracy, the difference between a minimum wage and a living wage, and a question with implications far beyond the restaurant industry: What happens when people no longer believe the economy or democracy is working for them? In This Episode, We Talk About... The history behind America's $2.13 tipped minimum wage and why it hasn't changed since 1991What seven states reveal about the argument that higher wages destroy restaurant economiesThe Denny's shareholder call that exposed a startling contradiction about wages and business growthWhy the fight has shifted from minimum wage to living wageThe connection between economic insecurity, power, and people's faith in democracyWhat Saru and her family have endured for challenging one of America's most powerful lobbying forcesWhy, after more than 25 years, she still believes transformational change is possible Key Moments 00:00 Introduction 01:36 Rethinking Our Economy, Democracy, and Humanity 03:48 The History Behind America’s Tipped Wage System 07:51 What We’ve Gotten Wrong About Economics 12:28 Why the Tipped Wage Is Still $2.13 15:02 What Happens When States Pay a Full Minimum Wage 17:45 The Denny’s Revelation and the Economics of Higher Wages 23:06 What Has Democracy Done for You Lately? 35:02 When Challenging Power Becomes Dangerous About Saru Jayaraman Saru Jayaraman is an attorney, author, researcher, organizer, and one of the country's leading advocates for restaurant and service workers. She is the co-founder of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and president of One Fair Wage, where she has spent more than two decades organizing workers and challenging the subminimum wage system. Named one of New York magazine's "Influentials," a CNN Visionary Woman, and a White House Champion of Change, Saru's work sits at the intersection of economic justice, gender, race, power, and democracy. Her forthcoming book, What Has Democracy Done for You Lately?, explores the growing connection between economic insecurity and people's faith in democratic institutions. Throughout her work, Saru argues for an economy in which people are able not simply to survive, but to thrive. Connect with Saru Jayaraman One Fair Wage Saru Jayaraman Saru's new book: https://thenewpress.org/books/what-has-democracy-done-for-me-lately/ Take Action: Join the Living Wage for All Movement Your voice can help change what work is worth in America. Living Wage for All is building a national movement to ensure that no one working full-time is forced to live in poverty. This is about more than raising wages. It is about giving millions of people greater economic security, strengthening communities, and building an economy that works because more people have the ability to participate in it. Add your voice. Contact your members of Congress. Help build the political power necessary to make a living wage a reality for every worker in America. https://livingwageforall.org/ Continue the Conversation The thinking continues beyond the mic. Explore essays, reflections, and extended conversations on Substack: https://substack.com/@robbinjorgensen Connect with Robbin Jorgensen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/ Supporting Sponsor As a woman navigating financial decisions — especially when the system wasn’t built with you in mind — having the right partner matters. For three decades, Godfrey Financial has intentionally centered women in financial decision-making — not as an afterthought, but as leaders. In a field where women are often expected to sit to the side, Godfrey Financial places women at the head of the table — creating space where women don’t just discuss confidence and agency, but experience it in practice. Learn more at: https://godfreyfinancial.com
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    47 分
  • The Audacity to Lead with Love: Heather Robertson Fortner on Integrity, Generosity, and Living What You Believe

    The Audacity to Lead with Love: Heather Robertson Fortner on Integrity, Generosity, and Living What You Believe
    2026/08/03
    Episode Description

    What does it really mean to lead with integrity?

    For Heather Robertson Fortner, leadership isn't measured solely by performance, profit, or position. It's measured by congruence: the alignment between what we say we value and how we choose to live, lead, and serve.

    As CEO of SignatureFD, Heather has challenged the traditional assumptions of business leadership by building a culture grounded in generosity, authenticity, and the belief that love belongs in leadership. In this conversation, we explore what happens when success is no longer the goal, but the byproduct of living your values.

    Together, we examine the relationship between identity and achievement, why generosity must begin with ourselves before it extends outward, how motherhood reshaped Heather's understanding of purpose, and why the greatest legacy any leader leaves behind is the example they set for others.

    This is a conversation about choosing integrity over image, generosity over scarcity, and becoming the person you hope others believe you already are.

    In This Episode, We Talk About...
    • Why Heather believes leadership begins with congruence between values and actions
    • How redefining success transformed both her leadership and her life
    • The role generosity plays in building healthy organizations and stronger communities
    • Why leading with love requires courage—not weakness
    • How becoming a mother reshaped her understanding of identity and achievement
    • The importance of creating workplaces where people genuinely belong
    • Why your legacy is built through everyday decisions, not extraordinary moments
    • How living what you believe influences the next generation
    Key Moments

    00:00 Introduction 02:14 Defining Leadership Through Values 08:42 Identity Beyond Achievement 15:36 Why Congruence Matters 23:11 Generosity as a Leadership Practice 31:04 Creating Cultures of Belonging 40:28 The Legacy We Leave Our Children 48:15 Leading with Love

    About Heather Robertson Fortner

    Heather Robertson Fortner is the CEO of SignatureFD, a nationally recognized wealth management firm known for its people-first culture and values-driven approach to leadership. Throughout her career, Heather has championed the belief that authentic leadership is rooted in integrity, generosity, and genuine human connection.

    A sought-after speaker and advocate for values-based leadership, she has challenged conventional business thinking by demonstrating that organizations can pursue both exceptional performance and extraordinary care for people. Her work continues to inspire leaders to align their actions with their deepest convictions while building cultures where individuals and communities can thrive.

    Connect with Heather Robertson Fortner

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherfortner/

    https://signaturefd.com/

    Continue the Conversation

    The thinking continues beyond the mic. Explore essays, reflections, and extended conversations on Substack:

    https://substack.com/@robbinjorgensen

    Connect with Robbin Jorgensen:

    https://www.linkedin.com/in/robbinjorgensen/

    Supporting Sponsor

    As a woman navigating financial decisions — especially when the system wasn’t built with you in mind — having the right partner matters.

    For three decades, Godfrey Financial has intentionally centered women in financial decision-making — not as an afterthought, but as leaders.

    In a field where women are often expected to sit to the side, Godfrey Financial places women at the head of the table — creating space where women don’t just discuss confidence and agency, but experience it in practice.

    Learn more at:

    https://godfreyfinancial.com
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    47 分