Gotham Stories of Impact

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Gotham Alum Balances Nonprofit Consulting and Ministry to Love Her City to Life

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Some people are born to wear multiple hats. Nicole Rowan is one of them.

An ordained pastor in North Nashville, owner of a nonprofit consulting business, and landlord liason for Metro Nashville’s HOPE Program assisting renters impacted by COVID-19, Rowan has what you might call “eclectic” work interests. Possessing advanced degrees in business management and business administration, Rowan previously worked as an executive leader for the YMCA for over 15 years.

identifying the disconnect

As Rowan tells it, her nonprofit leadership experience with the YMCA ignited her passion for supporting nonprofits with strategic planning. So passionate, in fact, that Rowan’s expertise and excitement led her to leave her position with the YMCA at the end of 2018 to launch her consulting business, Press Play On Purpose Consulting, specifically serving nonprofits.

As Rowan explains, oftentimes there is a disconnect in nonprofit organizations between the strategic goals established by senior leaders and the ability of the employees to implement the solutions. “What leaders have established,” says Rowan, “doesn’t always work on the ground level.” 

Rowan is energized by helping these nonprofit organizations rethink their strategic planning processes. “It’s about understanding the nonprofit is a business,” shares Rowan, “and still has to operate as a business at the end of the day.”

redeeming difficult work relationships

“ Our difficult work relationships are often a mirror for something that we don’t see in ourselves, and in many ways, we’re also mirrors for other people.”

At the same time she was launching her business, Rowan joined Gotham, NIFW’s nine-month faith and work leadership program. Gotham, shares Rowan, helped her to discern where God was calling her based on her experience, gifts, and interests. “Gotham helped me understand that I wanted to help businesses with a direct social cause,” says Rowan.

Beyond helping her solidify her business model, Rowan also shares that her Gotham experience helped her in the trenches of her work. Once her consulting business was up and running, Rowan recognized an area where she needed the light of the Gospel to be shed: difficult working relationships.

Rowan’s perspective shifted after working through one particular exercise in Gotham which helps participants identify “sandpaper people” in their work and leads them through a process of examining where personal sin or idols may be showing up in the relationship. Ultimately, the exercise is aimed at seeing the Imago Dei in the other person and allowing God to intervene to redeem the relationship and change our own hearts in the process.

As Rowan explains, “In those times we’re often focused on complaining about the other person, rather than considering and seeing how you’re showing up, where sin might be present, and what that can teach you.”

This countercultural approach to also looking at ourselves rather than only blaming the other person is fueled by the Gospel’s command to love our neighbor as ourselves. “Our difficult work relationships,” echoes Rowan, “are often a mirror for something that we don’t see in ourselves, and in many ways, we’re also mirrors for other people.”

spiritual formation within community

While she emphasizes that her nonprofit consulting work offers her chances to minister to others daily, “even if it’s not done overtly,” Rowan also has served as an ordained minister at a church in North Nashville for over five years. 

Discussing Gotham’s impact on her role as a church leader, Rowan shares that the program and its emphasis on both theological study and devotional practices “increased my fervor to be consistent with different forms of devotion, and to listen to God on a daily basis.” 

“...We may not know how the work God has us doing today may be preparing us for our next assignment later in life.”

A significant lasting impact of Gotham, says Rowan, was how it helped her establish a habit of leaning on God in her work and outside of it, asking God, “What might you be saying to me in this moment?”

Rowan also adds that the Gotham curriculum helped her to become more aware of and open-minded about other Christian traditions and practices. With a diverse Gotham cohort coming from a variety of Christian traditions, Rowan said the friendships she developed were formative in helping her expand her view of what worship means to other people.

These friendships Rowan formed in Gotham are still important to her today. In fact, when Rowan was officially ordained as a pastor last year, she was able to invite ten people to the in-person ceremony. “Five of them,” says Rowan, “were friends from my Gotham cohort.”

EQUIPPED FOR GOOD WORKS

As Rowan’s life is a testament to, we may not know how the work God has us doing today may be preparing us for our next assignment later in life. What we do know is that God is the one who equips us to do those good works that He has prepared in advance for us to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). 

Or, as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message translation, “God creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”

Rowan is embracing the work that God has invited her to join Him in. Whether she is serving her congregants, supporting a nonprofit, or helping renters impacted by COVID-19, Rowan is steadily loving her city to life—one day at a time.

Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

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Gotham Alum Leverages Leadership Role to Build Community of Women at Work

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Katherine Lee isn’t comfortable settling for the status quo. A self-described achiever always seeking ways to improve processes and systems, Lee has spent her entire career in employee benefits, working within a variety of roles. Currently, Lee finds herself in a sales role at Hub International, the fifth largest insurance brokerage in the world. “My career,” says Lee, “is ever changing. I’ve never been bored.”

bridging the gap

In 2018, Lee joined the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work’s Gotham Leadership program at the recommendation of a trusted friend. While she came into the program with an “open mind,” what Lee says she sought was “personal transformation.”

Before Gotham, Lee says that she struggled with connecting what she believed about God to her work life. However, Lee explains that the curriculum and community of Gotham “helped bridge the gap by helping me identify my blindspots and biases where my view of and approach to work wasn’t aligned with my theology.” As someone naturally competitive and “doing-oriented,” Gotham assisted Lee in her development of a more balanced theology of work that included both a commitment to excellence and an ability to rest securely in God’s grace, regardless of outcomes. 

Indeed, apart from the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, our default theology of work is often shaped by traditionally Western ideals of self-gratification, individualism, and hyper-productivity. This is why it’s critical for Christians to actively assess our assumptions and practices towards work and test them against the claims of Scripture. Doing so, says Lee, has helped her to look for the redemptive possibilities within her workplace.

content as cultural renewal

As a woman in leadership that also spent time away from her career raising her two children, Lee is more than familiar with the challenges women face in balancing professional and personal priorities. After further researching the disparity between female and male leaders within her industry, Lee became energized to find ways to encourage women within her sphere.

“For the Christian, the doctrine of the Imago Dei means that all people—and thus all work—have inherent dignity before the Lord. ”

As a part of her Gotham Cultural Renewal Project, Lee began strategically utilizing her regional leadership role within the Hub International Women’s Network, working with a team of leaders to regularly deliver content and resources on a global and local level to employees, with a focus on encouraging women in their professional and personal lives.

“The goal,” Lee shares, “is to see the brokenness of women who want to excel professionally, and to support and engage them in order to empower them.” Importantly, Lee notes, this conversation intentionally includes men, whom Lee recognizes have a critical role in this ongoing work.

While Lee works in a corporate setting, she recognizes the importance of the platform that God has given her to be able to Biblically encourage others. Accordingly, Lee attempts to ensure that the resources she and her team shares “align with a Biblical theology of work” rather than “a worldview shaped by worldly standards.” Says Lee, “The question I ask myself is, ‘How can we take the content or monthly theme and make sure we’re redemptively delivering that content?”

community, diversity, and the dignity of work

While Lee has long had a passion for empowering and connecting women, her experience within her Gotham cohort, particularly with the other women in the group, inspired her further to take tangible steps towards mending the brokenness she saw in her workplace and industry. “I gained so much,” says Lee, “from being in a cohort with the variety of women and the different stages of life that we were all in.” 

“Cultural renewal is never over until the new heavens and the new earth come back.
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Acknowledging the bias that gets directed both at working mothers and stay-at-home mothers, Lee shares how the Gotham community helped her to develop a deeper appreciation for the value that everyone brings through their work—both paid and unpaid. “It’s about recognizing what the world has said that doesn’t match up with our theology,” says Lee. For the Christian, the doctrine of the Imago Dei means that all people—and thus all work—have inherent dignity before the Lord. No person’s work is more important than another’s.

the power of connection

Today, Lee continues to utilize the Hub International Women’s Network to encourage women to excel both at work and outside of it. “The biggest impact my project has had,” says Lee, “is connecting women to each other and to others within our organization.” Rather than allowing competition or biases to divide, Lee is bent on uniting women. 

While Lee celebrates the impact God has allowed her project to have on women in her company, she recognizes the work is ongoing and ever-evolving. Ultimately, she knows that ultimate redemption is in God’s hands, not hers. “I see ways in which systems are broken, and I see growth, but I know there is so much more. Cultural renewal is never over until the new heavens and the new earth come back.”

Until then, may we, like Lee, steward our work in such a way that tilts the world just a little closer to God’s vision of wholeness and perfection.

Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

How One Gotham Alum Confronted Culture's Expectations Surrounding Work

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What do you expect from your work?

Do you see work as a curse to be endured? A way to make ends meet? A path to self-fulfillment? 

It was 2018, and Roscoe Mayberry had just completed a move to Nashville earlier that spring. In the midst of learning the ropes of a new, unfamiliar role at the manufacturing company he’s been at for the last twenty years, Mayberry joined Gotham, NIFW’s faith and work leadership program, at the encouragement of a mentor. Prior to joining the program, Mayberry had been wrestling with the above questions surrounding work, faith, and his own sense of vocational futility. It was then, in Gotham, where he dove deeper into these questions that had been burdening him.

work and stewardship

Mayberry entered Gotham with a sense that his work “wasn’t needed.” In his eyes, if there was a vocational hierarchy, his corporate job at a Fortune 500 company was near the bottom. In conflict with culture’s expectations of work as the path to lasting joy, Mayberry was experiencing more frustration than fulfillment. 

As a part of the Gotham curriculum, participants develop a holistic theology of work to apply to their own industry and role. “Threaded through Gotham,” says Mayberry, “was the idea that we’re still called to be stewards of our work and faithfully engage it even if it doesn’t bring this deep satisfaction that culture tells us work should bring.” 

Reflecting on the expectations so many of us place upon our work, Mayberry remarks, “I think that’s a deep cultural issue that we currently have: this false notion that our work should make us happy.” For Mayberry, Gotham provided a setting for him to work through his personal questions surrounding his own vocational expectations. “My biggest paradigm shift in Gotham,” he explains, “was learning that thorns and thistles exist in every job. Ultimately, that shifted my mindset to where the discontentment I experienced in my work led me into deeper prayer with the Lord.”

“I think that’s a deep cultural issue that we currently have: this false notion that our work should make us happy.”

Over time, Mayberry explains that he learned how even difficulties at work have a redemptive purpose. As he says, “I think frustration around our work takes us deeper into prayer and into deeper reliance on God’s sovereign providence. There’s a lot that can be gained in your relationship with God through the frustrations of your work.”

While work is by no means all doom and gloom for Mayberry, he explains that the Gotham curriculum and community helped him make sense of his own experience at work. Frustration at work isn’t the mark of a second-rate worker, but a natural by-product of the fall. Holding the tension of not expecting work to be one’s ultimate fulfillment, while also seeking fulfilling work is a lifelong struggle for any Christian.

the cadence of community

Mayberry describes his work background as “blue-collar” and questioned whether his work experience would fit within the Gotham program. However, as he explains, “My cohort had more diversity in the industries represented than I expected. I found that my work experience was a good fit within the program, even as I transitioned to a more “white-collar” role.”

Corresponding with his move to Nashville, Mayberry entered Gotham in search of meaningful community. As he shares, one of the most impactful aspects of the program was the cadence of the community itself—meeting on a weekly basis with other people who were pursuing Jesus in the workplace. Says Mayberry, “Gotham really provided a good foundational bedrock as I moved to Nashville as far as establishing friendships and community.” 

This accountability and consistency provided Mayberry a space to engage with important questions surrounding his spiritual and professional life. Grounded in this shared purpose, Mayberry found it was the diversity of the group that proved to be its greatest strength and the factor that impacted him the most. 

“My Gotham cohort,” explains Mayberry, “had people from different backgrounds, working in different industries, from different church denominations, with different perspectives on work.” Considering the relative homogeneity of his background, Mayberry found that Gotham provided him a community of people who thought very differently from him on issues spanning from religion to politics. 

“Frustration at work isn’t the mark of a second-rate worker, but a natural by-product of the fall.”

This engagement in an ideologically-diverse community allowed him to develop meaningful friendships with people who shared different beliefs. As Mayberry explains, “The community of Gotham helped me to love others across ideological and theological differences, while at the same time sharpening and refining my own worldview.”

In addition to the weekly meetings, Mayberry also references the City Saturdays around Nashville as formative experiences, learning about the criminal justice system, healthcare system, music industry, and the history of the Civil Rights movement in Nashville. As a result, pushing back against the dangers of “ideological tribalism,” as Mayberry describes it, became an even deeper passion for him within his place of work.

a daily faithfulness

Currently still employed at the same company, and working part-time at Chick-Fil-A, Mayberry is excited for what lies ahead. He is discerning next steps towards a call to clinical counseling or vocational ministry, with seminary as a possibility. “My fellow Gothamites and teachers,” Mayberry explains, “helped affirm this calling I’ve long felt since Christ captured my heart some ten years ago in the most unusual of circumstances.” 

Steady faithfulness is often overlooked in a culture that prizes some work at the expense of others. In God’s economy, however, all work is a way of participating in the renewal of creation and restoring a fractured world to God’s original design. As Mayberry seeks to faithfully steward the role he’s been given, he knows that each day is a chance to do just that.

Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

Gotham Alum Bridges Sacred/Secular Divide

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“How do I transfer my faith from my head to my heart?”

It is a difficult question that undoubtedly entangles many Christians. Barney Zeng was one of them.

When Zeng moved to Middle Tennessee in 2016, he sought to disrupt the pattern of spiritual apathy he felt had settled over him: “I already knew God was on my bus, but He was in the wrong seat.”

One of the areas of life that Zeng already felt beginning to unravel at the time was his view of work. Zeng explains, “I was brought up on the East Coast, where religion is private. And certainly in any business I was in, my view was that I had to leave my religion at the door, and bring my character through the threshold.”

““I already knew God was on my bus, but He was in the wrong seat.””

As it happened, Zeng’s transition to Middle Tennessee coincided with a growing sense of doubt towards the efficacy of this established divide between faith and work. Zeng began asking: “If this is wrong, then what is right?”

Not long after, Zeng heard about the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work’s nine-month faith and work leadership intensive, Gotham, from a co-worker who had been through the program. Zeng’s desire to integrate his faith and his work propelled him to apply immediately, for the fall of 2017. 

As Zeng explains, Gotham came at a pivotal moment in his life as he had found himself drawn toward the church again, after a season of drifting away. When Zeng entered back into the life of the church, Gotham became an important vehicle for his continued learning and spiritual growth.

Zeng recalls the growth he experienced from spending intensive time in the Gotham community reading and discussing ideas centered around a theology of work. Slowly, the walls separating his beliefs about God from his vocation in life began to crumble. This gradual shift culminated in one moment that Zeng brings to mind with a smile.

Zeng recognizes he may be unique in this way, but his story centers around what he calls his “metanoia moment,” a Greek word roughly translated to a “change of heart.” Pouring over Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s seminal work on Christian community titled Life Together, Zeng remembers closing the book, opening the front cover, and writing: I thought my love was mine to give. But my love is God’s love, and not mine to ration.”

Says Zeng, “That was the switch for me that helped me get [faith] from my head to my heart.”

Experiencing faith in a new way— no longer as a set of ideas but rather as a new way of living in the world—opened Zeng up to begin viewing the world through the lens of the Gospel. Zeng felt an increasing devotion towards his desire to learn and serve. Work became a way of loving God and neighbor, and Zeng began to notice and be stirred by the brokenness around him.

““I thought my love was mine to give. But my love is God’s love, and not mine to ration.””

Invigorated by this new understanding, Zeng decided that his cultural renewal project would center around looking for ways to meet areas of need within the cathedral he attends in Nashville. After spending time identifying needs and considering ways he could serve, Zeng recognized the heavy burden placed upon the pastor of the cathedral; the weight of spiritual leadership and administration can be daunting.

Zeng’s work with the cathedral culminated in October of 2019, when he was asked to join the newly implemented Pastor’s Council. Zeng explains that the purpose of the council comes down to this: “How do we as a cathedral become both a vibrant community and a vibrant element of our larger community of Nashville?”

Driven by his belief that Christians have a call to serve their communities, Zeng wants to help ensure that the cathedral is an outward-focused beacon of hope. Through his work involving community outreach and pastoral support, Zeng hopes to help usher in a fresh vision for how his cathedral can best serve their congregation, as well as the city of Nashville and beyond.

Carrying a renewed sense of the purpose of his work, Zeng’s heart is bent toward serving others: no longer leaving his faith at the door, but rather letting it inform his day-to-day labor. Zeng has come to realize an important truth about faith and work: that integrating the two leads to flourishing, both personally and professionally. Put another way, our posture toward work plays a significant role in our productivity in and enjoyment of what we do every day.

Zeng sums up all that he learned in the Gotham program in this simple, yet timeless way: “Love God and love neighbor.” 

Zeng speaks of a love that, as he understands, is not his to ration.

Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

Gotham Alumni Battle Back Against Compassion Fatigue

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Eleanor Wells saw a problem.

Ashley MacLachlan was living it.

The work of caring for other people’s minds, bodies, and souls can take an especially hard toll on helping professionals.

Wells witnessed this exhaustion up close in the professionals serving at a treatment center for women dealing with addiction and co-occurring mental illness where she volunteered. She observed this familiar weariness, too, in the hearts of ministry leaders all over the world that she consulted with in volunteer work through a supporting organization. 

“You saw this heaviness that weighed on them,” says Wells.

MacLachlan, a clinically trained therapist who has served vulnerable populations in multiple capacities, felt this first-hand. MacLachlan treasured her work: she was doing what God had made her to do, but after many years of working as a therapist, she began to realize the impact that her work had on her. Given the self-giving nature of counseling and helping professions in general, MacLachlan fears that many others are “pouring out, but they don’t know how to receive it.”

“Because of [Ashley’s] work, she got it. We could talk the language,” Wells recognized.

The two met when they became prayer partners during their time in Gotham, NIFW’s nine-month faith and work intensive that culminates in each participant completing a cultural renewal project that is intended to shine light on darkness within their industry. 

However, Wells never expected to be a part of Gotham: “I didn’t feel like I was qualified, because I’ve always been a stay-at-home mom. My work has always been volunteer work. I just felt like I didn’t ‘work’.” Reflecting back, Wells says, “Part of [the program] was recognizing what work is, the realization that you work whether you get a paycheck or not.”

The two developed a deep friendship, and when the time came they eventually committed to work together on their cultural renewal project, seeking to address this crisis of compassion fatigue that is so prevalent within helping professions.

As Wells explains, compassion fatigue is an extreme state of tension and preoccupation with the suffering of those being helped to the degree that it can create a secondary traumatic stress for the helper. This profound emotional and physical erosion that takes place when helping professionals are unable to refuel leads to an exhaustion in their compassion for others and themselves. 

People suffering from compassion fatigue may display symptoms such as emotional numbness, difficulty relaxing, profound exhaustion, and depression. Ultimately, their brains have difficulty differentiating between the trauma of their patients and their own personal trauma.

Compassion fatigue is different from the experience of burnout, which is a cumulative process manifested by emotional exhaustion and withdrawal related to heavy workloads and organizational demands, according to Wells. 

Wells has great concern for those working in the healthcare industry right now during this time of COVID-19, because as she explains, those that are highly dedicated and highly motivated in their work are at the greatest risk of compassion fatigue.

While intensively studying compassion, Wells began to deeply lament the brokenness of the cycle of compassion fatigue, marked by high job turnover rates, mental health struggles, relational isolation, and physical exhaustion. Inspired to enact change, Wells attended Lipscomb University and acquired her coaching certificate, which included many hours of practical training.

Over time, the project’s vision evolved into compassion fatigue workshops taught by Wells that cover what compassion fatigue is, its signs and symptoms, helping people unpack why they find themselves in this place, and what true self-care includes. 

Self-care is a popular cultural message at the moment, but both Wells and MacLachlan don’t think it is rightly understood. “There’s a misnomer,” MacLachlan explains, “of what self-care really is. It’s not a manicure and a massage; it’s what is life-giving to you? What brings you something into your life that gives you the ability to then be able to give out to someone else?”

Wells draws on the example of a sponge: “If you squeeze it out until there’s not a drop left, there’s nothing left to give.” Her quote is reminiscent of the writer and theologian Frederick Buechner, who cautions: “Pay mind to your own life, your own health, and wholeness. A bleeding heart is of no help to anyone if it bleeds to death.”

For the self-care portion of her coaching, Wells has created a grid that she calls “Project 252.” It is based on the verse Luke 2:52, which says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” 

From this verse, Wells has identified a four-part process of how to take care of ourselves: intellectually (“wisdom”), physically (“stature”), spiritually (“favor with God”), and relationally (“favor with man”).  Wells emphasizes that to truly care for yourself and minimize compassion fatigue, all four areas of wellness should be attended to with intention.

Wells and MacLachlan both are careful not to view the work of self-care as something we muster up from our own inner resources. Says MacLachlan, “From a faith standpoint, it’s not about filling yourself up, it’s really about allowing God to fill you up. We pour out from the overflow. It’s not from our own strength.”

While compassion fatigue is a particularly relevant problem today in the midst of COVID-19, it isn’t going away. As Wells reminds us, “The reality is that medical professionals pour out every day. While this crisis will pass, the daily lives of medical professionals may slow a bit, but the reality is that for them [and other helping professionals], compassion fatigue is always a risk.”

Rather than the burden being placed solely upon individuals to care for themselves to prevent compassion fatigue, Wells believes that organizations must also proactively respond to this problem by creatively implementing systems for prevention. 

This conviction, in part, led Wells and a small team of similarly passionate professionals to recently establish Cohort4Care, a new consulting organization for individuals and organizations at risk of compassion fatigue and burnout strategically created during COVID-19 to help aid in the response. Recognizing how helping professionals are at great risk for compassion fatigue, Wells and her team are dedicated to caring for those serving on the frontlines.

There is no shortage of fear or fatigue within our current cultural moment. Wells, rather than withdrawing from it, is entering directly into the fray, buoyed by her belief in Christ and driven by the desire to love her neighbor. 

“I’ve seen it help,” Wells says. “There’s hope.”

Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

Gotham Alum Seeks to Help Others Travel in ‘Purposeful’ Ways

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Christie Holmes was burdened.

As she saw her children growing up, she sought to have tools at her disposal to better influence her children’s values given the “cacophony of opinion in our culture.”

Specifically, she was burdened to raise adults that would “be empathic and compassionate towards other cultures, beliefs and traditions” and “be prepared to engage on the Global Stage.” 

A tall, gospel-inspired order.

But what started as a fledgling burden five years ago has now become a vehicle for transformation among families and cultures since a public launch two years ago.

It was through Holmes’ participation in the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work’s Gotham leadership program that her capstone project has now blossomed into Global CommUnity, a thoughtful travel company that helps families map and plan explorations around the world.

The organization helps families engage one another in meaningful ways by designing unique travel programs that tap into their specific interests and help them engage other cultures in deep, purposeful ways.

“Our community impact opportunities are founded on a mutual exchange of ideas - they are about looking at what each destination is doing to bring people, places, and things to life,” said Holmes the Co-Founder and CEO of Global CommUnity. “My hope is that as our travelers experience these opportunities they create memories as a family and then return home curious how they can further engage common issues in their home communities.”

Upon expressing interest in traveling with Global CommUnity, a family is paired with an itinerary planner to tailor the trip to their specific educational and experiential goals.

Currently, they’ve fostered relationships and itineraries in at least 36 different countries around the world to create an impactful and sustainable travel experience. It’s not voluntourism, rather it’s a mutually-beneficial partnership.

“Community impact opportunities are an attempt to even the playing field,” Holmes said, “by addressing attitudes of unconscious bias, racial and economic divide, and providing an opportunity to allow us to learn from each other.”

The work for Holmes also finds theological underpinnings in the notion that every human is made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27). This key biblical principle, emphasized through Holmes time in Gotham, served as a means to foster unity and care for both those traveling and those receiving travelers into their own cultures.

“My hope is that we will start a trend in cultural sustainability that is equal to the trendy ecological sustainability,” Holmes said. “I'd like for people as they travel become aware of other cultures, appreciate differences, and deepen empathy.”

Holmes is in the precarious balance of start-up work at the moment with Global CommUnity. Most of her days involve “a lot of everything,” including marketing itinerary development, managing staff and contract employees, sales, and investor relationships.

“Five years ago we were a concept,” Holmes said. “We have had the struggles common for many startups but have survived two years in business, one round raising investment capital, and have gotten great feedback and media coverage.

“We are onto something unique.”

For those looking to support Global CommUnity’s work, things like traveling with the organization, following along on social media, becoming an Ambassador (referring clients and earning a referral fee), joining the team, or simply learning more about cultural sustainability.

“I think we can become a change agent in culture as a social movement,” Holmes said, “not only sending people on amazing trips, but also calling people to more social engagement and awareness.”

Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

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Finding Contentment in Unexpected Unemployment

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The freefall of unemployment is frightening.

After experiencing success throughout their entire vocational careers, RoseWynne Brooks and Todd Foster found themselves at a crossroads in the fall of 2018.

They were both laid off.

The two overlapped as members of the 2018-19 class of the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work’s Gotham Program in the shock of attempting to land on their feet.

But it was precisely this place of brokenness that served as the impetus for change they are imagining in the journey of a surprise layoff.

“I went nine months from job loss to new job,” Foster said. “I honestly never thought it would take that long, it was much longer than I wanted. 

“But it was what I needed.”

Foster and Brooks collaborated on their capstone project in Gotham to create Career Walk, a partnership program where the two befriend and walk alongside others who are recently unemployed as they venture to establish their next vocational journey. 

“Where Todd and I got to, is we wanted to support people through that time of growth,” said Brooks. “Not in finding a job per se or telling them how to do it, but how do we support people through that time.”

Foster added with a chuckle, “I feel like I have a PhD in joblessness.”

The two have grabbed countless coffees and phone calls with Nashvillians whom they’ve met on a referral-only basis up to this point. Meetings are logged in an excel spreadsheet while Foster and Brooks check in periodically to help one another discern and pray for those they’re walking with.

“You're experiencing shame and the idol of pride is snapping at your heels every day,” Brooks said. “But to know that you have someone who says, ‘It will be OK,’ goes a long way.”

For now, Foster and Brooks will continue in their efforts while prayerfully considering ways to expand their work. Following up directly with Foster and Brooks via email is the best way to get involved if you or someone you know needs a friend to walk through an unexpected career change. Email info@nifw.org to receive their contact information.

Along with his Gotham experience, Foster also went through NIFW’s Career Discernment Program in partnership with the VOCA Center. Designed for those asking big questions regarding their vocational wirings, the program includes a handful of assessments, one-on-one coaching with trained professionals, and ongoing support through the discernment process. 

Regardless if you’re experiencing unexpected unemployment or are seeking deeper fulfillment in your work, the Career Discernment Program can offer guidance and insight amidst career tensions.

“It was transformative,” Foster said. “I’ve never done anything like that before, but, then again, I’d never lost a job before.”

Interested participants can apply for one-on-one coaching at any time via NIFW’s website.

In the meantime, Foster and Brooks are both pressing forward. Amidst their own unemployment stories, they’re content to continue offering a steady hand and an encouraging word to those walking through a valley they know on a personal level.

“As I look back,” Foster said, “we just want to shine some light in darkness.”

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If you are experiencing unexpected unemployment or want to better discern what work you are called to do right now, please join us on December 3 or 4 for The Building Blocks of Career Discernment Workshop. More information can be found here.

Gotham Inspires ‘Safe Space’ Support Group for Families Affected by ADHD

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A normal workweek for Lisa Allen begins with driving her youngest son to school.

After the drop-off, she returns to walk her puppy, spend time reading her Bible, run errands, continue therapy dog training, visit a friend for lunch, prepare meals, attend parent meetings, and volunteer at a local nonprofit.

All in a day’s work for a stay-at-home mother.

Allen is grateful for the deep purpose she has found in the vocation she’s been called to all these years.

“I know that my God-given role was to be a mom, and I have loved (just about) every minute of it,” Allen said. “I find joy in serving them and providing an environment in our home where my family can find warmth and a safe place to be themselves.”

Through Allen’s time spent in the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work’s (NIFW) Gotham Program, she was inspired to continue this theme of creating safe places for others, both inside and outside the home.

As part of the Gotham Program, participants put their collective year of study into action to a capstone cultural renewal project intended to affect change in their sphere of influence.

This was the impetus for Allen in her capstone project: to begin a support group for parents of children with ADHD.

“Parents who are walking with children with ADHD are often lonely and overwhelmed,” Allen said. “My desire is to provide the ‘light’ of encouragement, fellowship, support, and education to those that are interested in bonding through a support group.”

For Allen, the project is deeply personal, as one of her own children struggles with ADHD.

“The last year has been filled with ups and downs in our home,” Allen said. “Frequent doctor's appointments, counseling sessions, medication changes, the sudden diagnosis of other issues, and the feelings of hopelessness and concern caused us to wonder what the future would hold for our son.

“Would he be able to handle the rigors of college? Would he be able to hold a job and manage a family one day?”

This is why Allen believes a support group, which would feature field-leading specialists and a space to regularly gather, would serve so many in the community.

“We began to wonder,” Allen said, “if we were thinking these things, how many others were desiring the same thing?”

Upon sending out a survey to 45 parents of children with ADHD, words like "frustration, hopelessness, sadness, fear, worry, exhaustion, blame, guilt, anger, jealousy, lack of understanding, isolation disappointment, tired, desperation, and concern” were all too common.

This only furthered the need to do something and bring renewal to life right where God had placed her.

“If this need for community among parents of children with ADHD were addressed, many that are currently feeling alone and fearful could potentially find hope,” Allen said. “They could find companionship with others facing the same struggles and with those who have walked in their shoes before them.

“Before you know it, life-giving moments would occur.”

Allen, a 2019 Gotham alumni, was voted by a committee to be one of the recipients of the annual Shine Light on Darkness grants, awarded to seed a cultural renewal project each year.

“Receiving the grant basically meant the ability to move forward with the support group,” Allen said. “It was a huge encouragement and sign that this effort was meant to be.”

As Allen begins to dream of the future, aspirations of seeing the group develop into a full-fledged nonprofit with support offered by groups and specialists who walk with families through a difficult season of life remain on the horizon. However, the first steps will focus around finding space and specialists to begin a pilot gathering group.

“As parents receive hope, encouragement, and education, then their children will ultimately benefit,” Allen said. “In an age where our children are being challenged on all sides by our culture and the stresses of this world, coming alongside these families and children who are most vulnerable would be a gift that many organizations could certainly rally around.”

To learn more or get involved with the support groups, contact Lisa Allen by phone at 615-423-9878 or email at 8allens@gmail.com.

A Q&A on Shining Light on Darkness, with Jay Cherry of Open Door

The Nashville Institute for Faith and Work is excited to welcome Jay Cherry and Kevin Roddey for our Faithfully Working Lunch on December 6 from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. We all work in industries with elements of brokenness, and both Jay and Kevin have forged unique paths to shine light in their respective fields. Taste a bit of what Jay Cherry might share at lunch by reading below about his experience with integrating his faith into his work.

Q: What have you most learned about integrating your faith into your work in the last year?

Jay: God will continue his work in us and through us, and asks that we are engaged and present. I believe He works in profound ways simply through our a) diligence and b) availability.

Q: What idols most plague you in a working environment?

J: Pride and control.

Q: How does your industry most reveal God's character?

J: We were made by a Creator who continually remakes and rebuilds. In Real Estate, we get to make, create, build, and rebuild in the physical world. In residential real estate, these physical places we build create a sense of place, become a home, and remind us all of our true longing for home.

Q: Where is your industry or work in tension with Christianity?

J: Real estate is one of the greatest avenues of wealth creation and generational transfer for most Americans, however this opportunity has a high barrier of creditworthiness, income, and understanding in order to access -- and thereby can perpetuate inequality for a large portion of society that does not have the privilege of this access.

Q: How do you think about shining light on darkness in your industry?

J: I believe that we can empower and enable more people to have a path to transact in Real Estate if we can simplify process, reduce the friction, and eliminate the opaqueness of the transaction.

Click the button below to register for the December Lunch.

Jay is currently the General Manager at Open Door in Nashville. Prior to joining Open Door, he led a team of 700+ people across 3 states as a Division Vice President with DaVita. He was born in Franklin, TN, grew up in Florida, and returned to Nashville in 2013. Jay and his wife, Diana, spent two years after college living in Haiti, where they started a business, learned Haitian Creole, and developed a strong affinity for fried goat. Jay holds an MBA from Stanford and a B.S from the University of Florida. He and Diana have two incredible kids, Finley (age 6) and Shepherd (age 3), and live in East Nashville.

Register for any of our other upcoming events HERE.

Learn more about the integration of faith, work, and culture at NIFW.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Finding Hope for the Music Industry Through Gotham

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If you’re new to the Institute, you may have heard the phrase “Gotham” and felt a bit perplexed.

Gotham is the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work’s flagship nine-month faith and work intensive that helps leaders embrace how their work fits into God’s unfolding story.

Already in its third year, the program has 80 current or alumni Gothamites who have participated in Gotham Nashville.

Georgia Edgeworth, a pop music songwriter here in the heart of Music City in Nashville, shared a few thoughts as she reflected on her experience with Gotham this year.

Q: How is your Gotham experience still specifically impacting in your day-to-day vocation?

A: Gotham has helped me realize that, though sometimes my work feels tedious, it has a bigger purpose. Gotham has proved to me that I should use my gifts for God's glory, making His name great and not my own. In a business obsessed with success, this has been a recurring take-home point for me. Serving the work itself and being obedient to the gifts that God has given me has, in many ways, been freeing. Knowing that I am serving God by simply using the gifts He gives was a huge realization for me personally.

Q: What has been the biggest area of impact in your work due to your Gotham experience?

A: I have had to let go of a lot of my fears in my work, and I'm still working on this. A lot of times I'm fearful of what others might think, but sometimes God pushes us to take leaps of faith. To simply surrender and trust instead of being anxious and fearful has been a big learning curve for me this year.

Q: Could you discuss the ways authenticity and vulnerability have impacted your Gotham experience?

A: I think the authenticity of my fellow Gothamites has been so great to know. I feel like the whole group has been vulnerable, especially during prayer request times. Having this group has enriched my life in so many ways and I hope to keep up with them as much as possible.

Q: In what areas of your work do you find your identity that distracts you from God?

A: Definitely validation/approval. In music, we often just want to hear a 'yes.' Most of the time for most creative people in the music business, it's a 'no' (unless you are Adele!). It's highly competitive and sometimes I struggle with just knowing that I'm enough. Something I've learned is that God's "yes" is all that matters and that I have to put one foot in front of the other and keep moving on from the world's 'no.'

Q: What is an example of an area of darkness in your workplace where you are able to shine light?

A: I'm actually in the middle of wrestling with this right now as I'm exploring my Cultural Renewal Project. There are so many broken aspects of my business that I don't know where to begin. There is the fact that it's so hard to make money in music. There is also the fact that people don't have a safe place to go to play their songs and not feel critiqued by someone in the industry. There is the fact that there are so many artists in town who are hanging their whole life around 'making it' and end up disappointed and heartbroken; I've seen this happen. Then there are relational aspects that are truly broken, people pretending to be friends with 'important people' to get something out of them. I'm praying a lot about this project as it's so important to me to be a light in a very dark place.

Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.

Georgia Edgeworth is a mother to her two sons, Ladd (14) and Adam (11), and wife to Mike Edgeworth. Georgia is a Nashville based singer, songwriter and producer. Her songs have been on hit TV shows such as ABC’s "Nashville" and Showtime’s "Shameless". Focusing on music for TV and film, Georgia is currently a signed songwriter with Lyric House Co. based in Los Angeles.

Want to know more about Gotham? You can register for one of our upcoming informational sessions in March/April HERE or register for any of our other upcoming events HERE.

Applications open April 1 for the 2018-19 class. You can learn more about the Gotham experience and apply for the program on our website.



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Love Thy Neighbor: How Faith and Fashion Inspired a Post-Retirement Entrepreneur

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Age is just a number for Agnes Scott.

"I don’t think about age," she says. "I think about how I can pass on what I’ve learned to others."

As a post-retiree serving as a "one woman band" of her newly-realized nonprofit venture, NeighborH.O.O.D., Scott rightfully has much to pass on.

Founded out of her own entrepreneurial success following her employment in the automotive industry in Detroit in the 1980s, Scott is the founder of NeighborH.O.O.D. (Hands on Our Destinies), a fashion and design trade and arts school built around a 15-month cooperative entrepreneurship curriculum that includes business and entrepreneurship courses.

The curriculum uses the performing, literary, decorative, graphic, plastic, visual, and performing arts as backdrops to spark creativity and innovation, promote social cohesion, spur academic performance, and heal and unite the community.

“This nation does not have the luxury to dismiss the need for the underserved to be advantaged.”

“Its mission is to bring forth the latent talents and abilities of Nashville’s underserved population via theory, application, and self-advocacy skills,” Scott says, “using hands-on cooperative entrepreneurship principles to shape their destinies.”

A partnership with Lipscomb University’s SALT (Serving and Learning Together) Program has accelerated NeighborH.O.O.D.’s launch date; the inaugural class, which began classes at the end of September, will graduate in winter 2018.

At last count, 11 students were set to enroll.

“This nation does not have the luxury to dismiss the need for the underserved to be advantaged,” Scott says. “So, in order to avoid increases in the dire economic, social, and educational woes of that population, which negatively affect the well-being of this nation, both domestically and internationally, steps must be put in place to change the dire statistics for this population."

Tuition is almost entirely subsidized by those sponsoring NeighborH.O.O.D., but students are expected to provide a proof of household income and contribute a reasonable portion for participation in the program.

Agnes Scott

Agnes Scott

‘THIS ORGANIZATION IS NEEDED’

So why focus on a fashion and design trade school to equip the underprivileged youth Scott feels called to serve?

Easy: because an element of fashion and design is attractive to the average person, and, as Scott points out, for the last five years the industry has shown significant growth in Nashville.

It’s the best of both worlds.

Because, as Scott notes, the Davidson County 2010-2014 Census shows at least 25-41 percent of Nashville’s District 17 (NeighborH.O.O.D.’s target area in Edgehill) lives in poverty. The organization was created with communities like this in mind.

What sets the organization apart is that NeighborH.O.O.D. offers to a number of individuals (at one time) through cooperative ownership a better way of life through education, entrepreneurship, and employment principles.

“Cooperatives can help change the statistics.”

This is Scott’s inspiration—to shine her light and push back against the darkness.

“This organization is needed,” she says, “because disadvantaged young people are at higher risk of marginalization and social exclusion than other youth (International Labour Office, 2011, P5).

“Cooperatives can help change the statistics.”

IMPACTING 'MY FELLOW MAN'

Scott is a rare Nashville native in a time when an estimated 100 new Nashvillians are moving to the city each day.

“All of my quests can be viewed as experiential learning, experiences to educate others,” Scott says. “However, over the last ten years, a spiritual aspect has been added to my goals and objectives, and I think about how what I do impacts my fellow man.”

Most recently, Scott completed the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work’s Gotham Program, a nine-month intensive emphasizing the integration of faith and vocation that ends with its signature “Cultural Renewal Project” aimed at shining light on an area of darkness in participants’ workplaces.

“All of my quests can be viewed as experiential learning, experiences to educate others. However, over the last ten years, a spiritual aspect has been added to my goals and objectives, and I think about how what I do impacts my fellow man.”

NeighborH.O.O.D. was Scott’s project, and it was born out of a desire to impact those in her sphere of influence across the generational divide.

“The greatest joy in working with those in different age generations,” she says, “is to see their thirst for learning and to learn from them.”

NIFW’s Gotham program is a nine-month faith and work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their roles at work for God’s glory and the common good.

Want more resources from NIFW? Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. You can also find more resources from NIFW on our blog and resources page.

Want to stay connected with NIFW? Join our email list to be the first to know about our upcoming events, programs, and latest resources.