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Transforming Engagement: The PodcastAuthor: Center for Transforming Engagement
We host conversations about changes that serve a common good and a higher good. We talk with ministry leaders, counselors, academics, practitioners, and more to learn about how change happens. Language: en Genres: Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Grief, Gratitude, and the Work of Flourishing: A Conversation with Romanita Hairston
Thursday, 4 December, 2025
In this deeply meaningful conversation, host Rose Madrid Swetman speaks with Romanita Hairston, CEO of the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust. Drawing from her vantage point leading a major philanthropic institution and her lifelong experience in the Pacific Northwest, Romanita helps us see grief not only as an emotional experience but as a necessary communal practice that can strengthen relationships, build bridges, and open new possibilities for flourishing. Romanita reflects on the disruptive events of recent years including the "quadruple pandemic" of public health crisis, economic instability, racial reckoning, and political polarization, and how these collective pressures have reshaped the nonprofit sector. She names the weariness, compassion fatigue, and leadership transitions impacting organizations today, while offering a framework for attending to the human experience beneath strategic plans, funding models, and systems change. With warmth, clarity, and deep wisdom, Romanita offers pastors, nonprofit leaders, and anyone navigating change a compelling vision for how grief and gratitude deepen our capacity to lead with courage, humility, and love. Resources M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust Romanita's Article in Christ & Cascadia
