contributed photo

One of the exercises in CLP is about identifying and clarifying our own personal values. We each identify our top 5 values, writing one each on 5 index cards. Then we have to drop one… and another… until we are forced to choose our number 1, top value. What is your current One right now and why?

I’m thinking of what I put back then; I can’t remember the five, but I remember the one. And I would say it’s the same: authenticity.

When I think about the best leaders I know personally, what I feel about them is that they have a sense of authenticity – that they bring their whole selves to their work.

I know there have been times where I felt like I had to be something else because I inhabit this role. But I’ve been most impactful when I’ve lived up to being my most authentic self.

Is authenticity your top core value outside of work as well?

Yes it is.  When I think about all the other things that I hold as important values – social justice, fairness, equity – if I’m not being authentic, then I’m not practicing those. I have to live authentically all the time.

What is one big, burning leadership question you are wrestling with these days?

There are so many, but the main one I’m wrestling with now is how to effectively lead in a crisis.

How do you build a team in this environment where everyone is on overdrive and under intense stress? We’re not all together in person, so there is an added layer of difficulty. My primary goal is to keep my team safe, while making sure we can continue to provide basic health needs because there are so many people suffering right now.

What inspires you, gives you hope these days?

I’m hopeful seeing all of the work by people every day meeting the needs of families. It’s incredible. I’m reminded of it every single day. It’s not new. Folks in the community are making sure their neighbors are ok.

The other thing that makes me hopeful is all of the advocacy work by young people. We’ve been doing some work on the issue of not having access to period supplies. Young folks are active, incredible leaders – they’re so inspiring.

What do you think about the ways the pandemic has amplified those things?

It feels like there’s been a spotlight shined on the issue of access to basic needs. To be honest, it’s great, and it’s terrible. It’s great because finally folks are paying attention to this. The terrible part is that it took this pandemic for many people to pay attention to the issue. But, ‘don’t waste the crisis.’ So if, because of this, there’s a way to make progress, then we have to do it.

This work of transformational change is hard. Stepping in, stepping up, over time, can be draining – physically, intellectually, emotionally, psychically, spiritually. How do you recharge, restore, take care of yourself, rekindle your fire?

I like to be outside. I like to hike in the woods. It makes me feel grounded, I feel connected. Most times I do it by myself but I feel connected to everybody. It’s counterintuitive, but being in the woods with nature, I feel more connected to the world, including other people – even if there aren’t any there.

Has that always been true for you?

To some degree, but it definitely feels heightened now.

I’ve also been getting into podcasts; some light ones, but some that get a little deeper. I think what’s been interesting is how much I have been craving storytelling and that deep focus. I would not have taken time to listen without the pandemic. I would have been busier and not focused on those kinds of deep conversations.

Being outside, listening to music, listening to a podcast, doing a physical project or task, even if it’s something mundane like cleaning the house, that is how I recharge.

When you hike in the woods, do you go to the same trail, or are there different ones you like to explore?

I like to go to the same trail. I’m lucky that I live close to one. I can walk out of my back yard onto the Metacomet and a few other trails that connect up with it. I’m directionally challenged, so for me, going to the same one every time is helpful. Within that trail system I can discover some new things that I haven’t noticed before.

Being in nature has been a godsend for me, it’s saved me this year.

I was going to say that – it has absolutely, 100%, saved me this year. I can’t describe it any other way.

I’m a touring artist, a traveler; I like to discover new places. But this past year, discovering newness in the sameness of my local area has been revolutionary for me, spiritually.

Yes! It’s like paying attention to the things you didn’t pay attention to before, and you missed them. That’s exactly right. I’m looking at every tree, every branch, everything in a different way. I’m paying attention. I’m paying attention to things that were right there, in a different way. That’s been amazing.

Introduce us to someone you are/were close with personally (e.g., family, teacher, friend, mentor), who shaped (or shapes) you and how you view leadership and possibility for a better community/world?

Colleen Richard, a teacher who saw something in me that I was not ready to see in myself quite yet.

I was an adult college student. I was going part-time, taking classes while I was working. For a long time, it was just one class a semester. It felt like something I was just doing, not something I’d ever finish. Finally, I thought, I’d better do this for real, but how will I manage it? How will I work college around a full-time job?

Colleen ran the Human Services program at Tunxis, and I had her for several classes. She was really authentic – making me see what I could be, but also holding me accountable.

Being in the program was a big leap of faith for sure. And she made me feel like I was doing the right thing. Even when it felt like, ‘am I ever going to graduate, is this worth it…’ she was the ‘you’ve got to keep going.’ I get emotional there. Her advice carried me through the rest of my undergrad and grad school education.

I still go visit to this day, talk to all the intro to Human Services students, and tell them the same message – keep going. It feels like a long time away, but you’ll do it. Even now, in thinking about the work, when things come up that are tricky, Colleen gives me advice: “keep it going, keep it moving.”

We stay connected, keeping in touch a few times a year.

What do you recommend to us, in each of these categories:
  • Reading – Broke in America: Seeing, Understanding and Ending U.S. Poverty, by Joanne Goldblum and Colleen Shaddox, my friends and colleagues. Here’s what I love about it: it’s a policy book, it’s a storybook, it’s a solution-focused book. It’s very concrete, clear, simple and impactful. It reminds me of the things that I love about this organization that I now have the privilege of running. It articulates both the direct need and the policy implications that are inherent in this work. This book is exactly that.
  • Listening – Design Matters with Debbie Millman. It’s outside my comfort zone; I’m not artistic, but when I listen to it, I learn so much. She’s a very creative person who talks about design, but also just has interesting conversations with people. And the show Disrupted, by Kalilah Brown-Dean on Connecticut Public Radio. It brought me right back to CLP. I was just listening to an episode with Erik Clemons.
  • Eating – My initial reaction is “less.” But, I’ll say healthy – to take care of myself – in a time that it feels difficult to do that. Lately, I am loving Caesar salad to a degree that is kind of ridiculous.
  • Watching – Something light, I use that time to rest and unwind. Whose Line Is It Anyway, The Masked Singer, anything entertaining and silly.
  • Laughing – I have been loving two things: NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!, and Ask Me Another.
  • Wildcard – American Utopia, a 2020 concert film directed and produced by Spike Lee, from a screenplay by David Byrne. The film is a live recording of a Broadway performance of a modified version of the album American Utopia, including several songs and contributions from throughout Byrne’s career.

Learn more about Janet and The Diaper Bank

To get in touch with Janet directly: janet@thediaperbank.org

print