I met Laura Doty in 2017 after catastrophic fires leveled much of the county where we both live. We’d shown up to assist the survivors of the fire, people who were now living at the local fairgrounds, uncertain if their house would still be standing when the flames were finally extinguished. For far too many, the answer was no. Over the years we’ve become friends who share a passion for engagement, for showing up to do what we can, when we could, to make a difference. Laura, or Dr. Doty as she is known by many, has spent the better part of her life as a therapist and forensic psychologist.

Laura is also one of a group of local women who call themselves the Benton Street Improvement Association. Inspired by a yard sign project she saw in Washington DC when she attended the Climate March, Laura wanted to bring the idea back to her local community. The collection of yard signs created by the The Benton Street group is what Laura calls, “small potato activisim,” to create a community that is safe and welcoming for everyone.

This is a conversation between friends, about the importance of engaging in local activism in a time of great peril. About what it means to show up and bring our authentic selves to the conversation. About speaking the truth because mall potato activism is about planting seeds and watching them grow.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

* We create safety in numbers. What is one thing you can do to lend your voice to a cause that matters to you?

* Laura talks about the small things we can do, even in our neighborhood. Bringing soup to a sick neighbor. Stopping to talk to someone as you walk the dog. Look for ways to help build community, one person at a time.

* Summon up your courage to join a community clean up, pot luck or local gathering. Bring your authentic self. Watch what happens next.

It was during COVID, and Dan Zauderer was a 6th grade Humanities teacher at the American Dream School a charter school in the South Bronx, New York. The American Dream School specifically served the undocumented Latin American community. And because Dan taught in Costa Rica for a while, his Spanish skills were good, and it allowed him to get to know his students really well.

Because he took the time to lean in to the school community, he discovered that many of many of his students’ families did not have access to basic resources. He sent out a survey via text message to eighty eight families and what he learned, changed the course of his life. One in four families were cutting down on meals or skipping meals a few times a week.

“The first project,’ he tells me, “Was raising money online. By tapping into the contacts he’d made throughout his life, he was able to raise in the tens of thousands of dollars. They raised money for hotspots, for books for summer reading and food supplies… “It was a great experience, to know that you could rally community that way.” They began to send staples to his student’s families —cleaning supplies, beans and rice. But some of the families struggled more than others.

They enrolled six families in a food delivery program, where they received weekly boxes of produce. Over time, the money ran out, but the food insecurity did not. It was in that experience that the seeds of Grassroots Grocery were sown.

Dan Zauderer is a community builder, social entrepreneur, and the driving force behind Grassroots Grocery. His journey began as a middle school teacher at the Bronx’s American Dream School, where he discovered that one in four of his students were facing food insecurity. That moment changed everything. Leaving his teaching job, he co-founded the Mott Haven Fridge Network, a grassroots initiative that grew into Grassroots Grocery, a volunteer-powered movement bringing fresh, healthy food directly to communities that need it most.

As you listen to this conversation, consider:

* Food insecurity is not a new concept. In every community, there are people who struggle to gain access to food that is healthy and sustains them. Where are the pockets of food insecurity in your community?

* Who are the organizations who support those who are struggling to eat? Food banks? Community kitchens? Community fridges? Volunteer. Donate. Support their work.

* Dan’s experience as a salesperson, coupled with his teaching and language skills, were the ingredients for creating change in his community. What are your ingredients? What can you create from the skills you have?

Learn more about Grassroots Grocery here.

Perhaps you’ve had the opportunity to travel to England or Ireland and experienced it first hand. You step inside a darkly lit room, hard wood paneling defines the space. You step up to the bar, littered with glasses, beer taps and warm bodies waiting to be served. The walls are filled with dozens of yellowing photographs, framed football kits and requisite Guinness signs. Around you, a couple dozen unfamiliar friendly faces, but. strangers, the saying goes, are just friends you haven’t met yet. The match is on, conversation reverberates in the air, and before you know it, people start singing.

“I worked in my father’s pub when I was a kid, “ says John Crowley, a native of Dublin, Ireland. “I really fell in love with it —with the community aspect of it, and I missed it when I got here.” When he emigrated to the United States, it was one of the things he longed for, but no matter where he looked, he couldn’t seem to find. Sure, there were great bars and restaurants —he was in the San Francisco Bay Area after all, but he couldn’t find the sense of community reminiscent of his formative years.

Twenty five years ago, Crowley read Bowling Alone, and it changed his life. The book was about the power of social connection, asking the question, Where is our social capital? Where are the networks in community that bind it together and make is stronger? Unable to find it in his new home, he went about trying to create it. He invited people to join him in conversation at a local restaurant. The topic? What was the last postcard you received?

That night, he waited to see what would happen. A couple of new acquaintances arrived. As they sat and chatted, a few others joined. And then a few more. A social quorum emerged., and as they sat and chatted, the threads of community began to emerge. The rest, as they say, is history.

“What happens to society when we withdraw into our own homes and we’re not a part of clubs, churches, organizations? One thing,” says John Crowley, “Is we get really lonely and loneliness can lead to some really strange places. [In his film Join or Die, Robert Putnam] draws the connection between loneliness and fascism —[that’s where you find] a great source of people who are disgruntled and unhappy with the system. this is what is happening right before our eyes right now.”

From the seeds of those early conversations, to a lifetime of dedication to building social connection, John Crowley has dedicated his life to expanding social capital. Along with British American business partner Lesley McCullaugh, he is the the owner of Aqus Cafe and founder of Aqus Community Foundation, a nonprofit focused on building a community connection that provides a sense of belonging and encourages people to invest in where they live.

As you listen, consider:

* Where are the places of connection in your community?

* What clubs, organization, churches or other social networks do you belong to? How do they impact your sense of community?

* What is one step you can take today to expand your connection to your community? Who is one person you can invite to join you?

You can learn more about John Crowley and Aqus Community Foundation here.

Christopher was, in Sally’s words, a “wild child.” Prior to getting married and beginning a family, both Sally and her husband struggled with addiction, but by the time Christopher was born, both had embraced years of sobriety and believed they could protect their children from the mistakes they’d made. And yet, despite all the preparation that goes into it, parenting is often a journey without a road map. The oldest of three, Christopher struggled with ADHD and later, addiction, but years of treatment gave him a path to sobriety, so by the time he entered college, he was on his way to a brighter future. But it was not meant to be.

“He had a couple of near death accidents, even when sober, says Sally, “So that just kind of showed me that what I’ve come to believe is true, I don’t think that he was meant to be here for longer than his 21 years.”

Sally McQuillen, LCSW, CADC, is a psychotherapist specializing in addiction, grief, and trauma recovery. Based in the Chicago area, she provides ongoing support for addiction recovery, as well as support for those recovering from the impact of a loved one’s addiction. She works with clients to find peace and healing from trauma and loss.

As you listen to this powerful interview, consider:

* As parents (and teachers, coaches, mentors), we falsely believe that we can protect our children for pain rather than allowing them to learn the lessons of their own lives. How can we foster resistance in our young people?

* Often, when people experience grief, they try to shield themselves from the pain they are experiencing. How can you allow yourself to feel “through the feelings” through journaling, therapy, connecting with others who are experiencing similar paths, etc.

* Love is all that matters. That’s the message that Sally learned from her son. Being grateful for those moments where love shines through is key. Consider keeping a gratitude journal each day, noting one or more things you’re grateful for.

You can learn more about Sally and Reaching for Beautiful herehttps://www.sallymcquillen.com/

When Michael Larson was just two years old, his parents went to prison. He and his two siblings found themselves on a journey that would inform the rest of his life. As they navigated their journey through various foster homes in the foster care system, they finally landed with a family that would eventually adopt them, and one that afforded them the stability, love and support they would need to succeed. Michael and his siblings were some of the lucky ones.

As a sociology major at Gonzaga, Michael learned about the stark reality of homelessness among youth aging out of foster care. This revelation ignited a passionate commitment to serve at a local homeless shelter and eventually to leading a student-group named Meals in the Margins. He directed “Humanizing Spokane”, a documentary that told the powerful stories of four unhoused individuals and helped to build empathy for those experiencing homelessness across the city.

It is those experiences and others that led him to create Humans for Housing, a Portland based nonprofit organization that aims to tackle the critical issue of homelessness through powerful storytelling, education and community engagement. In this wide-reaching conversation, Michael’s journey to pay it forward has something to inspire all of us.

As you listen to this episode consider:

* Stories have the capacity to bring us together and teach us something new. Invite friends to watch a documentary about a topic that you know little about. Have a conversation about what you learn.

* Learn about the issues facing your community. Attend a city council meeting or a talk about affordable housing in your community. Sign up for a shift at the local food bank.

* There are many local organizations that are already working to make sure everyone has safe place to call home. What is one way you can do to support their work in your community?

You can learn more about Humans for Housing here.

Learn about the film, No Place to Grow Old here

.

When Brian McNaught was in eighth grade, Sister Claire Marie, IHM, a nun at his school in Birmingham, Michigan, pulled his mother aside and proclaimed, “Your son is a prince of a boy.” 

‘Did Sister Claire Marie say that because I was well behaved? Nice? Funny? Or did she see in me a vibration as the empathetic soul I aspired and imagined myself to be.” writes McNaught in his new memoir, A Prince of a Boy.

It was that vibration that led Brian McNaught towards a life of service, a renowned speaker, educator and leader in the field of gender advocacy, Brian spent 50 years as an educator on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer issues in colleges, government agencies, and corporations. 

Born in Detroit in 1948, Brian McNaught was one of seven Irish Catholic children. He was a civil rights and anti-war activist and filed as a conscientious objector to the American war in Vietnam. Called by the New York Times “the godfather of Gay diversity training,” he’s the author of 15 books, and is featured in seven DVDs.  He lives with Ray, his husband of 49 years. in Wilton Manors, FL.

You can learn more about Brian McNaught here.

You can purchase A Prince of a Boy here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

‘Did Sister Claire Marie say that because I was well behaved? Nice? Funny? Or did she see in me a vibration as the empathetic soul I aspired and imagined myself to be.” writes McNaught in his new memoir, A Prince of a Boy.

It was that vibration that led Brian McNaught towards a life of service, a renowned speaker, educator and leader in the field of gender advocacy, Brian spent 50 years as an educator on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer issues in colleges, government agencies, and corporations. 

Born in Detroit in 1948, Brian McNaught was one of seven Irish Catholic children. He was a civil rights and anti-war activist and filed as a conscientious objector to the American war in Vietnam. Called by the New York Times “the godfather of Gay diversity training,” he’s the author of 15 books, and is featured in seven DVDs.  He lives with Ray, his husband of 49 years. in Wilton Manors, FL.

You can learn more about Brian McNaught here.

You can purchase A Prince of a Boy here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Born in Sedalia, Missouri in a segregated community, his early years were marked with the traumas inherent in racism. At 10 he witnessed an event that would change the trajectory of his life, casting him into an abyss so deep it would take years to dig himself out.

But dig deep he did. Now, more than seven and a half years sober, he is grateful for the life he has and for the family, both biological and chosen, who have loved and supported him. Today he has built a life he is proud of, one in which service to others is central.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• We all have times of struggle, when we need someone to listen. Who do you depend on? 
• Taylor speaks about the importance of having someone to listen. Learning to listen means meeting people where they are, without judgement or expectation. How can you be truly present for someone who is struggling?
• Life is filled with challenges. Focusing on what we are grateful for helps keep us steady and puts life into context.  Practice finding one or more things to be grateful for each day. Consider keeping a gratitude journal.

You can learn more about Taylor here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Ikigai is a Japanese word that means "a reason for being". It's a concept that refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose and joy.  Brian Muegge has found his ikigai. A 31 year old with a deep passion for the environment,  he has found his purpose in working to steward the planet we are lucky to call home.  

Growing up in a tech focused community in northern California, Brian always felt like a fish out of water.  Instead of following in the path of his father who was a semiconductor engineer, he found himself drawn to the natural world.  A fan of Steve Irwin and others, he had his share of pets. "My mother was not particularly good at saying no," he says with a smile. But it was when he accepted a gift of two, fertilized emu eggs and an incubator from a relative that he would test his mother's resolve.

A biology major at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, Brian studied the habitat of the yellow-bellied marmot, a research project that earned him the moniker "Marmot Man". He  now works with an organization called Salmon Safe, a non-profit organization in the Pacific Northwest that works with West Coast farmers, developers, and other environmentally innovative landowners to reduce watershed impacts. 

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• How much do you know about the environment in which you live? Where does your water come from? What birds build their nests in the trees? If you live in a city, what is the impact of city life on the natural world?
• Take a field trip to a local park or natural setting. Use your senses. Spend some time observing the environment. 
• Read up on the environmental issues facing your community. Consider getting involved in a river clean up or collecting signatures for a local environmental effort.

You can learn more about Salmon Safe here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Twenty five years ago Bryan Driscoll found himself at a crossroads. He was 18 years old and preparing to spend the night at a bus station in Orlando, Florida when a stranger offered him a hot meal and a place to sleep. It was that simple act of kindness that launched his desire to pay it forward, offering help to anyone who needed it. He placed an ad on Craigslist, and what happened after that became the impetus for what happened next. As he tells us, Bryan Driscoll is just your average guy, a real estate developer and marketing expert from Pittsburg Pennsylvania whose book, the goodness game, reminds us that we can all make a difference, one small act at a time.

Bryan Driscoll is a first-time author with a passion for inspiring kindness and creating positive change in the world. He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where he runs a successful digital marketing agency. He credits his amazing wife with putting up with his insanity—and probably encourages it more than she should. He has three sons, all different and awesome in their own way. They say they get their awesomeness from their father, and he won’t argue, even if everyone knows the truth. 

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• “Give without remembering,” Bryan encourages. Can you challenge yourself to give anonymously, without fanfare or appreciation?
• Helping is easier when we recognize our helping style. Some of us are physical helpers. Others emotional. Still others financial. What is your helping style? 
• When giving is a planned activity, Bryan says, it’s more likely that you will be able to commit to it long term; for example, having a “give fund” for cash donations, or a “time fund” for in person helping. Can you create a plan to engage in your community?

You can learn more about the giving game here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

“I think that's the purpose of volunteer work," says Lilian Talero of her work with the HIV/AIDS immigrant community. "We think, ‘I'm going to give my time for free. I'm going to do this for [other] people,’ but all I'm doing is healing. Through the time that I'm giving. Through the work with others. I'm not giving anything. Honestly, we're getting so much."

Lililana Talera immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area from Bogota, Columbia after her mother's death from endometrial cancer. In the challenging and heartbreaking final years of her mother's life, Liliana was by her side, caring for her through the darkest of times. That loss prompted a crisis for Liliana, a young, single woman who had dedicated her life to her family.

With the help of a few “guardian angels”, Liliana struggled for months to reclaim her life and then,  a shocking diagnosis of HIV and her own endometrial cancer brought her to a crossroads. She faced a difficult question. Would she give up and prepare to die or choose life, and the challenges that would follow. 

This is the story of that choice. Of Liliana’s courage to face uncertainty, and her journey to find meaning and purpose that would eventually sustain her.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Liliana speaks of the angels in her life, people who stood by her in her darkest hours. Who are the angels in your life?
• How can you be an angel for someone today? 
• Self care is a priority for those who dedicate their lives to helping others. How do you take care of your own physical and mental health?

Learn more about Honoring Our Experience here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Let me tell you how proud I am of them and their classmates who give hundreds of hours of service to our community each semester. They really are the future.

Welcome Jenn, Mikayla and Lee.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Perhaps, like me, you’re one of the more than 345K followers who tune in to Instagram or Tik Tok to hear one of Mr. Eich’s wildly popular stories about his students. Matt Eicheldinger is an author and sixth grade language arts teacher who has amassed a treasure trove of stories, lessons that  help him, and us, learn what it means to be fully human. Stories are, as he quotes author Jason Reynolds, baked-in empathy machines.

“I happen to have a really good memory from my childhood,” he says of his new found superpower. “I remember lots of embarrassing moments… and so [one day] I told my class, if I tell you an embarrassing story, will you do what I ask?”  Needless to say they said yes. He placed a jar in his classroom and filled it with stories from his own life, sharing them with his students. It was that first collection of stories from his own life that formed the basis for his first book, Matt Sprouts and the Curse of Ten Broken Toes.  But over the years of teaching, his collection of stories grew to include anecdotes from his time with his students. His new book, Sticky Notes, captures them in narrative form.

Matt Eicheldinger, or Mr. Eich, as he is known to his students, is a teacher, storyteller and author of three books, Matt Sprouts and the Curse of Ten Broken Toes, Matt Sprouts and the Day Nora Ate the Sun and Sticky Notes, Memorable Lessons from Ordinary Moments. He lives in Minnesota with his wife and two children, and tries to create new adventures with them whenever possible. When he's not writing, you can find him telling students stories in his classroom, or trail running along the Minnesota River Bottoms.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• We all have favorite stories from our childhood. What is one that opened your eyes and heart to a new way of understanding? 
• In his story “Phillip”, Matt talks about the power of the pause. Where can you find places in your own life to pause and open yourself up to something surprising?
• “Stories are baked-in empathy machines,” says Jason Reynolds, the author and former Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. How can we use the power of story to create a more compassionate world?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

“I was a reluctant activist,” says Vince Crisostomo of the humble beginnings of his advocacy for LGBTQ communities. He’d done his share of sitting by the bedsides of friends and community members as they succumbed to the deadly virus, but it would be a few more years until he would step into a role he has now occupied for more than 30 years.

An invitation to return to his native Guam on World AIDS Day changed all that. They were looking for a gay Chamorro who was HIV positive to speak. “Oh my God that’s me,” he thought, but he dismissed it outright. Surely there was someone else, he mused to a friend. But it was his time. A time to lean into the moment.  He didn’t want to regret the chances he didn’t take.  Now, more than three decades later, he has committed his life to the healing power of community.

Vince Crisostomo is a gay Chamorro (Pacific Islander) long-term HIV/AIDS survivor  He is passionate about bringing health care to all and social justice equity to people of every sexual identity, HIV status, gender, race and age.  Vince is currently SFAF’s Director of Aging Services and is seated on the SF Human Rights Commission’s LGBTQI+ Advisory Committee and California State Equity on Aging Committee.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Where are the opportunities to step forward, even reluctantly, to make a difference?
• What kind of world do we want to “age in to?” What is one thing we can do to work towards that vision?
• Vince talks about making optimistic choices?  What is one optimistic choice you can make today? 

Learn more about Honoring Our Experience here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Irwin Keller was in third grade when he knew he wanted to be a rabbi, but it would be many years before he would heed his calling. Along the way he became a lawyer and gay rights advocate and a marginally famous singing drag queen for 21 years with America's Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet, the Kinsey Sicks.

With war raging in the middle east and a fractured world around us, we talk about the desire to find connection to something greater than ourselves, a way to lean into a sense of compassion and kindness and the courage to sit with uncertainty. 

Rabbi Irwin Keller is the spiritual leader of Congregation Ner Shalom in Sonoma County, California. The author of Shechinah at the Art Institute, a collection of memoir, essay and poetry that aims to bring the reader closer to the divine.

As you listen to this interview, consider:

• The last ten years or so have brought some significant challenges to many of our lives. Where do you look to find peace in times of profound distress? 
• Many of us have had religious experiences that have caused us deep pain and yet, we long for sense of spiritual connection, something that touches us and gives us a connection to something bigger than ourselves.  Where do you find that in your life? What, if any, role does religion or spirituality play in that?
• How might we reinvent old practices, rituals, and ceremonies to allow us to find new meaning in them, changes that might create the possibility of seeing ourselves more deeply in the practice?

To learn more about Rabbi Keller, visit his website.
You can read more from Rabbi Irwin here.
You can purchase Shechinah at the Art Institute here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Karen Olson walked that route hundreds of times. Heading home after a long day of work in New York City at pharmaceutical company Warner Lambert, she noticed a woman sitting in front of Grand Central Station who appeared to be homeless. Instead of walking past as she’d done so many times before, she ran across the street and bought the woman a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice. “Thank you,” the woman said. It was the first time she had eaten since the day before. 

As she sat beside her, Karen took the woman’s hand in hers. She was struck by its warmth, even in the cold of a winter’s day. “It was in that moment that the vail was lifted,” she said. “I recognized our shared humanity.”  

What happened that evening changed the course of her life. A few years later Karen founded the Interfaith Hospitality Network, now renamed Family Promise, to address the devastating effects of family homelessness. Now a national movement with more than 192 affiliates across the country, Olson’s work has inspired more than 160,000 volunteers in 42 states to make a difference in the lives of families who are struggling.

Karen Olson is President Emerita of Family Promise and the author of a new memoir, Meant for More in which she shares the stories of the many people she met and worked with during her uncanny journey. 

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Karen’s work reminds us that small acts can have big impact. What is one small act you can take to help someone today?
• The power of a single act can be multiplied when we invite others to join us. Where are the opportunities to expand your reach by inviting others to join in the work?
• Karen believes we are “Meant for More?” What is the “More” that you are called towards?

You can learn more about Karen Olson on her website. 
Get your copy of Meant for More here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Perhaps not surprisingly, Traei found her voice in sharing the stories of others.  On her podcast Her Stories Untold, she shares stories from women from various walks of life as a way to build connection to the ordinary (and extraordinary) lives we all lead. As an actress and filmmaker she aims to open hearts and minds to the challenges that exist in the world around us.  Film has the ability to break us open, encouraging us to think about things differently, and then, perhaps, to shape our actions to make the world a better place.

Traei Tsai is a Taiwanese-Canadian multi-talented artist based in Vancouver, Canada, who gained recognition for her role in the globe’s first "Corona Movie," which in addition to the subject of the film’s title, explored issues of racism and xenophobia. As the Vice-President of the BC Minorities in Film & TV Society, she champions diversity in the film industry, advocating for representation both in front of and behind the camera. Traei speaks seven languages with varying degrees of fluency, including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, French, Taiwanese, and Russian. She is currently developing new digital art series to promote harmonious living and is in pre-development on several documentary, web series, and TV/film projects.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Now, more than 20 years later, she has garnered a wealth of experience in development, with a dedicated focus on women’s empowerment and gender equality. She has positively impacted the lives of thousands of women. In her role as the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS country facilitator and trainer, she has directly trained and mentored approximately 800 women from over 17 provinces of Afghanistan in the last 17 years. She has co-authored a training manual on Business Start-ups and contributed to the creation of “Gender and the Legal Framework of Afghanistan.” 

Manizha Wafeq has learned valuable lessons through years of working to change the lives of women in her native Afghanistan, a country of 41 million people that has seen dramatic cultural shifts in recent years. "Long term commitment, patience and building your network with the right people" are key.  She admits to a revolutionary streak in her personality. She is someone who is not afraid to take on whatever challenges await her. 

But big change takes time. “You have to keep on learning,” she says.  If you don’t learn, you will never succeed. Passion only goes so far.  You have to be well versed. You have to take the time to learn what you need to make the changes you want to make.” 

She is the winner of several awards such as the Enterprising Women Magazine’s Advocacy and Leadership Award, Leadership Award from the National Business Association of the US, and Young Activist Award from the Afghan Women's Network and the Afghan Lower House of the Parliament. She also won the award for the best membership services and entrepreneurship development of SMEs at the 11th World Chambers Congress. 

She has MBA from the American University of Afghanistan and she is the mother of a 9 year old daughter.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Today on the podcast we're revisiting a conversation from Season 2, with Martina Clark. Author, Activist, and HIV survivor.

Imagine being 28 years old, arguably at the beginning of your life, and told you have 5 years to live. With a sense of nothing to lose, Martina Clark, writer, teacher, and activist, dove into an activism that led her to becoming the first openly HIV-positive person to work for UNAIDS in 1996. 

She captured that life in her memoir, My Unexpected Life, a mix of personal story, travel, humor and an up-close look at the squishy underbelly of the United Nations that follows her personal journey—emotional and physical—interwoven with her professional path. It is an insider’s view to the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, particularly as pertains to women. 

A native Californian, Martina teaches in the City University of New York system at Laguardia Community College where she empowers the next generation of young people to explore their passions to find their voice in the world.

To learn more about Martina's work visit her website:
martina@martina-clark.com
martina-clark.com

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

“I am an educator, listener, advocate, supporter and challenger,” reads Greg Casillas from his version of the George Ella Lyon poem, I Am From. “I am from the belief that it’s  never as bad as it is good. I am from a brother that said the only thing that we are given is a chance.” 

Greg Casillas knows the power of story. The gift of showing up and listening. Of bearing witness to someone else’s journey. 

In April, Honoring Our Experience held it’s biannual retreat.  Tucked away in the California hills, long term survivors of HIV/AIDS. gathered with the newly diagnosed and those who support them, for a weekend to remember. A time to share their stories. To  be grateful. To hold each other close. And to heal.

It was on that weekend that Greg Casillas came to terms with pain he’d been carrying for far too long. Pain he barely acknowledged was still there. But that’s what happens when you bear witness. When you show up for yourself and others. Slowing down allows you to look inside —and come to terms with moments sometimes long forgotten. 

Pain shared is pain divided. That’s the healing power of story.

Greg Casillas is a healer. The Strategic Program Director at CRRC (Community Resource and Recreation Center) in Canyon Lake, TX, he provides program development, dissemination, coordination and policy & procedure structure to 4 different programs housed at CRRC.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Think about someone in your community who needs support. What is one thing you can do to to lessen their load?
• Consider writing your own “I Am From” poem. What are the experiences of your own life that make you who you are?
• It’s easy to look outward, seeing the work others need to do. How can we use those opportunities to look inward and challenge ourselves to grow?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

As she sat at the bedside of Ruth, the late stage Alzheimer’s patient, she promised her that if she could ever play her instrument again, she would return with some of her friends to play for her. Six months later she made good on that promise, and Project: Music Heals Us was born. From  prisons to hospitals and refugee camps, Project: Music Heals Us brings the healing power of music to some of the darkest places in our world.

Under the direction of Dana Martin, Project Manager for the Music for the Future Program, PMHS recently completed a seven week program with the Sonoma County Jail in Santa Rosa, CA.  participants earned certificates and school credit for their participation as part of a new pilot project with the Juilliard School in New York City, NY.

Dana Martin, Project Manager, Music for the Future, Prison Programs, PMHU

Molly Carr is the founder and artistic director of Project: Music Heals Us. A world renowned viola player, she is on the faculty of the Juilliard School and performs as a member of the Juilliard String Quartet and the Carr-Petrova Duo.

Dana Martin is the Program Manager for Music for the Future; a music composition course presented by Project: Music Heals Us. Dana is an actor, multidisciplinary artist, educator and theater critic based in Los Angeles, CA.

You can learn more about Project: Music Heals Us here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

A self described Tex-Israeli, Joy Kolin was born in Texas but spent most of her formative years in Israel. It was those international beginnings that led her to a love of travel. Of a curiosity for exploration that would pave the way for finding her true passion. 

• We often worry that we don’t have the capacity to make an impact —that what we have to offer might be too little. But Joy teaches us that it doesn’t take a lot to make a difference.  What is one small thing you can do today to help someone else? 
• Joy talks about the multiplier effect, the idea that even the smallest action can produce big ripples. How can you extend your reach by doing something that has a multiplier effect.
• Practice curiosity. Try something new today.   What did you learn? 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

• Each of us have an opportunity to create a community where we all belong. Which are the communities where you feel a sense of belonging?
• Mariana believes that if we are fortunate enough to have opportunity, we can do something that could better the lives of others. Where have you been given opportunity?  Is there something you can do to share what you have been given?
• Who are the voices that need to be heard in society?  What might we learn if we could take the time to listen?
• Learn more about Mariana’s work here.
• Visit her Ashoka Fellows page here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Florencia Lalor has spent her life working to understand the experience of adoption. An adoptee herself, she has spoken to hundreds of adoptees from all corners of the world. “I found one common thing… that we all have in common,” she says of the experience of the adoptee, “And that is that very profound fear of not being loved.”

Florencia Lalor is a psychologist and social worker in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is the founder of La Voz del Hijo, a virtual platform for adoptees to bring their voices forward. She is co-author, (Belén López Medus y María Casabal)  of a children’s book, Ojos Color Cafe, Hazel Eyes, that is geared towards helping adoptees speak out about their experience.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Florencia says that the early wound created when a child is given up for adoption creates a “fear of not being loved”, a fear that exists, no matter how much they are loved by their new family. How might knowing that help us to understand the journey of friends who are adopted.
• How does knowing where you come from affect your sense of belonging —or deepen your understanding of yourself?
• A truth about adoption is that adoptees belong to two families. Creating space for that duality is critical for the adoptee. Think about the “families” that you belong to. How do you integrate them in your own life?

You can learn more about Florencia's work here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

There’s something that happens when you accept that this is your life now,” he says. “You can beat it back …but it will never go away.” Now as an “elder” member of the Honoring Our Experience Community he bears witness to the journeys of so many who have come after him, sharing his story and  listening to theirs, holding a deep compassion and empathy for the struggle that unites them.

• Harry grew up in a small town in Louisiana, where what was acceptable was colored by a very conservative world view. How are you shaped by the culture, environment or community in which you live?
• When Harry got sick he made a decision that would change his life. What important decision(s) have you made that changed the course of things to come?  What did you learn from those decisions?
• Sharing our stories help us to recognize we are not alone. Listening to others helps us develop empathy. Who can you listen to this week?  With whom can you share your story?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Cleveland Harvey’s journey to social work is rooted in his early experience as a child in South Central Los Angeles during the mid-eighties when the area was steeped in the gang and crack epidemics. As the only black child in the neighborhood, he struggled to find direction. A chance meeting at a local hospital led him to find people who mentored him and nudged him towards social work, encouraging him to commit his life to making a difference for others.

March is National Social Work Month. Social workers are professional helpers, people who are committed to  making the world a better place. From the care and protection of children to creating policy that shapes communities for years to come, the work of a social workers is diverse and wide reaching, guided by a set of principles aimed at fighting against discrimination, supporting the disenfranchised and lifting up those who struggle to have a voice.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Who are the people who have mentored you?
• What are the lessons you learned from them? How did they shape your journey?
• How can you pay it forward? Are there opportunities in your community for you to mentor and guide someone?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

March is national social work month.  Social work is one of many professional helping careers, but it’s also an identity.  I am a social worker, I tell my students with pride.  It’s not my career, its my calling.  A calling to serve others. A calling to raise up the disadvantaged, the voiceless and the marginalized. To walk beside the people who often walk alone.

Today I’m sharing an episode from season 2 with my friend and fellow social worker Gary Mallon who reminds us that being seen for who you truly are is one of the greatest gifts we can give one another.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

It’s an old Zen proverb. Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. When it feels like things are tough, we can still wash the dishes. Weed the garden. Clean out our sock drawer.

Paula Sheil is a dynamo. As an elementary school teacher she filled her 

classroom with student created cardboard missions so that they could experience exploring California’s  Camino Real. As a college educator she teaches her poetry students to shift their perspective from their own internal strife to the external world they live in. To begin to notice, to connect with the universal in life’s experience. It is there that true connection happens.  As the founder of Tuleburg Press, she works to bring the voices of Stockton area writers into the world.

She’s a learn by doing kind of person, so it’s no surprise that when she was gifted an old fashioned printing press, she used it as an opportunity to create The Write Place, a non profit center where students of all ages can learn the book arts.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• What does Paula mean when she says “chop wood, carry water”? 
• When you feel stuck, discouraged or frustrated, what  is one simple action you can take?
• How can you turn your attention outwards?  Can you approach life with an observer's curiousity? 

You can learn more about Paula, Tuleburg Press and The Write Place here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

It started like a nightmare. Pregnant, in a toxic relationship and far away from the family she loved, Deirdre Johnson learned she’d been infected with the HIV virus. It was December 5th, a day Deirdre now celebrates. The day her life changed forever. 

On a Christmas Day hike to the top of a nearby mountain, Deirdre asked for guidance. “I was about 5 months pregnant…, and when I got to the top of the mountain I prayed. Wherever you want to send me,” she promised, “I’ll go.”  No longer afraid, she took matters into her own hands and the rest, as she says, is history.

She turned her focus to making a difference, not just for herself and her children but for those who would come after. Now, a celebrated public speaker and advocate, she is the co-founder of Ending Criminalization of HIV and Over-incarceration in Virginia (ECHO VA). You can learn more about her work here.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• In those moments of great challenge, where do you seek answers?
• What have you learned through those darkest moments?
• Where are the opportunities for you to share that wisdom so that others may benefit from your journey?

You can learn more about the work of Honoring Our Experience here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

22 minutes. That’s the amount of time Joyce Mikal-Flynn lay on the pavement beside a swimming pool while friends worked desperately to resuscitate her. She’d just swam the final leg of friendly competition when she sank to the bottom of the pool. 

Those 22 minutes became the catalyst for a profound life change. The motivation she used to come back stronger. Not just to survive but to thrive. Dr. Joyce Mikal-Flynn is the founder of Metahab, a strength based system to help individuals recover from traumatic events.  She is the author of two books, Turning Tragedy into Triumph: Metahabilitation, A Contemporary Model of Rehabilitation and Anatomy of a Survivor: Building Resilience, Grit, and Growth After Trauma as well as numerous articles about post traumatic growth.

As you listen to this episode consider:

• What is one difficult experience you struggle to recover from?
• How can you focus on the ways in which this struggle has presented you with gifts you did not expect? (For example, feeling grateful for having survived?)
• How can you begin to incorporate these gifts into your life?

You can learn more about Dr. Joyce Mikal-Flynn here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

• How are you reflected in the community around you?
• What impact does that reflection have on you? On your sense of belonging? On your understanding of value?
• How can we work to expand our experiences? Of enhancing the reflections around us? How might that expansion enhance our own growth?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

“What that means to me may be wildly different than what it means to you,”  she adds, but that’s not the point. It is understanding that desire which has the power to heal us.  As different as we may be, we have the potential to hold compassion for everyone we meet, even when we disagree.

Catherine has devoted her career to exploring the transformative power of compassion with special emphasis on the medical profession. With a PhD in Psychophysiology, she is the author of The Compassion Remedy, How to leverage the psychophysiological benefits of compassion to beat burnout, renew relationships and enjoy greater well-being.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• What does it mean to you to feel safe, happy, healthy, and free?
• How does understanding that others are looking for the same thing shift your experience of them?
• What is one place where I can practice holding compassion today?

To learn more about Catherine’s work, visit her website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Ms. Billie has had her share of challenges. But through it all, she has learned to turn pain into purpose. Sober for 23 years, she is a cancer survivor and veteran. HIV positive for more than 35 years, her history with the long term survivor community began many years ago with her involvement with AIDS, Medicine and Miracles. She was in that first healing circle, more than 10 years ago, and she remains a loud and proud voice for everyone who needs someone to stand by their side, to lift them up and to give people a fighting chance.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• We are all shaped by the paths we’ve walked.  How do the paths you’ve walked shape how you show up in the world?
• What challenges do you face?  What are the lessons to be learned from them?
• Ms. Billie talks about a person who challenged her to follow her truth, someone whose support was instrumental to Billie’s life journey. Who is that person in your life? How can you be that person for someone else?

You can learn more about the work of Honoring Our Experience here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

In 2024, Honoring Our Experience will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Over the next year we will hear the voices of the people who have become integral members of the long-term survivor’s community that Honoring Our Experience has helped create. People who never imagined they would live long enough to look back and recognize the path they’d walked and discover the new one that stood in front of them. People who have found their spark and are leading the journey forward.

This week, Gregg Cassin, the founder of that extraordinary program and I talk to Carlos Ferriera who tells us how important community was in his recovery and learned to forgive himself and find his purpose.

Carlos immigrated to America at the age of 4 from the then Portuguese African colony of the Cape Verde Islands. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and fulfilled his parent's dream by becoming the first member of his family to obtain a college degree. In 1982, he left for Southern California as the New York City winters were bleeding him and the pall of death hung heavy.

He hoped to escape the ravages of AIDS. But in 1985 he tested positive with a 3-year life expectancy. Fortunately, he turned out to be a long term non-progressor. He survived HIV/AIDS, but  almost did not survive the meth epidemic in the 2010s. He am eternally grateful to SFAF, in particular the harm reduction based Stonewall Project, for helping me turn his life completely around.

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so, with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some STYLE”. - Carlos Ferriera

You can learn more and support the work of Honoring Our Experience here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Sandy Holman, also known as the Purple Lady for her passionate love of the color purple, has dedicated her life to breaking down the systems of inequality and injustice the poison our communities. As the director of the Culture C.O.-O.P., she travels the country working with organizations to create environments of equity, diversity and inclusion.  "But change is hard," she reminds us.

A powerful storyteller, she is the author of several children’s books, including Grandpa, is Everything Black Bad? and We All Have a Heritage.

To learn more about Sandy and the Culture C.O.-O.P., visit their website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

This month on From Sparks to Light we are joining forces to launch a special project, the Honoring Our Experience Series.  Each month on the last Thursday of the month we will introduce you to some of the people who have experienced the epidemic firsthand, people who have found that when we share our stories and build communities, healing happens. 

Today Gregg joins us to take us back to the early days of the epidemic and the experiences that lead him forward.

You can learn more about Honoring Our Experience and Shanti Project, here.

You can  support the work of Honoring Our Experience here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Two years later, the AIDS epidemic hit. “It was as if I’d been called out of the Jesuits to be present to this epidemic. He realized this was the work he was trained to do, to attend to the pain in the world. This is the journey he writes about in his memoir, I Came Here Seeking a Person. One Gay Man’s Spiritual Journey.

A question I that comes up often when talking to guests on the podcast. How did you get started?  What prompted you to take action? In this powerful conversation Bill Glenn challenges us to attend to the pain around us. “Pain is all around us,” he says. “And each of us is called to bear witness to it. To be present to those in need. That is at the heart of making a difference.

To learn more about Bill, or to purchase a copy of his book, I Came Here Seeking a Person: One Gay Man's Spiritual Journey, please check out his website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

He met a social worker named Mr. Selvam, He showed Koen some hand embroidered greeting cards made by the women of his village. He was selling them to make money to support his fledgling nonprofit, one that was focused on giving the children of his small rural community a chance at something better.   Koen bought them all with the pledge to sell them to his friends and family and send the money back to Mr. Selvam.  

One small step. This was the humble beginnings of Sahaya International, the nonprofit Koen runs from his kitchen table in his home in Davis, California. Twenty years later, the organization is a 100% volunteer-based network of friends that supports a growing number of programs in developing countries, aimed at helping underprivileged communities by promoting education, health, socio-economic empowerment and conservation.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Action begins with one small step. What is one small step you can take today to make a difference?
• How do you handle adversity. “Don’t give up,” Koen says. Even if you don’t meet your desired outcome, keep going.
• Who are the organizations in your community that are doing good work?  Consider partnering with them.

Dr. Koen Van Rompay is a veterinary doctor, originally from Belgium, who leads a dual life. For the past 3 decades, he has been an infectious disease researcher at the University of California, Davis. Most of his career has focused on studying HIV, which has led to several interventions that are now used globally to treat or prevent HIV infection. In more recent years, he has also done research on the latest pandemics, such as Zika virus, and SARS-CoV-2. In 1997, a trip to an AIDS conference in India inspired Koen to step outside his comfort zone and become more socially engaged. During his spare time, he founded and manages the Davis-based 501(c)3 nonprofit organization Sahaya International (www.sahaya.org). Sahaya International is a 100% volunteer-based network of friends that supports a growing number of programs in developing countries, aimed at helping underprivileged communities by promoting education, health, socio-economic empowerment and conservation.

To learn more about Koen and Sahaya international, visit their website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

While there, she met the local Catholic Bishop. “If there’s anything I can do for you,” she said, “Just let me know.” 

“You can put on a teacher training,” he said. She stumbled to respond. Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that this would be his request. 

The next Yes proved to be a transformative one —one that led to the launching the nonprofit Rise Up Belize created to improve the educational opportunities for Belizean children. 

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Are there opportunities  for you to step outside your comfort zone?
• Have you felt the call to to take a risk? To try something completely new?
• What holds you back? What keeps you from saying “Yes”?

To learn more about Joey Garcia, please check out her website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• There are many challenges exist in every community. Which are the ones that matter most to you?
• Where are the local opportunities to get involved?
• What resources, talents and skills can bring to  you bting to the table? How can you use your own gifts to make a difference?

To learn more about El Patojismo, visit their Global Giving page.

Listen to Juan Pablo Romero Fuente’s episode here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

But gun violence knows no zip code. A few years after settling in her new community in Marin County, her daughter Ronique was killed in a drive by shooting. 

Determined to turn her pain into purpose, Nicole joined Moms Demand Action, a national grassroots organization that works to end the epidemic of gun violence through pushing for gun safety measures, political action, and community education. It was there that Nicole honed her public speaking skills and no works to brings her energy and experience to making our communities safe for us all.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• What issues inspire you to get involved in your community?
• Where can you find others who share your concerns?
• Nicole reminds us that everyone is dealing with something we know nothing about. How might this change the way we approach the people you meet each day?

You can listen to Nicole’s episode here.

To learn more about Moms Demand Action, click here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Her parents were academics. The academic life was inspiring. It taught Wendy to ask the questions and stay open to learning. In the summer her parents would travel, and the experiences opened the world to her, inspiring her to study abroad in college and then join the Peace Corps where she served in Niger. It was there that she recognized the shared humanity that exists between all people. While the lives of the people she met may have been different than her own, she learned that we all want the same basic things and it inspired her to go about working to make sure that the inequities that exist might be rectified.

As you listen to this episode consider:

• How can you approach the things that are unfamiliar to you with curiosity rather than judgement? 
• Can you listen to different perspectives and see what you might learn
• When faced with people who are different from you, can you focus on the experiences and desires that unite us?

Wendy Voet is a non-profit leader and public health professional with over 25 years of experience in the areas of organizational management, fundraising, partnership development and program design. She has worked for a wide range of organizations working to meet the healthcare needs of various communities as well as work towards social justice. Currently, Wendy is a Senior Program Advisor for Jhpiego Corporation where she helps to design and seek funding for programs worldwide in maternal child and newborn health and HIV prevention and management.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Dan’s activism is rooted in his experiences as the grandson of Holocaust survivors. Growing up in a family steeped in intergenerational trauma inspired Dan to devote his life to making a difference. He teaches others to harness their pain to stand up for the causes they believe in. To rid the world of the hatred that divides us. At the core of Dan's work is in developing a critical consciousness and creativity to spur people to "read their reality and write their own history". 

A native of London, Dan is recognized worldwide for his work in the LGBTQ+ community. A prolific writer, author and speaker, he travels the world inspiring others to channel their personal power and stand up for one another. Dan’s latest book, Queer Footprints, takes the reader “through the city streets to uncover the scandalous, hilarious, and empowering events of London’s queerstory.”

More about Dan Glass

• Insta - @danglassmincer 
•  Website - The Glass Is Half Full
• Publicity requests to jamesk@plutobooks.com
•  Queer Footprints - A Guide to Uncovering London's Fierce History 
• The video from  the flagship Queer Footprints London launch and some of the tours - here in Whitechapel, Trafalgar Square and Kings Cross. 
• The film about Dan's Polish Nan - Never Again Ever- Fighting the Polish Far-Right
•  Dan's TED Talks - Can harnessing trauma revolutionize our world?
• Dan's first book - United Queerdom - from the Legends of the Gay Liberation Front
• The press interview after invading Nigel Farage's pub.
• Article - Running from the Synagogue to Soho 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

And that’s not all. You might notice a change in our theme song.  “Where Love is Love,” the melodic intro we’ve used for the past two seasons is about to be released as an LP - written and performed by my talented brother Robert Maggio.

Don’t miss a single episode. Head over to your favorite podcast platform and subscribe to From Sparks to Light. 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Heidi’s grew up for the first 11 years of her life in Brazil. She is a 3rd culture person, a child who grows up in a culture different from the one in which his or her parents grew up. Since then she has lived in California Philadelphia, and Texas in the United States, London and Pretoria South Africa, Nairobi, Kenya and Geneva Switzerland. Originally born in Brazil, 

In this time when the world seems smaller than ever, we talk about what it means to be at home in the world.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• What are the people, places or experiences in my life that are unfamiliar or uncomfortable for me?
• When I am in pain, how can I become more open to the help and love that is available to me?
• How do these experiences open me to learning and foster understanding of things I had not previously understood?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Despite Rose Hammock’s young age, she’s only 26, she has already made a lasting mark on her community.  She dedicates herself to sharing this wisdom with the youth of her community.“Through traditional dance, I have had the honor of learning many things from my elders,” she says. “I have had the honor of learning how to basket weave, bead, sew, and learn about plants. My hopes are that our young people will carry this on to future generations.”

Many of us know so little about the history, traditions and culture of our first generation. For example, we recorded this interview on May 5, the day of remembrance for missing and murdered Indigenous Women, a profound  historical trauma that continues to plague the Native people. 

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• What are the cultural traditions of your own heritage? How do those traditions help create your identity?
• Where can I open myself to learning about the values and traditions that are different than my own?
• How can I support creating space for different traditions and practices in my own community?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

A lifelong educator, Trevor began to explore alternative ways of discipline, a practice we call Restorative Justice. It’s a theory of justice that focuses on mediation and agreement rather than punishment. One that builds on the relationships created with students to extend opportunities to learn beyond the texts and lectures that happen in the classroom. He calls this pedagogy, “The Wisdom of the Why”, the power of educators to have a deep sense of  purpose in this work and the skill and power of communicating that to students. 

As you listen to this conversation, consider:

• What is the purpose of discipline? Is it simply a form of punishment or is there the potential for something more?
• How has my own experience shaped my view?
• Do I believe that people deserve to be treated with dignity, even when it may be challenging to do so? 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

When Silvia Graf left her home country of Germany to begin a life in the San Francisco Bay Area, she could not know what was ahead, and yet with each bump in the road she grew stronger, turning her attention to the needs of others. A victim of domestic violence, Sylvia would not let those challenges deter her. She adopted children from the foster care system, volunteered with incarcerated youth and aided families with neurodiverse children. “Love is a choice,” she says and through a lifetime of service she shows us what it means to make the choice to love.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Gregg Cassin lives to inspire others to be there true selves. An HIV/AIDs activist and motivational speaker, Gregg recognized that calling as a young man as he grappled with his coming out, learning to embrace his own truth. Now he encourages others to do the same.

“Their particular light is their ministry, says Gregg, “Every shortcoming. Every experience they have walked through. Every challenge. Whatever is thrown in front of them is their hero’s journey.”

Diagnosed with HIV/AIDs in the early years of the epidemic. Gregg’s life has been a living testament to the power of embracing your spark and using it to shine your bright, glorious light into the world.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• How have the challenges that I have faced made me stronger?
• What lessons have I learned along the way?
• What is my superpower? What gifts do I have to share with others?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

He spent his career as a comedian and inspirational speaker using laughter and empathy to heal some of the most wounded among us. 

“I get up sometimes and I know my wife has struggled twenty years with cancer.  I’ve had heart surgeries and knee replacements,” says Michael Pritchard, “But when I can find an opportunity to get up in front of someone who’s hurting, I put my spiritual energy into helping them—because it’s a prayer for me.”

As you listen to this episode consider:

• Where can I lead with heart and compassion?
• How can I help heal the wounded around me?
• When I am struggling,  can I turn my energy towards helping someone else?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

In high school he had a German teacher who changed his understanding of the role educators can play in the lives of their students. “I remember her asking me how I felt,” he said, “No one had ever asked me that question quite that way before.” She knew what it meant to engage students in the classroom. To give them a sense belonging and purpose.

Joe talks about the importance of finding mentors to help guide you. About the importance of staying humble, maintaining a learners mind and giving to others what was given to you. Teaching, after all, is about paying it forward.

As you listen to this conversation, ask yourself

• Who are the people who inspire me?
• How can I use the lessons I learn from them to be my best self?
• Where can I use my unique talents to provide inspiration to others?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

“It broke me,” she says. 

In jail she entered Starting Point, a program that provides intensive counseling for inmates. “I learned about family addiction, trauma, and PTSD. For the first time in my life I was no longer numb.”   

Sober for more than a decade, Elizabeth is the co-founder of Redemption House of the Bay Area. She helps others recover from life on the streets. “I learned how to turn my pain into purpose,” she told me. “I used it for fuel.”

As you listen to this episode ask yourself:

• Have I been numb to the pain in my community?
• What does it take to wake up and take action that makes a positive difference?
• How can I use my pain to fuel a higher purpose?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

It was 1978 and when Gregory faced his urban planning students in a lecture hall that morning, he told them to follow him. As the group streamed out into the street, he asked them how they could help those who were suffering. 

“Start where you are,” Gregory told me. With this philosophy, he launched Mustard Seed Communities, an NGO that began with a school for children in Jamaica and has now expanded to five countries.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• What work has been placed in my path?
• What keeps me from stepping in to help others? 
• What is one step I can take today to ease another’s burden?

To learn more about Msgr. Gregory or support the work of Mustard Seed Communities, please check out  their website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

As you listen to this conversation, ask yourself:

• How can I work to be an ally for those who are victimized or treated unjustly?
• Where do I need to speak up and challenge the status quo ? 
• How can I cultivate relationships of autonomy and mutual respect?

“I have tremendous faith in our young people,” Susan says as she gets ready to retire. “They’re going to act up and do what needs to be done.”

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

As you listen to this episode, consider: How do we create communities where everyone is celebrated? What step can you take today to see yourself and others more fully reflected in the world? How were you educated about gender diversity and what would you like to see as a key lesson in schools?

To learn more about Renee's work, visit:

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amorparatodosapt/?modal=admin_todo_tour
  Instagram: @amorparatodosapt
  Twitter: @AmorParaTodosLVhttps://twitter.com/AmorParaTodosLV
  Google APT Contact Form: docs.google.com/forms/d/1Gy2G2C0WICIuHbrxyt55e71CnzPfJLeG1JnnvoJk0Hc/viewform?edit_requested=true
• Snapchat: amorpara_todos 
• Tik Tok: amorparatodosapt  https://www.tiktok.com/@amorparatodosapt?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc
• https://aptamorparatodos.weebly.com/

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• What responsibility do we have to our elders? 
• When faced with illness and dementia, do we treat them with dignity, adapting to their new reality?  
• Can we help them find purpose and meaning, even when they can no longer do what they once could?

With respect and admiration, Marc Zywaczewski brings joy and meaning to the lives of the aged community with whom he works. “Find joy in everything you do,” he says. “And most importantly, don’t forget to play.” 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

What does it mean to change?  Are we invested in our own views or open to shifting perspectives? Do we see limitations as destiny or opportunity? When challenges arise, can we come to the conversation from a place of shared values rather than fear? 

Paul Fordham is the co-CEO of Homeward Bound of Marin where he plays an integral role in fundraising, social enterprise development, program oversight, and strategic planning. Paul lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Heather and his two sons.

To learn more about Homeward Bound of Marin, visit their website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Martha Engber is the author of Bliss Road, her upcoming memoir about the journey to answer those questions. Her efforts to discover the missing piece that was hidden in plain sight and the struggle to find the words to put it all together. It is the story of the heartbreaking pain experienced as the result of being raised by a neurotypical father with undiagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the ultimate journey to heal. In Bliss Road she offers a path that opens the door for healing, not only for herself but for others as well. 

Bliss Road, Martha’s fifth book, will be released in June. When she’s not writing, editing or giving workshops, she spends her time on her surfboard, bike or two feet, on the road to a more blissful life.

You can learn more about Martha here.
To preorder Bliss Road, click here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

When Silvia Graf left her home country of Germany to begin a life in the San Francisco Bay Area, she could not know what was ahead, and yet with each bump in the road she grew stronger, turning her attention to the needs of others. A victim of domestic violence, Sylvia would not let those challenges deter her. She adopted children from the foster care system, volunteered with incarcerated youth and aided families with neurodiverse children. “Love is a choice,” she says and through a lifetime of service she shows us what it means to make the choice to love.

To learn more about Sylvia's business, Simply Prima, please visit her website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

From inside the walls at some of California’s most famous prisons, Elaine has worked with some of the most traumatized of individuals. Hurt people hurt people she reminds us. And yet it is in these conversations, through the power of restorative justice, that she has witnessed moments of profound transformation, for both the victim and those who have done the harm. 

To learn more about Elaine's work, please visit her website.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

This is a conversation about the importance of reflection. Of seeing ourselves when we walk through the world. Having role models to look up to who challenge and encourage us to be our best selves. And in the face of difference, to have those conversations that give us a window into experiences we have not lived so that we can learn and grow. 

Dr. Samuel Aymer and I share commonalities. We’re both social workers of a certain age. We both east coasters and university educators. But each of us walks through life with our own experiences. With our own history. When we look in the mirror, it is us that we see. 

Samuel Aymer teaches Clinical Practice with Individuals and Families and Violence Against Women at Hunter College in New York. His scholarly and research endeavors centers on the intersection of masculinity, African American men, race, trauma, intimate partner violence, fatherhood and psychotherapeutic interventions  

You can learn more about Samuel's work here.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

She captured that life in her memoir, My Unexpected Life, a mix of personal story, travel, humor and an up-close look at the squishy underbelly of the United Nations that follows her personal journey—emotional and physical—interwoven with her professional path. It is an insider’s view to the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, particularly as pertains to women. 

A native Californian, Martina teaches in the City University of New York system at Laguardia Community College where she empowers the next generation of young people to explore their passions to find their voice in the world.

To learn more about Martina's work visit her website:
martina@martina-clark.com
martina-clark.com

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

What strikes me most about this conversation is the brutally honest way Susan talks about her own journey, from a little girl looking to books to help her find her way out of the chaos of her own family to the professional she is today, a guide for others to find their own way through. 

Susan Dunn, M.A. has devoted nearly 4 decades to serving vulnerable and traumatized populations through Sonoma County nonprofits.  With a masters degree in depth psychology from Sonoma State University, Susan has focused her career on building resilience within communities and teaching trauma recovery practices.  

NAMI - National Alliance for Mental Illness

NAMI - Sonoma County

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Camino veterans are an unusual sort. The Camino family is strong. There’s a kind of psychic energy that seems to draw us together, even years after we’ve made our journey. It’s an experience that never leaves you, as the multitude of podcasts and books testify to. At the same time, the import of that journey seems to take on new meaning as we find ourselves reliving those steps when we find ourselves in the company of other pilgrims. 

Dan Mullins is a Sydney-based singer/songwriter, broadcaster, podcaster and writer and the host of My Camino, an Australian based podcast that is heard around the world. As a musician, he was signed with Sony Publishing in the 1990s, toured the world and Australia with acts like Bryan Ferry, Desiree, Michelle Shocked, Stephen Cummings, Violent Femmes, Hothouse Flowers and The Church. He is a veteran radio producer, having worked on the Alan Jones Show - the number one program in Sydney - for more than 16 years. 

I am so grateful to Dan Mullins for having me. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

I grew up a stone's throw away from the New York harbor where Lady Liberty resides. As the granddaughter of Italian immigrants, I always took her promise of welcome for granted. 

But California native Evelyn Wiese knows a different story. Our immigration system is broken. There are currently has about 20,000 people in detention.  We have not always welcomed the stranger. We do not treat our migrants with dignity.  As you will hear in this conversation, despite the promise to protect victims of violence and persecution, we treat migrants as though they were prisoners, detaining them often in squalid conditions for the “crime” of wanting a better life. 

Evelyn is committed to fighting to dismantle the U.S immigration detention system and, more broadly, for the human right to migration. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. 

To get involved with the fight for Immigrant’s Rights, contact one of the organizations below:

Freedom for Immigrants

NorCal Resist

Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Trevor Gardner, a lifelong educator, recognized the need to change that narrative. He began to explore alternative ways of discipline, a practice we call Restorative Justice, a theory of justice that focuses on mediation and agreement rather than punishment. One that builds on the relationships created with students to extend opportunities to learn beyond the texts and lectures that happen in the classroom. He calls this pedagogy, “The Wisdom of the Why”, the power of educators to have a deep sense of  purpose in this work and the skill and power of communicating that to students. 

Trevor Gardner is currently the Director of Teaching and Learning at ARISE High School in East Oakland. He is the author of Discipline Over Punishment: Successes and Struggles with Restorative Justice in Schools and the editor of Leading in the Belly of the Beast: School Leadership in a System Designed to Fail. 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Frances and I have known each other since our boys were in elementary school. In my early years as a fledgling blogger and wanna be writer, it was Frances who inspired me and when I found myself at a crossroads after my mother’s death from Alzheimer’s disease, desperate to try to figure out how to put my thoughts to paper, it was Francis who encouraged me to call our now mutual editor and friend Elaine Silver who walked me through the steps necessary to make my dream a reality.

She was born and raised in the East Anglia Fenland region of the UK. Frances trained as a newspaper reporter with the Ely Standard and Wisbech Standard newspapers in Cambridgeshire in the late 1980s, before making a move into Press & Public Relations work with the East Anglian Regional Health Authority, based in the city of Cambridge, traveling back roads with her notepad and camera in order to produce in-house newspapers for hospitals large and small throughout East Anglia. 

She relocated to Northern California in 1990, at first temporarily, soon launching into a decade-long career in media relations with the Living History Center, producers of the original Renaissance Pleasure Faire and Dickens Christmas Fair. During the late 1990s, as a mother of three young sons at home in Sonoma County, she returned to freelance PR and journalism, with a focus on lifestyle writing for wine country and regional publications and a five-year column in the Petaluma Argus Courier, South County Notebook. 

Frances has worked with local non-profits promoting their mission within the community, predominantly Petaluma Educational Foundation, handling its PR for several years and maintaining strong ties with many local groups that she writes about on her established blog site, Southern Sonoma Country Life. 

She later established her own publishing house, Fog Valley Press and wrote her first book, Fog Valley Crush — Love at First Bite, At Home in the California Farmstead Frontier, as a non-fiction love letter to the place she calls home, which released in 2014. Fog Valley Winter, Pioneer Heritage, Backroad Rambles & Vintage Recipes followed in 2016.

Her first novel, Big Green Country, set against the controversial backdrop of Northern California's Emerald Triangle, released in 2019 and was awarded a Gold Medal for best regional fiction for the Pacific West in the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Awards. 

The House on Liberty Street is  her second novel. She lives in West Petaluma with her husband Timo.

You can learn more about Frances Rivetti  on her websit

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

To learn more about adoption, please check out the following links:

• Adoption and Foster Family Care of New York: https://affcny.org
• The North American Council on Adoptable Children: https://nacac.org
• Family Focus Adoption Services: familyfocusadoption.org
• Adoption Learning Partners:

Resources Maris mentioned in the episode:

• HOLT International
• The Primal Wound
• Maris Blechner (the MOTH appearance)

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

This conversation was one of those where I could literally feel the synapses in my brain firing. I thought I understood adoption, I mean, I’m a social worker after all so it’s not like this is my first rodeo, but this conversation gave me a new understanding, a deepening and richness to the nuances of chosen families that I am so grateful for.  What happens when a family adopts a child?  What is it like to accept the “wrapped present” and watch it begin to slowly show itself to us?  What are the challenges with identity formation between the adoptive family and child? And what about the hundreds of thousands of children foster care system? Children who desperately need a home? 

Perhaps the biggest learning for me was around the topic of loss.  “Adoption begins with loss,” Maris reminds us. A foundation of loss that never goes away. I was so struck by this reminder. Of the need to verbalize that loss, to bring it out into the open and give the child a language to talk about an experience that brought them to this moment. The notion that without loss the new family would never have formed. In a world that favors brevity and quick fixes, this conversation reminds us of the richness in the complexity of life, the “stepping stones” as Maris puts it, that without which there would be no story.

Maris Blechner is an adoptive and birth parent, a licensed clinical social worker and educator, and an internationally respected trainer and speaker who has spent the last thirty-nine years working for the improvement of the lives of children in the child welfare system. One of the founders of the parent-led multi-service adoption agency that she directed for twenty-six years, Maris relates proudly that she comes from the citizen-activist child-advocacy community and brings that neighborhood and personal family experience to her professional work. These days she has enjoyed mentoring, doing specialized consulting and training, and teaching at her own school, the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. She has been featured as a storyteller (about adoption) on the Moth Radio Hour, on NPR and podcasts, and even on the BBC, and has a chapter in It’s Not About You: Understanding Adoptee Search, Reunion & Open Adoption, 2016.The NYS Adoptive Parents Committee: www.adoptiveparents.org.

To learn more about adoption, please check out the following links:

• Adoption and Foster Family Care of New York:

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

My guest on the podcast today is Meghan Murphy, a fellow social worker, college instructor and friend who personifies just that. From her earliest years when her mother and father relocated the family from the beachside town of Santa Cruz, California to the small town of Quincy in the Sierra foothills, Meghan’s journey has been marked by leaps of faith. 

We act as if life is predictable. As if we can plan the next step with such precision that we are assured of what comes next. We choose our colleges, majors, partners, careers believing we have some control, but the truth is, we don’t know what comes next. Setting our sights on our own expectations can blind us to the beauty of what is right in front of us. We may miss the opportunities that exist in the now, in the next right thing, whatever that might be.

As a social worker, Meghan’s entire career has been focused on giving back. From her work with the homeless, to HIV drug users, to youth in residential treatment to teaching, she personifies what it means to live with an open heart. And yet, what I love most about this conversation is her stories about stepping into the unknown.  Of her leaps of faith. When she’s taken the road less travelled and turned those sparks into light.

Meghan Murphy has worked with diverse non-profit agencies in California and internationally as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, West Africa. She has 18 years of experience working with vulnerable populations including people who use substances, persons with mental health challenges, and youth involved in the justice system. She holds a Master of Social Work degree and has been sainted by the Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (as Saint Face of Compassion). She lives in Northern California with her husband Albert and her daughter Emma.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Jodi Klugman-Rabb (Rabb is her married name) was raised in Marin County, California, an only child of her mother and a father she describes as abusive. By the time she was 2 her mother was divorced and a few years later, married Wayne, the man who would become her stepfather. A person that Jodi describes as kind and “generous of spirit”. But it was roughly 8 years later, when Jodi was 12 years old, that she learned that the man she knew as her stepfather was really her biological Dad.

Wild, right? The discovery was a welcome one to young Jodi. Wayne was a wonderful father to Jodi and gave her the kind of love and support she needed. Sadly, Jodi’s time with Wayne was short. He died when she was only 22, leaving behind a host of memories and a sense of identity that launched her into adulthood. Although her family was not particularly “religious”, in college Jodi embraced Judaism, an ancestral and faith tradition she had inherited from her father.  She married a Jewish man, joined a local synagogue, began a successful career as a psychotherapist and had two children.

And then one day all that changed. She’d taken a 23 and Me DNA test on a whim, curious to learn more about her ancestral heritage. What she discovered shook her to the core. 

Jodi, a vivacious and precocious redhead had never felt like she belonged. She didn’t resemble the other Jewish girls she knew, and grew up with a nagging sense that something just wasn’t right. It took the results of a DNA test to help her understand why. 

Although it took two years for her to completely make sense of what she discovered that day, it changed her life. Already a practicing psychotherapist with a thriving practice, Jodi’s own experience reshaped her sense of identity and led her to focus her practice on helping others to understand theirs. She pioneered the only mental health treatment protocol dedicated to DNA surprises, called Parental Identity Discovery™; a unique, holistic approach to resolve trauma, synthesize identity and adjust to family dynamics. In 2001, Jodi received a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from Dominican University of CA, and in 2004 obtained licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist and later Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor.

She embarked on a doctoral program at Touro University Worldwide in 2020 and expects to receive a PsyD in Human & Organizational Psychology in Fall 2022. She currently serves as a professor at Dominican University of CA’ s graduate program in Counseling Psychology.

To learn more about Jodi’s work, please explore the following resources.

Jodi’s website: at jkrabb.com 

Blog:

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

So much of what Jill understands about life resonated with me. The idea of recognizing that our time here is finite, that life is made up of moments, some that are certain to pass us by if we don’t take the time to notice.  Of the idea that listening can heal us. Of creating a space for hearing one another’s stories with an open heart. That diversity is a gift. “Diversity breeds innovation,” she says. 

But mostly the message of this conversation is that humans are wonderfully eclectic creatures that desire to be seen and accepted. To love and be loved. To be part of a community. To bring their full and complete selves to the world. As the film reminds us, there is no black and white to the human experience, and the sooner we understand that, the more peaceful our world will be.

Jill’s film, Between the Shades was screened and was honored at dozens of film festivals and partnered with Passion River Films for distribution. It is licensed in over 300 schools and libraries and available on television as well.

Jill has collected over 200 industry awards, including an Emmy, and directed hundreds of commercials and long form content. She has directed four film shorts. Taking it for Granted has screened and won prizes in over a dozen film festivals across the US, including a special screening at NYC’s Downtown Film Festival after taking home Best Drama. The Sonnet Project #74 & #153, presented by the New York Shakespeare Exchange, currently touring in the UK and Lies People Tell which premiered in the San Pedro International Film Festival.  It was chosen by the New York Women in Film and Television as one of their Top Short Films of the Year.  Jill is a member of Promax, long-standing chair of the Telly Silver Counsel, and a Gold Member of the New York Women in Film and Television, Judge of The Emmy's as well as a recipient. She lives in Asbury Park, New Jersey with her wife Susan.

As our country struggles with the polarization that divides us, Jill’s film offers a way out. An opportunity to listen with an open heart to the experiences of those who may live lives that on the surface appear different from ours, but underneath, remind us that people are people, and we all have our own unique stories to tell, if we only take the time to listen.

To learn more about Jill, please visit her website.
Buy or rent Between the Shades for home viewing on iTunes.  Digitally screening on Google Play, Fandango Now & Amazon Prime or purchase the DVD at

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

In 2011, I took my first trip with Seeds of Learning. I took along 18 high school students, two of which were my own to a remote village in El Salvador. For a week we lived in a rustic retreat center, without the benefits of indoor plumbing or hot showers and spent our days digging a trench in the sun baked earth. We were preparing the ground for the foundation of a new school, one that would be completed over the course of one summer by a stream of volunteers and community members, most of whom we would never meet.

In the evening we would gather together and discuss our day, processing what we had seen and the inevitable emotions that seemed to course through our bodies. The poverty was unmistakable. For many of the students, it was the first time they’d ever seen anything like it and yet they were struck by the resiliency of the people they met. The enthusiasm of the students who spent hours in tin walled classrooms that baked with the heat of the midday sun, without books or supplies, the things they’d taken for granted.

I have done that trip many times since, with more students than I can remember. Each time, whether it is in a small remote village in El Salvador or the mountains in Nicaragua, the story is the same. We’ve come here to make a difference. To give a community a chance for something better. A commitment to making the world just a little bit better.

But we’ve left with so much more. With a better understanding of the world we live in. Of the struggles that so much of the world faces. Limited resources. Of governments that do not always value the needs of the people they are meant to represent. Of communities where there is endless need. And the responsibility we have to do what we can to make a difference.

For more than 23 years, Annie Bacon has worked with Seeds of Learning. First as a work group volunteer in 1994, and later returned to work as an intern during a semester abroad program in 1997 and the summer of 1998. In 1999, she began full time work with Seeds of Learning as the Program Administrator splitting her time between Nicaragua, El Salvador, and the US. Later she became the Program Coordinator, Director, and 8 years ago, SOL's Executive Director. The organization works with North and Central Americans to build and equip schools in Nicaragua and El Salvador, educate children and adults, and promote cross cultural understanding. 

Annie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with Concentrations in Latin American and Peace and Conflict Studies from Swarthmore College. She lives in north

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Mark is one of those people who has a passion for learning. It’s evident from the earliest moments of his life when a young friend introduced him to The Beatles and he never looked back. He absorbed music into his soul, and became an accomplished guitarist with a deep love for medieval and renaissance music.

In this conversation we talk about teaching. About the relationship between teacher and student. About the challenges of a pay for play educational system and the challenges that two years of Covid impacted education present in the classroom. Mark spent many years involved in union work, advocating for his colleagues in an environment that hasn’t always treated its members with the respect and dignity they deserve. Union work allowed Mark to feel like he was making a difference, especially in a world where problems often feel too big and unwieldly to do much about.

But my favorite part of this conversation is the discovery that despite working in different disciplines, Mark and I do much the same thing. We teach people to listen. We talk about how critical it is to learn to hear the music of life, from the harmonious tones to the dissident ones, and our shared belief that it is only in learning to listen to one another that we will truly heal what ails us.

Mark Rimple is a composer, lutenist and countertenor in addition to his many other talents. His work has garnered critical notice for his interpretation of early music from national newspapers and journals including the Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, Early Music America, and Early Music (UK). He principally plays medieval and Renaissance lute, archlute, gittern, citole, psaltery, cittern, and viol.

He is a founding member of the vocal-instrumental ensemble TREFOIL. Mark has recorded early and new music as countertenor and lutenist with the Newberry Consort, Trefoil, Seven Times Salt, and Cygnus Ensemble and has performed with The Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra and Curtis Orchestra (on mandolin), The Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra (lute), Network for New Music (lute, guitar, mandolin)  and The Philadelphia Classical Symphony (guitar). 

Mark principally plays medieval and Renaissance lute, archlute, gittern, citole, psaltery,  He earned his Doctorate and Masters degrees from Temple University and his Bachelors degree from University of the Arts. He is a Professor of Music Theory and Composition at The Wells School of Music at West Chester University of Pennsylvania.

You can learn more about him by

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

At the time I was running a fledgling nonprofit, with not enough money and too much work and a handful of students I was tasked with inspiring. The only problem was, I was burned out. I’d been burning the candle at both ends for a long time and the work was starting to get to me.

I don’t know what i said to him. I don’t suppose matter. But whatever it was, Mike knew what I needed. He  looked me in the eyes and gave me a pep talk, one that hit me right in my heart. He invited me to bring my students to “shadow him” when he visited a local school district, performing a handful of shows for the students.

I watched as he paced back and forth. A caged tiger searching for prey.  He told stories that made the kids laugh uproariously. He ran through a series of impersonations, from Yoda to Wookies and many more. He had them eating out of the palm of his hand.

And then he lowered the hammer.

“How many of you know someone who gets picked on, bullied or is the last one to get picked to play,” he bellows. Dozens of hands shoot high in the air. He invited student after student to share their stories.  The tears flow and Mike is there to stand beside them, to witness their courage. To challenge the students to stand up for one another. To choose kindness over cruelty.  “Hurt people hurt people,” he reminds them. 

Mike is the change he wants to see in the world. He began his career on both the comedy stage and as a juvenile counselor in San Francisco’s Youth Guidance Center. In 1980, Michael Pritchard won first place in the San Francisco International Stand Up Comedy Competition as well as winning the prestigious California Probation Officer of the Year.

Offers from Hollywood rolled in including a guest appearance on an Emmy Award winning episode of “Taxi.” 

A deeply spiritual man, Mike draws  from his counseling background, and began using humor to inspire. His broad audience base - from corporate employees, healthcare workers, and government and state officials - have honored him with countless standing ovations and numerous awards 

As a result of his work, Michael Pritchard has been featured on CNN, NBC’s The Today Show, The Tonight Show, CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Kuralt, Time Magazine and People Magazine.

He’s done seven educational series for PBS and distribution has been seen by millions and focuses on youth guidance in the areas of violence prevention as w

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

The discovery that a woman is pregnant sets into motion a series of changes. For some, it is a time of great excitement and anticipation, for others, a time of anxiety, fear and worry. For many of us, a combination of all of these feelings and more. Yet society does not often create space for the latter, leaving the new mother feeling isolated and alone. Left untreated, these issues can cause serious problems.  According to Mothers Care’s website, “Nationally, nearly 1 in 5 women struggle with maternal mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression, yet most go untreated (2020mom). Additionally, 1 in 10 Dads will experience depression postpartum (Postpartum.net). The COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated mental health struggles. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) August 2020 findings, 40.9% of U.S. adults reported struggling with poor mental health.”

The mother of two, Allison recognized the need for support for women who struggle during this difficult time. In 2010 she began to work with a local OB/GYN, hoping to build a partnership and create a lifeline for those facing challenges. Her commitment and hard work paid off. Now, after years of  diligence and dedication, Mothers Care is a thriving service provider in partnership with a host of local OB/GYNs, mid-wives, pediatricians and healthcare providers.

Allison received her Bachelor of Arts from George Mason University, her Master of Arts from Sonoma State University, and she completed post-graduate training at the Family Institute of Marin with a focus on Family Therapy. She has over 30 years of experience working in clinical settings with individuals, families and couples. She is an Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE) Interface Master Trainer and sits on committees for the Sonoma County Mental Health Services Act and Sonoma County Nurse Family Partnership. Allison’s experience includes instructing at Sonoma State University, consulting, training, and presenting to state and local organizations on the topic of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders; and co-hosting a community public radio program.

She is the proud mother of two children and the grandmother of a beautiful baby boy. Allison lives in

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Shugri’s is the story of a woman who grew up in a culture very different from our own. A “spare daughter” she was sent to live with her nomadic grandmother in the desert at the age of 6. She tells the story of chasing warthogs, standing on termite mounds and listening for the sounds of predators in the distance as she watched over her herd of goats.

In the evening, when the work was done, they gathered around the fire and it was here that Shugri learned the power of storytelling. That extraordinary vehicle for sharing histories, imparting wisdom and making the wide world, just a little bit smaller.

We talk about the importance of noticing, of living in curiosity and the possibility of story to bring people together. About the generosity of the Somali people, and opportunity through the language of storytelling, to capture the beauty, that exists all around us. As Shugri says, we can not all walk in another’s shoes, but we can certainly learn from them by hearing their story and have compassion. At the end of the day, stories have a way of reminding us of our shared humanity. 

Shugri Said Salh was born in the Somali desert. In 1992, she emigrated to North America after civil war broke out in her home country. She attended nursing school at Pacific Union College and graduated with honors. Although this is her first book, Salh has been storytelling since she could talk. From her grandmother and the nomadic community in which she was raised, she heard stories and learned of their power to entertain, teach, and transform. When she isn’t writing or telling stories, she works as an infusion nurse. Salh lives in Southern California with her husband and three children.

Shugri's book, The Last Nomad, is available from bookstores and online booksellers.
Her website is https://www.shugrisalh.com.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna
• On Facebook: @suzannemaggioauthor
• On Twitter: @bottomofninth  

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Like me, Mark felt a calling to national service. As someone who had applied for Peace Corps myself but hadn’t gone, I was interested in hearing about his experience. Like me, he grew up in Central New Jersey. I was curious about what it was like to live in a country so different from our own. What he learned while he was away. How that experience shaped what came next. 

Mark is a civil engineer in Northern Colorado. He has a BS in Civil Engineering from West Virginia University and a Masters’ degree in Water Resources from Colorado State University. He’s an active volunteer in his community serving as the president of the Fort Collins International Center and a Fire Lookout for the USFS in Roosevelt National Forest at the Deadman Fire Lookout.

His passions include travel, hiking and other outdoor activities, playing in the snow, learning new languages and meeting people from all around the world. He lives in Fort Collins Colorado with his wife Nancy and his two children.

I’ve never been to a high school reunion, but the chance to catch up with someone I knew so many years ago when we were just the seedlings of who we would become was more fun than I could have imagined. I know you’ll enjoy hearing about his journey it as much as I did.

To learn more about Mark, check out the following links.

• http://fortcollinsinternationalcenter.org/              
• On Facebook @mark.oberschmidt
• Email: moberschmidt@gmail.com

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna
• On Facebook: @suzannemaggioauthor
• On Twitter: @bottomofninth  

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Like me, Gary began his career in residential treatment, caring for children who could no longer live with their families, and also like me, his journey that began from his Catholic roots ignited a spark that fed his desire to make a difference in the lives of the children he met throughout his career. When I talked with him he was in Louisiana, doing work with the state’s child welfare system. If you listen carefully, you might hear a train or two passing by.

Gerald "Gary" Mallon is the Julia Lathrop Professor of Child Welfare and the former Senior Associate Dean of Scholarship and Research at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in New York City.  

For more than 46 years, Gary has been a child welfare practitioner, advocate, educator, and researcher. He is an internationally recognized expert on LGBTQ+ children, youth, and family issues particularly as they relate to child welfare and juvenile justice. His scholarship and practice has been recognized through multiple awards. 

Gary is the author or editor of more than thirty-one books, several of which have been translated into Spanish, Japanese, French, and Italian. He has lectured and consulted extensively throughout the United States, and internationally. He earned his doctorate in Social Welfare from the City University of New York at Hunter College, holds an MSW from Fordham University and has a BSW from Dominican College. 

He has been a foster parent and is the adoptive parent of now grown children.  He lives with his husband, Martin and Bruno, his dog in New York City and New Orleans.

To learn more about Gary, check out his website: https://www.garymallon.com
Follow him on social media:
on Facebook @gary.mallon.79
On Instagram @geraldpmallon
On Twitter @mallong

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna
• On Facebook: @suzannemaggioauthor
• On Twitter: @bottomofninth 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Still, I left those years with a profound reverence for the traditions and culture of the Native people. For their connection to their elders, to the generations that have come before. Theirs is a wisdom we would be wise to pay attention to, and It is with that intention I am thrilled to introduce you to Rose Hammock, a caring, compassionate and wise young member of the Pomo, Wailacki and Maidu tribes.

We recorded this interview on May 5, the day of remembrance for missing and murdered Indigenous Women, a profound  historical trauma that continues to plague the Native people. Rose shares several resources to learn more about this issue, from MMIWUSA, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and the Sovereign Bodies Institute to the UIHI, The Urban Indian Health Initiative.

Despite Rose’s young age, she’s only 26, she has already made a lasting mark on her community.  We talk about holding space, for welcoming voices and choosing the healing way. I can think of no better way to welcome her then to allow her to introduce herself to you.

chiin tha ‘eh. (how are you?) My name is Rose Hammock. 

I am Pomo, Wailacki, and Maidu.
 My family comes from the Round Valley Indian Tribes and the Big Valley Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. I also carry Indigenous roots from parts of Mexico and Nicaragua, from my mother. 

I am a recent graduate from the Santa Rosa Junior College.
 I have two Associates of Arts degrees; one being in Early Childhood Education and the other in Social and Behavioral Sciences. 

I serve many roles within my community, working with many groups and organizations. Some of those groups and organizations include: Pomo Project of Sonoma County, Big Picture Learning Native American Initiative, Redbud Resource Group, California Rural Indian Health Board, and California Indian Museum and Cultural Center. 

As a traditional dancer, I travel up and down California sharing songs, dance, and prayer. I have been a traditional dancer for the past thirteen years of my life.
 Through traditional dance, I have had the honor of learning many things from my elders. 

I have had the honor of learning how to basket weave, bead, sew, and learn about plants. With what

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

I learned so much during this conversation. For one thing, (and I’m slightly embarrassed to admit this) I’ve never actually been to a city council meeting, in this city or in any other of the many places I’ve lived. Perhaps I should have, because the more we know about what goes on at city hall, the more we can demand that our elected officials make decisions that benefit all of us. This conversation allowed things to come together for me, like the pieces of a puzzle that I’d struggled to understand. Does recycling really matter? Are paper straws better than plastic? It all felt so insignificant, but this conversation left me feeling energized, with actual steps I can take to help my community become carbon neutral and it left me wanting to learn more.

D’Lynda grew up in a politically active family in the foothills of Anchorage, Alaska. She became an adult while living in New York City and migrated to Southern California where she had a successful career as an Urban Planning Consultant. She moved to Sonoma County nine years ago and worked as a consultant to non-profit environmental organizations. She is passionate about healthy food systems, connected communities, and being a leader in this changing world.

To learn more about D'Lynda Fischer you can check out her website.

To learn about the Cool City Challenge, check out coolpetaluma.org.

Read Social Change 2.0 - A Blueprint for Reinventing our World by David Gershon.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Abby’s work is extraordinary. It is beautiful on an aesthetic level, but is so much more than that. Abby grapples with complex, social justice concepts and creates moving visual representations that draw the viewer in and invites them to think critically about the material presented.

Like me, Abby was raised in a middle class world, a space where avoiding these difficult issues is easy to do. But Abby made a different choice. From the moment they crossed through Caldecott Tunnel on the way to attend the University of California at Berkeley, their world expanded. 

As a college instructor, I’m always looking for creative ways to activate the critical thinking of my students, inviting them to view the world around them from different perspectives. Abby’s work does that. I invite you to look at their website. Spend some time with the different graphic recordings. Think of them as invitations to approach with curiosity. Download the feeling wheel or some of the worksheets. Try them out. Ask yourself, how am I doing today? What am I feeling?  Where am I feeling it? What is my body telling me?  What do I need?  I think you’ll be fascinated.

Abby VanMuijen (they/them) is a graphic recorder, artist, illustrator and creative consultant currently practicing in Berkeley, CA. Abby specializes in illustrating complex, systems-level content and strives to make work that is handmade, rooted in deep study and in service of social justice movements. 

Abby's Website: www.avanmuijen.com

Find Abby on social media

• Instagram: @avanmuijen
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/abby-vanmuijen-5723a915
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abby.vanmuijen

Things Abby mentioned in the episode: 

• The Othering and Belonging Institute at UC Berkeley
• Ananya Roy, professor, UCLA
• Resma Menakin - therapist

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Sa

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

When Jimmy Carrethers was a young boy, he struggled to find his voice. He was so afraid to speak that when he was just 8-years-old, he locked himself in the garage, lined up all his stuffed animals in a row and proceeded to preach to them from the Bible as he balanced himself on a stack of milk cartons. It was there, he says now, that his public speaking career really began.  

His childhood was not an easy one. Marked by violence and without positive role models, he struggled with confidence and self-esteem.  That is until one day when a martial arts teacher told him he believed in him and things began to change. 

This is a conversation about the power we have to change the course of our lives. About what happens when we learn to believe in ourselves and help light the way for others. Jimmy’s “preaching” is filled with story, humor and truth.

 As an inspirational speaker Jimmy educates people on how to build self-esteem, self-compassion, and develop great communication skills in order to create a working and learning environment that promotes social/emotional wellness. 

 Jimmy’s desire to help people reach their true potential has made him one of the most admired and sought after speaker and trainer. His experience in the power of human potential, combined with his dynamic, humorous, and inspirational speaking style, makes for an exciting and motivating environment.  He encourages people of all ages to “Live with PASSION!!” and to realize that your “PAST is NOT your POTENTIAL”. 
 
 Jimmy has worked with several non-profit organizations, providing coaching and training and is now teamed up with Mr. Michael Pritchard, PBS Host Comedian at Heartland Media Foundation. Together they have traveled around sharing their incredible, captivating and inspiring message of HOPE, LOVE, COMPASSION and TEAMWORK.
 

You can reach Jimmy Carrethers at (510) 894-9235 or (925) 272-8104

To Find Jimmy Carrethers on Social Media

• On Facebook @  Facebook.com/LifeEnhancers1
• On Instagram @ jcarrethers21

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Me

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Ann’s husband Peter had just returned from Mozambique where he learned first hand about the humanitarian crisis facing the people of this neighboring nation. Peter’s visit was meant to be for a day, but with no means of transportation out, he survived for 10 days, sleeping under a bush with no water, food or shelter. Witnessing the profound effects of poverty, death and disease, he returned to South Africa a changed man, determined to do something to help.  He took his wife back to Mozambique to see what he had seen and the rest, as the saying goes, is history.

In the early 1980s, Ann and her  husband, the late Peter Pretorius, resolved to do whatever they could to alleviate human suffering on the African continent after what they witnessed in war-torn and famine-stricken Mozambique. Their vision led to the establishment of JAM International, the global humanitarian organisation that Ann has served for almost 40 years. 

A mother of six, with 14 grandchildren, Ann has a great appreciation for the value of family and her extended “JAMily”. Referred to by many as “Mama JAM” because of her big heart, Ann is a highly motivated and empathetic person who is fiercely passionate about seeing an Africa that thrives.  

In June 2021, their son Isak took over as the JAM Group CEO as Ann stepped into the role of Founding Director on JAM’s International Board. As Co-Founder, Ann is the key relationship representative, focused on the history and heart of JAM through networking with governments, donors, ambassadors and at leading fundraising events and launches. 

She remains a champion of JAM’s beneficiaries and custodian of its vision. In 2021, JAM impacted nearly 2.4-million lives across seven countries in Africa.  Together, Peter and Ann received several prestigious awards, including the 2018 African Ubuntu Award for Social Responsibility, and were one of five finalists for the AidEx 2014 Humanitarian Hero of the Year Award.

In April of 2022, JAM International was renamed ForAfrika, You can learn more about them here. 

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Joe grew up in Boston (you might hear evidence of that in this interview) in a big Italian family surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Although his parents never went to college, His mother instilled in him the value of education, a lesson he took to heart. We talk about the experiences and people who helped guide him through more than 35 years of experience as a teacher, counselor, and principal. About staying humble and maintaining a learners mind. About the value of finding mentors and giving to others what was given to you. Teaching, after all, is about paying it forward.

Since 2015, he has been a national educational consultant serving hundreds of districts and schools across the country. Joe delivers keynotes, facilitates workshops and coaches educators in the PLC at Work process, Transforming School Culture, RTI at Work, Priority Schools and Social Emotional Learning. 

Joe earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston College, a master’s degree in the Art of Teaching Mathematics from Northern Arizona University and his principal licensure at Colorado State University. He lives in Thornton, Colorado with his wife Donna.

To learn more about Joe Cuddemi visit his page at Solution Tree

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna
• On Facebook: @suzannemaggioauthor
• On Twitter: @bottomofninth 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

This week I had the chance to talk with Carol Rathmann, the founder and director of the farm that is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Despite growing up in the city of San Francisco, Carol had a love of farm animals. We talk about the conference she attended that ignited her spark and encouraged her to use her passion to spread light to the children in her community. Carol is a go getter, someone who is not afraid to ask for what she needs, especially when she believes in what she’s doing.

Over the years my students have had their own magical experiences “on the farm”. Students come back to the classroom frull of stories about feeding the earless pig “Van Gogh” or watching the children squeal in delight as Teddy, the baby lamb, nuzzled up to them. Some students have enjoyed their time there so much they continued to volunteer even after the class was over. 

Carol Rathmann is the founder and director of Forget Me Not Farm and executive director of Forget Me Not Children’s Services.  For over 40 years she has been involved in animal welfare and for the past 30 years with children and animals.  She holds a Master’s Degree in Psychology and studied the benefits of animal assisted and horticultural therapy to child victims of abuse and neglect, as well as certification as a Specialist in Animal Assisted Activities and Therapy.  She is the recipient of many national awards recognizing her for her innovative work in the prevention of child and animal abuse.  Carol lives on a small farm along with 20+ animals she has rescued.   

To learn more about Forget Me Not Farm

Website: www.forgetmenotfarm.org

Forget Me Not Farm on Social Media

• on Facebook @forget-me-not-farm
• on Instagram @_forgetmenotfarm_
• on Twitter @farm_forget

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

The title of that blog was inspired by the death of Patti’s stepfather just 37 days after he was diagnosed with lung cancer.  The time frame became a wake-up call for her and she asked herself the question, “What would I be doing if I had 37 days to live.” After the sudden death of my father in 2007, I knew that question. I had asked it myself. Many of the writings from that blog found their way into book form and became an award winning book called Life is a Verb. 

Patti is an author, speaker, and educator who builds inclusive learning communities and gets to the heart of difficult topics like diversity, inclusion, and meaning. She is the author of 8 books, including the award-winning Life is a Verb. 

I was thrilled when she agreed to join me on the podcast to talk about the sparks that led her to a life of activism. For the past last three decades she has focused her energies on diversity, inclusion, social justice, and living and working mindfully. She’s developed diversity strategies and educational programming for major nonprofit and corporate organizations, and been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences.

She has served on diversity councils for major non-profits like AARP, the American Red Cross, and many others. Patti teaches social justice education classes, and hosts an annual Life is a Verb Camp that fosters community among creatives from around the world. 

Welcome Patti.

To learn more about Patti Digh, visit her website.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna
• On Facebook: @suzannemaggioauthor
• On Twitter: @bottomofninth

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

I remember the hours spent in my office talking over weekly supervision like they were yesterday. Heidi’s view of the world and of her role in it was expansive, having grown up for the first 11 years of her life in Brazil.  Since then she has lived in California Philadelphia, and Texas in the United States, London and Pretoria South Africa, Nairobi, Kenya and Geneva Switzerland. Originally born in Brazil, Heidi is a  3rd culture person, a child who grows up in a culture different from the one in which his or her parents grew up. She is trilingual, fluent in Spanish and Portuguese as well as English. 

It is these experiences that we talk about in this episode of From Sparks to Light. Of a calling to serve others that led her to South Africa and then to Kenya. She talks about her work to heal the traumatic effects of generational violence through the mind body connection of somatic therapies.  In this time when the world seems smaller than ever, we talk about what it means to be at home in the world.

Heidi has a Bachelor's degree in Philosophy from Bryn Mawr University and a Masters in Psychology with an emphasis in Somatic Family Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies. She is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a trained EMDR practitioner with a multilingual international practice. She currently lives in San Francisco, California with her cat Milla.

To learn more about Heidi's work, visit her website.

To reach Heidi directly, email her at heidi@heidipidcoke.com.

To learn more about EMDR, a healing technique mentioned in this episode, click here.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Over the years I’ve encouraged many of my students to choose to step into service because I know the impact it can have when you take that leap of faith and sign on the dotted line. It’s not always easy, but leaning into the discomfort changes you. It’s the paradox of giving. In the end, it always seems like you get more than you give. 

That’s why I wanted to talk to Egypt. I wanted to understand what motivated her and how serving others shaped the who she is today. She has a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Newman University in 2014 and is currently getting her Masters degree in Social Work from Widener University. She served in Fema Corps in 2015, City Year in 2016, CareForce in 2017 and she’s currently working as an Impact Manager for City Year, back in the same school where she began her service in Philadelphia in 2016.

I’m so grateful she’s joined us today. Welcome Egypt.

City Year Info: 

• City Year Philadelphia (3rd-grade classroom) 2016-2017 
• Care Force HQ (Boston) 2017-2018 
• City Year Philadelphia (Impact Manager) Feb. 2020-present 

You can find Egypt on Social Media here:

• Instagram Username: @Mstrouble10 
• Facebook: @Ramses Cannon 

National Service Organizations mentioned in this episode

• City Year
• FEMA Corps, Peace Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA
• Jesuit Volunteer Corps

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna
• On Facebook: @suzannemaggioauthor
• On Twitter: @bottomofninth

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Since going blind in 1998, she has dedicated herself to demonstrating that all people, with or without disabilities, deserve the same considerations and opportunities found through social interaction and competitive employment. 

After going blind at the age of 35, and with two young children to support, Darlene realized that the career development needs of those with blindness and low vision were profoundly underrepresented in her area of Northern California. So she created the career development program in Sacramento, where she addressed the vocational needs of the blind and low vision community. She also realized that employers would benefit from a better understanding of how to hire and work with individuals with disabilities, so she co-created the Spirit of Inclusion workshop, with a local non-profit organization, A Touch of Understanding where she delivered a lively, hands-on Disability Awareness and Etiquette Training program, to thousands of employees throughout the greater Sacramento area.

She has developed a reputation for being a dynamic inspirational speaker.  Her enthusiasm and tell-it-like-it-is humorous style have won over audiences in both the public and private sectors.

In addition to serving on ATOU’s board of directors for over 18 years, she continues to facilitate their annual event, An Evening of Insight, which enables its participants to experience a meal under blindfold, while interacting in a lively social environment.   

She is currently writing her teaching memoir, in addition to developing a new talk show.  Darlene believes that genius is held within each one of us, regardless of physical, intellectual, or mental ability, and that this genius is here to serve the greater good.  She believes that it is incumbent on each of us to discover that genius and bring it into the world, because it is only then that we will raise humanity to its highest potential.

A Touch of Understanding - the organization that Darlene speaks about in the episode.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

This conversation begins with a story about a girl and her horse. About the connection that happened when she first sat on his back and felt herself begin to heal. It is a conversation about the mystical power of nonverbal communication and the recovery that is possible  when we tune in to what we know deep inside. 

In 2007 when she rescued her first thoroughbred from a Washington feedlot and named him Brego, the Brego Foundation was formed. The Brego Foundation provides services for veterans, individuals in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction and others affected by trauma. It is dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and retirement of former race horses and other horses in need of a second or even third career. 

Julie has an advanced degree in Depth Psychology and has had the honor of training and apprenticing with some of the most influential leaders  in the area of Equine Facilitated Experiential Learning. She lives on Tabula Rasa Ranch in Sonoma County,  California.

Julie's Contacts

• The Mearas Group: http://www.mearas.net/
• The Brego Foundation: http://www.brego.org/

The book that inspired Julie's work

• Linda Kohanov, The Tao of Equus: A Woman's Journey of Healing and Transformation Through the Way of the Horse

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna
• On Facebook: @suzannemaggioauthor
• On Twitter: @bottomofninth

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Margo is a mother, artist and activist. She is a co-owner of Vibe Gallery in Petaluma, California. Margo’s own creative work includes beautiful mandalas she calls “Kaleida-Stars”, work that symbolizes the shattering and reconstructing of life that comes through loss.  She has been a Hospice Volunteer for more than 10 years and a vital part of supporting the local community celebration of El Dia de Los Muertos.

To learn  more about Margo, please check out these links.

KaleidaStars - Margo's original artwork

Vibe Gallery, Petaluma, California

Good Vibe - Vibe Gallery Adds to Petaluma Arts Scene - The Bohemian 

Find Vibe Gallery on Social Media

• On Instagram: @vibegallerypetaluma
• On Facebook: @vibegallerypetaluma

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Find Suzanne on Social Media

• https://www.suzannemaggio.com
• On Instagram: @mamasuzanna
• On Facebook: @suzannemaggioauthor
• On Twitter: @bottomofninth

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

But this is a story about redemption. About second chances and what happens when you turn your life around. It’s a story about dedicating your life to making sure that what happened to you, doesn’t happen to others.

In the years since her final confinement, Elizabeth battled to reclaim her life. Now, clean for more than a decade, she’s overcome addiction, arrests and incarceration. She’s gotten married and along with her husband, built a new blended family. She earned and a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Sonoma State University and is currently working on her Master’s degree in Social Justice. In 2018 she received a full pardon from the governor of California.

That same year, Liz and her partner Lisa McQuaid formed Redemption House of the Bay Area. A non-profit dedicated to helping victims of trafficking. Elizabeth’s memoir, Purified in the Flame, will be released next month.

 You can learn more about Liz and her work with Redemption House below: 

Redemption House of the Bay Area

Survivors of Human Trafficking Extend Lifeline to Victims Still on the Street in Sonoma County

On Instragram @redemptionbayarea
On Facebook @RedemptionHouseBayArea

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir,  Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Gregory Ramkissoon was born in Trinidad, West Indies as the 5th of 13 children. He holds a degree in Urban Planning, as well as Master’s degrees in Philosophy and Theology from Boston College. In 1978, Gregory Ramkissoon started Mustard Seed Communities (MSC). a home for a handful of the children who had been living on the streets of Kingston. 

In 1984, when he was ordained a Catholic priest, he knew he wasn’t called to a parochial vocation. Instead he saw the need to address poverty in developing countries and dedicated himself to continuing the work he’d begun several years before. 

Now, what started as a small home for a few dozen children in the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, has grown into homes, schools, and small business enterprises in Jamaica, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Malawi and Zimbabwe. 

In 2010, Monsignor Ramkissoon was conferred with the Order of Jamaica, the country’s fourth highest award.

To learn more about Msgr. Gregory's work and Mustard Seed Communities, please check out their website.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MustardSeedCommunities
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mustardseedcommunities
Twitter: @MustardSeedComm
Mustard Seed Communities Ireland website: https://mustardseedireland.ie/
Mustard Seed Communities Zimbabwe Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/msczim/
Mustard Seed Communities linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mustard-seed-communities

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, 

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

Gregg’s work with the queer community honors the sacred inner journey we are all called to. Story-telling remains the foundation of his work which explores the importance of self-love, connection, belonging and innocence.  

In 1990, Gregg was awarded a Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition, presented to him by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi as well as honors from the City of San Francisco. He is seen in the ground-breaking documentaries “Absolutely Positive” and “That’s a Family.” His greatest joy is the gift of being a parent and grandparent to 3 amazing humans.

You can learn more about Gregg's work here:
https://www.greggcassin.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/greggcassin/

To learn more about Suzanne's journey along the Camino, check out her memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago. Please visit https://www.suzannemaggio.com

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of our theme music, please visit https://www.robertmaggio.com

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author

In 2019 I walked Spain’s famous pilgrimage, El Camino de Santiago. One night, in the small town of Carrion de los Condes, I went to a pilgrim Mass.  At the end, I was given a small paper star, a reminder to be the light for someone. As I continued along those 500 miles, that simple gift came to mean a lot to me. 

In these challenging times, I believe we have an obligation to show up for one another.  To give back to our communities. To bring our light into the world. From Sparks to Light shares the stories of people who choose to follow their spark and light the darkness. Each week we’ll hear the stories of people who are giving back in different ways. Learn what inspires them and what they learned along the way.  I hope their stories inspire you to find your spark and encourage you to shine your own precious light in the world. 

Episodes drop on Thursday. Please be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

If you’d like to learn more about what inspired this podcast, please check out my memoir Estrellas – Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago.

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to suzanne@suzannemaggio.com. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author