What do we mean when we talk about systems change? And what systems do we seek to change? Systems change seeks to identify the underlying cause of social, economic, environmental, political, and cultural problems by uncovering the root factors — beliefs, structures, policies, and perspectives — that keep them in place. And in power. Much like integrated medicine, it’s a holistic approach that addresses the disease, rather than the symptoms. Once dysfunctional systems are identified and dismantled, activists and community collaborators build diverse, resilient social, political, and environmental systems to take their place. In this episode, Tate Chamberlin hosts John Kania, executive director of Collective Change Lab; David Purkey, Latin American regional director at the Stockholm Environmental Institute; and San Rahi, executive vice president for Global Brand Innovation/Sid Lee as they discuss the complexity of transformative systems change, an urgent global agenda, and how love may, in fact, be all we need.

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Systems Change

Oxford defines decentralization as “the transfer of control of an activity or organization to several local offices or authorities rather than one single one.” Essentially, decentralization dethrones the few to empower the many, in arenas ranging from technology to politics to social reform. With diverse individuals and entities collaborating to determine the best approach and interventions to address the range of needs, problems, and structural inevitables, the systems created reflect the distinct physical, social, cultural, and political spheres in which they exist.

In this episode, Tate Chamberlin hosts U.S. Navy veteran and regenerative agriculture advocate Latham Turner, HATCH board member and co-founder of the Care Collective, MyVillage, and Off-Grid Electric Erica Mackey, and technologist and marketer for Unlock Protocol Christopher Carfi in a discussion regarding decentralization and its local and global impact on systems change.

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Decentralization

It often feels impossible. As the masses become increasingly aware of corruption and active manipulation throughout financial, political, and infrastructural systems, answers remain few and far between. How do you challenge the financial giants — institutions woven into the very fabric of our society — when they have all the tools to ensure their future success, in a game that is anything but fair?

But what if you could decipher the rules? Arm yourself with the very same arsenal? Learn the language of power and wield it to exert change. Lio Mondano envisions an empowered future defined by just that: A world in which “We the People” finally have a seat at the table, and we won’t be placated with crumbs. Here, he and host Tate Chamberlin explore these realms of possibility in what might very well be our answer to this brave new world.

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Finance & Activism

On the cusp of a new moon, a group of HATCHers — seekers,
adventurers, and innovators — took a trip down the Nile in search of paths both into the heart of some age-worn darkness and outward beyond the confines of their modern vernacular. They found a way forward by looking back, way back, to a time that holds more technological, spiritual, and social curiosities than answers. In this place, floating down the spine of the earth through Egypt, the mother’s belly, they embraced the divine feminine and all that she whispered of joy, of power, of emotion, of hope. Here, host Tate Chamberlin and guests Annie-Laure Fernandez and Abdelmoety Elbhrewy revisit that trip down the Nile, through the cradle of humanity, and into an introspective realm of head and heart, one that marries the stars above to the dirt below, the male to the female, the East to the West, the indelible past to the ineffable future that is destined to repeat it.

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Floating Down the Spine of the Earth

Few people are untouched by the humble power of music. When we’re in the depths of grief or the quietude of mid-winter blues, little soothes—provides the same solitary comfort and seen-ness—as concisely as Nina Simone’s throaty crooning or Yo-Yo Ma’s haunting cello suites. We employ music to help us focus, to energize movement, to coax us to sleep. A good soundtrack, one that augments rather than detracts, is implicit in a successful film, offering an artistic interpretation of both the director’s vision and the screenwriter’s story. Playlists define parties — whether intimate dinner gatherings or all-night raves — with intentionality and grace, coaxing community through a nuanced alchemy of harmony, dissonance, rhythm, and frissons of indefinable energy. Music is everywhere, in the mundane trappings of daily life, the wild grace of nature, the amalgamation of creativity and emotion in art.

Here, host Tate Chamberlin and esteemed public speaker, musician, and social activist Jurgis Didziulis talk about their recent work at the United Nations COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the windy roads intrinsic to seeking self and cultivating community, and the harmony in, and within, it all.

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Transformational Troubadour

What gives rise to joy? To hope? What of meaning? And reconciliation? Many might espouse some presumed inherent worthiness of work—a legacy of things getting done—in defining a life well lived. Others might speak of the importance of family, of intimate connection, of love as all you need. In this, context is important. Not only the context of the here and now, but that of the before—what preceded the now that has shaped both present and future perspectives. Entrepreneur, waste reduction advocate, and environmentalist Pashon Murray’s perspective is defined by her personal experiences growing up in Texas; by the roots of her race, which calls back, ironically, to the cradle of humanity through which she now floats, one from which her people were ripped, as if from a mother’s bosom, so many generations ago; by her family’s history in Mississippi, in Louisiana, in the slaveholding South. Fast friend Sara Andrews, regenerative agriculture aficionado and founder of Bumbleroot Foods, is likewise shaped both by a rural Montana farm steeped in tragedy and grounded appreciation for the earth, and an unfortunate legacy of slave ownership in that selfsame Louisiana county. And they are both firmly entrenched in the feminine, in the sensitive undercurrent and vital emotional presence that offers power, and pain. Here, while aboard a boat on their last day on the Nile, host Tate Chamberlin and fellow HATCHers Pashon Murray and Sara Andrews share of their experiences in the realm of regeneration, both without and within, whilst sipping from the deep dark dregs of generational trauma. And healing.

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A New Social Contract

Many would be surprised to realize that women only secured the right to vote in this country a little over a century ago, and that, perhaps tellingly, they began attending institutions of higher learning in remarkable numbers at about the same time. The female presence in business is further still in its infancy. Though women have outnumbered men in colleges and universities across the U.S. since the mid-90s, they remain an underrepresented minority in the workplace, particularly in positions and industries synonymous with success. But why? Is the problem merely timing? Is it men? Are the patriarchal systems and structures that have defined this nation simply intent on retaining that power, and intelligent in their methods of ensuring it? Or is it more complicated than that? 

Here, on this journey through Egypt — guided by the wisdom and waters of the Nile — host Tate Chamberlin brings fellow HATCHers Meredith Marder, Catherine Carlton, and Kimberly Bryant together to share the perspectives and passions that have shaped their respective work as women in business, and their intentions for the generations of trailblazers that will follow in their footsteps.

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The Power Of Feminine

What does it mean to heal? Emotionally and mentally, as we begin to peel back the protective layers of denial, isolation, internalization, projection—like so many filters obscuring what is, what has happened, what lies beneath—we are left with something alien—raw, fragile, and often unconscionably unfamiliar. The process is painful. And physically? When a burn brings blisters, a bone breaks, cells become cancerous, from where does the healing come? What happens inside that cast? Under that bandage? How do we harness the body’s ability to heal? Direct it where we want it to go? Supercharge it? 

Here, Tate Chamberlin sits down with acclaimed stem cell researcher and scientist Christian Drapaeu and Philip Robinson, a licensed clinical social worker pioneering collaborative mental health care systems for all, to explore the potentialities and potholes inherent to healing, in all its forms and facets.

Stem Cells & Cognition

Deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and scattered sparsely across the Colombian and Peruvian borders, reside the Indigenous people of the Kichwa Nation. With more than 400 organized communities comprised of ayllus — groups of families — the Kichwa clans currently retain the rights to over 1,115,000 hard-won hectares in and around the rainforest. And they’re mere minor landowners.

After working and communing with Kichwa activist Leo Cerda for several days in his home village, host Tate Chamberlin and Cerda ventured back out of the verdant depths to meet with esteemed Amazon Watch founder and fellow activist Atossa Soltani at her hotel in the urban center of Quito to discuss the past, present, and future of the Amazon—the thrumming, thumping heart of the planet.

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The Thrumming, Thumping Heart of the Planet

Step into the world of active listening and environmental conservation as we take you on a journey through the rainforest, where cell phones connected to solar panels are used to detect the sound of chainsaws and thwart illegal logging. Join us as we explore the remarkable intersection of technology and nature, and contemplate the exciting future of headphones and their role in shaping our auditory experiences.

Hub Culture presents: The Chronicle Discussions: The Power of Listening with Topher White, Founder and Executive Chair of Rainforest Connection (RFCx), and Tim Degraye, Founder of Unity Headphones.

Stan Stalnaker and Tate Chamberlin host live from the Future Mobility Hub during COP28 in Dubai. Presented by Hub Culture, in sync with Hatch A Better World.

The Power Of Listening

Greg grew up in Twin Bridges, Montana, reading everything he could get his hands on. He realized early on in life that he was gay, but chose to shut that part of himself down to be socially accepted. Later in life, he decided to enter the seminary for the Roman Catholic Church and served as a priest at a cathedral in Helena, Montana.  He ultimately took a sabbatical from the church to more fully embrace his identity while becoming an activist in Seattle's LGBTQ community.  He's since started a counseling practice and is an advocate working to make sure LGBTQ kids growing up in Montana feel safe in their homes and schools. 

Greg believes it's God's directive and our moral imperative to take care of the immigrants and refugees seeking sanctuary in our borders. He describes his compassion as having no bounds and believes if we lose in the long run if we are so entrenched in our opinion that we fail to see the humanity of our opponents. Living with AIDS since 2007, he also embraces universal healthcare for its practical implications in his life - as well as another extension of our responsibility to take care of each other.

I Am Interchange

#34: Father Gregory Smith

I Am Interchange, is a must-hear movement that immerses you in the world of adventure journalism, where we fearlessly explore the monumental global challenges of our time. Through raw, unfiltered storytelling, we dive into the tension and share the stories from the front lines of systems change.
THIS SEASON:  It seems, now more than ever, that we have found ourselves on the cusp of monumental worldwide change. Whether we consider the environment, politics, infrastructure, health, economics, or equities across a broad swath of social constructs, the consensus is clear and urgent: all is not as it should be. The United Nations (UN), a consortium of 193 Member States from around the globe, agrees. In 2015, the UN unanimously adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) calling for urgent action in global partnership to secure “peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.” In alignment with the goals, HATCH — a curated network of innovators, artists, activists, and entrepreneurs working together to accelerate positive global change — focused its fall summit impact labs on topics related to their four impact pillars: EQUITY, EDUCATION, ENVIRONMENT, and EMPOWERMENT This series will explore those on the frontlines of transformational systems change, accelerating solutions for these human challenges.

#34: Father Gregory Smith

I Am Interchange

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