00:13 MONIQUE BLOUGH, HOST:
Welcome to the season opener of Responsible Disruption. If you're new here, we're excited to have you. I'm Monique Blough, project director at the Social Impact Lab Alberta , one of your hosts. This season I'm joined in the studio by new co-host Beth Ed and Melissa Skowron, guest host and current team members of the Social Impact Lab Alberta. We're looking forward to diving into fresh conversations on innovation, leadership and impact, welcome Beth and Melissa.
00:41 MELISSA SKOWRON, CO-HOST 1:
Hello.
00:43 BETH ED, CO-HOST 2:
Thank you.
00:44 MONIQUE: So we're kicking off season 3 with an introduction to these lovely people. As I mentioned, they're both currently members of the Social Impact Lab Alberta team. So Beth and Melissa, welcome to Responsible Disruption. It would be great if the two of you could give our listeners a bit of information about yourselves and also it would be wonderful if you could share what your role will be this season. So why don't we start with you, Beth?
01:08 BETH: Thanks, Monique. I've been listening to Responsible Disruption from the beginning. I think from the beginning, the series that you did on the Pay What You Want Market, were some of my favorite episodes. I was taking a design course at state at the time they came out and I remember sending it to all of my classmates. They were so inspirational, I loved how you brought a group of people together and you chatted through the design process. I'm really looking forward to talking about things like community co-design, about some of the work we've been doing in the communities in places like Athabasca and Mayerthorpe, getting a little bit in the weeds on some of the methods that we use in that community work and then maybe kind of having the chance to pull back and look at the big picture and see the impact of Co design in kind of a bigger sense.
02:05 MONIQUE: Oh, that's great. Thanks, Beth. I'll look forward to diving into that a little bit. So, Melissa, how about yourself?
02:12 MELISSA: Well, I just joined the team last year as a project designer, so that is already very exciting for me. I have been a fan of the podcast for a while. I've listened to every episode just because I think the podcast is very great at having great guests and great conversations, and I'm also a bit of a podcast fanatic myself. So I also feel very excited to step into a producer role for Responsible Disruption because it just blends my love of podcast and bring the wheels on things which is like my main focus as a project designer at the Social Impact Lab Alberta. What I'm looking forward to this season for Responsible Disruption is just stepping into that producer role. That is what I'm really excited about. I'm also really excited to fold in my background as an artist to take the opportunity to engage with some artists in the community. Because I do think that artists are natural disruptors. They take their history, events and interests and they make work that blends their own experiences which eventually leads to asking more questions. So for me, I'm always going to gravitate towards wanting to learn more about whether artists and cultural advocates are doing in Alberta to challenge the status quo and encourage conversations about social change. I'm also like Beth, really excited to share more about the work that the team is focused on for our digital projects as well as our community design projects.
03:56 MONIQUE: Outstanding, thanks so much, Melissa. Well, I know our listeners are going to be excited to hear your voices and your contributions to this podcast over the next season. So knowing that you're going to be co-hosting some of the episodes we have coming up, I'm curious if you'd be willing to give a bit of a sneak peek around what episodes you might be excited to share with our listeners and they can make a plan to come back and listen in. Beth, why don't we start with you?
04:27 BETH: Thanks. I'm really excited to bring in an expert in co-design, somebody who's been working in a sort of more academic lens in terms of this work. We are so used to talking to people in the Community and doing this work on the ground that it'll be nice to sort of hear from the kind of person who's working in a more of a research lens in this work. The other thing I'm really excited to do is potentially a few episodes where Melissa and I get the chance to sort of debrief on how it went in, some of that Community work on what we planned and then to talk afterwards about the adjustments that we made, you know, because of what actually happens at the Community level. You know, you can have the best intentions going in and create the best plan, but the work of a facilitator and the work of a designer is often to have soft knees and make adjustments on the fly.
05:34 MONIQUE: Yeah, that's great that I think you know, just building on your first comment about bringing an expert, I think it's such an opportunity for us to blend our grassroots community based Co design expertise with that evidence based research and our partnership with Athabasca University is really going to help us lean into that space. So listeners stay tuned for more on that. I also think your comments about sharing the experiences that you and Melissa are having on the ground become so important because to your point, as a facilitator, we go in with these intentions of what we want to achieve, but it's so much more important to go in with purpose versus with a project plan per se, and really meeting people where they are. So I'm excited to see what comes out of those discussions as well. So, Melissa, how about yourself?
06:28 MELISSA: I think that Beth really touched on something that I'm also excited about, which is peeling back the curtain on how we plan certain workshops and certain warm up exercises and different ways to engage with the community through Community co-design. And then also revealing the reality of what it takes to implement and what the feedback is. And I think for me, being someone who is new to the practice of community Co design it's a chance for me to really lean into the curiosity of the methodology and really understand the why behind what we're doing, so why we're doing these warm up exercises. Why do we do these workshops in a certain way and in a certain sequence, and where that really comes out in terms of impact other than the community. So for me, it'll be perspective from someone who's learning and who's new to this, and I'm really excited to share that journey.
07:30 MONIQUE: Yeah, that's great. And I think your point sharing the journey becomes such a key thing. Beth, I see your lips moving.
07:38 BETH: I'm so curious about what you're excited about because you're sort of our main, our main host.
07:45 MONIQUE: You know, every season is like peeling back the onion. We have these ideas of what we want to explore, and we are so fortunate to have outstanding guests and individuals that accept to come on to our podcast and share what they're working on and what they're learning. And what I get excited about is more about the journey that each individual that comes on is going to share. You know, we have a podcast coming up with a couple authors that have really written materials that are from the heart, but that are also very that are really based in evidence which is so important in our work. We're also going to speak to some guests with the lens on artificial intelligence and what role that plays in our future around social innovation, around responsible disruption. I mean, we could probably have an entire conversation about what it means to think about artificial intelligence in our space of disruption and how are we doing it ethically and what are the considerations so I'm just excited to be able to share that journey with our guests and with the two of you and with our listeners.
08:58 MONIQUE: Well, Melissa and Beth, I'm really excited to share this season with you and our listeners. I think this brings us to a close on our season opener. So for our listeners, you know this season we're going to be diving into conversations with thought leaders and entrepreneurs and activists, each one challenging the status quo with an intention for disrupting the system responsibly to drive meaningful change. And that's what responsible disruptions are about, we'll explore how they navigate complexity, how they make bold and ethical decisions. And really, how they are creating lasting impact in their community organizations and beyond. So expect a mix of inspiring stories and practical insights for those looking to lead with purpose and integrity. And we can't wait to dive in and have you on the journey with us. Stay tuned for an incredible season ahead.
[Outro music]
That's all for today's episode of Responsible Disruption. Thank you for tuning in and we hope you found the conversation valuable. If you did, don't forget to follow, rate, and share wherever you get your podcasts. To stay up to date on future episodes and show notes, visit our website at thesocialimpactlab.com or follow us on social. And until next time, keep on designing a better world.
