This Simpler Living OneEarth Podcast is a co-production of Simple Living Works! and The Common Good Podcast (OneEarth Jubilee).
John Michno
For Jubilee OneEarth Economics, part of positioning ourselves to meet the challenges of the 2020s is adding John Michno to the leadership team.
For Jubilee OneEarth Economics, part of positioning ourselves to meet the challenges of the 2020s is adding John Michno to the leadership team.
John’s Values
Environmental and human sustainability is so important. I can see that the Pearl of Great Price Jesus talks about — is the ecosystem — Earth, our home. Earth provides the right amount of oxygen, water, and plant nutrients. This delicate balance is changing, due to the unconscious way that we over-consume. The Good News is, we are creating a new culture of sustainability.
John’s Work & Business
I started work as a Fellow with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, researching mathematical models of sea pollutants and overfishing. With a degree in Physics from UCSD, I worked as a software engineer for a former division of General Electric. I became a software sales consultant to Global 500 corporations, saving building & vehicle operations costs and energy use. Advising a leadership team at the Federal Aviation Administration, I facilitated a $5.2 million software purchase. As a project manager, I directed 44 software engineers, gathering requirements from thirty US Navy managers. I eventually headed a team of twelve software engineers working for the National Science Foundation. We were a $20 million program for earthquake and structural engineering research from a consortium of fifteen universities around the world.
John’s Human-Valued Mission
As this work drew to a close, I was wary of moving up the ladder. My ambition had always been to earn another promotion, challenging myself. But in the competitive world of business, I was wanting more kindness and coaching to develop my growth possibilities.
I had been an Intervarsity Bible Study leader and a camp counselor with inner-city Latino and African American youth. I started to study Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a conflict intervention process with roots in the work of psychologist Carl Rodgers, who emphasized the beauty of the individual. I joined a circle of Unitarians, Buddhists, and activists who hosted communication workshops. My friends invited me to co-facilitate a monthly NVC practice group. We added Appreciative Inquiry, Open Space Technology, mindfulness, and Heart Math. I was invited to teach at various universities, synagogues, and churches.
After the election of 2016, I became more aware of the bullying of Muslim, Hispanic, and other school children. I joined an interfaith team and liaised with social workers at Trauma-Informed Care Team. With the school district, we created new procedures and curriculum to protect kids from bullying.
As the climate emergency became apparent, I worked as the Interfaith Coordinator for 350, seeking to reduce the worst impacts of climate change. My job was to form relationships with clergy of all faiths, inviting them to take joint action on climate change, through education about the science of climate change, and through Creation Care circles in their faith communities. I worked with Catholics, Brethren, Episcopalians, Methodists, UCC, Religious Science, and Ba’hai. Through these experiences, I increasingly valued the diversity of spiritual practices, the insight of science, the preciousness of our environment, and of individual humans. We are bringing these gifts to nourish our planet and our peoples.
