Bios are weird. If you’ve ever needed one, for a talk, webpage, or the program for a community theatre group, you know the truth: We all write them about ourselves, pretending we're someone else bragging about all the cool things we’ve done. Even if it’s “how it's done,” it's still weird. So I’m going rogue – first-person all the way!

I'm B.J. Rogers. I'm a learner, facilitator, and, if you’ll have me, your partner-in-change. I've spent 25 years in the mission-based sector, in pursuit of change and a pledge that my work will matter, to me and to a community beyond me. So far, I'd give myself a B+/A- on that pledge.

My most formative experiences include three years as executive director of a small Vermont-based queer youth advocacy and support org, a stint as a press secretary/comms director for a candidate for governor, several years in various roles at a national animal welfare organization, and every last minute working for Emancipet – my “heart” organization. Working for a better, more equitable, world has made up my whole career.

I champion hope because I believe it's an unmatchable strategy; a changemaker's most important tool. I subscribe to Arthur Brook’s definition, that hope is the conviction there's always something we can do to make things better. I love it because it turns what too many think of as wishful thinking into something more like wishful action. Best I can tell, hope is at the heart of every effort to be of service, and every push for equity and justice.

I also believe people are the solution more often than the problem. I’m a disciple of leadership guru Ron Heifetz (he’d hate both, the suggestion he has disciples and that he's a guru). He spelled out the tenets of Adaptive Leadership, including  the understanding that leadership isn't something some are "born to" while others aren't. Instead, leadership is a practice, a verb. Adaptive Leadership is a framework that considers change and risk and loss and identity. It's the most human-focused and system-focused framework I've encountered. It really truly changed my life, and it's central to pretty much all the work I do.

I also believe that when we start with clarity about what we believe, and with actions that align with our beliefs, a life and work of integrity, and impact are well within our reach.

I believe meaningful work requires caring about what we do and about the people we do it with.

 

Also, I reserve the right to change my mind about each and every thing I believe. I consider myself a voracious learner and an expert in nothing. That’s me – a work in progress, prone to contradiction!

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Oh - and Henry (Henry James, actually) is a strong-willed, people-crazy, food-obsessed, make-any-room-into-a-dog-hair-snowglobe, Pembroke Welsh Corgi (of the "fluffy" variety). If you asked him his name, he'd tell you it's Corgi - because that's what those giant ears hear all the time (à la - "Aww. . .look at that Corgi!", "It's a Corgi!", and "Corgiiiiiiiiii!")