The death of George Floyd on March 25th, 2020 and resulting events in the United States have been a catalyst for internal conversations at Children’s HopeChest. Today, on “Build Relationships. Break Poverty.” we invite you to listen to one of these conversations.
In this episode, HopeChest CEO and President, Ken Sparks; Vice President of Community Partnerships, Rachel Andrews; and Country Director of Ethiopia, Mickey Gutema, discuss racial justice here and around the world.
Mickey will share insight into HopeChest’s conversations about how to support racial equality as a respected leader in Ethiopia, which has dealt with serious ethnic conflict over the years. Hear him describe how selflessness and intention are two keys to working toward peace and equality.
Ken explains how HopeChest’s core values support racial justice and provides examples of what that looks like in HopeChest’s work.
“Our work is rooted in the basic understanding that every human is made in the image of God, so if individual humans are being treated differently, that is a violation of the code of justice God has relative to how we are supposed to operate.”
Ken Sparks, HopeChest President and CEO
HopeChest is on a path of continuous learning. We would love for you to join us in listening to just one of our conversations that will be one marker of many as we move forward in working out of our core values.
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ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
Sitting in the interviewer’s seat is Rachel Andrews, who has been working with HopeChest for 20 years. As VP of Community Partnerships, Rachel leads the team responsible for managing all aspects of community partnerships, both locally and internationally. She also travels frequently to our overseas offices and CarePoints around the globe for ongoing relationship building.
Ken Sparks joined Children’s HopeChest as CEO and President in 2014, after spending over 30 years in the corporate world. Although Ken’s “official” workspace is the hayloft of The Barn in Palmer Lake, Colorado, he works anywhere there is anyone willing to listen about what God is doing through HopeChest.
Mickey Taye joined HopeChest as Ethiopia Country Director after serving for the last five years as Project Director for another nonprofit in Ethiopia, where he facilitated the implementation and evaluation of their child sponsorship and family empowerment project. His extensive experience includes a bachelor’s in education with a minor in biology, a Master of Arts degree in leadership, and is finalizing his thesis for a second Master of Arts in counseling and psychology.
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“Build Relationships. Break Poverty.” is a podcast that challenges the Western perception of international poverty by elevating the voices of local leaders and processing how we can help to alleviate poverty without harming those living in vulnerable communities.
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