Barry and Linda Rowan share their personal journeys of faith, exploring the intersection of work and spirituality. They discuss the importance of finding meaning in work, the power of surrender, and the role of generosity and stewardship in their lives. Barry introduces his book, 'The Spiritual Art of Business,' which aims to help individuals discover a life-giving perspective on work through guided meditations and reflections. The couple emphasizes the significance of living fully for God and the transformative power of surrendering one's life to Him

About our Guests

Barry Rowan

Barry Rowan is a Harvard Business School graduate who spent his entire career serving in C-Suite roles. He has been instrumental in building and transforming eight businesses, primarily in the technology and communication space, with one selling for $10 billion. His leadership experience spans both private and public companies, including Gogo (the inflight connectivity company), Vonage, Nextel Partners, and Fluke Corporation.

Based on his belief in giving back, Barry serves on both for-profit and non-profit boards, mentors young leaders, and leads international study trips. His non-profit boards have included InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Seattle Pacific University, Gordon College, the Gonzaga University Entrepreneurial Leadership Program, and advisory boards for Harvard Business School. He also served as president of Bellevue Christian School.

Deeply immersed in Scripture and the classic spiritual writers, Barry is deeply committed to contemplation and prayer which led him to complete a month-long silent retreat immediately following his retirement from a full-time executive career. His friends have dubbed him a “corporate mystic.”

Barry is married to Linda, his wife of over forty-two years, and they have two adult sons. Together they are now engaged in multiple lines of service including walking with the poor and investing in the next generation of leaders. Their commitment to the poor has taken them to Central America over twenty times. They are members of the National Leadership Council of World Vision and support local organizations breaking the poverty cycle through sustainable programs.

Linda Rowan

Linda earned her CPA and worked first in public accounting and then in corporate accounting, spending ten years in financial management roles with Hewlett-Packard before retiring to become a “tennis shoe mom”. As a “community entrepreneur”, she has started and led prayer groups, co-chaired capital campaigns, started the Parent Advisory Council at Seattle Pacific University, and invests her time in event planning for many non-profit organizations. Linda has served on nonprofit Boards for the past 40 years and is currently investing her time on the Legatus Denver Board, is a member of the Christianity Today President’s Council, World Vision National Leadership Council and Strong Women Strong World Advisory Council.

Linda and Barry combined their heart for the poor and investing in the next generation of Christ-following leaders as they led six trips to Central America with their family and Harvard graduate students. Based on their desire to continue investing in the intergenerational friendships formed on these trips, they designed a three-year experience called “An adventure with God” based on living a surrendered life: As God transforms us, he transforms the world through us. Linda is passionate about breaking the poverty cycle through sustainable programs with a current focus on bringing clean water and education to the “least of these” in remote areas of Central America.

In her spare time Linda enjoys skiing, golfing, biking, and traveling (she has visited all 50 states with their sons and visited 26 countries). Barry and Linda welcomed two beautiful daughters-in-law into the family and have three wonderful grandchildren.

Resources mentioned

The Spiritual Art of Business: https://www.ivpress.com/the-spiritual-art-of-business

On this episode, Eric and Laurie interview Jeff Shafer, CEO and co-founder of Common Good Capital. They discuss impact investing and how aligning investments with values can make a positive impact on people's lives. Jeff shares his personal journey and how a back surgery and subsequent crisis led him to shift his focus to impact investing. He explains the work of Common Good Capital in sourcing, due diligence, and educating wealth advisors to help investors align their investments with their values. Jeff also provides examples of impact investments in affordable housing, environmental stewardship, lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, and supporting formerly incarcerated individuals.

About Jeff

After graduating from Wheaton College (IL) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and Biblical Studies, Jeff married Shelly, his wife of over 20 years. Jeff has always been passionate about the financial industry and has worked with Morgan Stanley and TriLinc (a leading impact investing fund sponsor), while spending the majority of his time, 18 ½ years, with CNL, a leading alternative investment asset manager. Jeff served in multiple senior leadership roles, and as President, led his team in raising nearly $9 billion in capital. During his time at CNL, Jeff earned a Master of Business Administration from Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College (FL) and also holds the Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Financial Consultant designations, as well as FINRA Series 7, 24, 63 and 79 licenses. Today, Jeff is co-founder and CEO of CommonGood Capital where he sets the strategic direction and leads the team day to day on this exciting journey.

Jeff has served on numerous boards including the United Way and Board of Advisors for Crummer Graduate School of Business, Rollins College. Today he serves on the Doug Holliday Ministries Board, NCF Advisory Board, Chair of Elevation Scholar Foundation, Alumni Board of Wheaton College and The Geneva School Board of Directors.

Jeff and Shelly settled in Winter Park, FL in 2004 where they love doing life together, whether around the dinner table, or keeping up with their two children, Ellie and Nick, who are both college-bound shortly. You will often find Jeff reading non-fiction books, cycling, cheering on his beloved Oregon Ducks or tinkering around on their acreage out in the country with the family dog, Calvin, a black and tan coon hound. He also is deeply passionate about men and women who are incarcerated, and one day wants to create an impact fund that benefits both these ex-offenders and investors.

Takeaways

• Impact investing involves aligning investments with values to make a positive impact on people's lives.

• Investing with a focus on impact can bring joy and freedom, in addition to financial returns.

• Common Good Capital sources, conducts due diligence, and educates wealth advisors to help investors align their investments with their values.

• Examples of impact investments include affordable housing, environmental stewardship, lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, and supporting formerly incarcerated individuals. Impact investing focuses on both financial returns and positive social and environmental impact.

• Due diligence is crucial when evaluating impact investments, including assessing the manager or sponsor, understanding the investment thesis, and considering the impact and faith integration.

• Individuals can use their charitable capital for impact investing, and financial advisors can help facilitate these investments.

• Generosity should be thought of more broadly, and investing in causes can have a lasting impact.

• Investing requires faith and a willingness to take risks, trusting that the outcomes are in God's hands.

Connect with Jeff

Website: https://commongoodcap.com/

A New Lens Podcast: https://commongoodcap.com/podcast/

In this final episode of our summer series, we wanted to feature a phenomenal conversation Eric and Laurie had with Entrepreneur, Speaker, and author Pete Ochs. They discuss four simple but powerful principles that bear on creating Economic, Social and Spiritual Capital. When brought together they result in a High Impact LIFE

About Pete

Pete Ochs is founder and chairman of Capital III, an impact investment company with investments in the US and Central America. Enterprise Stewardship is an initiative of Capital III that equips marketplace leaders with resources to transform their personal LIFE and business enterprises. During his four decades in business he has invested and operated companies in the energy, manufacturing, banking, and education sectors, often times focusing on places devoid of human flourishing such as prisons and poverty-stricken countries. Pete’s passion in life is to educate, equip, and empower business leaders around the world to live for something greater than themselves by using their business platform to impact the world for Christ.

Pete lives by four simple principles: Honor God; Serve People; Pursue Excellence; and Steward Capital. These four simple but powerful principles when brought to bear on creating Economic, Social and Spiritual Capital result in a High Impact LIFE.

Before launching his impact investment company Capital III, Pete spent 8 years in the commercial banking industry. Pete and his wife Debbie have been instrumental in founding and growing several nonprofit enterprises. They live in Valley Center, Kansas. They have 2 children and 8 grandchildren.

Pete’s first book, “A High Impact LIFE,” and other leadership resources are available at www.EnterpriseStewardship.com.

Connect with Pete

https://www.peteochs.com/;

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-ochs/

Continuing in our summer series, We highlight a a phenomenal conversation with entrepreneur and faith based investor, Greg Lernihan about redemptive investing.

About Greg

Greg is committed to making a positive difference in the lives of others and has refocused his life with this purpose. As a faith based investor, Greg dedicates his time and talents to mentoring and investing in for-profit businesses that address the worlds greatest social challenges. Greg is dedicated to helping others who are passionately changing the world. He seeks to partner with Christ centered leaders that produce spiritual, social and financial returns by serving the less fortunate in Chicago and internationally.

For more information about Greg and the resources mentioned in this episode head over to Generositynow.org

Mike is a passionate leader focused on “doing good by doing well” in business. Before joining CIF in January of 2021, he owned Share Good Foods, which was successfully sold, and led the development of SGF, a Do Good Things social enterprise. He also worked to drive impact and growth through his leadership at Swoovy®, a platform fueling volunteerism, social connections, and a wraparound support system for nonprofits.

Miscellaneous Facts:

• Colorado Native
• Avid Outdoorsman who loves to camp, hike, ski, fly fish
• Married to his wife of over 25 year who he met as a freshman in HS, She was a senior and not interested.
• Father to three girls
• On the Board of B:CIVIC a Colorado Nonprofit working to help further business as a force for good.

Previous Roles:

EVP, Social Impact & Partnerships at Swoovy

Director of Technology at Cherry Hills Christian Schools

VP Operations at Rewind Technology

Owner and VP of Do Good things at Share Good Foods

• The Community Impact Fund offers impact loans to individuals and families in need, providing a lifeline for those struggling to make ends meet.
• The fund started as a way to bring families together over the holidays and provide food, but it evolved to focus on financial wellness and offering loans.
• Loans are provided at 0% interest and with no fees, allowing individuals to repay the loan without additional financial burden.
• The Community Impact Fund works with employers to offer the loan program as an employee benefit, leveraging the trust and relationship between employers and employees.

Learn More

https://communityimpactfund.org/

As we continue our summer series, producer Jonathan Collier introduces Impact Investor and International Development Professional, Dana Wichterman. Dana joins Eric and Laurie, and shares her journey of generosity and stewardship, highlighting significant inflection points and the impact of impact investing. She emphasizes the importance of sharing generosity stories and provides helpful resources for those interested in exploring generosity and whole life stewardship.

About Dana

Dana views all of her treasure, time and talent as gifts from God that are meant to be stewarded towards three ends - for God's glory, the good of others and for our own well-being. The investment of our capital is an expression of our management of God's resources in such a way that one day we hear "well done, good and faithful servant." She aligns her investing and philanthropy with the specific areas God has called her, seeking sustainable impact. Over the past 10 years, she has come to understand that both our charitable capital and our personal capital can have faith-driven impact for spiritual and social good. She increasingly directs a sizable portion of the charitable capital in her family foundation towards impact investing.

Dana is an international development professional with 20 years at USAID and Department of Commerce. She has years of experience advising nonprofits engaged nationally and globally across many sectors, including micro-finance and private sector engagement. She is active in The Gathering, Generous Giving, Praxis, and Lion's Den. She is an FDE small group facilitator and is on the FDI leadership team launching a citywide network in the DC Metro area to develop a local community of faith driven entrepreneurs and investors. She holds an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University. Dana finds joy in helping organizations problem-solve, generating creative and faithful solutions. She loves to create community around ideas, connecting transcendent truth in both relational depth and practical application.

Resources Mentioned

NCF Weekly Digest

Faith Driven Entrepreneur and investor

The generous giving website

Journey of Generosity

On todays episode in our summer series, Eric and Laurie sit down with kingdom serial entrepreneur Chad Roach for a great conversation about business, Kingdom economics, and the ministry of business.

About Chad

Homeschooled his entire life, Chad graduated at the age of 16. For his higher education, Chad studied at Oak Brook College of Law and was mentored for six years by Kevin Swanson – Director of Generations with Vision and host of Generations Radio. Chad started his first sales business at the age of 17. Since then, Chad has started multiple companies in various fields including credit card processing, pre-paid payment cards, venture capital, precious metals and asset investments. Now at the age of 35, Chad makes a full-time income from his businesses and continues to spend much of his free time working and learning in ministry and church.

Connect with Chad

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadroach/

In this episode, Eric and Laurie interview Ross Chapman and Bob Larkin from Denver Institute for Faith and Work. They discuss the organization's mission to help people connect their faith and work, and the importance of bringing hope and life to their communities through their daily work.

They also highlight Denver Institute's programs and initiatives, such as their fellowship program and events like Business for the Common Good and Women Working Calling. The conversation emphasizes the need for a compelling vision and purpose for work, and the role of faith in shaping the way people approach their work.

Takeaways

• Denver Institute for Faith and Work helps people connect their faith and work, bringing hope and life to their communities through their daily work.

• Denver Institute offers programs and initiatives such as fellowships, events, and resources to equip and support individuals in integrating their faith and work.

• The intersection of work and faith is an opportunity to bring about positive change and contribute to the flourishing of individuals and society.

• Denver Institute envisions a future where every person's work brings hope and life to their city, transforming workplaces and communities.

About our guests

Ross Chapman loves helping people see how they can serve God and others in their daily work. Ross has been the CEO of the Denver Institute for Faith & Work since October 2022. Before coming to Denver, he founded and served as the President at For Evansville and the Executive Director of CharlotteONE. Ross earned his Doctorate of Ministry in Faith, Work, Economics and Vocation at Fuller Theological Seminary, a Masters degree from Trinity International University in Chicago, and a Bachelor's degree from Taylor University in Upland, IN.

Ross lives in Denver, CO with his wife, Candace, and three sons. He's a die hard Colts and Pacers fan and aspiring Denver sports fan.

Bob Larkin has joined Treatment Technology as its President, responsible for managing all aspects of a chemical distribution business focused on a number of industries including water and wastewater chemicals, pool chemicals, industrial chemicals, specialty polymers, oil & gas chemicals and laundry chemicals. Bob serves the Denver Institute for Faith & Work on their Board of Directors. He is a graduate of Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and minor in Mathematics. In his free time, Bob enjoys golf, skiing, snowboarding, and travel. He has the goal of playing every golf course in Colorado. Bob, his wife, Rene and four young children reside in Denver, Colorado.

Resources Mentioned

• Denver Institute for Faith & Work

• The Faith & Work Podcast

• Teach Us To Pray Podcast

• Business For The Common Good Event