Hello everyone!
Welcome to our last episode of 2023.
This week I am introducing the outstanding Orville Morales onto the Today is the Day Changemakers Podcast. Orville has had 20 years experience working in activism and education, serving as campaign manager for the public goods project as well as working at Montclair State University as an adjunct professor. These experiences led him to open Morales and Associates, an organization meant to drive people-focused decision making in different organizations, with its slogan being “power to people”.
Orville Morales’s life began in a state of dual immigration, as he spent some of his childhood in New Jersey and some in the Dominican Republic. During this time, he struggled with identity, he felt stuck in between two worlds and eventually he came out creating his own definition of his identity rather than simply accepting what others told him he was.
His mission over the last 20 years has been to inspire people to realize that they matter. Morales “decided to become an educator to moderate discussions of others and create a runway for people to prepare themselves to get involved” with impacting government, becoming activists, advocating for change. This includes people who align with any and all backgrounds, political statuses, and beliefs. Within his experience, he has come across those who refuse to accept certain ways of being or ideas. On addressing those who are deemed closed minded, Orville states, “we have to be willing to accept human paradox”. He recommends giving those who disagree with you “grace” when entering a difficult conversation.
Through his work at Morales and Associates, Orville aims to “help people get involved in the decision making, not just the reactions to the decisions” Morales references the heated political climate during covid as an example of what he works to prevent, seeking to direct individuals away from heated debates amongst each other and towards organizing in an attempt to enact lasting change. He lives by the idea, “voices should be felt rather than just heard”.
However, Orville admits to the fact that his line of work can easily lead to burnout, and explains how he avoids this by training nonprofit leaders. By pouring his wisdom into others, he avoids burnout and creates a collaborative mission to “work with institutions to change them, not necessarily wait for the institutions to change”. Morales has seen hope more than anything throughout his years working in his practice. He has witnessed people of all ages be able to “envision a brighter future” through collaborating with organizations addressing health, housing, and food insecurity. Orville Morales can be found and contacted through his website, moralesandassociates.com, or on linkedin under his name. He recommends people to definitely get involved and engaged in the work of being a changemaker and he has proven through his excellent achievements that it is in fact a fulfilling and necessary position.
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Have a great week everyone!
Jodi
Note: Views expressed by the guest are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the Today is the Day Changemakers Podcast.