Fill Time With Things That Connect Us As People

We have the amazing privilege to have Chris Marohn on this episode where he shares a valuable story from early in his career to remind us to surround ourselves with smart people who are willing to disagree with us. Chris illustrates the value of meeting people where they are while taking the time to communicate to people that they are important and that their voices are heard. He advocates for mental health awareness and reminds us that there is a lot of work trauma in many of our past experiences. He shares that we aren't the person that can reach everyone, but we can show them enough love to get them moving in a positive direction. We don't have to do things the way they have always been done and we need to work harder to recognize our own implicit biases. Many don't want to face or even overcome their biases because it would force them to change or leave their comfort zone. We can lead others even those we don't have authority over by showing interest in them and by asking for their sincere help because people want to feel needed and connected and that is why we need to take the time to get to know them and pay attention to the members on our teams so we can help offer them right opportunities to grow at the most opportune time. 

 

Chris started his career in politics. He was encouraged by all those around him to get involved and make the changes he wanted to see in the world. During his high school and undergraduate years, he worked with various political and policy organizations to help farmworkers in the Sacramento Valley. He continued his passion for elimination of bias and anti-racism during his time working at various levels of political campaigning and government. He has served in posts from Washington DC to local city government in the pursuit of equity under the law.

 

Currently, Chris is working with The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law as the Director of Employer Relations in the Office of Career and Employment Services. Previously, he was the Director of the Continuing Legal Education program at ASU Law. In his current role, Chris, is responsible for Diversity Summer Clerkship hiring and advising. He meets with students of diverse backgrounds encouraging and mentoring them into achieving their legal career goals, while trying to diversify the legal profession. Chris has recently been tasked with overseeing the pipeline to law school program with Phoenix Unified School District, with the focus of helping underserved communities get the tools needed to be successful in law school.

 

Chris graduated in 2012 from Monterey College of Law in Monterey, California. During this time we worked full time, campaigned for members of congress and local office, was president of the Student Bar Association and local chapter of Delta Theta Phi.

 

Chris and his wife, Megan, have been married for ten years and are passionate about advocacy in ending Breed Specific Legislation, as they have a loving American Staffordshire Terrier, and coaching Special Olympics Baseball.

 

Resources & Links:

Take Tests on Implicit Bias - Implicit Association Tests

https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html 

 

Christopher Marohn - Building Bridges: Tim Overton 

https://jrcls.org/articles/building-bridges-tim-overton

 

Carl Hanson - Something About Mental Health

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/carl-l-hanson/something-about-mental-health/