Are YOU Building Peace? An Anthropologist's Journey to Addressing Masculinity and Femininity Issues and Opportunities in Global Conflict Resolution

October 28, 2015
Hosted by Alise Cortez, PhD

[Download MP3] [itunes] [Bookmark Episode]

Guest Information

Episode Description

Serendipitous interventions in our chosen career path can yield surprisingly satisfying results. Dr. Kathleen Kuehnast set out for an academic career in anthropology but found herself in the middle of a crisis situation while working on her dissertation in the post-Soviet country of Kyrgyzstan. Setting aside her academic aspirations, she accepted the call to action from the World Bank to help Muslim women adapt to the complex social and economic changes during the post-Soviet transition in the 1990s. This single act would set in motion a full and ongoing career in international development, unification of gender interests, and helping people in conflict work toward peace. Dr. Kuehnast’s work reminds us all to be open to unplanned opportunities in our career paths along the way – and to recognize that each and every one of us can be every day peacemakers, if only we choose to be.

Working on Purpose

New Episodes Weekly on VoiceAmerica Empowerment Channel

Do you want to help create a world where people are passionate about their work, inspirational leadership helps team members realize their greatness, and capitalism thrives while serving the highest causes? Me too. The working on purpose program is a thought leadership engine that enlightens and inspires listeners with insights from elite business leaders and novel subject matter experts. Together, we’re working on purpose to steward the future of work and business to elevate us all.

Alise Cortez, PhD

Dr. Alise Cortez is affectionately referred to as “The Anti-Undertaker” as she awakens the often otherwise “walking dead” to discover and nurture their passion, inspiration, and purpose in life and at work. She is one part Chief Purpose Officer and Management Consultant specializing in meaning and purpose, and one part Inspirational Speaker, Author, and Radio Host. Having developed her expertise within the Human Capital / Organizational Excellence industry over the last 20 years, today she is focused on enabling organizations to lead from purpose and create cultures of meaning that inspire impassioned performance, energizing engagement and fulfillment, while encouraging a devoted stay within the organization. For individuals, she also facilitates the online Catch Fire global community and various retreats to enable people hungry for a more meaningful and purposeful life to discover and create it for themselves.

This site is protected by Trustwave's Trusted Commerce program