Ben Y-D
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thebenyd.bsky.social
Ben Y-D
@thebenyd.bsky.social
Director of Applied Research, The BTS Center, Portland, Maine. Social science research at intersections of climate, organizational leadership, and Christianity. Islander. Homesteader. Board game geek. NBA fan. Husband and father of three young children.
Pinned
What can the Earth tell us about effective organizational leadership? As it turns out, a lot. We gathered leaders from seven cross-sector organizations to explore this question over the course of a year. Check out a summary of what they learned here: new.express.adobe.com/webpage/CLwg...
Cultivating Earth-Shaped Leadership
A story told with Adobe Express
new.express.adobe.com
I keep wondering when our elected officials will finally decide that this is an emergency. Would planning on kidnapping U.S. citizens whose views the administration doesn't agree with qualify, perhaps?
When he says “home-growns”, he’s talking about US citizens. He wants Bukeke to build more torture prisons in El Salvador for Americans. Not me saying it, Trump saying it. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Trump to Bukele: "Home-growns are next. The home-growns. You gotta build about five more places. It's not big enough."
April 14, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Link to my most recent academic article: "Cultivating Earth-Shaped Leadership: Ecological Imagination in Organizations." It was the result of a cross-sector, research collaborative where leaders asked "How would organizations act differently today if they embodied an ecological imagination?"
Cultivating Earth-Shaped Leaders: Ecological Imagination in Organizations
link.springer.com
March 12, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The world is falling apart
So turn off your screen
Bluebirds are flying outside

(Photo by @mellanella.bsky.social, from our yard.)
March 6, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Can you see the coup yet?
Trump thinks anyone protesting must be from another country when the right and will to protest our own government is a foundational American value.
March 4, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Any "solution" that preserves our current way of life cannot, by its definition, be a "solution". We need to fundamental reshape what it means to live a meaningful life, to relate to one another, and to relate to our planet. Unless that happens, all roads leads back to the same catastrophic place.
February 24, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This is the DOGE website right now. (I took a screen capture to share, because I couldn't actually believe it.) These fascists are malicious, corrupt, AND incompetent.

Check it out for yourself until they fix their gigantic self-own:

doge.gov/workforce?or...
February 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
This includes my family and my children.
You know who relies on Medicaid for health coverage in Maine?
 
⚕️ 35% of ALL children.
⚕️ 39% of moms giving birth (and their newborn babies).
⚕️ 47.5% of working-age adults with disabilities
⚕️ 65% of people in nursing homes.
 
This is next-level awful, and it's guaranteed to hurt Maine families.
February 13, 2025 at 10:23 PM
This @vox.com article is a highly measured comparison between the United States (a democracy(?)) and Belarus (an ex-democracy). Bottom line: It's not guaranteed that everything will turn out all right - and we're not used to that idea, living in the most powerful nation in the world.
Their democracy died. They have lessons for America about Trump’s power grab.
Hungarians who lived through Viktor Orbán’s 2010 power grab warn Americans: Act now, before it’s too late.
www.vox.com
February 10, 2025 at 2:03 PM
We practice Sabbath every Friday, and I'm pretty sure it's the only thing that allows the rest of our lives to make sense.
Just a reminder that it's important to take time to rest as well. We weren't built to handle the amount of stressful input we're receiving on a daily basis. So if you take a day where you don't pay attention and just rest, that's totally ok...and moreover, absolutely necessary.
February 7, 2025 at 11:18 PM
[Shared with permission] So proud of my wife, @mellanella.bsky.social, who has been calling her elected reps every day this week using @5calls.org about the Musk coup. She HATES talking on the phone with a flaming passion, but she loves her democracy more. If she can call, then so you can you.
February 6, 2025 at 7:21 PM
A fantastic article from @normornstein.bsky.social about the gravity of our situation and the numerous tools that our representatives have to slow down this coup.

Read this article and then call your Senator with a few suggestions.

contrarian.substack.com/p/fighting-t...
Fighting the Putsch
Democrats need to throw every possible wrench into the plans of Trump, Musk, and their GOP cultists in Congress
contrarian.substack.com
February 5, 2025 at 1:50 PM
I'm delighted to discover which of our elected representatives understand the gravity of the situation. Big thanks to @chrismurphyct.bsky.social and others for getting in the fight.
“I don’t think the United States Senate should vote for a single nominee until this is over!” - @chrismurphyct.bsky.social
February 4, 2025 at 11:33 PM
Have you called your elected representatives yet? I know that many of us feel generationally incapable of talking on the phone, but @5calls.org has contact information and a short script you can read. It took me six minutes to make three calls yesterday and democracy is worth a little discomfort.
New Exclusive building on Wired's reporting: Musk operatives have already pushed live to production extensive code changes to the Treasury Department payment system which makes 95% of fed govs payments. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/musk-...
Musk Cronies Dive Into Treasury Dept Payments Code Base
Overnight Wired reported that contrary to published reports that DOGE operatives at...
talkingpointsmemo.com
February 4, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Props to @sawyerhackett.bsky.social and so many others on this platform for pointing out the obvious - these actions are plainly illegal. I'm paying attention right now to those who are naming reality and those who are attempting to disguise it in the name of being "balanced."
None of this is legal.
February 4, 2025 at 10:26 AM
What can the Earth tell us about effective organizational leadership? As it turns out, a lot. We gathered leaders from seven cross-sector organizations to explore this question over the course of a year. Check out a summary of what they learned here: new.express.adobe.com/webpage/CLwg...
Cultivating Earth-Shaped Leadership
A story told with Adobe Express
new.express.adobe.com
February 3, 2025 at 2:45 PM