50/50 Women of Influence with Beth Southorn: Be The Hope Carrier

What does it mean to be a “hope carrier”? For Beth Southorn, Executive Director of LifeSTEPS, it means helping people recognize the strength, experience, and possibility they already carry within themselves. In this episode of the WAHNcast’s 50 Over 50 series, Beth sits down with Beth Baar to share the experiences that shaped her 25-year career at LifeSTEPS and her approach to serving residents in affordable housing communities. From her early work in homeless shelters and vocational services to developing eviction prevention, financial education, summer literacy, and community health programs, Beth has spent her career asking an essential question: Are we creating measurable change in people’s lives? Beth talks candidly about failure, the mentors and residents who changed her thinking, the importance of listening before assuming we know what people need, and why affordable housing can be a platform for far more than stability. She also shares what she hopes the next generation of women in the industry will carry forward and the lesson she learned later in her career about patience, restoration, and making room to breathe. It’s a wide-ranging conversation about humility, human connection, innovation, and what becomes possible when we stay at the table and choose to be the hope carrier.