What’s Making a Difference in Communities

Many people are feeling a heart prompting to make a difference in their communities – and ultimately the world. We want to contribute to a sustainable shift that reflects the true values of heart-based living. We’re grateful to have James Miles, PhD, an expert in community engagement working to heal and empower African American communities, as our Add Heart Call guest. James and Deborah Rozman, our Add Heart Call host and HeartMath CEO, will be discussing what’s working and already making a difference in communities that need to heal and overcome separations and inequalities. James has found real change requires a change of heart, not just a change of regulations and topical adjustments. He will share inspiring stories from his work with inner city youth and adults. At first, a change of heart may sound a bit soft or even impossible, yet James has found that integrating tools and methods to access the heart’s intelligence facilitates sustainable change. James and Deborah will talk about the heart and its intelligence as necessary street smarts for all community environments that want to thrive. Ultimately, for people of different races, religions, and beliefs to finally move beyond historical separations, the heart will provide the needed guidance and intelligence for all people to harmoniously interact with each other and co-create new solutions. We’ll close with a heart-focused meditation that can help each of us identify how we can show up within our own communities and contribute to making a sustainable difference. More About James Miles:James has integrated HeartMath’s emotional self-regulation and resilience tools into the work he is doing to heal and empower African American communities. His work has presented him with opportunities to help communities transform racial discrimination and promote sustainable approaches to community engagement, development, wellness, and resilience. James is a senior partner in the Resilient Communities Initiative. He is also a HeartMath Certified Trainer and serves as a senior strategist and evaluator on the leadership team of the Multi-Faith Veterans Initiative at DePaul University, a consultant to the Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium, and a nonprofit leadership certificate program trainer for the University of Chicago, and he conducts participatory research focused on community engagement, wellness, and African Diaspora citizenship. His professional experience includes the design and launch of community economic development collaboratives. He has held positions from enterprise systems analyst and program manager to chief operating officer and management consultant. Dr. Miles has successfully led business performance management programs, university accredited-program conversion initiatives, faith-based community economic development initiatives, international cross-cultural exchanges, triple-bottom-line business sustainability initiatives, and stakeholder training programs.