Stephanie Lorenzo: She Who Rises - Faith In The Voices Of Purpose

Welcome to today's episode of Decoding Purpose.Today's guest is the incredible Steph Lorenzo. Many of you would know Steph as the founder of Project Futures - An Australian not for profit organisation dedicated to combating human trafficking and sexual exploitation by empowering young professionals to utilise their time, skills and talents to raise awareness and funding for projects in the Asia Pacific region.Steph spent 8 years as the CEO of Project Futures...however in March 2017 after raising more than 5 million dollars to end human trafficking and winning a long list of awards including The Financial Reviews' 100 Women of influence, and the Women's Weekly's Women of the Future Award in 2016.....she decided to call it quits.After some time out, a second turning came around for Steph. An opportunity that fused her purpose for the empowerment of women, her faith, and a mission to challenge the hierarchy of the catholic church and its response to a changing world and emerging problems, such as sexual and power abuses.Today, steph is the communications manager for Voices of Faith who aim to bring together leaders in the Vatican with the global Catholic community, so they can recognise that women have the expertise, skills and gifts to play a leadership role in the Church.In today's conversation Steph and I explored:The highs and lows of her role as the CEO of Project FuturesThe realities of 'letting go' as she walked away from a charity she created.What it is to create a legacy, and the transition into discovering a new purpose.We unpacked her new role with Voices of Faith - decoding issues around gender equality, female empowerment and what it takes to challenge the status quo of one of the oldest institutions and symbols of power - the catholic church.I also asked the hard questions...diving into to sexual and power abuses in the church, how gender equality can help to solve these problems.I also asked Steph whether she felt polarised by others in a role so closely attached to the church. Within that we explored judgments and explored the importance of diverse conversations regardless of our differences.I have to say that I felt humbled having a deeply honest conversation with Steph about who she was, who she is, and where she is going in this big adventure we call life. What I will say is that while Steph's mechanism for purpose may have evolved, her purpose is unshakable. And that is to empower women with a voice, and with the influence to change the world, and regardless of the past, we can create a better future.Welcome to the podcast Steph Lorenzo.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.