8.15: Looking Back on 19 Years of Systems Change
From Find The Outside by Tim Merry & Tuesday Rivera
May 19, 2026 · 46 min · Season 8 · Episode 15
About this episode
Tim Merry and Tuesday Rivera reflect on nearly two decades of systems change work and the impact of participatory leadership.
As Tuesday transitions out of The Outside, she and Tim take a long look back at nearly two decades of working together - from meeting at an Art of Hosting training in Colorado to leading large-scale systems change work around the world. In this deeply reflective conversation, they unpack the original hypotheses behind The Outside: Could participatory leadership and equity genuinely transform systems? What happens when you bring power analysis into institutional change work? Did the work actually create the impact they hoped for? Along the way, they explore the tension between systems change and personal transformation, the realities of burnout, the limits of organizational change, and why “loosening the bolts” may matter more than delivering predictable outcomes. This episode is an honest conversation about complexity, leadership, relationships, and what they now believe really changes people — and systems. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Host: Tim Merry
Guest: Tuesday Rivera
Topics covered
- systems change
- participatory leadership
- equity
- personal transformation
- burnout
- organizational change
Keywords
- systems change
- participatory leadership
- equity
- burnout
- organizational change
- power analysis
- institutional change
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Outside
Places: Colorado
More episodes of Find The Outside
- 8.16: Finding the Outside of What's Next · June 2, 2026 · 51 min
- 8.14: Beyond the Crossroads - A Partnership Evolves · May 5, 2026 · 40 min
- 8.13: On the Same Frequency: Heritage, Humanity, and the Power of Listening with Maria Bakari · April 21, 2026 · 45 min
- 8.12: Sh*t’s Weird - Clarity, Doubt, and Doing the Next Right Thing · April 7, 2026 · 44 min
- 8.11: Outside Conversations with Daniela Papi-Thornton - Why Systems Work Needs the Sacred · March 24, 2026 · 53 min
- 8.10: Outside Conversations with Sommer Sibilly-Brown - Angry Waters and New Worlds · March 10, 2026 · 1h 1m
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