Isaac Poplin | Professional Project

One of the key components of our annual Fellowship experience is what we call the “Professional Project.” In the fall, we spent a lot of time establishing a theological foundation that expands how we conceive of God’s mission. This ties in with our vision as an organization. We believe God’s dream for the world (which is often referred to as the Kingdom of God or the new creation) is a world in which everyone has enough and no one needs to be afraid. 

In the spring semester, we ask each Fellow to think carefully about the power and influence they have in the workplace and community. Meanwhile, they are also keeping an eye out for areas of brokenness or pain in their place of work. We ask, “If you know that God’s mission is for everyone to have enough and no one to be afraid, what happens in your job, workplace, or industry that works in opposition to that mission?” Each fellow then develops a specific and achievable plan, which they will use to address that specific issue over the course of the fall semester.

Isaac Poplin was a Fellow in our Class of 2024. At the time, he worked as an actuary here in Indianapolis. Isaac said, “...even though I absolutely love what I do, I did not see how my specific role directly connected to any of these issues we were learning about [in CCF]. I was wrestling through this all while being surrounded by other fellows that were in jobs that I felt like were directly making a difference in these spaces.”

That all changed dramatically in February, when Fellows were asked to complete a “vocational power assessment.” Isaac started to think more deeply about the problems in his industry, company, and team, He brainstormed about his influence within those spaces. Then, he started identifying “one right next step” he could take each day.

During one Saturday forum, Isaac and the other Fellows heard a talk from Dr. Deanna Reinoso, a pediatrician who works as the Medical Director for Social Determinants of Health at Eskenazi Health. Dr. Reinoso shared about the Indiana Diaper Bank, a non-profit that seeks to end diaper need in our state.

Isaac said, “This project idea morphed out of a desire for something beyond the downtown consumption culture that I had become all too familiar with -- a culture comprised of driving into Indianapolis to work, spending your day in a high rise, and then driving out of the city, all while never having to acknowledge the issues present throughout the community in which we work.”

So, in close collaboration with his colleagues, Isaac organized a diaper drive for his 90+ actuarial team. 

Ultimately, Isaac and his team collected enough diapers and funds to donate 27,000 diapers, the 3rd largest donation in the history of the Indiana Diaper Bank.

Not every professional project has such an obvious end product, but they all accomplish a similar thing: to help Fellows look differently at the problems in their workplace, to see the influence they have, and to recognize how they can participate in God’s mission in the world, no matter what kind of work they do.

“I really believe that my thinking has been transformed and I now understand much more fully what it looks like to be faithful in the situation I am in with the resources and influence that God has given me. Thank you for creating this opportunity; I can honestly say that I think it has changed my view of work forever.”
–Isaac Poplin, Class of 2024