Impact Report: Justin Stollberg
During your time in the Generation Distinct Cohort, you worked to uncover the wrong you were born to make right. Can you share what that wrong is and how you discovered it through your cohort experience?
My generation has been introduced to a remote / hybrid work culture that was attempting to emerge from an unprecedented pandemic. This has left my generation more isolated than ever before. We have less connections with our peers and leaders, face less opportunities for mentorship, and were brought up in the workplace in a culture that was never meant to be permanent. This has left a scar on many of us, hence why the pendulum has shifted significantly towards focusing on mental health and wellbeing since the pandemic.
While this is all important, I believe this has deprioritized the values of discipline and mentorship. The disconnect between today’s and tomorrow’s leaders is only getting larger, and we need to bridge this gap if we are going to set the next generation up to lead successfully. Developing discipline as a young leader, building mentorship connections with today’s leaders, and learning to lean into adversity with a trust in God’s plan cannot be an afterthought.
During my GenD cohort, I developed my “I exist” statement, which reads: I exist to leave everything I touch better than what it was by embracing and building upon the unique blessings God has given me in order to impart, value, inspiration, and kingdom impact to my family, friends, colleagues, and communities.
Generation Distinct helped me realize that I have a unique set of experiences, a strong aptitude for developing disciplined habits, and a passion for mentoring others through my own experiences. It helped me realize that the life, experiences, mentors, and opportunities I have been blessed with are not meant just for me, but also to be shared with my generation to create more good in the world and bring out the best in everyone.
What did you discover about your purpose during your Cohort, and how did the program help you define and clarify it?
During my GenD cohort, I selected the Mentorship track as my focus. My decision to choose this track became abundantly clear as I progressed through the initial weeks of my cohort, thanks to the coaching I received from my GenD mentors. I always knew that mentoring others was something I wanted to do more of, as it is a fulfilling experience for me, but I was struggling to discover where the best applications of this passion lied.
The GenD curriculum, guidance from my coaches, and feedback from my cohort all helped me emerge from the program with an actionable plan to seek out and activate mentorship opportunities in my life.
Additionally, my GenD coaches gave me an opportunity to put this purpose into practice at this year’s Untitled_ conference, where I spoke about “Developing Discipline as a Young Leader”. This was a transformational experience for me and gave me overwhelming reassurance that I had so much untapped potential with this passion of mine, and that my God given purpose was something that could influence the lives of many others inside & outside the GenD community.
At the end of your Cohort, you set specific goals aligned with your purpose. What were those goals, and how have you pursued them since graduating?
One of my immediate goals in the Mentorship track was to actively seek out opportunities to mentor others around different passions of mine. In the few months following my graduation, I was offered the opportunity to become a Consulting Industry Mentor in the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Chicago Chapter. This checks multiple boxes for me, as I get to work at the intersection of multiple passions of mine: my alma mater, current employer, and local Chicago community.
After completing the Cohort, how has the Generation Distinct Coalition continued to support and inspire you in your mission?
I have always been overwhelmed by the support of the GenD community. Hannah and Aaron by far have displayed more investment in their peers more than any other leaders I have had the pleasure of getting to know.
In my personal experience, Hannah and Aaron have continued to invest their time and effort in me after I completed my cohort. They are always coaching me, pushing me to stretch outside of my comfort zone, and holding me accountable for the actions I have committed to since joining GenD. At times, the numerous other commitments I have in my personal and professional life can make it easy for the takeaways from my GenD cohort to trend towards a spot in the back seat. However, the investment Hannah & Aaron continue to make in me serves as the drumbeat keeping my mission & purpose in the forefront of my priorities.
It is truly astonishing how much passion and energy they both inject into my life, as well as the lives of hundreds of other GenD community members, and I am confident it is making an immeasurable impact across the country AND globe.
You attended the Untitled Conference. How did those experiences deepen your understanding of your purpose and equip you to live it out with greater confidence?
Attending Untitled_ 2024 was an eye-opening experience for me. It really helped set the context for what level of impact I can make on the GenD community. I see a huge opportunity for GenD to reach those on a corporate career path like myself. Oftentimes, this career path is quickly dismissed and siloed off from other faith-based journeys like going into ministry, music, the arts, etc. These groups naturally face division and misinterpret one another’s missions.
Corporate America needs faith-driven apostolic leaders to make the world a better place. We often dismiss any Christian values from the workplace and wrongly feel the need to separate God from Business. With the amount of influence corporate America has on our daily lives, just image the impact we can have if we empower the next generation of corporate leaders to put their Christian values to practice, rather than suppressing them, and embrace our different God-given missions rather than drawing comparisons between them.
As you continue on your journey, what are the next steps in living out your purpose, and how do you plan to expand your impact?
As a next step in my GenD journey, I am planning on deepening my involvement in the community by going through the Leadership Development program. Completing this will further equip me with the tools to lead others and deepen my involvement with Generation Distinct. After going through this program, I feel aligned and passionate to the mission of Generation Distinct. I see so much potential and value and want to do my part to help grow the cause, expand the kingdom impact, and help others like me discover the wrong they were born to make right. I see GenD not just as a community that supports me, but also a platform for me to use to expand my impact and put my God-given talents to work where it can create the most value.
For partners and donors who have made these experiences possible, what would you want to say about the importance of their investment in young leaders like you?
The mission of Generation Distinct is unparalleled and growing exponentially. The amount of passion, energy, enthusiasm, and encouragement that Hannah, Aaron, and the rest of the GenD staff put into this experience is truly amazing. Trust me, I’ve experienced it all firsthand!
If you weren’t confident about it already, I can assure you that every ounce of your time, talent, and treasure that you invest in GenD is maximized thanks to the unwavering drive Hannah & Aaron bring. You can tell that they feel a God-given obligation to invest all they have to offer in GenD.
GenD helped me discover one of my passions for building bridges between today’s and tomorrow’s leaders. It is energizing to know that GenD has such a passionate support network willing to invest and take risks in order to empower people like me to solve the wrongs they were born to make right. It’s about quality, not quantity, and GenD is producing some of the highest quality leaders I have ever come to meet, and it has the potential to do this on a massive scale if we continue to capitalize on the momentum we have all created thus far.