00;00;00;08 - 00;00;39;11
Coach Dora Mendez
Welcome back, Amazing Leaders to another powerful episode of season three, Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Coach Dora Mendez, and today's conversation is one you absolutely need to hear. We're diving deep into what it truly means to create a culture where people don't just show up. They thrive where inclusion isn't a buzzword, but a lived experience where 600 plus employees across 23 locations feel connected, valued, valued and empowered to reach their full potential.
00;00;39;14 - 00;01;21;14
Coach Dora Mendez
Our guest today is doing exactly that work and he's been recognized for it. Joining us is Stephan spoke of its executive leader, board member, organizational culture architect, and recent honoree as a nonprofit trailblazer by City and State Magazine. By the end of this conversation, you will walk away with actionable strategies to transform your workplace culture a deeper understanding of what inclusive leadership truly requires, and the inspiration to lead with intention, empathy, and impact.
00;01;21;16 - 00;01;35;02
Coach Dora Mendez
This episode is your blueprint to build organizations where people flourish, not just function. So settle in, take a breath and get ready.
00;01;35;04 - 00;02;01;20
Coach Dora Mendez
Hello and welcome to Building Leadership Community Podcast. I'm your host, Dora Mendez. I am the founder and CEO of Coach Dora LLC. Our guests will be entrepreneurs, small business owners, and community leaders that drive social impact. It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be.
00;02;01;22 - 00;02;13;27
Coach Dora Mendez
It means so much that you join us week after week for these conversations. We appreciate how you continue to be part of season three.
00;02;14;00 - 00;02;41;29
Coach Dora Mendez
It can be lonely at the top, but it doesn't have to be. This is why we started the podcast. If you are new to Building Leadership Community, we are so glad that you're here. Please don't forget to like, share and subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you're watching on YouTube, hit that bell button at the bottom of the screen so you get notified when new episodes drop.
00;02;42;01 - 00;03;11;28
Coach Dora Mendez
Say hi in the comments. We read them and we respond. And so we love to hear from you. Before we dive into today's conversation, I want to take a moment to speak directly to the leaders. Listening right now. If you're someone who carries responsibility, vision and ambition, and you're also quietly aware that your well-being has been living on the backburner, I want you to know this you're not broken and you're not alone.
00;03;12;01 - 00;03;44;14
Coach Dora Mendez
That's exactly why I created Coach Dora's Wellness Club. This isn't just another membership. It's a monthly sanctuary for leaders who want to take care of themselves without dimming their drive or lowering their standards. Inside the Wellness Club, we gather once a month for live wellness sessions where we slow things down just enough to get clear. We'll work with journaling prompts, stress management tools, and leadership reflections you can actually use in real life.
00;03;44;16 - 00;04;20;16
Coach Dora Mendez
You'll also get exclusive coaching around AI fluency for leadership and wellness, helping you stay future ready while protecting your energy and focus. And just as important, you'll be part of a private community of leaders who truly get it. No performative self-care. No hustle culture. Guilt. Just thoughtful people navigating growth together. Each month, we'll also explore simple, practical wellbeing challenges designed to fit into real schedules and real leadership lives.
00;04;20;19 - 00;04;52;10
Coach Dora Mendez
If you're ready to lead with clarity, steadiness, and intention, I'd love to welcome you into this space. You can learn more about Coach Dora's Wellness Club in the description below. Now let's get into today's episode. Let me tell you how I met our guests, Stephan. In June of 2025, we were on a panel together. It had a technical title, Creating Wellness for Nonprofit and Monitoring Population Health.
00;04;52;12 - 00;05;20;01
Coach Dora Mendez
We had a lovely time really sharing about how we support wellness and people who are doing amazing work and human services. And in the nonprofit space. Let me tell you more about Stephan's amazing work. He is the Director of Engagement and Culture at Westchester Jewish Community Services, WJCS Westchester, the largest provider of outpatient community mental health services.
00;05;20;04 - 00;05;48;20
Coach Dora Mendez
In this role, he leads the charge in creating an exceptional employee experience for over 600 staff members across 23 locations, ensuring that every single person feels included, connected, valued and supported to reach their full potential. With 14 plus years of multifaceted experience across mental health, human service and environmental nonprofits. Stephan brings a wealth of knowledge to the table.
00;05;48;22 - 00;06;30;21
Coach Dora Mendez
He also serves as Vice Chairman of the board for Groundwork in the Hudson Valley, an environmental social justice nonprofit, and is deeply engaged in the nonprofit sector through nonprofit with Westchester and federal advocacy work with the Network of Jewish Human Services Agencies, Advocacy Committee. What does this guy not do recently? City and State Magazine recognized him as a nonprofit trailblazer, and once you hear him speak, you will understand why you'll fall in love with them, just like I did.
00;06;30;23 - 00;07;08;20
Coach Dora Mendez
Stephan is also an organization development consultant and co-founder of Éclat Culture. I'll make sure he pronounced that, again. In case I got that wrong. With his wife, Camila Knight. He holds a B.A. in psychology from Cornell University and an MA in organizational psychology and change leadership from Columbia University. Today, Stephan is here to share his insights, his strategies, and his leadership wisdom with you all.
00;07;08;23 - 00;07;14;14
Coach Dora Mendez
Let's bring him to the stage.
00;07;14;16 - 00;07;17;02
Coach Dora Mendez
Hi Stephan!
00;07;17;04 - 00;07;26;12
Stephan Spilkowitz
How are you? Thank you so much for having me on and for your kind words. That introduction was was, was incredible. Thank you.
00;07;26;15 - 00;07;53;23
Coach Dora Mendez
I meant every word of it. And that's why you're here today. We had such a fun time when we we we didn't know each other before, and it was as if we did. As if we knew each other forever. We we share similar philosophies when it comes to wellness and people and culture. And, we we both, share that in common, that we've dedicated our careers to helping people, to serving people.
00;07;53;26 - 00;08;07;08
Coach Dora Mendez
And we also work with our spouses. Can you, I, I'm not sure if I pronounced it correctly. Can you share the name of the, company you, work with your or your wife with?
00;08;07;10 - 00;08;29;14
Stephan Spilkowitz
Sure. Happy to. It's Éclat Culture, which means, star culture or shining culture in French, actually. And I should also correct. My wife's name is pronounced Camila and she does not miss a beat in terms of she she gets “Camilla” most of the time, but but she's she's quick on the correction there. But she's a great partner in life and with work, as well.
00;08;29;14 - 00;08;47;25
Stephan Spilkowitz
She's, she herself is a DEI and human resource professionals. So we kind of bring the, the HR and the organization development work together. And, and we've worked with, nonprofits, business entities and, really just trying to help people and teams reach their full potential
00;08;47;28 - 00;09;20;25
Coach Dora Mendez
Well, so we have that in common. As you know, the producer of this podcast is my spouse, Dylan Rogers. He likes to stay in the in the wings. So working with your spouse, has his challenges, but somehow we figured it out, right? So, let's, I could talk to you about so many things, but let's get right to what we, asked all our guests if you can share with our listeners and our viewers a bit about your leadership story.
00;09;20;27 - 00;09;45;22
Stephan Spilkowitz
Sure. I'm happy to. So throughout my leadership journey and professional journey, there's been two things that have been fairly constant. Service and fun. And it goes back to my very first leadership opportunity, which is in my college days when I was philanthropy chair of my fraternity. So that was my first opportunity to step into any kind of a leadership role.
00;09;45;22 - 00;10;08;29
Stephan Spilkowitz
And I wanted it to mean something and to do good for others. And from there, I went on to, to recruitment the chair and, and was involved in, in party planning, but also with, you know, an element of really ensuring that people enjoyed their time in joining our organization because it was a community as friends. But at the end of the day, it was also an organization.
00;10;09;01 - 00;10;44;16
Stephan Spilkowitz
Beyond that, I went on to, work in the mental health field. Since I have always been fascinated and interested and dedicated towards people, and, I worked I started working at Andras, a large mental health, nonprofit serving youth who had experienced early childhood trauma. And pretty quickly, I gravitated towards recreation therapy and developing programs that were, that I saw had the potential to really give children who had had a really difficult experience and an amazing, new experience.
00;10;44;16 - 00;11;12;16
Stephan Spilkowitz
And, I ran programs that range from, aquatics to a motivational youth dirt bike program, high low ropes course, animal assisted therapy, therapy dog program. In addition to that, student council, recording studio program. And I always forget something, but, suffice to say, I ran a variety of programs that really sought to do both of those things.
00;11;12;16 - 00;11;42;12
Stephan Spilkowitz
Right? Provide, for a fun, engaging, and towering experience, but also was deeply rooted in service and helping people. My interest started to evolve from there as I, found myself in leadership roles and really seeing the potential for, well, for the potential for service at a large scale. Once you work effectively with leading a team, empowering a team, and really empowering a whole system to function effectively.
00;11;42;15 - 00;12;16;21
Stephan Spilkowitz
And so I started to get interested in culture, especially trauma informed culture, working in the mental health space, and went back to school for organizational psychology and change leadership. And, through the course of that program and the years that followed, found myself, in my current role, at WJCS, where I have the privilege and the pleasure of supporting, over 600 staff in the life changing work that they do for over 20,000 clients throughout the county of, of all walks of life, all backgrounds.
00;12;16;27 - 00;12;36;15
Stephan Spilkowitz
And I'm really a believer in that philosophy. If you take care of the people who are on the frontlines delivering care and everyone benefits. So in that in my current role, where, you know, that's how I see my service to to others, my service to, to the staff of our organization. And of course, the fun is not lost, right?
00;12;36;15 - 00;12;43;29
Stephan Spilkowitz
Whether it's our holiday parties, some raffles, some masseuses at our, summer barbecue and, and.
00;12;44;00 - 00;12;49;20
Coach Dora Mendez
Masseuses? Oh, wait! You got to invite me to this party. But go ahead, go ahead.
00;12;49;22 - 00;13;09;21
Stephan Spilkowitz
Yeah. I mean, and listen, that's it. We all spend so much time at work, we deserve to have a little bit of fun along the way. And, you know, we think about why we do what we do. It's to to elevate, to serve and to to help improve others, especially those most in need. So that's been a little bit about my my journey.
00;13;09;21 - 00;13;27;02
Stephan Spilkowitz
And it's taken a couple twists and turns. As I follow things that are, that are interesting or impactful, those are my my two drivers right there. What's what's interesting and impactful. But that core element that's kind of followed me throughout is service and fun.
00;13;27;05 - 00;13;58;24
Coach Dora Mendez
So I want to pick up on something that you mentioned about serving others and, I mentioned that I started, a wellness club. Right. And so, I maybe I'm taking advantage of your expertise, but what do you do to take care of yourself? You're giving so much to others, and, you know, 20,000 clients, 600 staff. You're giving so much to others.
00;13;58;26 - 00;14;01;20
Coach Dora Mendez
What do you do to take care of yourself?
00;14;01;22 - 00;14;25;18
Stephan Spilkowitz
Yeah. Thank you. Dora. I think it's essential, you know, and especially those in leadership roles, you're holding not only for yourself, but you're holding for others. You know, add to that I'm. I'm a dad. So, you know, first and foremost, my my bosses are my little people running around at home. And I don't get quite as much time as I used to, but I still carve out some time to make sure.
00;14;25;20 - 00;14;47;11
Stephan Spilkowitz
One, I love to find myself in nature, feel really, connected when I am, hiking in the woods or if I'm out on the water, I'm a sailor. So again, something I don't get quite as much time as I used to to enjoy. But I do sail. I do you ride motorcycles as well.
00;14;47;11 - 00;15;16;07
Stephan Spilkowitz
I'm a little bit of an adrenaline junkie, which is something that's also followed me. But that's something that I, you know, I found myself kind of, falling into a bit of a flow state, you know, kind of being one with, with the bike and the road or one with, boat and the wind. And, you know, as we find ourselves in colder days now looking forward to hopefully getting on the ski slopes for at least a couple days on my snowboard.
00;15;16;07 - 00;15;40;27
Stephan Spilkowitz
So those are those are some things that I that really kind of fill my cup. And outside of that, I, I just love spending time with with my kids, with my dog. He barks a lot, but he's a great little pup. And, Yeah, I think it's it's, you know, it's critical to prioritize wildness for yourself, even when it feels like, a nice to have or you don't have time for it.
00;15;40;27 - 00;16;04;20
Stephan Spilkowitz
You have to remind yourself that, that it's critical, right? You know, I think about the, the analogy of the oxygen mask on an airplane. Right. And what are the instructions you get with an oxygen mask? It's always to put it on yourself first, because if you're not helping yourself, you really can't be in a position to help others.
00;16;04;22 - 00;16;30;12
Coach Dora Mendez
I, I agree, and I, I have, I have we have, 11 year old and a nine year old, so, I put the I put them first often, like, if if we were ever in an accident, my instinct would be to put the mask on them first, because that's just always how I am. But, we do have to put the mask on ourselves if we can't help.
00;16;30;18 - 00;16;35;27
Coach Dora Mendez
If we're not, well, we can't help others. So thank you for elevating that.
00;16;36;00 - 00;17;02;16
Stephan Spilkowitz
Yeah. And I just want to say that, you know, that instinct. I mean, that's that's an understandable instinct, right? As a parent and truth be told, I would probably do the same thing in that situation. But that's, you know, the perfect kind of metaphor for why it's important to be intentional about wellness. Right? And that's, you know, whether you're providing a wellness program to staff, which is often seen as, okay, that's nice to have, but, you know, we're busy.
00;17;02;16 - 00;17;30;18
Stephan Spilkowitz
We have a lot of work to do. And then there's other critical benefits and one thing or another, but it's about a mindset shift to really kind of dedicate yourself to a practice of wellness that ensures that you're well functioning. You know, I'll give you another metaphor there. You know, if you have a car that you know is just on the go constantly and you're not gassing up, you're not paying attention to the oil level and you're not paying attention to that check engine light.
00;17;30;21 - 00;17;43;13
Stephan Spilkowitz
Eventually you're going to break down, and then you're going to be forced to tend to the wellness, so to speak, of that vehicle. And we're the same. So, you know, being proactive there I think is essential.
00;17;43;16 - 00;18;16;01
Coach Dora Mendez
But I feel like, because of your line of work, you work with with, you know, I feel like it's even more important to sort of practice what you preach because you're helping people with their mental health and their, traumas, and you're supporting people. And I think it's important to practice what you preach. And I think that's why your role, is not a nice to have.
00;18;16;03 - 00;18;40;14
Coach Dora Mendez
It is essential, also for burnout, just like for practical, from a practical point of view, as, like an employer and a business, you don't, you don't. If people stay and people do their best work when they feel valued and supported and making sure their wellness and having a. Well, I mean, I feel like your role is so unique.
00;18;40;14 - 00;19;11;03
Coach Dora Mendez
I don't think that that's there are a lot of organizations that even have that specific role. It's usually relegated to HR. Like when I, I spent many years in HR for nonprofits and and it's like relegated. And so I think it's just speaks volumes to your organization to have a role that's really intentional about wellness and really practicing what is preached and walking the walk and talking the talk.
00;19;11;05 - 00;19;37;13
Coach Dora Mendez
So that being said, in terms of autonomy, because you, you know, you, you specialize in organizational development, but this is a question that could be answered in many ways. And I'd love to get your, perspective on what, what community means and what it means to you. You have such expertise on organizational development, but I'd love to hear, you know, however you like to answer.
00;19;37;13 - 00;19;40;12
Coach Dora Mendez
What does community mean to you?
00;19;40;14 - 00;20;28;28
Stephan Spilkowitz
So community means a lot of things. But if I were to boil it down to one word, I would say potential, because there is so much possible when you bring people together, especially a diverse array of people, different walks of life, different backgrounds, different perspectives in terms of what collaboration can look like, mutual support can look like and essentially, you know, I'm a big believer that, you know, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and that whether it is, you know, working on a work related idea or solving a, or even, you know, you know, parenting, there's community and just, just, partners being together, it's always better to
00;20;28;28 - 00;20;57;01
Stephan Spilkowitz
get at it with some help. Right? We can. We all need help at certain times, and we can all be helpful to others at certain times. And having a community means having a base, a resource. And really, a set of trusted individuals to call on, as life's work's challenges just arise. So, you know, I think there's there's so much potential in community.
00;20;57;07 - 00;21;16;06
Stephan Spilkowitz
You never really know that what you can fully do. But the more you lean in, the more you build networks, the more you build community, the more you can help connect the dots, whether that's you and somebody else or two people in your orbit who would really benefit from being connected with one another.
00;21;16;08 - 00;21;44;29
Coach Dora Mendez
I love that, I love that, community, it's possibilities are possibilities. I love that. And so that was a great segue, to advice. What advice would you give to the next generation of leaders? Maybe something that you would, you know, tell your younger self?
00;21;45;01 - 00;22;15;26
Stephan Spilkowitz
Sure. I would say start with “Why” then figure out “How”. So with regard to start with “Why” know what drives you know what, what you value. What kind of things you enjoy as it pertains to work, what kind of things you really don't like as well. And what's meaningful, right. There's so many causes or motivators or things that can serve as drivers for folks, and it varies from person to person.
00;22;15;26 - 00;22;40;09
Stephan Spilkowitz
So knowing your “Why” I would say a square one. And then in terms of the “How”, there's so many ways to get there, I, I once read a book that, reframed the idea of a, career ladder, into the idea of a climbing wall. And I loved that analogy because it's so true. You know, at times the path is not linear, right?
00;22;40;09 - 00;23;06;24
Stephan Spilkowitz
And sometimes a a side project or even a lateral move or, a stretch assignment might be that thing that can help you progress upward in your career. And then also we have to acknowledge and and respect that. Not everyone wants to perhaps climb the ladder in the traditional sense, right? In terms of just right, right, rising in the hierarchy.
00;23;06;26 - 00;23;32;02
Stephan Spilkowitz
And some really enjoy just being masters of their craft. Right? And amassing perhaps new modalities. I think about some of the clinicians and therapists I work with who are nothing short of miracle workers, honestly, and truly. And there are so many interesting therapeutic modalities that they can, upskill themselves with. And people are complicated. That is not easy work.
00;23;32;02 - 00;23;57;02
Stephan Spilkowitz
And I remember that back when I was a, paraprofessional working with, boys on the autism spectrum, you know, there's a lot going on there. And so, you know, whatever your craft is, whatever your path is, there's more than one way to get there. And I'll share, a vocab word that I learned in grad school, which really captures that, which is “equifinality”.
00;23;57;08 - 00;23;58;17
Stephan Spilkowitz
So, you know.
00;23;58;20 - 00;23;59;24
Coach Dora Mendez
“equifinality”.
00;23;59;24 - 00;24;04;19
Stephan Spilkowitz
“Equifinality”, which means exactly that. There's more than one way to get there.
00;24;04;22 - 00;24;39;22
Coach Dora Mendez
I love that, I love that because leadership isn't always, climbing up. It's it could be learning and continuously growing and learning and improving. I once had someone I, you know, with my HR hat speaking of not wanting to climb up, I had someone who reached out to me. I had a job posting and someone from a colleague from a long time ago who I loved and love to work with, reached out to me and say, I'm interested.
00;24;39;22 - 00;25;22;02
Coach Dora Mendez
And I said, you're so overqualified. And and they said, and I don't want the stress of managing other people, I really I really just like helping people. I like being in a support position. I, I feel like there's too much pressure and stress. And she was really content in, in, in staying in her level as long as she was, challenged, in terms of continuously learning something new and, I, I ended up hiring her, and I wouldn't have if she had just reached out, because I would have been I would have been.
00;25;22;02 - 00;25;49;22
Coach Dora Mendez
I was worried you worry when people, have so much experience and are so good at what they do, and that was their path for success. That's how the way they they lead, they. And, so I love that analogy of, you know, finding the “why” in the “how”, and what works for you because leadership means, different things to different people.
00;25;49;24 - 00;26;20;25
Coach Dora Mendez
It's not just a job title. And so and I love how you talk about clinicians and how complex their jobs are that like climbing like up in, in the hierarchy is in growth for them. It's really learning and really understanding the complexities of the role that they're in is, is satisfaction alone. I just love that concept.
00;26;20;25 - 00;26;50;01
Coach Dora Mendez
I don't think anyone has brought that really up. In our, on our show. So I'd love to toss it back to you and to ask you to share what, how people can get in touch with you, learn more about your organization, the work that you do. What? What would you like our, audience to to know about you and how to, you know, get involved?
00;26;50;03 - 00;27;13;19
Stephan Spilkowitz
Sure. While getting back to community, I'm always interested in building community. And and again, the, the interest that led me to psychology in the first place. Just a fashion fascination with people and especially what's possible in groups. So I'm happy to connect with anyone who, perhaps wants to find me on LinkedIn. Name is spelled just like you see below.
00;27;13;21 - 00;27;43;15
Stephan Spilkowitz
So that's probably the best way to reach me. Whether, there's a potential collaboration, whether, I, my, my wife and I through our through our, Éclat Culture can maybe be helpful to you and your teams. Or simply to to chat. You know, I'm always happy to do that. And I also wanted to share, that, you know, I'm not sure when this episode will air, but right now it's 2025 is winding down.
00;27;43;17 - 00;28;07;18
Stephan Spilkowitz
And this has been a tough year, especially for nonprofits, just with everything that's been going on, in the country and, and, you know, getting back to why and what drives you, I encourage everyone to think about, you know, what's a cause that's meaningful to you? And it might be something you're currently engaged in or maybe something you haven't found yet.
00;28;07;20 - 00;28;32;06
Stephan Spilkowitz
Find that cause and support, contribute whatever you can. Because it's the work of the nonprofit sector is critical not just for uplifting some of the most vulnerable, but also just simply ensuring that that everyone's well taken care of. You know, I'm a big philosophy, you know, rising tide lifts all boats and, and, you know, big on service impacts.
00;28;32;06 - 00;28;53;23
Stephan Spilkowitz
So that's why I've found myself a home in the nonprofit sector, and especially with, a time of increasing need and reducing resources. The more we can find community together and support, organizations and causes which are meaningful and doing impactful, important work, the more we all benefit at the end of the day.
00;28;53;25 - 00;29;18;24
Coach Dora Mendez
Stephan, thank you for that. Thank you for lifting that up. Audience and viewers, do what you can, to support the the most vulnerable in our community. So thank you so much. We're going to make sure that the links that you discussed are in the description of this episode. To our listeners and our viewers, you'll have access to that.
00;29;18;26 - 00;29;45;21
Coach Dora Mendez
And we'll let you know when the episode airs. So you can definitely spread that wonderful message of support for the nonprofit community. Stephan, thank you so much for being here. We're so thrilled. We, our we know that folks are going to get so much out of listening to you today, learning about your story, learning about how to support, people and wellness.
00;29;45;21 - 00;29;49;12
Coach Dora Mendez
So we we're just so grateful to you. Thank you so much.
00;29;49;15 - 00;30;11;20
Stephan Spilkowitz
Well, thank you, Dora. And if I could have just one minute, I have one more important shout out. And that's to you and, the wellness community that you are building. It sounds amazing. And again, that kind of thing. It's not a nice to have. It really is a need to have. So I encourage all the listeners today to really check out, that wellness community.
00;30;11;20 - 00;30;21;29
Stephan Spilkowitz
I'm interested to learn more myself, and take care of yourself. You know, there's life is stressful, but, you know, we all deserve to have some fun to thank you.
00;30;22;00 - 00;30;40;12
Coach Dora Mendez
Fun. That is it. You know, you just when you say life is stressful, we all deserve to have some fun. It took me back to Ferris Bueller. I don't know that. Maybe I'm aging, my aging myself. Life moves fast. Anyway, so I want to thank you, Stephan. Thank you for that shout out. Thank you for being here.
00;30;40;12 - 00;31;02;08
Coach Dora Mendez
I'm going to ask you to hold on a second while we roll our closing credits, to our audience and our viewers listening out there. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe. Especially if you know someone who needs to hear, what we have to say about wellness. Please don't forget to like, share and subscribe. Stephan, thank you again.
00;31;02;08 - 00;31;07;23
Coach Dora Mendez
And hold hold a moment while we roll our credits.
00;31;07;25 - 00;31;37;04
Coach Dora Mendez
You've been listening to Building Leadership Community. Watch on YouTube @CoachDoraM. Listen, wherever you get your podcast, follow me on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube @CoachDoraM. Visit me on the web at CoachDoraMendez.com. Hosted by me, Dora Mendez. Produced by Dora Mendez and Dylan Rogers. Graphics, editing, and sound mixing by Dylan Rogers.
