Autobiographical Sketch of Rudi Leonardi
| THE SHORT VERSION: I treasure  my time in the Seminary…what an awesome place to grow up, to navigate how to be of use, to meet such interesting
students from around California, and to just figure it all out with
spirituality and service. It wasn’t always easy for a Wyoming/Utah boy,
but I laughed and cried and grew up with some remarkable wonderful
human beings. Yes, “boys were boys” who slung mud, played competitive
sports, danced through a rigorous curriculum, and survived in a
cloistered environment. One of the things that stood out for me was my participation in the “Little Kerner Report,” a 577 page analysis on race-based poverty in the Bay Area. This opened my appetite for politics and policy and set a spark where I have never looked back. I continue seeking avenues to make a difference. I received a CORO Foundation Fellowship and a MPA. I navigated challenging years as a City of Oakland Public Official, running the Social Services Department, to representing Community Action Agencies in Sacramento, testifying before committees, to working currently with Washington DC policy makers and staffers to carve out more meaningful Food policies – the GMO labeling bill being the latest orchestration and pushback. We grew up in radically changing times and are well equipped to teach and show leadership for those coming up in an even more rapidly changing era. I look forward to connecting in at this juncture in our lives and encourage everyone to still keep your flame alive. |
THE LONG VERSION A pdf below with a more personal account of my life before, during, and after my 8 years in the seminary: TWO EXERPTS FROM THAT: I got in trouble in study hall when I had waited so long to read “To Light a Candle”by Father James Keller, that I memorized the entire passages of the book. When the time came, I turned the book upside down and n  ever
looked at the pages but read it dead-pan from memory…..you all were
laughing hysterically, especially when an actual passage surfaced about
Salt Lake City where I stood up and took a bow, never breaking from the
rhythm. Yup, I got a C in conduct for that move from the tough Selps.I also recall once for a speech class, I went out to the field in back and wrestled down a live sheep as a prop….I did not know what to do with it so put it in my room until class. When I returned to my room before speech, it had peed all over my floor and rugs. When I took it into the hallway it dumped hundreds of little round poop balls that rolled down the hallway under doors and into the elevator shaft. For a week, the entire floor stunk beyond belief…OK, we were all trying to be shepherds right? (Ed Note: this last story is only credible if you are aware of Rudi's upbringing as contained in this more detailed pfd version here.) |
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