Today we’d like to introduce you to Father Justin Mathews.
Hi Father Justin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My path has never been linear, but it has been consistent in one way. I have always been drawn to the intersection of people, purpose, and building something that did not exist before. I love the adventure of entrepreneurship.
I started my career in leadership and community-based work with a conviction that systems matter, especially the ones that shape dignity, opportunity, and belonging. Over time, that conviction led me into nonprofit leadership, social venture development, and roles where I was not just responding to needs, but redesigning the structures underneath them.
Today, I serve as the CEO of Reconciliation Services in Kansas City, where we work at the intersection of social services, mental health, workforce development, food access, and economic community development at 31st and Troost. Alongside that work, I am also a creative, writing, recording, and producing music, and exploring how art, technology, and entrepreneurship can be tools for healing and connection.
I have learned that leadership is about staying present, taking radical responsibility when things are messy and when values are in tension.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been smooth a smooth road always – and I would not trust a story that claimed it was.
I have led through financial uncertainty, Covid, organizational restructuring, public scrutiny, staff transitions, legal battles, and moments where the margin for error was thin. I have made decisions that were necessary but painful, and I have carried the weight of those decisions long after the meetings ended.
What I have learned is that struggle is not a sign you are doing something wrong. Often, it is the cost of doing something meaningful.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Creativity and art have never been hobbies or side projects for me. Early in my life I was signed to a record label in Nashville and toured for a number of years. My faith and my vocation as an Orthodox Christian priest are also tied inextricably to creativity. If we are each created in the image of the Creator, then we are each made to create and co-create to bring cosmos from the chaos and to breathe life into life for the life of the world and its salvation.
Under the name Not Made By Hands (NotMadeByHands.net), I write and produce music that explores love, loss, faith, reconciliation, and the unresolved moments that shape us. The work is intentionally human and not attempting to be religious music at all. I am less interested in polish and more interested in honesty.
Music keeps me grounded. It reminds me that great leadership is not only strategy. It’s dreaming dreams as big as the problems we want to solve.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
I am passionate about building companies and organizations that center the love of neighbor and social return on investment alongside return on investment in order to forge scalable and sustainable impact and profit fueling change. My work includes nonprofit leadership, social venture development, impact-focused real estate development, and social entrepreneurial strategy.
What I am most proud of is our culture and the team at Reconciliation Services and Thelma’s Kitchen. Creating environments where people are trusted with responsibility, expected to grow, and treated with dignity even when things are difficult.
What sets me apart is that I do not believe leadership requires choosing between compassion and accountability, faith and innovation, or art and execution. The most honest work usually happens in the liminal spaces between those false choices.
Contact Info:
- Website: RS3101.org / ThelmasKitchen.org
- Instagram: @frjustinmathews / @reconciliationservices / @Thelmaskitchenkc
- Facebook: @frjustimathews
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/justinmathews1
- Other: https://NotMadeByHands.net
