Michele Dudley BraveWorks Charlotte NC Fashion Compassion Finish Line Podcast
Finish Line Podcast Episode 152

Michele Dudley, Founder of BraveWorks, on Seeing Others Through Generosity

You want to steward God’s resources faithfully. But questions about generosity, calling, and impact are rarely simple.

In this conversation, you’ll hear from someone who has walked through these kinds of questions and learned along the way. Listen for the next step God may be inviting you to take.


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Meet your guide

Michele Dudley is the founder of BraveWorks and Restoration Residences, where she has poured her heart into making a Kingdom impact among those who are often overlooked. After starting her career as a CPA, a life-changing mission trip to Burundi opened her eyes to the needs of the global church and set her on a new path of generosity and solidarity with those facing deep suffering.

Michele is an avid learner and her deep curiosity has led her into many creative opportunities for giving. Through BraveWorks and Restoration Residences, Michele has impacted the lives of many trafficked, abused, and incarcerated women, as well as helped families in need transition out of homelessness. A self-identified connector and advocate, Michele is highly integrated in the generosity community and has a passion for helping others give well and invest with a generous heart.

What you’ll gain

  • Finding creative opportunities to give
  • Stories of serving and empowering women through BraveWorks
  • Being a generous connector
  • Committing to community in the generosity space
  • Approaching investing from a heart of generosity 
  • Stewarding investment and philanthropy dollars
  • Practical advice to get started in impact investing
  • Navigating various levels of engagement and responsibility in generosity
  • Encouragement for women to engage in the generosity community
  • Trusting God in the messiness of generosity 
  • Hearing from God in stewardship decision-making

Inspired? Take your next step

Try the Game of Life Simulator

Step into a four-minute interactive experience and see what unfolds as you decide how to manage your resources.

Start the Game
Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot
Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot

Inspired? Learn how to partner with ministries well.

A compelling ministry story can inspire you to respond. But wise partnership often begins with better questions.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Focus

What is the ministry really seeking to restore?

Learn to look beyond visible needs toward people, context, relationships, and flourishing.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Fruitfulness

How do you recognize meaningful impact?

Consider how ministries learn, evaluate their work, and pursue lasting change.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Faithfulness

What does genuine ministry partnership look like?

Explore how to foster trust, alignment, and shared mission in your giving.

In our Intervention Series on the Applied Generosity Podcast, we’ll help you become a more thoughtful, discerning, and faithful partner.

Start the Series

Quotes to Remember

  • “I felt like I had basically lived my life ignoring the plight of the suffering.”
  • “It’s so important for us to become proximate to people who have different lived experiences than we do.”
  • “Whether it’s somewhere across the world or across town, we can have really transformative experiences, even in our own community, but we have to be willing to be uncomfortable and humble and put on a willingness to learn from others.” 
  • “A lot of times, I had no intentions of starting anything. I just took the next step that the Lord showed me.”
  • “There’s something that’s healing when you recognize the struggle people have been through.”
  • “It’s really inspiring to be in these spaces where people do have resources but they’re taking the humble perspective of ‘I’ve been entrusted with this, I really want to honor God.’”
  • “If I wasn’t in this space where I was continually being challenged, I think it would be easy to just fall into the culture and the ways of the world.”
  • “Too often, we only focus on our philanthropy and we don’t think about what we’re doing with our investment dollars, and oftentimes, the investment dollars are undoing the very things that we’re trying to do with our philanthropy. God calls us to steward all of what He’s entrusted to us in a way that honors Him.”

Links from the Show

Use Our
Free Guide

Have you considered the ways you are uniquely called into generosity? We’re not all called into the same adventure.

Enter your information below and we’ll send you our free PDF guide to explore the specific adventure you were called into.

Generosity Profile Image

Use Our
Free Guide

Have you considered the ways you are uniquely called into generosity? We’re not all called into the same adventure.
Generosity Profile Image
Enter your information below and we’ll send you our free PDF guide to explore the specific adventure you were called into.
Generosity Profile Image

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