John Dehlin

After graduation, Dehlin worked for five years in software and as a consultant for Bain & Company, Arthur Andersen, Citicorp, Heidrick & Struggles, and the LDS Church. He then worked at Microsoft for seven years in programs for developers, marketing, speech technologies, and product demos.[7]

In 2004, Dehlin moved to Logan, Utah, to begin work under David A. Wiley at Utah State University (USU) on OpenCourseWare-related projects.[10] Dehlin would serve two years as USU's OpenCourseWare Consortium Coordinator and Director of Outreach for the Center for Open and Sustainable Learning, promoting OpenCourseWare to other universities,[7] and a few years as director of the OpenCourseWare Consortium for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In January 2007, MIT hired Dehlin as the Director of the OpenCourseWare Consortium.[10]

During Dehlin's early career developing massive open online courses (MOOCs) he had branched into Latter-day Saint themed new media. Dehlin approached the Sunstone Education Foundation and presented to its board of directors about the importance of participating in developing internet communities through blogging and podcasting, in order to address the then limited internet presence for constructive Mormon intellectual sources. The Board accepted his offer to initiate these programs[11] and, in September 2005, Dehlin joined the board of directors and began a Sunstone podcast as well as SunstoneBlog.[12] In July 2007, he also became executive director of the Sunstone Education Foundation, in which he was to focus on strategic initiatives to strengthen Sunstone's position as an open forum for Mormon issues.[13] In that role, he increased organizational focus on its longstanding motto, "faith seeking understanding", and worked to attract new and younger membership.[14] Dehlin resigned from Sunstone in January 2008.[15]

In September 2005, after experiencing doubts in his faith and subsequently finding reasons to remain a member of the LDS Church, Dehlin created the Mormon Stories podcast as an open discussion of Mormon issues, intending to give listeners reasons to remain in the church.[16] Through interviews, Mormon Stories focused on varying Mormon experiences and perspectives. Mormon Stories has been featured in many venues, including being broadcast on KVNU in Logan, Utah.[17]

Intermittently conflicted about continuing Mormon Stories, Dehlin stopped and restarted the project a few times.[18][19] In January 2010 Dehlin resumed the blog and podcast, focusing on faith crises and mental illness. The podcast has featured many notable guests,[20] beginning with interviews of Joanna Brooks and John C. Hamer.[21][22] Two other regular hosts joined Dehlin in conducting interviews for the podcast: Dan Wotherspoon, former editor of Sunstone magazine; and Natasha Helfer Parker, a licensed clinical marriage and family therapist.

In June 2007, Dehlin started Mormon Matters as a blog and weekly podcast.[23] The format was a discussion panel on events, culture, politics and spirituality within Mormonism. Panelists were to represent different sides of each issue, although the show later struggled to retain regular conservative LDS panelists.[24] In early 2008, Dehlin converted Mormon Matters into a group blog and lessened emphasis on new podcast episodes.[25] Dehlin resumed the Mormon Matters podcast on March 5, 2011, with Dan Wotherspoon as the host and Joanna Brooks as a frequent co-host.

Dehlin is also the co-founder of the pro-LGBT Mormons for Marriage website.[26] He co-founded Stay LDS,[27] a community that was dedicated to helping unorthodox Mormons stay in the LDS Church.[28]

Dehlin briefly blogged at a non-partisan religion website Patheos.com in a current-issues/events dialogue format with Mormon studies scholar Patrick Q. Mason.[29]