3 a.m.

Wrapping up the series, Pivot Through the Pandemic, Deb engages in another enlightening conversation with Dr. Julie Riess, a long-time friend and Co-Founder of Day One Early Learning Community. The new organization focuses on raising the standard of training for preschool teachers to improve the early learning experience, increase professional salary levels appropriately, and provide a curriculum for preschoolers that involves playful learning. Dr. Riess's passion for education shines through as she reveals the challenges of running the inaugural program year in the midst of a pandemic as well as shares her vision to continue investing in the next generation of learners.

In this special episode, Deb sits down in-person with Yolanda Maness, an alum and now Associate Clinical Director of Mending Hearts, a Nashville-based social impact organization that has helped over 4,000 women over the past 18 years move from detox to independent living in a continuum care program bringing hope and healing to women recovering from addiction. Join Deb as she listens to Yolanda openly share about her addiction recovery story as well as shed light on their upcoming national awareness day: Women Touched By Addiction July 23. #WTDA celebrates all the women touched by this disease: those in recovery or their Mom addict, a sister, their wife, you get the idea. Yolanda invites everyone to join in and help Mending Hearts celebrate all of these courageous women.

Deb engages in an eye-opening conversation with David Bunch, retiring President and CEO of FedChoice Federal Credit Union, about how his leadership responsibilities shifted in response to the pandemic. David describes how the core values of the credit union supplied the roadmap for meeting the needs of his employees and their multigenerational constituent membership. He shares how "care and communication" served as the watchwords for the pandemic pivots made to attend to his clients and his team. David also talks about how the post COVID structural changes now present in the financial world will affect access to equitable practices especially with the expanding use of digital banking.

Deb speaks with Scott Campbell, Co-Founder of Persist Nashville, to learn how his organization served even more students during the pandemic. Scott's unflappable dedication to his work and the design of mission delivery to support Nashville's high school put Persist Nashville at the front of the class pivoting through the pandemic.

As part of The Macfarlan Group's new series, Pivot Through the Pandemic, Deb is joined by Damon Johnson, Director of Community Relations at Oakland, California's Oakstop Alliance, to discuss how they successfully pivoted from a location-based business plan to an organization with a brand new resource portfolio delivering culturally competent business expertise, funding, and technical support to local businesses in need of guidance through the new post-pandemic economic paradigm.

Deb and Paula Madison, media mogul (including NBC worldwide corporate executive) enjoy an inspired conversation about creating "belonging" on your terms, eradicating notions of diversity and inclusion for fair representation, and ending the expectation of forgiveness to move forward: in Paula's words. "Just make it right. And that, in itself, demands so much from all of us."

Joshua Mundy, Co-Founder of Pivot Technology School in Nashville, joins Deb to talk about how the technology industry offers one of the most equitable career options for people of color. He cautions that once hired, these employees can feel marginalized causing attrition and stunted career growth. Mundy challenges the tech industry to change their thinking about hiring people of color from the act of hiring to the act of creating a workplace where everyone can bring their best selves to work and thrive.

Deb shares an extraordinary conversation with Reverend Stephen Handy, lead pastor at Nashville's McKendree United Methodist Church, who walks her through the danger of doing this work and finding comfort. According to Handy, "Comfort is seductive." He cautions Deb it's more than a conversation, more than good intent that will build bridges to change. Deb admits to feeling indicted, but enlightened as Reverend Handy offers ways to become true deconstructors of systemic racism or in his words, abolitionists.

Deb journeys with Dr. Devin DeLaughter through a poignant portrayal of his life growing up black in the South, becoming a ward of the state, earning a Ph.D., becoming an education leader, and now leaning in on the community to achieve peace.

Deb continues her journey to becoming an anti-racist as she talks with DEI expert jane rosenzweig who spent 15 years at a Fortune 100 firm as the Global Diversity Leader. In this episode, jane calls on Deb and other white people, especially in the corporate world, to examine the context in which their whiteness exists to fully answer the question, why do black lives have to matter for things to change? And is my business or organization contributing to the resistance of the BLM movement to safeguard the supremacist system of exclusion that keeps economic and career opportunities from people of color?

Deb begins her journey to understand and confront racism under the guidance of Tanya Odom, world-renowned DEI expert who works with the United Nations and Fortune 100 corporations. These Vassar College alums will walk together as Deb learns how to disrupt the status quo to break down systemic racism. She'll talk with friends and new acquaintances in her life roles as mother, friend, colleague, business owner, community leader, and citizen.

Deb chats with Julie Riess, Co-Founder of Day One Early Learning Community, a brand new organization in the Mid-Hudson region of New York that is innovating preschool as a learning experience, as a wage equity model, and as a workforce development model, raising expectations for the possible in early childhood learning.

In this episode, Deb welcomes Michael Woodnorth, social enterprise expert, to unpack starting a social enterprise in your nonprofit creating a viable new revenue source.

Deb Learns the passion behind the work of servant leader David Ssebulime, Founder and Chief Volunteer of Raise the Roof operating in Bwassandeku – Uganda where a dynamic educational ecosystem ensures Child Development, Community Revitalization, Church Partnerships, and Jobs exist and grow.

Deb talks with Co-Executive Director, Lindsey Harris, of Nashville's own Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) about creating a capital campaign to build an inclusive campus for their constituents. In the conversation, Lindsey shares how they created a campaign that lifted up everyone by honoring all donors so that everyone believes their gift was essential for the building and the campus to rise. Humility. Respect. Belief. #inspiration  

Deb sits down with Andrew Goldner, Venture Capitalist and Co-Founder of GrowthX, for a conversation about recognizing needs first before even considering possible solutions to social injustice challenges in the same way successful for profit companies seek client base and market share. Andrew advises to "first, always ask what you need to KNOW, then go after what you need to DO" when starting a venture of any kind. He cautions against becoming enamored with your idea to the exclusion of understanding if the idea will have any impact at all to those you hope to benefit. This and more as Deb and Andrew talk about using a business lens to increase impact social impact space.

As the first shark tank funding round approaches, Deb talks with Dr. Kari Miller, Executive Director of the first of its kind stand alone brick and mortar learning center for budding high school entrepreneurs within the Williamson County School system. The brand new Entrepreneurism and Innovation Center serves as an incubator space for student created businesses. This brainchild of the business community seeks to share experience and expertise in an innovative way to introduce students to the growing opportunities of entrepreneurship as a career path.

Deb learns from world renowned diversity, equity, and inclusion consultant, Tanya Odom, how well intentioned work to end social injustices ends up creating new challenges of access for those organizations intended to serve.

Michael Peters, founder of 17:15 Sports, joins Deb Macfarlan Enright on 3 a.m. What's Keeping You Up at Night? to describe how he put passion and purpose on the playing field to get kids reading to end the suffering of children in his hometown.

Tari Hughes, President & CEO of Nashville's Center for Nonprofit Management talks with 3 a.m. host, Deb Macfarlan Enright about how she determines success for herself and her team through a variety of ways. She shares resources that inspire her. Tari also talks about the alignment of practice and outcomes to ensure success.  

3 a.m. goes remote from the Williamson, Inc. Business Expo & Job Fair to learn about the new Center for Innovation, their service to nonprofit social impact organizations, and their programs focused on women in business in the Greater Nashville area.

Courtney Hale - Founder and Chief Hope Dealer of Knowledge Bank Solutions and Super Money Kid Bank shares his mission to increase financial literacy capacity among our youth starting as early as elementary school.

Gail Powell, Executive Director of High Hopes Development Center, joins Deb Macfarlan Enright to share her story of how to recover from the striking realization of financial struggles in an organization and the common Executive Director question of “what have I gotten myself into?” – pushing her to use the power of the mission and the perspective of business to turn a negative into a positive. 

Mark Cleveland, Co-Founder and CEO of Hytch, joins Deb Macfarlan Enright to share how they are using a financial rewards platform to change behaviors, impact social change, and help address the various obstacles of mobility by incentivizing people to use their own social networks to share rides with trips that are also completely carbon neutral.

ForestPlanet Founder and Executive Director, Hank Dearden joins Deb Macfarlan Enright to discuss how he leverages systems theory with retail point of sale to bring decimated forest land around the world back to life.

Trina Frierson, co-founder of Nashville's Mending Hearts, joins Deb Macfarlan Enright to tell the story of this nonprofit’s mission to disrupt the cycle of addiction and violence by creating homes of compassion in former drug infested neighborhoods.

Join Deb Macfarlan Enright as she describes how The Macfarlan Group's new 3 a.m. podcast will share stories from passion-filled, purpose-driven people about how to empower social impact organizations.