Driving Outcomes

Kelsey is the Co-Founder and Chief Impact Officer of EverFree and formerly the Founder of Willow International. The last time we caught up with Kelsey was late 2020 when she focused purely on East Africa, specifically Uganda, and now she is partnered with 10,000 Windows focused on the Philippines, now known as Everfree. Most of Kelsey's work is overseas but both Kelsey and her co-Founder, Jeremy Floyd, are doing the work remotely from here in the U.S. (California and Tennessee) to address systemic issues and combine resources. Kelsey shares about students and about a local story here in Orange County of human trafficking! At the end of the podcast Kelsey describes how you can get involved to help the efforts.

I had the pleasure of doing a podcast with Elizabeth Andrade, CEO of Family Assistance Ministries, talking about homelessness and food insecurity and pockets of poverty within South Orange County. Elizabeth describes her experience as CEO leading an organization that responded to a true crisis in 2020 as a result of COVID-19 and how they dealt with it, and described where the organization is today helping to acknowledge and educate individuals through State of the Family once a month. Elizabeth describes for us how the causes of homelessness for families is very different from homelessness for the individual. At the end of the podcast she shares how we can solve homelessness in our own community.

Joining Traci for today's podcast is Councilmember Matt Mahan from the City of San José, District 10 who is also running for Mayor. Councilmember Mahan shared his experiences growing up in Watsonville, California, through today and how he relates his work in the social sector to that in the private sector. Councilmember Mahan specifically compares and contrasts start-ups and venture capital to work in government. For instance, both sectors operate in environments of uncertainty and Matt helps propose some potential solutions for alleviating such within government. As part of Matt's work serving the public, he is extremely customer-centric much the same as businesses serve customers and clients. Matt highlights for us many of the questions citizens have for instance around "where does our money go?" and he shared about the 311 app that has been successful in San Jose as the initial step in performance measurement in a community that the public responded positively towards that others may want to learn more about, too. Councilmember Mahan strongly advocates for a public sector environment that creates comprehensive measurement and analysis in the performance of their community that helps us identify what didn't work in the system, and also what does work which gives us all as leaders to drive clarity, and an opportunity to empower ourselves to create better options.

In today's podcast, we talk about how the federal government can utilize data to address the fiscal pressures it has encountered and how such data can be used to make better decisions surrounding what actions to take despite changes in leadership and administration over the last few years.For those that find data to be too abstract, data is simply information. Traci talks about howa specific framework and identified process used by The Mark helps to provide guidance with reference to how data or information is used and can help adapt to each federal agency's needs to make decision-making and leadership easier.

On this week's podcast, Traci is joined by two individuals who are familiar with the value of B Corps,Vicente Escriva and Diane Kaldany.Diane shares that everything she does is driven by a big-picture philosophy of the world. Diane worked in Corporate, specifically in financial banking, and she did work for a Non-Governmental Organization (“NGO”) outside the US.Vicente, who has a Bachelor's Degree in Economics realized that he wanted to focus on Developmental Economics where he has had experience working with a bunch of NGOs and working with social enterprise and corporate responsibility groups. B Corp falls under for-profit organizations and it is strictly for companies. The process by which you become a B Corp is to become certified by the organization, B labs. The certification is very broad and it is performed by an organization that does a third-party review and gives a lot of credibility. Some well-known company names are Ben and Jerry, and Patagonia - which was one of the first big corporations to obtain certification.Whole Foods, who chose not to be B Certified, even though the CEO wanted to really instill that kind of mindset shared publicly that he regretted not being B certified when Amazon bought them because the company felt all that work was now at risk of being let go. B Corp certification essentially gives the companies an opportunity to reevaluate their values, essentially, at all levels, as it coincides with a lot of current events around social change. Additionally, B-certification helps to increase enterprise value as a whole because it captures non-financial metrics or outcomes that help complement or affect a company's financials.

On this week's podcast, Traci is joined by Richard Ward, a Financial Planner, and Philanthropic leader. Richard has been helping people have better life for more than 30 years. Richard helps people give something to the community without putting their future at risk. He said, once we grow older, we see our lives more clearly as mature individuals- we start to decide how to live our life. Richard added, "without a sense of purpose, we don't grow and evolve". Being a mature individual doesn't really necessarily mean that you need to be 50+ to be called one but in general, that is typically the age. It is finding your purpose at a stage in life to be called a mature individual. We reach financial stability when we pay it forward to others. Richard believes that each of us has something to offer. In such ways, Richard helps people discover things that they could offer and be involved in any organization. Richard's perspective towards life is that there is philanthropy in all of us. We can give what we can give. Participating and contributing in the art of giving help us achieve better lives.

Customers place more and more emphasis on publicly reported information related to environmental and social governance (“ESG”) to make purchasing decisions. Companies publish specific information or data on the world wide web, and this information is used by over 700 sources to rate a company in ESG. Company leadership needs to be informed about such ratings.On the Driving Outcomes podcast, Cynthia shares what is CSR Hub (Corporate Social Responsibility) and how it has evolved as a company over time. Cynthia also mentions how she has helped companies understand how they are being perceived in the marketplace by different stakeholders, including prospective customers.

Robyn Williams, Community Engagement Manager for Miracles for Kids joins Traci on today’s podcast. Miracles for Kids is an organization that helps low-income families (who earn less than $23,000 a year) in Southern CA with a critically ill child for up to two years. Miracles for Kids provides financial assistance towards rent, provides housing through Miracle Manor for those facing eviction, helps provide basic needs, and also offers free counseling and wellness programs. Robyn shares testimonies of families that Miracle Manor has helped, the obstacles families face, and how the families they have helped pay it forward. Paying it forward involves parents who have come back to support other families or cases where Miracles for Kids has also helped families to advance economically by saving, so that they are also able to provide directly for their families in the future. Thus Miracles for Kids not only provides support for critically ill children and their families, but overall support for families to sustain themselves in the future.Nine months ago, 360 Miracles was launched. 360 Miracles is a group of women dedicated to changing peoples' lives together. If you know someone would like to get involved please go to 360miracle.org to learn more. 100% of your contribution will support families crumbling under the combined impact of their child's critical illness, a devastated economy, and the effects of COVID-19.

Traci is joined by Veronica Olazabal, Senior Advisor and Director of Measurement, Evaluation & Organizational Performance for the Rockefeller Foundation. The Rockefeller Foundation is the first and one of the largest philanthropies in the world which was founded by John D. Rockefeller back in 1913. Veronica discusses Rockefeller’s mission to promote the well being of humanity throughout the world and how they are working to advance the new frontiers in science, data policy and innovation. Learn how the Rockefeller Foundation is trying to end energy poverty, how they are responding to the pandemic, the challenges they face and how they are being addressed. You'll not only be a more informed but hopefully also a better philanthropist learning from Rockefeller Foundation's history and work.

Traci is joined by Rebecca Brown, Administrative Director, for the MARC U STAR (Maximizing Access to Research Careers – Undergraduate Student Training in Academic Research) Program on today’s podcast. The MARC U STAR Program is an undergraduate program that helps underrepresented students gain research experience and helps them move into their undergraduate degree after graduating from UCR.The National Institute of Health (NIH) federal agency funds the MARC U STAR program in an effort to enhance diversity in research-related fields. Rebecca explains that UCR is one of 60 programs that NIH funds. The purpose of the program is to encourage underrepresented students in the sciences to pursue graduate research and careers in the sciences. Student’s field of study that relate to human health can range from biochemist, mathematician, bioengineering, chemistry major, behavioral science, and microbiology. Learn how students are identified for those that qualify and the different training programs offered to students. To learn more please visit https://marcu.ucr.edu/.

Traci talks with LaVal Brewer, President and CEO of South County Outreach (SCO) on today’s podcast. SCO’s core mission is to prevent hunger and homelessness by helping people help themselves. SCO’s focus is love and help from the community not on the social stigmatism associated with needing help. SCO addresses resource food desert situations where food is needed in areas that socioeconomically would not be expected but is a necessary resource to help individuals in need. LaVal discusses with Traci how the pandemic changed SCO's approach to how they servepeople with their food pantry and of the rebranding of the organization's ultimate vision to help end hunger.For individuals that want to help themselves SCO provides assistance with housing and food. Additionally through SCO's computer lab, the organization also enhances an individual’s skills to obtain job opportunities to be able to provide for themselves in the long term thus helping to put an end to hunger.

Julie Serafin, Director of Science and Research at WV Higher Education Policy Commission joins Traci on today's podcast. Julie helps faculty at higher institutions at WV obtain federal funding from NSF and other entities by connecting researchers with specific programs. She helps provide feedback on how to make the grant more successful with NSF to make sure it gets funded. Julie is specifically in charge of the West Virginia Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) project. Her office administers grants from EPSCOR to build research infrastructure in the state of WV to build industry and workforce. This includes a STEM speaker series along with a magazine to help educate the public on various topics from volcanoes, water resources in the state of WV, and gravitational wave astrophysics in the hopes to bring awareness to inspire young people.

Dr. Xinnan Du, Program Manager and Outreach Director in research in physics and astronomy from UCR, talks with Traci on today's podcast. She talks about her involvement in the educational outreach program which encourages students to pursue higher education in STEM fields, including astronomy. Xinnan provides examples of careers that are related to astronomy and how their skill set can be utilized in other fields, too. To learn more on virtual events that are free to the public you can visit https://physics.ucr.edu/news-events/community-outreach

Dongming Mei, Director, CUBED/Professor Physics at the University of South Dakota shares with Traci what the PIRE program is and his focus on nuclear research and dark matter as a multi-country collaboration. He further elaborates on the National Science Foundation’s interest in this research and how USD received a $4.35 million grant from NSF to help advance germanium materials for developing detectors and other technologies in the study of dark matter and neutrinos as a multi-country collaboration and global community effort. Dongming explains the positive outcome of nuclear research and the uses that nuclear matter can have that extend beyond our political understanding or fears.

Steve Allison Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology & Earth System Science and Courtney Hunt Academic Coordinator of UCI both join Traci on today’s podcast. With funding from the National Science Foundation, the Ridge 2 Reef graduate program tackles a wide range of ecological challenges for Orange County. Steve and Courtney discuss how environment ties to culture and vice versa and how one of their research projects is a relationship between COVID19 and sewage water.

Leyla Riley is the Executive Director of the OC STEM Initiative, which is housed in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Leyla works to foster Orange County’s economic competitiveness and sustainability through promoting STEM competencies across the educational continuum through the creation of public-private partnerships between community stakeholders, including but not limited to K12 schools, higher education, industry, government and philanthropic foundations. Take a deep dive with Leyla as she explains the foci of OC STEM and how you can get involved. Leyla discusses what she does by focusing on research and the OC STEM ecosystem and her role there.

Bimal Nepal, Associate Professor in the Industrial Distribution Program at Texas A&M University, joins Traci on today’s podcast to discuss the $7 trillion industry. Dr. Nepal’s research interests cover a wide range of topics in industrial distribution and manufacturing. Those include: inventory management, lean six-sigma, pricing optimization, supplier management, transportation optimization, production and operations analysis, quality and reliability, and new product development. Bimal and Traci discuss the impact and skillset industrial distribution students gain and the steps Texas A&M is doing to connect higher education to industry. Dr. Nepal talks about how lean six sigma research will help optimize manufacturing and the diversity/inclusion of women in STEM.

Mike Gallo, Director, Research Development of the University of California, Irvine joins Traci on today’s podcast. Mike’s role at UCI is strategic in nature and he helps principal investigators (PIs) vet proposals that are likely to get funded. Mike discusses how competitive the research field has become now with limited availability of funds combined with the growing number of research institutions and funds have decreased significantly due to lack of increase of funding despite the increase in inflation. Mike explains what it is that PIs need to understand to be successful at winning grant proposals and get funded as well as what research institutes need to understand to bring in more funding.

Linda Christopher, Manager for Grants and Project Development of Riverside Unified School District ("RUSD") shares how as a school district it was decided to pursue a National Science Foundation grant to show themselves as the pioneers in ascertaining funds typically pursued only by higher education directly, yet RUSD is still working with UCR and others. Linda Christopher further discusses the end to end research that focuses on grades K-12 with a specific focus on high school students and the data resulting from the students exposure to air pollution. Linda and her team are a leading example of innovation by her school district because of their pursuit to obtain federal funds which can be a paradigm to other school districts seeking funding in a time of need where innovation, creativity, and collaboration are paramount. Presently most federal research grants are pursued by higher education institutions only.

Wendy Schluchter, Ph.D. Professor and Chair from the University of New Orleans joins Traci on today’s podcast. During this podcast you will hear how Mardi Gras is being celebrated during this unusual time we are all experiencing, how it was celebrated this year and how it relates to Wendy’s New Orleans background.Wendy had the opportunity to speak about the most common professional fields and industries that most students pursue after receiving their degrees in microbiology. She concludes her portion of the podcast by discussing how microbiology is multi-disciplined. Many microbiology students pursue medicine, and many of them, in preparation of becoming a doctor, will need to minor in technology or engineering to stand out or be competitive in their respective fields.

Joining Traci for today's podcast is Dr. Shuvra Das, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy. Traci and Dr. Das address the school’s contribution to urban development for innovation and partnership as an academic institution in an urban city. The discussion highlights urban and industrial revitalization as it relates to Detroit and its own economy especially within the U.S. automotive industries. As part of the conversation, the academic gap between higher education was acknowledged and discussions ensued for consideration to resolve the issues. The podcast focused on skill development in the industry and the comparisons that are made to the educational focus on exams which detracts from skill-based learning because memorization is more the focus.

This podcast, with The Mark's CEO Traci Shirachi and Evaluation Associate Leanne Tortez, explores evaluation through an equity framework. They discuss some of the challenges and best practices when evaluating Native American populations and other underrepresented groups. They also talk about how we can begin to face our own individual biases and the importance of having a safe environment to do so.

Jack F. Eichler, UCR Distinguished Teaching Professor and Associate Professor of Teaching in Chemistry (LSOE) joins Traci on today’s podcast. Topics of discussion include the difference between a teaching professor and a research professor. They also speak about the reason why tuition costs still need to be maintained at research universities despite virtual learning. Jack emphasizes the impact of remote learning for chemistry students that are unable to use the necessary resources during COVID and the potential effect it will have on their future careers. He also speaks to how evaluation has helped demonstrate or evaluate educational outcomes and what UCR is known for as a university!

Please join us for our next podcast featuring Chris Kello Interim Vice Provost and Graduate Dean at UC Merced and Mary Hegarty a Professor and Associate Dean at UC Santa Barbara. Chris has over 100 publications across a variety of fields and research communities, with a broad emphasis on interdisciplinary studies of human behavior. Mary’s research is on spatial thinking in complex activities such as comprehension, reasoning, problem-solving, and navigation. This week's topic includes a brief conversation on virtual and remote working and the impact on the brain. It also includes further discussions on their roles at each respective organization and what they are working on as part of Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), which is focused on increasing diversity specifically on Hispanics and PhDs to provide the necessary support for further professional advancement. It's a collaborative project with the UC and Cal State schools.

Traci and Isabelle discuss Isabelle’s collaborative approach to a strong digital strategy. Particularly, the challenges and fears around data, framing the problem, and how to address solutions by listening to the story the data is telling. Isabelle is a strategic marketing leader with over 20 years of experience optimizing customer-centric digital transformation in healthcare and nonprofit management. As a digital data strategist, Isabelle seeks to align technology and data with organizational objectives and educates cross-functional partners with meaningful insights.

Traci talks with Roz Huang, CEO/Co-Founder of Athena Music & Wellness Therapy and CEO of Dandelion Global, and Angelo Molino, co-founder of Athena Music & Wellness Therapy and early-childhood music educator, about the mission behind their music and their new app, TuneWell. TuneWell provides clinically proven music therapy songs, videos, and exercises to improve mental health and wellness. The content is all personalized and developed by music therapists to reduce stress, increase focus, and calm the body and mind. Not only do they discuss music therapy’s use in mental health, but also its’ beneficial effects on children with autism.

Do you know what it's like to manage an organization and not have clarity around decision-making? To be impacted by external factors on a consistent basis and unable to make sense of it? Do you feel like you're implementing technology or looking at a lot of data or statistics but getting the sense you don't know how or why you purchased the technology or why you're feeling overwhelmed by data to begin with when it was supposed to bring clarity to decision-making? If you're like many individuals who fear or struggle with data, this podcast is for you. Data is key and especially right now as individuals talk more about data driven decision-making. What is that? How should you approach it in an easy, simple manner? Join me as I interview The Mark's Director of Evaluation and Research, Jessica Martone, who has a Ph D in sociology and long-standing experience working with organizations to use evaluation methodologies and learn/understand the fundamentals of data to avoid certain pitfalls.

Today is a big year for the topic of diversity and surprisingly enough it is also the 100th year of a woman's right to vote. I had the pleasure of interviewing Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire who is the CEO of 2020 Women on Boards. Betsy shares her insights and best practices with listeners for how to start the conversation as a board candidate. She discusses with me what the research says about board diversity and the success of a company. She also shares how men can also better support women, especially since board seats historically have been occupied by males. Betsy talks about how individuals can join her for workshops or read her books to learn more!

The Resolution Project was started in 2007. The non-profit organization is geared towards empowering and developing socially responsible young leaders. These individuals want to make a positive impact on their immediate communities. Join us to talk about the organization and the amazing ventures young leaders are putting together in the face of adversity. For example these individuals are leading first and helping frontline workers through COVID-19. They are also addressing the key issues and concerns around diversity that goes beyond race/religion/gender. They are the thought leaders of today's social issues/concerns in action. The Resolution Project seeks to promote social ventures and enterprise around the world as individuals seek to achieve transformative results. Learn how you can get involved as a volunteer and mentor remotely!

I had the opportunity to talk and learn from Kaori Sasaki who is instrumental in demonstrating the power, knowledge and strength of the global community. Kaori is a phenomenal entrepreneur, innovator, leader and CEO of two companies, Unicul International Inc. and ewomen, Inc. Kaori has sat on corporate boards of many large public corporate companies in Japan, and been an instrumental leader in gender equality since the early 90s in Japan. She is involved with many government agencies like the World Bank and non-profit organizations. Kaori shared with me how COVID-19 has impacted Japan and the plans for the 25th annual global women's conference in Japan. She also shared her expertise and research behind a diversity index that she created and has used to demonstrate the economic impact and significance of diversity on companies.

Do you know what it is like to not have an easily identifiable economic transaction history of purchases and sales to live? Did you know having a credit report is the difference between economic equality and economic inequality? For many individuals around the globe, there is no economic record of their economic history or transactional data. BanQu helps individuals who provide materials that contribute to MNC supply chains with a business track record to win supply contracts, secure loans, and gain control over their finances. BanQu is able to truly address gender inequality and poverty through sustainable finance all with the ease of sending a text message. BanQu also helps large multinational corporations ("MNC") cut supply chain costs and improve their social and environmental performance at a time when consumers want to buy green ethical products that help the environment and consumer. As a company, BanQu, is being rewarded for doing the right thing as a start-up, and as an example of social enterprise in a short four years is predicted to achieve $3 to $4 million in revenue.

Much like Uber or Lyft have forever changed the taxi industry, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) replaced Yellow Pages and traditional print advertising. Today, we interviewed John Vuong, Founder of Local SEO, in Toronto, Canada. John shares how he was forced to evolve and begin anew after he worked for Red Pages that wanted to follow Yellow Pages and both disappeared. John talks today about the significance of SEO and how it works with social media, but also how you can and should start focusing on SEO to boost awareness and thought leadership in a pandemic world of digital marketing existence.

Aside from the restaurant industry, the manufacturing and distribution sector has been hit hard. Mary Lyn Baker is the CEO/owner of a company called DH Casters in Ontario, California. As part of this podcast she shares how her manufacturing/distribution company after 35 years of business addressed the government shutdown related to COVID-19, and the decisions she has consistently had to make to overcome the economic impact of COVID-19. Mary Lyn shares how she has approached or changed decision-making in her business to adapt and address the new normal while also sharing about new federal legislation opportunities that she's working on with others like Senator Diane Feinstein (California) for small businesses.

Traci meets with Nejeed Kassam, CEO of Keela, and Samantha Lego, Director of Marketing, to learn more about what Keela can help do for non-profit organizations. Nejeed and Samantha talk about how the integrated technology can help vastly improve donor fundraising and the additional resources available on Keela's website. Including discounted pricing arranged by Keel and The Mark for listeners in the audience (https://www.keela.co/partner/the-mark)

Traci summarizes the key takeaways from Episodes #1 through #3, and how the three episodes are related together especially as the audience listens to subsequent podcast episodes in June that will cover some of the specifics from Episodes #1 through #3. Takeaways from specific industries, organizations, and/or companies that are focused on resilience, agility, and data.

Traci talks with Roe Rogers who has his own consulting practice. Roe is a former McKinsey and Company, and KPMG consultant with over 15 years of experience working in supply chain and large amounts of data. To follow up on the last episode on organizational agility, Roe and Traci both discuss how data can help leaders make clear, decisive, decisions especially as they face challenges with making simple quick decisions today. Some of the questions asked are:- Who can benefit the most from data? Is it any one particular industry or type company?- Where should a leader start to incorporate data into their organization when there is so much to focus upon right now as a leader?- How or where should someone start if they are opposed to or fear quantitative information and data?- How can focusing on data help to reduce costs?

Traci talks with Mark Marone, Director of Research and Thought Leadership for Dale Carnegie, and Steve VerBurg, co-owner of Dale Carnegie of Orange County who has 25 years of leadership experience as coach and trainer, about Organizational Agility. Together they all discuss agility as a follow up to Driving Outcomes prior podcast on workforce resilience which is related to organizational agility, and help answer the questions: - What is agility and change management?- How do you develop agility?- What is artificial intelligence and how does it relate to agility?- How is social and creative intelligence related or why is it important?

This podcast helps answer the following questions: What is Resilience? How Can Resilience Be Developed in Individuals? What Can Leaders Do to Increase Resilience in Their Teams? What Can Organizations Do to Create an Environment of Strength?