Junctional Thinking

Tech CEO Nolan Rollins and journalist Curtis Bunn join host Pierre Vigilance for a conversation about the current situation with COVID19, the ongoing systemic abuses impacting Black lives in America, the future of work, and the widening workforce divide. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Junctional Thinking as a podcast turns one this week, and in the immortal words of the incomparable Dave Chappelle, "It's a celebration!" I am joined by three former guests, Kerriann Peart, Daniel Beer, and Travis Waldron for the conversation that happens when you put me in the room with a public health professional, a social impact connector, and a politics/culture journalist with the topic "post-pandemic life". This is Junctional Thinking turning one. Thank you for supporting the movement! Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick is an infectious disease physician and a medical epidemiologist who spent time in the CDC's Epidemiology Intelligence Service investigating disease outbreaks domestically in the United States and abroad. Her company, She founded Grapevine Health to address health literacy and patient engagement challenges with the voice of patients at the center of equation. On this episode of Junctional Thinking her insight into community health and outbreak tracking is invaluable as we talk about the COVID19 pandemic, community trust, information management, and what we need to do as this pandemic evolves. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

International Women's Day is a global day to celebrate the achievements of women, and we wanted to extend the celebration to this episode of the podcast for a conversation with two pioneering women who live life at the junction of consulting & entrepreneurship. Nawreen Khan, and Jennie Nwokoye are Senior Consultants at Deloitte working in the healthcare (provider focus), and systems engineering practices respectively. They join us to share the paths they took to consulting, and the work they do with their respective entrepreneurial ventures where they get to combine their personalities and passions in uniquely impactful ways. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Former Hill-staffer, Okey Enyia (CEO and Founder of Enyia Strategies) and Durham, North Carolina-based independent management consultant Ramon Llamas join me for a great conversation about the upcoming Presidential election the day after "Super Tuesday", how the coronavirus is impacting people and policy-making processes. We then discuss the need to define terms carefully when communicating at the intersection of different sectors; the importance of being diverse in the spaces where we immerse ourselves to gain knowledge and insight; the art of health policy framing; social determinants of health; and impact investing as a place where more public health practitioners need to become fluent. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

The opportunity to apply knowledge for practical purposes is something Junctional Thinkers hold dear. And while it's one thing to be well educated, it's something else entirely to be willing to put it to use with your own flavor and perspectives mixed in. Keith Ives who has has taken an interesting route to this point in his career, and we get into bits of that en route to talking about Causal Design the for-profit economic analysis and evaluation form he co-founded 6 years ago w/ a colleague from grad school at Georgetown University. We cover all the Junctional Thinking bases in a rapid-fire 45 minutes. There are some unfiltered parts where the more traditionally-minded may want to cover their ears, but you can trust that it's all worth a listen. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers’ CEO Dr. Madye Henson joins me for a follow-up to our conversation at the end of last year about the ways that philanthropy can create impact where it is really needed. The association is part of the Capital Region Housing Challenge an effort to bring a billion dollars of new private capital and public funds to address affordable housing and home ownership. We will also get into the weeds about how philanthropy can move from giving with moderate returns to giving for maximum impact. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

A mum, entrepreneur, and a primary care practitioner, Dr. Yolandra Hancock is also one of the most unapologetically "passionate about her people" people you're likely to meet. All that combines to make her a great community health provider, educator, and new business owner who is combining tech and medicine to improve health outcomes. We explore how things are going for her as she navigates partnerships in the telehealth space as a woman of color in another sector where that makes her rare. Powered and distributed by SImplecast.

Dirk Schapeler's career has spanned multiple sectors, and he carries lessons from all of them with him into each subsequent chapter. Currently Bayer Pharmaceutical's VP for Digital Innovation, his unique perspective on product design and development, diverse team creation, and effective management make for another great Junctional Thinking conversation. We talk about what digital innovation looks like from the perspective of a global pharma company's perspective, Dirk's appreciation for change and challenges (even from within his teams), and the importance of building immunity to FONKE (fear of not knowing everything). Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

Jeff Reid's been involved with entrepreneurs for a long time so he understands what it takes to start a business, and that the most important trait we can bring to starting a business venture is our desire to solve a problem and make a difference. As the Founding Director of Georgetown University's Entrepreneurship Initiative Jeff has taught and connected countless entrepreneurs to the resources and they need to execute on their plans and move from concept to incorporated. This episode is dedicated to "understanding entrepreneurship". We will clear-up some misconceptions and myths about entrepreneurs, and talk about some of the exciting health ventures he has mentored over the years. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

This week we are joined by Glen O'Gilvie, Executive Director for the Center For Non-Profit Advancement in Washington, DC. His organization provides skill building, executive leadership training, & board preparation for community-based agencies, a set of services which call for leadership with a keen ear, wide-angle lens, and nimble feet. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

This episode we are joined by culture-curator Daniel Beer and VR/AR med-tech expert Keiji Drysdale, two social impact focused Junctional Thinkers who will give us a glimpse into the paths that led them to social impact work, and the plans they have for what's next. Then we reminisce on the 9 months this podcast has been on the air, reflecting with a whole lot of gratitude for all the lessons and growth we've experienced in that time.Thank you for tuning-in and joining our community. We look forward to sharing more of the applications of Junctional Thinking with you next year. If it has powerful impact on health, we will be bringing you closer to the innovators who push to improve community health from multiple angles, inspiring us all to level up fearlessly as we chart our course towards Junctional Thinking. Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Kerriann Peart, Special Advisor to the Chief Administrative Officer for Health & Human Services & Education (argualbly the most "junctional thinking" gov position in the DMV area) for Prince George's County, joins us to update us on her cross-sector youth and family engagement work. We talk about the goals the County Executive has her and her colleagues driving towards; how they are engaging youth in an authentic, sustainable way; their partnership with UNICEF; and how they use a couple Junctional Thinking mainstays (listening and perpetual learning) to great effect for municipal services. Powered and distributed by Simplecast

This episode of Junctional Thinking features Dr. Veronica Vela from an early episode of the podcast called ""Healthy By Design"". Dr. Vela is a systems engineer and health policy expert who has used HCD for her work at the VA, CMS, and Booz Allen Hamilton, and Dr. Kofi Essel a pediatrician at Children's National Medical Center, and Director of the Clinical Public Health Summit on Obesity. We talk about; the value of ""people learning"" via contact and real interaction with community members in order to gain clarity and context that data-sets and machine-learning alone cannot provide; examples of how they each use a design mentality to do their work; and how they see novel partnerships focused on social determinants of health impacting community health outcomes. Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Lessons learned from anywhere, is one of the foundational Junctional Thinking skills / ideals, and in this week's episode we cover it through the eyes of two social impact practitioners who will share some of the lessons they bring from their travels to their work.Priyanka Surio is the National Director for Data Analytics & Public Health Informatics at ASTHO, and DaQuawn Bruce is a Human Centered Designer focused on community development. While their work is different, the tie that binds them is the experiences they shared working in India and Senegal. We will talk about the paths they took to those places, the value of their travel experiences, and the way these international applied learning opportunities impact them both personally and professionally. Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Onboard Health: onboardhealth.coOnboard Health on Twitter: @onboardhealthAndré Blackman on Twitter: @mindofandre

We are fortunate to have a community of guests on this podcast who have work experience from multiple sectors. That fact about their professional journeys is part of what makes them Junctional Thinkers. Most of them bring their cross-sector skills to work on specific topics that influence health, but few of them oversee ecosystems where there are many different impact foci in play all the time and on their watch. The Washington Regional Area Grantmakers organization is led by Dr. Madye Henson, and she has that responsibility. A leader with business, education, and non-profit experience and a penchant for strategic thinking and operations management, Dr Henson and I will talk about her focus on equity in philanthropy and the community impact it looks to create, key lessons from her career path, and her vision for WRAG's upcoming annual meeting. Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Will Smith is known to many of us as the Fresh Prince of Belair, an MC, actor, and friend with legendary turntablist Jazzy Jeff. The Will Smith on this week's podcast is a cross-sector thinker, returning Peace Corps Volunteer, runner, and family nurse practitioner at DC's Mary Center where he's engaged with the establishment of school-based health centers. he is "the other Will Smith". His work calls for a lot of listening and attention to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I). For public health and social impact work, DE&I have always been valued. The problem for many organizations is that those values are espoused rather than actually lived, and part of the reason for this lies in the definitions used for what makes us unique (diversity) and what makes us feel welcome (inclusion). We are different based on gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual identity, and also based on our backgrounds, experiences, education, etc. and how these factors integrate with our identified gender, race etc. One the personal side, Will and I will talk about privilege, blindness, and comfort. On the professional side, we will get into partnerships and what it takes to establish sustainable programs. We put them all together for another Junctional Thinking conversation with the other Will Smith.Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Powered and distributed by Simplecast

Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, and well-loved by this podcast, and for good reason because, as author Peter Loge says, it is “90 minutes of systems thinking in action”. Peter is a junctional thinker and a learned practitioner, fellow Arsenal fan, baller, associate professor, strategic consultant, and author of Soccer Thinking for Management in which he makes a number of insightful connections between the worlds’ best sport and creating and managing successful operations. He has spent a career building and running teams and organizations operating primarily at the intersection of politics, policy and communication, all which we will discuss on the show along with some predictions about the fate of The Arsenal in the recently started EPL season.

TBD

Cities have become the place to be (again), and with all the promise that holds comes a range of challenges with more people needing to live, work, and socialize in places where capacity is becoming more limited daily. Gabe Klein is a serial entrepreneur, transportation expert, former civil servant, father, hip-hop junkie, sneaker-head, and futurist engaged in some of the work that's helping cities reach their full potential for everyone. On this episode of Junctional Thinking we will discuss how public:private partnerships can make a city "smart".

Karen Dale, CEO AmeriHealth Caritas, Washington, DC  Karen Dale knows that vacuum cleaners and delivered meals are not medical devices, so you might ask why she wants them to be paid for using funds set aside for healthcare. Simply put, they both impact health outcomes, and as the Executive Director of Amerihealth Caritas’ DC operation, that’s her primary objective. On this episode of Junctional Thinking we will talk with Karen about the innovative approaches she is using to bring upstream solutions to downstream health challenges. 

Creativity is often thought of as a space for artists and other people gifted with imagination and originality, but Monica Kang uses it to inspire change in the way people and organizations think about their work and the outcomes it can drive. Creativity is sector agnostic, and by simply thinking more creatively, companies can breath new life into their bottom line. So why don’t more companies use it? Is this junction too confusing, too busy, it just not applicable to most of them? We’ll explore this, as well as Monica’s “spark” deck of cards.

Fitness is a multi-billion dollar industry, and like so many others there are disparities in who gets to engage as operators and influencers. Nike Pro Trainer Ernest Smith decided that he was going to set himself up to do well with his training business and also do some good by serving a range of clients in his community. As a public health degree holder he gets the intersection of community wellness and access to services, and is doing his part to help people live healthier lives. His journey to this point is inspiring, making him a great guest for us on the Junctional Thinking podcast.

Writing is a powerful tool, and when done well, the stories that unfold before us can help us learn, escape, and be inspired. They can also make us mad, especially when they expose glaring inequities in how people are living and being treated. For me, this is one of the spaces in which I find Travis Waldron sitting. He wields his writing skill like Valeryian steel, sharp and with a very pointy-end, writing at the interesting intersection of sports and culture. From Kaepernick and LeBron to Rocinha and Highbury, his pen's barrel is aimed at highlighting inequities on some of the world's largest sports stages, and the communities that serve as their fan-base.

Few things impact our lives as much as education. It creates opportunities for income, personal growth, and community impact. But all education systems are not created equal, and as city neighborhoods undergo revitalization and gentrification, public schooling often finds itself at the busy intersection of persistent needs, inequitable pasts, new voices in the conversation, and an uncertain future. Rock Branch has spent much of his career in public service including almost a decade with DCPS. As an education and and social impact operative with a taste-maker / urban influencer background he and his new venture, Inside Urban are poised to make a difference in a few ways that are sure to have community-level impact.

Health and education are often combined, and rightly so. But health education is more than simply telling people to stop smoking, eat better, & exercise, it’s a science of persuasion. With over 10 years of experience in the field, self-described dot-connector and cultural specialist, Kerriann Peart joins the Junctional Thinking podcast for a conversation at the intersection of health and education.

Junctional Thinking is all about operating at intersections to make innovation happen This week's guest, Eric Letsinger, CEO of the outcomes-based capital firm, Quantified Ventures is the a junctional thinker extraordinaire whose company helps partners from various sectors link their program's social impact outcomes to investors aligned with their mission. We will discuss the key elements of social impact bonds; what makes them attractive to investors; what makes them good for the right kind of programs; and what those programs need to be capable of before they step into the impact bond ring.

Pierre is joined by Veronica Vela, Lead Associate, in the Strategic Innovation Group at Booz Allen Hamilton. As a design thinking practitioner, health policy scholar, and systems engineer, she epitomizes junctional thinking. Veronica talks about how she goes about combining her personal and professional passions and uses a human-centered design approach to her health impact work.

Junctional Thinking is all about operating at intersections to make innovation happen This week's guest, Eric Letsinger, CEO of the outcomes-based capital firm, Quantified Ventures is the a junctional thinker extraordinaire who's company helps partners from various sectors link their program's social impact outcomes to investors aligned with their mission. We will discuss the key elements of social impact bonds; what makes them attractive to investors; what makes them good for the right kind of programs; and what those programs need to be capable of before they step into the impact bond ring.