Podcasts about alliance center

The mission of the St. Croix Valley Foundation is simple: to enhance the quality of life in the St. Croix Valley. The foundation does that by offering numerous grants and scholarships to residents in six counties and two states in the St. Croix Valley — and it's based right here in Hudson at the new Alliance Center, a hub for local nonprofits (including former podcast guests Operation HELP and the Hudson Area Backpack and Food Program).On this week's episode, Angie Pilgrim and Heidi Herron from the St. Croix Valley Foundation join the podcast to share more about the foundation's work. They give more detail on the types of scholarships and grants that are offered, talk about why they enjoy working for a nonprofit, and even read a few testimonials of previous scholarship winners whose lives were changed by the St. Croix Valley Foundation.To learn more about the St. Croix Valley Foundation, head to scvfoundation.org.Send a message to the hostFollow St. Croix Stories on Facebook and Instagram, and hear all episodes at stcroixstories.com.

In this program, INSS researcher Adi Kantor sits down with Meir Litvak, professor in the Department of Middle Eastern History and a senior research associate at the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University. Together they discuss the ever-growing problem of antisemitism in the Arab-Muslim space today. What are the origins of this phenomenon when looking specifically at Arab societies? Are they rooted in ideas imported from Western discourses or rather from old Islamic traditions? What are the leading narratives and how do external narratives (for example, from the West) affect local regional ones and vice versa, regarding Jews and Israel? Who are the main actors fueling antisemitic discourses? And also, what are the ways to combat this dangerous phenomenon?

A glass of wine while making dinner, a joint after the kids have gone to bed, micro-dosing on mushrooms while folding laundry - these are just a few of the ways that moms are getting through the day. The stress of parenting has never been more real and for a lot of women, a little help to let go, keep calm, and make it to bedtime is becoming increasingly common. It's certainly nothing new - the mommy martini of the 50s became so culturally iconic that you probably know someone with a depiction stuck to their refrigerator.In truth, moms absolutely need a break and the demands of work, parenting, and managing the household are more difficult and exhausting than they ever have been. But at what point does something that offers the occasional bit of breathing room start to become a real problem? Where do you draw the line between a release and an addiction? How can we strike a balance to ensure we're taking care of ourselves and our families in a way that's healthy and safe? And if we're feeling like we are getting a bit too substance dependent, what can we do about it? That's what we are going to talk about today. Back with us is one of my favorite guests. Jessica Vanderberg is the Co-Founder and Clinical Director of The Alliance Center, a Connecticut-based mental health center that's solely focused on supporting mothers through life's major transitions. As a full-spectrum doula, childbirth educator, social worker, and mom, Jessica has dedicated her life to the mental health of women as they navigate pregnancy, motherhood, and parenting.  From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

We have an info-packed show for you this week. We lead off with Paul in conversation with David Leininger of Leininger Analytics, talking about the current banking crisis and what agencies need to think about. Where David says you have to check for risk isn't where many of you would think! We then move on to Kirt Conrad talking about SARTA  and its fleet of hydrogen fuel cell-powered buses--the third largest in the country! Finally, learn about building your emotional intelligence (EQ) from Shair Burgess of UTA. This is another great leadership development segment that will get you thinking about how you approach emotions and feelings at work. This episode highlights the depth and breadth of what we talk about here on Transit Unplugged. Going from the latest news that affects transit, technologies that will shape the future of the industry, and how to become a better leader inside and outside of work. There's nowhere else you'll find experts like these! Also on this episode, Elea Carey asks, how well do you really know your market? Regular market research and assessments are critical to your agency staying in tune with your community. Coming up next week, Kendra McGeady of Pelivan Transit will be Paul's guest on Transit Unplugged In-Depth. If you have a question, comment, or would like to be a guest on the show, email us at info@transitunplugged.com.  Resources mentioned in Kirt Conrad's episode: National Renewable Energy Laboratory CALSTART Zero Emissions Bus Resource, Alliance Center for Transportation and the Environment Enriched by Vizzy (00:00) What the financial crisis means for your agency, hydrogen fuel cells, and EQ (00:18) What's on the show this week (02:15) Interivew with David Leininger founder of Leininger Analytics (13:17) Interview with Kirt Conrad CEO of SARTA (31:56) Elea Cary's Messaging Minute (33:30) Interview with Shari Burgess (53:47) Coming up next week Kendra McGeady (54:28) Subscribe to Transit Unplugged TV on YouTube! Chapters, images & show notes powered by vizzy.fm.

Brenna Simmons-St. Onge is the Executive Director of The Alliance Center. She is a pragmatic visionary with over 15 years of leadership experience, including a decade in Corporate Social Responsibility. Key takeaways:  The BIG difference between sustainability and regeneration What you have to have to build impactful initiatives in today's changing world   How harnessing the pandemic chaos is birthing empowering solutions Why the reductionist theory must be eradicated in favor of regenerative mindset How Regenerative Agriculture healing you and our planet Brenna St. Onge stepped up and is one of the most inspirational young visionaries of our day.  For the current times we live in, her brand of direct, focused and brilliant forward progress is transforming the way we approach everything.  Links Mentioned: Whether you are in Colorado or not, Brenna and her team are ready to work with you to share their knowledge and resources for a regenerative future.  Visit their website: https://www.thealliancecenter.org/regenerative/ Please email Brenna to learn about opportunities to partner.  Email: bstonge@thealliancecenter.org

How do we stay confident through uncertainty? Normal is no longer working; we have to be ready for change. The future is written and we are living it now. This podcast conversation goes where few are willing to go by discussing the uncertain reality of life on Earth, a parallel to how we can lean into confidence during any uncertainty in our own lives. Combine Aquarian spiritual journeys with Capricornian practical application and you get a solutions expert who goes on vision quests!    Your mind will be on fire after listening to this intellectual conversation with fast-moving futurist Brenna Simmons-St. Onge, executive director of The Alliance Center in Denver, Colorado. Brenna is working to bring sustainability and regeneration to humanity, not only with environmental stewardship, but with a collaborative effort between all human systems. Debra interviews Brenna about her work and her passion (uncovered by a major accident) for creating lasting change through tackling the world's multi-faceted problems.  Discussing everything from how The Alliance Center's Regenerative Recovery Coalition was born from a vision in meditation, to how humanity got here 10,000 years ago to the modern-day consequences of separating ourselves from Nature, Spirit and each other, this podcast really shoots straight to the heart of the matter.    Tune in to learn about how meditation and spirituality (including Astrology) are keys to saving humanity, along with Debra and Brenna's predictions for the future in our challenging times.    Key Highlights From The Episode Five bullets from the episode that will really stick out for the listener Birthing a new humanity Healing the harm that has been done through regenerative systems Catching up to the futurist vision in the Age of Aquarius Brenna's lessons from a major accident How meditation and spirituality (including Astrology) are keys to saving humanity Timestamps [1:56] Brenna introduces herself  [2:43] How and why Brenna crafted her own major in college  [3:55] Debra shares Brenna's chart and explains her personality [6:26] Brenna discusses sustainability and our world systems [7:45] Getting to to the point of regeneration and healing the harm that has been done [8:10] Debra speaks on how Brenna is from the future [9:54] Debra asks Brenna about her spirituality [11:24] Debra says Brenna is a role model for living your purpose [12:31] A major accident where Brenna says she should have died and how it became a catalyst for stepping into service [15:04] Brenna's working in a journal called Expanding Consciousness [15:42] How Debra was directed to Brenna [16:15] Brenna speaks to the opportunities with The Alliance Center  [18:26] How the world is responding to the futurist vision [19:03] How a daily meditation practice produced the vision for the Regenerative Recovery Coalition  [19:50] How Brenna knew the pandemic shutdown would change everything [20:31] The Alliance Center embraced her vision and has grown into a force for change [21:02] A breakdown of how the Regenerative Recovery Coalition operates [22:18] Hopes of creating a future where the Earth and all its inhabitants are being tended to [23:02] Brenna discusses a program called Extended Producer Responsibility [24:09] Brenna's philosophy of environmental and social solutions [24:45] Debra asks Brenna a series of fun questions [29:56} How businesses and individuals are finding the Regenerative Recovery Coalition [31:53] The significant movement in workforce development with regards to climate change [34:02] Brenna describes her leadership style, learning to meet people where they're at [35:37] Debra discusses some strong aspects in Brenna's Astrology chart [37:09] How we are in the birth canal of a new humanity [38:50] What Brenna sees in the future [39:18] How climate change crises are going to be unmistakable and irreversible in the next 10 years [40:04] Brenna mentions the book author, Laura Stone who details how we got here through the ages and where we are now [41:03] How every big human evolution has continued to exasperate our separation [42:00] Remarks on the Age of Aquarius, a time of healing and regeneration [42:49] How do we extend the time that humans have on Earth? [43:12] Debra's theory on the “bad” design of the human brain and how we can alter our program  [44:07] Why Debra presents climate issues on her platforms and podcast [44:50] Debra asks Brenna to discuss her meditation practice and how it came to be [48:34] Different ways of “knowing” to help us all tap into more source wisdom [49:46] Soul work and spirituality as Brenna's base note [50:33] What Debra got out of the COVID lockdown period [51:01] Debra thanks Brenna and her Aquarius Rising  [53:18] Brenna's visions of the time spiral continuum when she meditates [53:57] Debra's Astrology chart reading on Brenna's oldest son [54:42] Western medicine and Astrology [54:54] Don't let labels define you or your kids

Advent is a season of anticipation and preparation as we make room to receive Jesus the Christ anew our lives and world. How can we prepare to receive Christ today? How can we sharpen our spiritual senses so that we recognize Christ in the physical world today?Our guests for this episode in observance of Advent include the Rev. KATHLEEN STONE, an educational program developer, former chaplain of the Church Center for the United Nations, and author of United Women in Faith's 2022 Advent online reflections; and JAREN KEATON, executive director of Alliance Center for Education (formerly Bethlehem Center of Charlotte), a National Mission Institution in North Carolina.

The thing I love most about hosting this podcast is getting to speak with women all over the country who have been transformed by motherhood. Many of my guests are experts in their field fighting for women's rights or professionals who have dedicated their lives to the betterment of our physical and mental health. Once in a while, I get to meet someone who does both - a person who has been radically changed by motherhood and who has used that experience to actually help other women lean into a role that they hadn't been able to imagine before. In my experience, having kids has always been at odds with professional success. As much as we want to advance in our careers, society tells us to “step aside ladies, go raise the kids. Money is the man's work now.” But the more I'm surrounded by inspiring women, the more I find myself in the company of people who, instead of letting their careers take a backseat, have actually used motherhood to catapult into a new way of working. The change is not without its challenges though, as the identity shift of being a mother while also balancing a professional life, navigating emotional changes in a partnership, and getting our heads around the world we're currently grappling with can absolutely take its toll. So, as mothers, where are we in terms of life, career, and taking care of ourselves? How can we set ourselves up for change that actually feeds our needs and supports us as we age? That's what we are going to talk about today.With me is Jessica Vanderberg, Co-Founder and Clinical Director of The Alliance Center, a Connecticut-based mental health center that's solely focused on supporting mothers through life's major transitions. As a full-spectrum doula, childbirth educator, social worker, and a mom, Jessica has dedicated her life to the mental health of women as they navigate pregnancy, motherhood, and parenting.From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!From mental health and managing relationships to raising changemakers and advocating for support, freemom is a podcast dedicated to ensuring that every mom feels heard. You can find us on the gram at @freemomcast or on the web at www.freemomcast.com. You can also support the show and help fund production with a sweet little five-dollar donation right here. Thanks for listening!

Brenna Simmons-St. Onge is the Executive Director of The Alliance Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to empower explorers and innovators to work at the leading edge of sustainability to support a healthy planet, a strong democracy, and a thriving economy.  Check out: https://www.thealliancecenter.org/

Liz Morgan is a functional nutritionist specializing in recovery from digestive infections, digestive insufficiency, blood sugar imbalances, liver health, inflammation, food sensitivities, chronic pain, and sleep, hormonal and thyroid disorders. Liz is a past environmental lawyer, and holds a masters degree in environmental policy from Vermont Law School where she focused on equitable and secure food systems policy. She holds a BA in anthropology from Colgate University with a focus on ancient food systems and what it takes for cultures to thrive on this earth. Liz has studied functional nutrition with the Nutritional Therapy Association, Restorative Wellness Solutions and the Kharrazian Institute. She is actively involved in the RWS mastermind group. She also created and regularly meets with her functional nutrition practice group to best support her clients. Liz is a wild foods enthusiast and is the author of the Falcon guide on foraging for wild edible plants in the Rocky Mountains. Liz was a wilderness guide for 15 years and helped people access their deep connection to nature. She is a member of the Alliance Center's Regenerative Recovery Coalition, Regenerative Food System Working Group. Liz is dedicated to transforming the food culture into one that makes people and ecosystems vibrant and healthy. She guides her clients to embrace the decadence and deliciousness of wholesome foods to heal their own bodies while also eating responsibly in the era of climate change. Liz combines her passion for sustainable food systems with calm, meaningful personal change to help her clients thrive.  Liz resides in Buena Vista, Colorado and is a yogi, a skier and always stops to smell the wild roses.  Connect with Liz at https://www.lizmorgannutrition.com/

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Brenna Simmons-St. Onge, the Executive Director of The Alliance Center. She is a pragmatic visionary with over 15 years of leadership experience, including a decade in corporate social responsibility. During the pandemic, Brenna launched the Regenerative Recovery Coalition-a coalition with over 335 members working together to build Colorado towards a regenerative future. Through large public-private partnerships, Brenna is leading the Coalition to create equitable social structures that will foster shared prosperity on a healthy planet. As a dynamic change agent, Brenna leads with a nonprofit heart and a business mind leveraging holistic approaches to implement and scale solutions to some of the largest issues humanity faces.*In our interview, we break down the concept of a regenerative future and the individual and social efforts required for systems-level change, as well as the gap between idealism and pragmatism. We also examine how to secure the attention of policymakers and corporations and how they should rethink and measure success and growth within a capitalist system.***To learn more about Brenna Simmons-St. Onge, visit https://www.thealliancecenter.org/.*** Interested in sponsoring the podcast? Please complete our podcast sponsorship form: https://www.theelementsofbeing.com/psychology-podcast-contact-us***If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/Itunes? It takes less than 60 seconds and other listeners and guests definitely appreciate them! You can also make a monetary contribution to help us with our mental health and environmental advocacy on www.theelementsofbeing.com.

For individuals with disabilities independence can be challenging because the world around them is not designed for them. Simply getting around and interacting with the world can be frustrating without support or resources. Alliance Center for Independence supports individuals with disabilities through programs and services to live as independently as possible.   Find out how you can help support  Alliance Center for Independence maintain the quality of our services while furthering the mission of advancing the lives of people with disabilities.  Want to support Alliance Center for Independence? https://www.adacil.org/support-aci Find the episode on Great.com: https://great.com/great-talks-with/alliance-center-for-independence/

Sustainability champions realize that the world's most pressing issues are tightly interwoven. In order to break them down and tackle each one properly, we must pool our skills and inspire one another. The Alliance Center unites thought leaders, influencers and change makers in Colorado to address systemic problems. Find out about the positive steps you can take to become the change you want to see. Want to support The Alliance Center? https://www.thealliancecenter.org/ Find the episode on Great.com: https://great.com/great-talks-with/colorados-alliance-center-is-driving-a-more-sustainable-future/  

BE SURE TO SEE THE SHOWNOTES AND LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE HERE Eve Picker: [00:00:14] Hi there. Thanks so much for joining me today on Rethink Real Estate. I'm on a mission to make real estate work for everyone. Real estate can help to solve climate change, can house people affordably, can create beautiful streetscapes, unify neighborhoods and enliven cities. So I'm on a journey to find the most creative thinkers and doers out there. I'm not the only one who wants to rethink real estate. You can learn more about me at Evepicker.com, where you can sign up for my newsletter, join an Impact Real Estate Club or find a transcript of this podcast. You'll also find me at Smallchange.co, a real estate crowdfunding platform with impact real estate investment opportunities open for investment right now. And if you want to support this podcast, join me at patreon.com/rethink real estate where there are special opportunities for my friends and followers. Eve: [00:01:09] Today, I'm talking with Dr. Stephanie Gripne. In what seems to be an improbable amount of time, Stephanie has gone from ecologist to impact investment guru. Her big, hairy, audacious goal is to move a trillion dollars into impact investing. Ten years ago, about four years after getting her doctorate, she became director of the Initiative for Sustainable Development at the University of Colorado's Real Estate Center. There she was immersed in issues surrounding the built environment and socially responsible investing. In 2012, she took the leap and founded the Impact Finance Center as a nonprofit academic center with a mission to identify, train and activate philanthropists and investors to become impact investors. I've already learned a lot from Stephanie, but I'm going to learn more and so might you. So listen in. If you'd like to join me in my quest to rethink real estate, there are two simple things you can do. Share this podcast or go to Patreon/rethinkrealestate.com to learn about special opportunities for my friends and followers and subscribe if you can.   Eve: [00:02:40] Stephanie, I'm so happy to talk to you today.   Stephanie Gripne: [00:02:44] Eve, I am so happy to talk with you today.   Eve: [00:02:47] So you have a supremely cool resume and it's pretty clear how driven you are. There's a lot to talk about, but I wanted to start by talking about what you're working on today. You lead the Impact Finance Center. What is that?   Stephanie: [00:03:01] That's a great question, Eve. For those of you in the audience who have heard of an accelerator, you might have heard of TechStars or 500 startups or Y Combinator. Those accelerators are essentially boot camps for people who want to start a startup or a small business. So they identify, educate and invest in entrepreneurs. When I was a professor at 2010-12 at University of Colorado at the Lead School of Business, I was actually the director of the Initiative for Sustainable Real Estate Development. I just kept wondering why isn't there more money flowing into good things? And I finally kept unpeeling the onion and realizing there are not entities out there providing investor education that is non conflicted or trustworthy in that most of the investor education is actually trying to get your business. So it comes from Wall Street and they're trying to become your investment adviser or raise a fund. And so my hypothesis was that if we started providing non conflicted investor education from the inside of a nonprofit where we weren't going to try to raise a fund or become your investment advisor, we could actually educate and activate these investors. So going back to the accelerator analogy, Impact Finance Center is essentially an accelerator for impact investors. Instead of identifying, educating and investing in entrepreneurs, we identify and educate individuals and organizations who want to become impact investors. And those typically are private foundations, community foundations, high net worth individuals, companies and family offices.   Eve: [00:04:51] So that's really how you and I started talking way back on the plane ramp where we met, right?   Stephanie: [00:04:58] That is true. We did mean at a plane ramp in California. And yes, we are. I had been following the crowdfunding movement for some time and figuring out what my role in it was going to be.   Eve: [00:05:10] How do you accomplish investor education and accelerate those impact investors? What is it you actually do?   Stephanie: [00:05:17] That's a great question. We really offer five ways for people to get education. One, and this is the the holy grail of it all is we can evaluate your investment advisor portfolio, and that is pretty brutal. We evaluated a hundred million dollar foundation in Seattle and found out their investment advisor had charged them in excess of fees of one million dollars over five years to underperform by 5 million dollars.   Eve: [00:05:49] Ohhh.   Stephanie: [00:05:49] We have a 15 million dollar foundation in Denver, a JL foundation where we evaluated their investment advisor and found out they had been charged in excess of fees of  $240,000 over seven years to underperform by 1.4 million dollars. So we have that, is number one. We can evaluate your portfolio at investment advisor for governance and fees and evidence based decision evaluation and impact. And then the next phase are just education. We're putting our two hundred classes online. We have forty seven recorded webinars up there. So if you're a do-it-yourselfer, join me and sign on on our Impact Investing Institute and train yourself. We also offer one on one training, small group training and large group training.   Eve: [00:06:39] Wow. That's a lot of work, Stephanie. When did you launch the center?   Stephanie: [00:06:43] I was a professor at University of Colorado in 2010 to 12. And I realized then once I had essentially collected evidence and accidentally discovered that the financial return of a grant is negative one hundred percent loss. I determined that this impact investing was legal and determined that also that people were interested, but there wasn't a place for them to go learn, and then the other piece I realized is asking somebody to do a first investment, cutting a twenty five thousand dollar check, even if you have a lot of money, is scary. And so the key was, that's in my, I use a baseball analogy, that's a major league investment. And so how do you create a T-ball opportunity for people to learn by doing. And so that's either using simulations like business case competitions or kind of monopoly. We do some simulation type activities where you get to pretend you're an investor or you actually do a small dollar amount. And we often have people take money they would have donated and pull it together in a giving circle model and then they learn how to invest together.   Eve: [00:07:55] Interesting. Interesting. Who are you trying to reach? Like, who do you think your audience is? How big is it?   Stephanie: [00:08:04] Our audience is gigantic. If you just Google the number of millionaires in states like Colorado or Georgia or Massachusetts and you'll see a range from one hundred and fifty thousand millionaires to over a million millionaires, that's a great question, Eve. People often ask me, oh, would you rather not work with a foundation or versus a high net worth individual? And there's two criteria that we look to partner with people. One, they have to be motivated and willing to take action. If you're going to be on the rowboat will still help you, but you don't get to be first in line. So you have to be willing to move and take action. And the second thing is you have to be an independent thinker. If you're somebody who likes to have the crowd go first and you join the crowd, you're probably not the right individual organization to come find us. And so those are difficult to go find. But it's great. We're really nice about it. When people get stuck, we're like, hey, it's OK. Go back and do this homework. And when you're ready to get back into it, move forward. But what that means, Eve,  is that I have worked with foundations where 20 trustees, oftentimes family members are in unison and I've worked with a grumpy high net worth individual that's difficult to move. So it doesn't have to be an individual or a foundation or a family office or a corporation. It just has to be a willingness to take action.   Eve: [00:09:29] And beyond the gigantic audience of accredited investors, as you know, they are only about three percent of the population. There is now a growing audience of people who've never invested before and sit in the non accredited group. So it's a huge run.   Stephanie: [00:09:45] It's endless. And it's interesting because I was trying to think the other day about how I got started. And I know my dad when I was 12 or 13 years old, we invested in Micron Together Technology Company. I'm forty seven years old. I don't know how I found, it had to have been at the library, found a book on Motley Fool that taught direct investing. So drip investing was public companies. And I still have some of those stocks I first invested in. But I actually did an investment in Enron because it was a renewable energy company. So I kind of like to think of myself as an early adopter in the modern day crowdfunding.   Eve: [00:10:25] Since you started seeing a shift towards impact investing?   Stephanie: [00:10:30] Oh, absolutely. In Colorado, for example, we started the Center in 2012, and I'll go back and answer your your last question in a little bit. When we started the Center, I realized when I was at University of Colorado when I had that aha moment that, wow, people do need education and I thought every entrepreneurship center needs an innovative finance center. And then I took a step back and I'm like, wait, every university that's going to struggle financially needs innovative finance center to stay financially viable. And then I took a step back and I thought, wait, every association of, I call them Clubs of Money, a community foundation association, a YPO, family office association. They need this curriculum too. And there was at the time only 15 centers and really only two of us that actually do transactions. And so that was my idea to leave in 2012 and then start a non-profit, multi-university academic center where we could essentially provide a curriculum in a box. And just to give you a sense of how long it takes to get going, at least in Colorado, um.   Eve: [00:11:46] Are you telling me how long it takes to get going?   Stephanie: [00:11:48] Well, just to just have a sense, in 2010 to 12, our first two transactions we supported where the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Alliance Center and those both were real estate transactions and one was a foundation and a couple of board members. So they got one hundred and one percent return. And we financed the Museum of Contemporary Art and saved them five hundred and fifty thousand a year. The other one was a project I led with the Alliance Center in partnership with the Denver Foundation, and we used a donor advised fund to do a loan at zero and one percent that essentially said that nonprofit six million dollars and gave the donor one hundred and one percent return. I worked on those two transactions for three years and they all moved when the bills were due. They tried everything else for years and years and years. And then when the adjustable rate mortgage was going to be due or the building renovation cop bill was going to be due, that's when they were finally willing to move, so that there was a negative like desperation as the birthplace of innovation. It took three years for two transactions. And I do believe Colorado's probably done one hundred impact investment transactions in the last three months.   Eve: [00:13:02] Wow. The story you're telling is much like mine. I think if you build something new and I suppose on the cutting edge, it takes a really long time and you have to have stick-to-it-ness. Right. Just have to keep going.   Stephanie: [00:13:15] You do. You have to have the Stockdale paradox. You have to have this eternal knowledge you will prevail in the end. And I had great advice from a friend, Dan, whose dad said, you need to stick past three and a half years and go to five years. Most people give up at three and a half years. And there's a great metaphor. It's like paddling an iceberg with flippers on. It takes a long time to get that iceberg going.   Eve: [00:13:38] Yeah, it really does. It can be a little depressing but there it is.   Stephanie: [00:13:42] Um-Hmm.   Eve: [00:13:42] This is a pretty unusual place for a Ph.D. in forestry to end up. That's what you have, right?   Stephanie: [00:13:49] Yes.   Eve: [00:13:49] So I have read about Fish and Wildlife and Spotted Owls on your resume. Tell me about the journey that took you from wild life to impact investment.   Stephanie: [00:14:01] It was great. I was watching an interview this morning with Heather McGhee and she's approaching this conversation from a race issue. I grew up in an environmental issue and she's framing it using a zero sum game. And I grew up in central Idaho and in Sun Valley, Idaho. And there was a zero sum framing where it was either we either could save the endangered species of the wolves and the salmon, or we could have jobs. And I just remember knowing deeply in my heart that there was enough resources for both of them and my friends would literally threaten the lives of my other friends with guns. And there was a river guide I used to work for that, a bunch of the river guides made a sticker that said Happiness is the fisheries' biologists' face on a milk carton. And it was a very tumultuous and some ways violent way to grow up. And I just I didn't know. I thought it was about the wildlife at that point. And now I'm really clear it was a resource allocation issue. And I deeply believe there's enough money for communities and the environment and jobs. And so that just has motivated me since I was 16 and I'll never forget. I do like woodworking. And I announced when I was 16 or 17 that I was going to become a carpenter and make furniture. And my dad, who was incredibly supportive, my late dad, of whatever I would choose, said Stephanie, What about architect? I said, I said no. I said, What about wildlife biologist? And my dad said, You have a mind for business, Stephanie. Why don't you go make a lot of money and then you can have influence on the environment. And my dad, actually, he was a workout guy that would take companies through bankruptcy, but the last 10 years of his career, he took a company out of bankruptcy, a precast concrete company. So for 10 years, my family made every precast concrete box in the state of Idaho, electrical box, etc., and air conditioner pad. And and I said, Dad, I just don't have the constitution to do it the way you did it. I'm not willing to go make money in whatever way I can and then do what I want to do. I'm going to do what I want to do along the way.   Eve: [00:16:22] Yeah, I think this must be part of being a parent, not really understanding what your kids are doing. Right. What would be good outcomes, do you think, if more people invest in important change making projects, what are the outcomes you hope for?   Stephanie: [00:16:41] I'll actually, answer that question and continue my last answer a little bit. My dad would end up being quite wealthy, becoming homeless for two years, and then at twenty four years of age, he would come back to live with me. And so the roles were reversed for those of you who cared for your parents, except my roles were reversed for me when I was twenty four. And I remember I was doing my PhD in seven states with ranchers and a socioeconomic analysis, a conservation project. And I got to study with my hero, the chief of the Forest Service, Dr. Jack Ward Thomas. I was also working for the Forest Service in multiple roles all around the country based out of Lander, Wyoming. And my mom came down with pancreatic cancer and my dad was living with us in a home in Lander, Wyoming. And I remember coming home one day and I said, I don't care if you walk dogs or volunteer or you get a job, but you can't just stay in this basement apartment. You have to do something. And he would get a real estate license and a mortgage broker license. And he didn't cost a lot of money to support him at that time because he was living in a basement apartment of our house. And so, essentially what we did is we were used to being poor graduate students. And so instead of taking all the excess money of having two salaries and a grad's stipend, we would buy a house. You could buy a house in Lander, Wyoming, for six to eight thousand dollars from down payment, one hundred twenty thousand dollars house from 2000-2005.   Eve: [00:18:17] Wow.   Stephanie: [00:18:18] And the reason I'm saying this is my mom passed in 2003 and I wasn't emotionally ready to sell the house. My sister was. So I bought the house from my sister. And I think most of us, our road to becoming an investor in a meaningful way, is that second house. The first house is, I made it. I'm an adult. I'm building wealth. But that's a it's a very different experience to to get your second house. And I don't know that I would have offensively purchased my second house. It kind of came to me because my mom passed. But once that second one happened, I talked to several people who've had this experience. You're like, wait a minute, I can do this. I can own an asset and make money. And so we bought a third house and then on the fourth or fifth house, my dad came home and he said, Stephers, he's like, there's these families coming into our mortgage business. A lot of them have bad credit, but there are some that have bad credit that actually used to have good credit. They just had a medical situation and they didn't have the right medical insurance. And now they're in this bankruptcy called a medical bankruptcy. So they're not allowed to buy a house or car, even though they are people who paid their bills. And so we ended up doing a lease option with these families and we had a family meeting and agreed that we wanted a 10 percent return. And so we would set aside 10 percent of their rent as a partial equity. And if the house appreciated above 10 percent return during their medical bankruptcy, essentially get the upside of that. And the houses during that time period appreciated fifteen to twenty five percent. So we got the joy of philanthropy, a job for my dad, an amazing tenant, a solid 10 percent return, and they got dignity. Got to move into their home three to five years early and get partial equity upside. And so I think that all of us are on this quest of connection and meaning. And when you realize, like I did then at twenty four, twenty five years of age, that you can do well by doing good. I don't think most of us can go back from that.   Eve: [00:20:27] I think you're a rock star. You probably made some friends for life as well in that process, right.   Stephanie: [00:20:34] Absolutely. That was about three hundred transactions ago and I'm I have lots of friends along the way. Three to four hundred. I've lost count. I kind of stopped keeping count after two hundred. As as my colleague Todd James says, 60 percent of what we do has been visible and behind the scenes. So there's a lot of lovely, incredible, awesome people out there that don't even know that we were helping push and pull to make their dreams happen. And, you know, it's it's it's an incredible role to play in people's lives.   Eve: [00:21:03] You really did shift from fish and wildlife to real estate, and then you dragged me into it recently, which I'm really enjoying. But we're working together on one of your many projects, which you didn't mention before when you talked about the five ways to educate people. You're also creating impact investing clubs, which are really fascinating, they're themed clubs where potential impact investors gather and you're educating them with a particular focus. And we're on the journey of building a real estate impact investing club.   Stephanie: [00:21:38] We are, Eve. I didn't mention this at the beginning. So Impact Finance Center does two things. We identify, educate and activate individuals and organizations to become impact investors and we also build what we call community infrastructure, which can be replicated, scaled and customized. And in that bucket of community infrastructure, you just mentioned investor clubs, which is one piece of it. We also stood up the first statewide marketplace for impact investing, which is the second time I met you when you came out to Impact Days.   Eve: [00:22:11] That's right. Yeah.   Stephanie: [00:22:11] Our Impact Days, and that's, you can think of it is, imagine everybody who needed money in the state, doing good, shows up and they create a farmer's market booth and we activate new investors and organize existing investors and we bring the investors to go shopping in the farmer's market. We call that Impactings. A Bodega is a subset of that marketplace. And that's what we're branding as our Investor Clubs. And then we also have two hundred classes, which we refer to as our Impact Investing Institute. And one of the most exciting pieces of infrastructure that we created was, are you familiar with The Who's Who Under 40 that business journals do?   Eve: [00:22:49] Yes, yep.   Stephanie: [00:22:50] Yeah. We reached out to our business journal and we said we're going to do Who's Who in impact investing for the Rocky Mountain region. Do you want to be our media partner? And that was exciting because the first year we did it, we had three hundred people apply.   Eve: [00:23:03] Oh, wow, that's great.   Stephanie: [00:23:05] The second year that we had thirteen hundred and so that builds the book. And then the last piece, which is really the key, is our impact investing, giving circle or investor accelerator, and that's in partnership with civil society organizations like Community Foundations. So, right now we have thirty four women ,that could be middle income or high net worth or connected to a company or family office or foundation, who are Major League when it comes to intelligence and Major League when it comes to alignment and Major League when it comes to admission and Major League when it comes to access to money. But they've never actually written a check to support a sutainable real estate project or a small business or a startup. And so in this case, we make it low cost, easy and fun. We say, let's participate in a giving circle, donate two thousand dollars in and we end up getting a kitty of seventy five thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand and we say, who needs money? And this year we had a one hundred eleven women apply. One hundred and twelve women apply for over fifty million dollars of need. And then we go through a selection process and they do due diligence and they invest in a couple investments for their first investments because it's a pooled donor advised fund that the Women's Foundation of Colorado, if they don't get the money back, it's essentially a learned by doing fund experience where hopefully they walk in is that as a donor, they walk out as an investor and then they say, I want to join the investor club. So, yes, Eve, the investor clubs are...   Eve: [00:24:38] This is especially important, this educational piece, because because women don't invest. And I can tell you that with certainty on Small Change, women, just a tiny minority of investors. It really kind of puzzles me.   Stephanie: [00:24:53] You know, it's interesting because I am counting on my fingers right now and hopefully going to my toes. I have several women who will be investing in Lyneir's project who have been spreading the good news on Lyneir and some of the other great offerings you have on Small Change right now. And I'll be completely honest with you, we we started the Investor Club as a response to Colorado's CDFIs, Community Financial Development Institutions and nonprofit lenders, who basically said Steph, that's been great. The three year pilot, we had a goal to move one hundred million. We're up to three hundred million. Success. But we need to still keep helping raise capital for the CDFI's and non-profit lenders. And so the first Investor Club was a Main Street Lender Club. The second one was our Indigenous Investor Club. And then the third one was with the federal government's Sustainable Forestry Mass Timber CLT Investor Club that connects with real estate. And now we're starting clubs in California and Massachusetts and with the New York City's.   But I have to say Eve Picker, the most popular one, has been the Real Estate Investor Club.   Eve: [00:26:02] This was unexpected, wasn't it? We have to keep up.   Stephanie: [00:26:06] Yeah, I was only mildly surprised. I saw there's a quest to need. Nobody gets paid to do the work we're doing. I think that's the difficult part.  If Wall Street had figured out how to get paid to educate investors we would have money flowing like hotcakes to Main Street investments.   Eve: [00:26:23] And, you know, it's been pretty stunning because some on our club meeting announcements for mid-March, there's something like eighteen hundred people signed up on LinkedIn and I have no idea where they're coming from. It's pretty big. It's pretty astounding, so we better put on a really good show, right.   Stephanie: [00:26:43] Yeah, it's well it's easy to do. I mean, people who are either investing or working in community real estate, creating real estate, affordable housing, mass timber CLT, all of the all the good stuff. Is there some of the most inspiring people you've ever met.   Eve: [00:26:58] Yes, I agree.   Stephanie: [00:26:58] So so it's pretty much you just have to set the stage and let them shine.   Eve: [00:27:04] Let me ask you, so what happens to the club meeting and how it happened? What's your formula?   Stephanie: [00:27:10] Yeah. And and for those of you who are familiar and who've gone to like a pitch competition or an expo, that's what I think about it. I think it is essentially a virtual farmer's market. And our goal is investor education specifically and also some social venture education. But what we want to do is we do an investor panel and we want to showcase different types of investors so people can see themselves in the crowd and go, wait, they're just like me. I could do that, too. And so really, that's about getting diverse, interesting investors up there so we can make it seem more accessible to people sitting in the crowd that they can go from not identifying as an investor to becoming an investor. And then the same is true for the social ventures like community real estate projects. It's a way to educate people about what's possible. Most people I mean, Eve, you know better than anybody, but if you and I walked out of our front door right now and and just talk to the next hundred people that walked by and said, are you an investor? All of them are investors, but most of them would probably we'd probably get five to ten of them who would say that they identify as an investor?   Eve: [00:28:24] Yeah, maybe less, actually.   Stephanie: [00:28:27] Maybe less. And that is the challenge. Like I remember when Mitt Romney was running for president, the Mormon Church put up signs, they had a campaign and put up billboards and they put up everyday faces and they called I'm a Mormon campaign. And I feel like we need to put up do a similar campaign, that I'm an Investor campaign.   Eve: [00:28:46] Yeah, that's right. I think that's a great idea because an investor could be someone who invests ten bucks in their friend's startup or an investor can be someone who invests a million dollars into something big.   Stephanie: [00:28:59] I would even argue a mom who goes to the grocery store and decides which milk she's going to buy for her child as an investor. She's invested in the supply chain of...   Eve: [00:29:08] Oh, yeah.   Stephanie: [00:29:09] Are you buying organic or not organic or how are the companies trading?   Eve: [00:29:13] Or if they decide to go purchase at a farmer's market instead of the grocery store.   Stephanie: [00:29:18] Every time a dollar changes hands, you're an investor.   Eve: [00:29:24] Yes. I think you have a broader description of investor than I think of. But you're right. So the club meetings are like a mixture of panels with investors, large and small, talking about their experiences and what it means to them and social ventures. And then a little pitch round right. Of deals that are looking for money.   Stephanie: [00:29:43] Yeah. So we we essentially, because we're in Covid, we can't do this in person. And so I think that's to the benefit of this, Eve.   Eve: [00:29:50] I agree.   Stephanie: [00:29:52] And because in Colorado, when you came out to Colorado, Impact Days, we physically have a farmer's market, you know, where...   Eve: [00:29:59] I don't want to travel that much. I kind of like this Zoom thing.   Stephanie: [00:30:02] Absolutely. So we're essentially putting the farmer's market online. And so we created an investor catalog. And it's really the social venture panel is to give five to 12 minutes casually for people to learn about a couple of the investment opportunities. And then we do a speed round of two minutes. And it's shocking to me sometimes that people actually shine better in the two minutes than they do when they're given seven to ten minutes.   Eve: [00:30:29] Yeah, it's pretty fun. And people get an opportunity to ask questions, too. I think it's exciting for me. I mean, what's your ultimate goal with these clubs? What would be a fantastic outcome in five years for you?   Stephanie: [00:30:41] I'll put my geeky academic entrepreneur hat on for a second. We actually wrote a paper called Laying the Groundwork for the National Impact Investing Marketplace. So we published in the Foundation Review. And we're pretty confident now that if you take our infrastructure and combine it with some other infrastructure, such as Lenny Lavis up in Seattle, he has realized impact investor flow, a Fleg regenerative accelerator. If you take some of our joint infrastructure together, we can actually completely fix the capital markets and move a trillion dollars into impact. I can do it two ways. I can go fundraise 20 million dollars and take what we did in Colorado and expand it to all 50 states. Or we can earn money from some of our social ventures, such as our Impact Investing Institute, and use it to self-fund our expansion to all 50 states. So what's exciting about the Investor Clubs is most of our Investor Clubs are actually being purchased or supported by foundations who want to do economic development and Covid recovery. Federal government, USDA, Forest Service. And we've had interest in state governments, too. So I think if I was in state government or foundation interested or family office interest in Covid recovery or a corporation, I would be basically investing in as many Impact Investing Giving Circles and Investor Clubs as I could afford to support. I think that getting one percent of our wealth to invest in Main Street as an example in Colorado, that would be five billion dollars that could be leveraged through CDFI's and banks for a 15 billion to 50 billion dollar year investment. It wouldn't take much, just one percent of the wealth.   Eve: [00:32:27] Um-hmm. Fantastic. I'm going to change gears again. Just ask a few more questions to wrap up and they're about you. And what do you love doing the most and why?   Stephanie: [00:32:39] I love most partner dancing. Ballroom dancing is my favorite joy in the whole world. Which I feel like it's going to be the last activity that comes back to us after Covid. So I'm sort of isolated. I'm single in Denver, Colorado, and I Waltz and Cha-Cha and Two-step and learning the Latin dances and I Swing and I just can't wait to get back to partner dancing.   Eve: [00:33:04] So I have to ask, have you watched my very favorite Australian movie called Strictly Ballroom?   Stephanie: [00:33:09] I have seen Strictly Ballroom. Yes.   Eve: [00:33:13] So, the Star of Strictly Ballroom used to live next to me in Sydney.   Stephanie: [00:33:17] Well, I can't wait to be traveling with you to Sydney.   Eve: [00:33:20] I don't think he lives there any more.   Stephanie: [00:33:24] We can go have lunch.   Eve: [00:33:24] And what are you excited about the most?   Stephanie: [00:33:27] I am excited, two things. Is, as I used to feel like that from 2012-20, I felt like I know there's an answer and we just have to develop the answer. And now I feel like the answers there. All the puzzle pieces are on the table. Now, we just have to put the puzzle pieces together. And so I'm excited about all of the amazing impact investors and all the amazing social ventures out there. There is so much goodness and love and light and inspiring people who are showing up in the impossible ways to make the world a better place. And so I'm very fortunate in that I get to hear from people with resources and people needing resources, doing amazing things and have the the joy of being able to connect them together. And our phone has just been ringing off the hook. Especially a lot of middle aged white women, just between the combination of the global pandemic and our civil rights crisis have just called. And many of them have got a text once that says, what can I do to help my sisters of color immediately? And she made an investment quickly. I had another woman call. We do a fellowship of ten sessions. And on her first session, she's like, I'm ready to make a first hundred thousand dollar investment today. I'm like, OK, there we go. And so, yeah. So it's just great to see how many people are showing up and going, now's the time. I can't wait any longer.   Eve: [00:34:59] It's been really wonderful talking to you and I really can't wait to see what becomes of the Impact Finance Center and our club and what's next for you.   Stephanie: [00:35:09] Oh, well, and likewise, Eve. I just want to give a gratitude and compliment to you, because I don't know that we've discussed this, but when this movement was getting off the ground, I was very aware there's a role to activate new investors, educate and organize existing investors and build the financial fintech solution. And I chose to be on the education of investor side, and I couldn't be more happy to be collaborating with you. You're just somebody who is a visionary and a joy and has incredible integrity. And I think,   Eve: [00:35:44] I'm blushing now.   Stephanie: [00:35:45] Oh, I think that what you do and what I do are two pieces...   Eve: [00:35:51] Perfect match.   Stephanie: [00:35:51] Of a puzzle that literally will democratize and provide that pathway to solve the problems that I had as a 15 year old, 16 year old watching.   Eve: [00:36:01] You know, you're right. I mean, I think investor education is the most difficult part of what I do, and I can't do that and investor education. So I'm extremely grateful to have you around.   Stephanie: [00:36:14] Well, let's go find what should our goal be in the next five years.   Eve: [00:36:18] We should build humongous impact investor club and just showcase thousands of projects. And, you know, I'd have to quantify that goal clearly.   Stephanie: [00:36:30] Well, I'm going put a goal out for us. It's February 18, 2021. How about a year from now, our goal will be able to have a list of twenty thousand investors that are actively investing in and community real estate.   Eve: [00:36:43] I think that's a fantastic goal. I'm happy to add to it.   Stephanie: [00:36:48] Fantastic. It's a true honor and joy to be in partnership with you.   Eve: [00:36:51] Thank you.   Stephanie: [00:36:52] Thank you.   Eve: [00:37:04] That was Dr. Stephanie Gripne. Stephanie believes that impact investing is all about educating people. Trustworthy, non conflicted investor education. The Impact Financial Center is quickly becoming the go-to place for just this type of education and for every level of investor, from foundations to individuals who have never invested before. You'll be hearing more about the Impact Finance Center, I'm sure. Please share this podcast so that more people learn about Stephanie. You can find out more about this episode on the show notes page at Evepicker.com, or you can find other episodes you might have missed there. You can also show your support at Patreon/RethinkRealEstate.com, where you can learn about special opportunities for my friends and followers. A special thanks to David Allardice for his excellent editing of this podcast and original music. Thank you so much for spending your time with me today. And thank you, Stephanie, for sharing your thoughts. We'll talk again soon. But for now, this is Eve Picker signing off to go make some change.

On this episode of SEPADPod Simon speaks with Chelsi Mueller, non-resident research fellow in the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies and the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University. Chelsi is the author of the fabulous The Origins of the Arab-Iranian Conflict: Nationalism and Sovereignty in the Gulf between the World Wars (Cambridge University Press, 2020). On this episode, Simon and Chelsi talk about history, long standing Arab-Iranian tensions and this wonderful new book.

It’s the first Friday of August so we’ll hear Nature’s Alamanc. We hear about a new podcast produced by the Alliance Center in Denver that pairs […]

Guest Mark Witzling, Executive Director of the Craft Alliance Center of Art + Design, comes by the studio to discuss the differing features and capabilities of both the Delmar and Grand locations and how those differences work toward the Center's overarching mission.

Oumar Kallo, Children’s Alliance Center Coordinator at Safe Berks, describes his work assisting children and their families after they have suffered the tragedy of sexual abuse. Oumar also shares information about the Safe Berks Teen Support Group and Men’s Support Group, which serve survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Oumar Kallo, Children’s Alliance Center Coordinator at Safe Berks, describes his work assisting children and their families after they have suffered the tragedy of sexual abuse. Oumar also shares information about the Safe Berks Teen Support Group and Men’s Support Group, which serve survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Guest Mark Witzling, Executive Director of Craft Alliance Center of Art + Design, stops by to talk about the many great programs that Craft Alliance offers as well as discussing his own work as an artist.

U.S. resumes Iran sanctions today Today the United States will resume its first wave in a series of intense financial sanctions against Iran. These sanctions are designed to cripple the Iranian economy, in an effort to punish the regime, and deter its development of nuclear weapons. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has affirmed that the White House will back these sanctions to the most extreme letter unless Iran halts its ‘malign' activities all over the world. 2. U.S. resumes Iran sanctions todayProf. David Menashri, Alliance Center for Iranian Studies at TAU speaking at ILTV Studio about re-imposing of sanctions on Iran Major hurdles in ceasefire proposal I-D-F Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot has just met with the Knesset's Security Cabinet to discuss the terms of the Egyptian, U.N.-brokered ceasefire deal with Hamas. While Hamas has apparently agreed to the terms, Israeli officials are considerably more skeptical–coming away from the table. Up in arms over mini-market law At the beginning of the year, the Knesset narrowly passed the contentious ‘mini-market bill, a law that shutters most businesses on the weekly ‘Shabbat' holiday every Friday and Saturday. At the time, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri of the Ultra-Orthodox Shas Party said that he wouldn't actually enforce the law but now several months later, that has very much not turned out to be the case. Websites and events in 3-D? Tal Landman, Coo at Doublx Vr Ltd. Speaking at ILTV Studio about the Doublx virtual reality platform that is leading the way in VR user experience. 6. Oscar-winning Israeli director passes away Cinema has just lost one of its great artists. Moshe Mizrahi, Israel's only filmmaker to ever win an American Academy Award has passed away at age 86. Though his Oscar-winning film ‘Madame Rosa' was actually France's entry to the Oscars that year, Mizrahi directed a lineup of classic films adored all over the world. 7. The Dead Sea is about to get luxuriously upgraded One of Israel's most visited locations is about to get a luxurious upgrade. Not that being the lowest point on earth - with the saltiest sea on earth isn't extravagant enough already - ILTV'S Emanuelle Kadosh is here with the updates on the Dead Sea expansion! 8. Good news: Eilat coral is growing! Eilat is home to one of the most thriving marine ecosystems on the planet: a coral reef natural reserve. This reef is under constant threat from all kinds of environmental damage, much like reefs all over the world. But now, and possibly for the first time, we are pleased to share the news that at a time when most others are dying, Eilat's reefs actually seems to be growing. 9. Hebrew word Of The Day: LIFRO'ACH | לפרוח = TO BLOSSOM, FLOURISH Learn a New Hebrew word every day. Today's word is "lifro'ach" which means "to blossom" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker: Dr. David Menashri Affiliation: Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University; Senior Research Fellow, Alliance Center for Iranian Studies and the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, Tel Aviv University Title: "Iran, Israel and the Middle East after the War in Gaza" Convener: Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Location: Fordham University, New York Date: November 29, 2012 Description: Dr. David Menashri speaks about Iran, Israel, and the Middle East following the 2012 Gaza War. Menashri highlights the need to understand the intricacies and various aspects of Iranian society in order to begin to understand the Middle East conflict and relations between the countries.

Speaker: Dr. Meir Litvak Affiliation: Department of Middle Eastern History and Director of the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University Title: “Radical Islam and the Arab Spring” Convener: Dr. Charles Asher Small, Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) Location: Hoover Institution, Stanford University Date: February 8, 2012 Description: Dr. Meir Litvak argues that there are various misperceptions regarding the "Arab Spring" and notes that, as opposed to the popular belief, the "Arab Spring" was started by Islamists, not westernized, democratic young people.

Title: "Islamism and the Construction of Jewish Identity" Topics, Speakers and Affiliations: Topic: "Iran and Antisemitism: Some Historical Notes" Speaker: Dr. Daniel Tsadik Affiliation: Associate Professor of Sephardic and Iranian Studies, Yeshiva University Topic: "The Roots of Modern Muslim Antisemitism: Jews and the Traditional Concept of Tolerance in Islam" Speaker: Dr. Jacob Lassner Affiliation: Professor Emeritus of Jewish Civilization in the departments of History and Religion, Northwestern University Topic: "Antisemitism in Iran: Continuities and Changes" Speaker: Dr. Meir Litvak Affiliation: Associate Professor, Department of Middle Eastern History; Director, Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, Tel-Aviv University Convener: Dr. Risa Sodi, Director, Language Program, Italian Language and Literature, Yale University Location: Yale University, New Haven, CT Date: August 23, 2010 Description: In this session, part of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA)/ International Association for the Study of Antisemitism (IASA)Inaugural "Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity" Conference (August 23-25, 2010), speakers discuss topics such as antisemitism in Iran and the roots of modern Muslim antisemitism.

Title: "Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah: Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial” Berlin Conference – Part 2 Date: March 26, 2009 Speakers and Affiliations: Speaker: Dr. Meir Litvak Affiliation: Associate Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern History, Director of the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, and Senior Research Fellow at the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University Speaker: Alexander Ritzmann Affiliation: Political Analyst and Senior Fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy (EFD) in Brussels, Belgium Speaker: Dr. Wahied Wahdat-Hagh Affiliation: Senior Fellow, European Foundation for Democracy

Title: “Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah: Antisemitism and Holocaust Denial” Berlin Conference – Part 3 Date: March 26, 2009 Speakers and Affiliations: Speaker: Dr. Meir Litvak Affiliation: Associate Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern History, Director of the Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, and Senior Research Fellow at the Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University Speaker: Dr. David Menashri Affiliation: President, Academic Center of Law and Business, Ramat Gan; Founder and Director, Center for Iranian Studies, Tel Aviv University; Dean of Special Programs, Tel Aviv University Speaker: Dr. Charles Asher Small Affiliation: Founder and Executive Director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP)

Melissa Heydt is the VP Children's Alliance Center does forensic interviews for sexually abused children. Using a multi-disciplinary team approach they schedule interviews with the child and his or her family in a very child friendly atmosphere. The Children's Alliance Center works in tandem with law enforcement or Children and Youth Services. Usually see about 400 children a year between the ages of 3 and 18. Melissa has been in this position with opportunity House for about 3 years and spent all her career working with abused children. Over the years she has found that it is important to take care of herself in order to have the energy to absorb the emotion of these very difficult cases.

Melissa Heydt is the VP Children’s Alliance Center does forensic interviews for sexually abused children. Using a multi-disciplinary team approach they schedule interviews with the child and his or her family in a very child friendly atmosphere. The Children’s Alliance Center works in tandem with law enforcement or Children and Youth Services. Usually see about 400 children a year between the ages of 3 and 18. Melissa has been in this position with opportunity House for about 3 years and spent all her career working with abused children. Over the years she has found that it is important to take care of herself in order to have the energy to absorb the emotion of these very difficult cases.

Melissa Haydt, VP Children's Alliance Center, discusses the services provided for sexually abused children. It has been 11 years since the center has operated under the umbrella of Opportunity House. Melissa says, “Each year the numbers of cases seem to go up. Since the Sandusky case more abuse cases are reported.” The benefit is the more that people are aware the more protection services can be put in place. Talks about the signs of abuse and the appropriate responses if there is a concern about the possibility of abuse. Law enforcement or Children in Youth Services refer cases to the Children's Alliance Center where the environment is child friendly. Ultimate goal is to have a successful prosecution in a case and to get the children and their families the services they need to heal.

Melissa Haydt, VP Children’s Alliance Center, discusses the services provided for sexually abused children. It has been 11 years since the center has operated under the umbrella of Opportunity House. Melissa says, “Each year the numbers of cases seem to go up. Since the Sandusky case more abuse cases are reported.” The benefit is the more that people are aware the more protection services can be put in place. Talks about the signs of abuse and the appropriate responses if there is a concern about the possibility of abuse. Law enforcement or Children in Youth Services refer cases to the Children’s Alliance Center where the environment is child friendly. Ultimate goal is to have a successful prosecution in a case and to get the children and their families the services they need to heal.