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Dr. Silvia Blemker is a distinguished professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia and co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Springbok Analytics. Silvia discusses her fascinating journey from a curious child who loved learning about anatomy to now leading groundbreaking research at the Multi-scale Muscle Mechanophysiology Lab. Learn how her innovative AI-driven muscle analytics technology is reshaping fields ranging from sports medicine to neuromuscular diseases. Silvia shares her passion for mentorship, the rewards of pushing scientific boundaries, and the thrill of solving complex challenges.    Guest links: https://www.springbokanalytics.com | http://www.uvam3lab.com Charity supported: Sleep in Heavenly Peace Interested in being a guest on the show or have feedback to share? Email us at theleadingdifference@velentium.com.  PRODUCTION CREDITS Host: Lindsey Dinneen Editing: Marketing Wise Producer: Velentium   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Episode 044 - Dr. Silvia Blemker [00:00:00] Lindsey Dinneen: Hi, I'm Lindsey and I'm talking with MedTech industry leaders on how they change lives for a better world. [00:00:09] Diane Bouis: The inventions and technologies are fascinating and so are the people who work with them. [00:00:15] Frank Jaskulke: There was a period of time where I realized, fundamentally, my job was to go hang out with really smart people that are saving lives and then do work that would help them save more lives. [00:00:28] Diane Bouis: I got into the business to save lives and it is incredibly motivating to work with people who are in that same business, saving or improving lives. [00:00:38] Duane Mancini: What better industry than where I get to wake up every day and just save people's lives. [00:00:42] Lindsey Dinneen: These are extraordinary people doing extraordinary work, and this is The Leading Difference. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of The Leading Difference podcast. I'm your host, Lindsey, and today I am very excited to introduce as my guest, Sylvia Blemker. Sylvia is the Robert Thompson Distinguished Professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia. She leads the Multi-scale Muscle Mechanophysiology Lab, which develops multi-skill computational and experimental techniques to study skeletal muscle biomechanics and physiology. The lab explores a range of applications including speech disorders, vision impairments, aging, muscular dystrophies, and human performance. New projects include developing models that incorporate for sex differences in musculoskeletal structure and simulating the effects of estrogen levels on muscle regeneration. Dr. Blemker is also Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Springbok Analytics, a company commercializing image based muscle analytics AI technology for many applications from muscle diseases to sports medicine. All right. Well, welcome. And thank you so much for being here. I'm so delighted to talk to you today, Sylvia. [00:01:55] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Thank you. I'm excited to be here also. [00:01:58] Lindsey Dinneen: Awesome. Well, would you mind starting off by telling us a little bit about yourself, your background, and maybe what led you to medtech? [00:02:08] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Sure. So I am born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas, a child of two immigrants who are from Argentina. And they're both professors. So from a very early age, I was exposed to the world of academia. My dad was a mathematician. My mom was a math person also. So, math and STEM was always from the get go part of my life and I knew it would be in the future. And when I was trying to decide what to study as an undergraduate student, I learned of this field called biomedical engineering that was somewhat of a new discipline at that point. I started college in 1993. And I just thought it sounded perfect because I was really interested in medicine. I loved anatomy. I was one of those geeks that had anatomy parts, like models. I had an ear and I had an eyeball and a heart, all these different things. I just thought anatomy was really interesting and cool. And I always thought being a doctor of some kind would be really cool because it would mix my interest in biology and anatomy with wanting to help people, but I don't think that was the right path for me, and it also wouldn't really leverage my interest in math and physics and stuff like that. So once I learned about biomedical engineering, I thought, "Wow, that sounds really perfect for me." And so it turned out it was because I did my undergrad in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University. I did my master's degree there, and then I went on to Stanford University. I got my PhD in mechanical engineering. But honestly, I would have been bioengineering, but back then there was no bioengineering department. So I was in mechanical engineering, but focused on biomechanical engineering. And now I'm a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Virginia. Been that since 2006. And I also, it's been about 10 years now, co founded a company that's in the medtech industry. It's called Springbok Analytics, and it's commercializing software to go from a rapid MRI scan to a fast assessment of muscle health and fitness. [00:04:22] Lindsey Dinneen: Amazing. Well, thank you for providing some background and whatnot. That was so fun to hear about, you know, your interest in biology from even a young age and having all these models and that's just, that makes me smile. I love that. [00:04:35] Dr. Silvia Blemker: like collecting bugs, too. That's weird. [00:04:39] Lindsey Dinneen: Hey, you were interested in it. I love that. So I have so many questions, but the first thing that comes to mind: I love the name of your company and I'm curious why you chose Springbok. [00:04:50] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Yeah, that is a great question. So, it was inspired by the springbok, the animal. It's very fast moving antelope that runs fast. It's very agile, jumps high. And the reason why we went that direction is our first market at Springbok was in human performance and elite athletes. And so we were using this technology to help athletes recover from injury and get to their maximum performance. So that's where that went. And, you know, honestly, when we first started it, we just kind of like dreamt that up and didn't know if it would stick, but now it has. And so here we are. [00:05:32] Lindsey Dinneen: Excellent. So, yeah. So, okay. With the origin of that company, you brought something to market that has previously not existed in the way that you're doing very uniquely. Could you share a little bit more about what makes what you do so unique and how it's helped solve or covered a gap in the market, basically? [00:05:54] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Sure. So I guess maybe while I answer that question, I'll tell you a little bit about where it came from in terms of the initial ideas. So I think that really answers your question too. So, so we're actually, it started as a research project in a combination of my lab and a few other collaborators at UVA. So started pure research funded by an organization that pro wanted to promote translational research. So research that starts on the very academic basic setting, but is translated to the outside world. You know, we do a lot of research that's very impactful, but it stays in the lab. And the idea is that some of it is ready to go out there. So, having said that, the basic idea for the company actually really came out of some conversations I had with a collaborator, an orthopedic surgeon, who treats children that have cerebral palsy, in particular helps in terms of improving specific movement disorders that kids with cerebral palsy have. And so I've had a longstanding interest in understanding what's happening with muscles in these children because though it's an injury to the brain kind of right around birth which leads to these abnormal movement patterns, that ends up influencing their muscles and bones because muscles and bones grow based on the way you use them. And so this happening as a child means their muscles have a fair number of issues. And so I've been interested in that question, obviously, is if we know that, then we can help better improve mobility and treatments for these children. And so, in my research, I've been making use of MRI a lot to study muscle, because that's a great way to do that in humans. If you're studying a mouse, which we do somewhat in my lab also, you can do a lot with a mouse muscle. But if you want to study human muscles, there's only so much you can do unless you're studying a cadaver, which obviously is not relevant. So, we use MRI and develop these fancy imaging techniques or interesting ways to get a bunch of information about the muscle from the MRI machine, MRI pictures, and do lots of different modeling and things like that. So I was pretty young professor and I was developing new research ideas and this clinician said, his name is Dr. Abel said, "You know, all these interesting ideas about what you can learn about muscle from MRI is cool, but you know this is not something we could ever use in the clinic because the way that you're doing these scans is very hard. It's very research oriented. You're only studying one muscle, and really in cerebral palsy and impacts all the muscles of the in the body, but in particular for movement of the leg. And we don't have a way to, to quantify that or understand that. And that's what I really need to have in order to figure out how to treat these kids." 'Cuz ultimately he's has to do surgeries on a bunch of muscles and he has to make the decisions about which muscles to do surgeries on just by looking at the outside of the child and not really having a sense for what's going on at the muscle level. So I was like, "Okay, well, maybe we'll try to solve that problem." Cause it seems like the problem I wanted to solve maybe isn't all that useful to you right now. So, that, that really was the basis for Springbok the initial idea was to develop a way to collect MRI rapidly and then transform that into a assessment of all the muscles of the lower extremity in particular for these kids because there's really no other way to get information at the muscle level. We have ways to kind of assess how strong people are. But that's what we say in biomechanics, we call it at the joint level, you know, but like, for example, if you wanted to see how strong your knee is, you extend your knee for example, to get your quadriceps, but there's four quadriceps muscles. So if there's a weakness, which muscle is the one that is, you would have no idea what that was if from the outside. Same thing for all other joints. So, that's the idea is like to get to that detailed information and in this particular application it's very obvious why you need that because they're going to go in and do surgery on individual muscles. So they want to do the ones that actually need it. And then, you know, the premise of where we went from there is that, the need to have information at the muscle level has a lot of different applications outside of that. And so that's sort of one thing led to another. And again, because we were funded by this grant agency called The Culture Foundation that wanted to promote translational research, one of the early pieces of feedback they gave us was the market that we was associated with the application we were first exploring in cerebral palsy was too small to start with. And there's too many barriers of entry in terms of being able to actually implement in practice. So that's what led us to shift to other areas in particular. And in particular, elite sports because some of those barriers don't exist. The financial aspects are not nearly as challenging to start. And so it's actually a path I've heard of a lot of other healthtech or medtech companies to go start in sports and then veer into once they've gotten a bunch of data and validation, veer into the medical tech, and then that's precisely our path as well. [00:11:12] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Excellent. Well, well, thank you for sharing more about that. That was such a great explanation specifically about the quadriceps. I really latched onto that because what an interesting problem, but then what a great solution that you all have developed. And, you know, I'm wondering, looking back before you started the company and really dove in, could you have anticipated that you were going to become this entrepreneur? And did you expect that this might be part of your path or was this kind of just a happy coincidence after the research developed? [00:11:49] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Definitely did not expect it to be part of my path. [00:11:52] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. [00:11:53] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Absolutely. By no means, my brother was the one that went, like he was an engineer too, and he worked for IBM and he became more of a business man. That's what I would call him. But, yeah, it was really, you know, a multitude of things, the encouragement. I had some really good, you know, co founders. Craig Meyer and Joe Hart were both colleagues and they were excited. It was sort of like at that point, it was like, "Well, I don't want to be the limiting factor here. We should all do this together, right?" Found some really fantastic people to help it get started because, of course, when you first start something, there is a lot of risk there. And also, the three of us co founders had day jobs. We're still professors. And so we found a great actually grad of our program. To be our first CTO or first official employee. You really need to have that team around you. It's not just one person or two people, there's a lot that goes into this type of effort. And so I think without that, for sure, wouldn't have done it. And then one thing led to the other, I guess. It's definitely has pushed-- I can speak for myself-- out of my comfort zone a lot, you know, and it still does. But I think that's why I keep doing it also is I've learned a lot. [00:13:10] Lindsey Dinneen: I love that. Yeah. Well, and I think that it brings different challenges than you're probably experiencing in the academic side of things, and that's its own challenge too. But I love the fact that, speaking with leaders such as yourself, you're always pushing yourself to the next thing. You're not really just happy being. [00:13:29] Dr. Silvia Blemker: My husband might appreciate it more, but [00:13:31] Lindsey Dinneen: Okay. Yes, this is fair. Yeah. Well, okay. So, so just briefly switching sides to the academic journey that you've taken. So can you speak a little bit more about the program that you are in and helping to continue to develop? And what are you excited about even just with the university as you continue to grow? [00:13:56] Dr. Silvia Blemker: So I am a professor at heart. Right now I'm in a particularly interesting kind of stage of my career where I'm still a professor at UVA, but I'm actually part time professor and I'm also officially employed by Springbok. I'm a co founder, but I'm right now working as Chief Science Officer. So I do have two jobs. [00:14:15] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Nice. [00:14:17] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Yeah. [00:14:18] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh. [00:14:20] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Sons to o, but it's all good. It's, you know, it's nice full life, but so anyways, I have a research lab called, we call ourselves the Multiscale Muscle Mechanophysiology Lab. It's a mouthful. So we just call her, we say M3 Lab or M cubed. And we have PhD students, be it biomedical engineering, PhD students who are doing research and with in my lab going towards their PhD. I have postdoc, so students that have finished their PhD and continuing training for research in my lab, and then a whole bunch of undergraduate students who are getting involved in research for the first time. And the mentorship there that I do is ultimately, I think, honestly, what I love the most. And I joke with them because I now encourage all of my students to do internships while they're in their graduate program. I think it's incredibly valuable for a lot of different reasons that I could chat through. But I tell them, "You know, I never did that. And I did my internship in my late 40s. Fortunately, I realized that I made the right career choice, but I did it a little late. You should do it earlier." [00:15:25] Lindsey Dinneen: Right. Oh, nice. [00:15:28] Dr. Silvia Blemker: So anyways, I love my students all the way from ultimately in the lab, like exploring, you know, I talk a lot about with them, "You know, what we're doing is exploring the boundaries of knowledge together, pushing it and understanding where the boundaries are and figuring out how to push them in ways that can advance the world, really." And doing that with the student together and essentially I find myself like right behind them. I'm like, "Okay, keep going, teach me while you do it." I just find that, I just love doing that. It's very rewarding. And it's a real impact to be able to train other people to do this work. And there's the relationship aspect of it that is very valuable to me. So I just love teaching and hopefully inspiring new students to get involved in the kind of work I do, or help them figure out what they want to do. I think in the industry in the startup setting that mentorship is also a big part of it, but you know, it's just it's different. So one of the big projects we have that is actually the cool thing is, it's empowered by the startup company. So there is a synergy there which I think is really cool. So we are in the lab creating the next generation versions of computer models of the body that account for differences between men and women, between males and females. So in the world of movement biomechanics, in addition to using MRI as a common tool, another way that we study human movement and to try to figure out what's happening on the inside of bodies is to use computer modeling where we have models that sort of help try to describe the person in as much detail as possible from the inside, their bones, joints, muscles, everything, how their muscles move, and combine that with measurements of motion from the outside and physics and use all that to figure out how the person, how their muscles are working. There's a lots of different questions that you can answer once you have a model like that. The problem is that the model that everybody uses is based on data from like a 5'10 man. And then we scale it to fit anybody. So it doesn't even actually probably represent the 5'10 man, honestly. It's kind of an average. We're doing a big study where we collect MRI data of a large number of males and females, and we're doing a whole bunch of other measurements to allow the field to put that model aside and do a much better job at representing the population in particular, and accounting for the differences between male and female, because a lot of clinical problems, conditions, questions, issues that are the answer to them are different between male and females. And as a field, we don't really have ways to handle that. And I think that we need to do better than that. So it's an interesting project because It's a very, it's, there's a lot of interesting technical thing problems that we're solving to do that, to do these modelings, models at scale and stuff like that. But it's also a bit of like a public service model or a project where we're answering these questions, but ultimately going to give these models to the community so that they can do their research better too. [00:18:37] Lindsey Dinneen: Wow. It, you know, it continues to boggle my brain when I hear things like this, where it's like, "Yeah, we forgot to consider half the population." And I, you know, shouldn't make me laugh very much, I'm just very thankful, is really what I'm going to get to, of people like you who are going, "Wait a second, maybe this one thing that we've used all this time could be done more effectively and represent, like you said, just a better understanding of humans." So I... [00:19:07] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Yeah. It's interesting. You know, I've wondered about this myself a lot, how do we come to be? And I think it's this interesting difference between thinking about the impact of what your science is versus how to do the science well, because as scientists were trained, take out all other extra variables so that you can answer the question, you can control for everything that's your questions not to do with so that you can answer your question or test your hypothesis. And so, if you add sex as a variable, that confounds your question. And then, if anything, it just means that you have to double your sample size, you have to account for that. And so to do it well, but maybe with less resources, it would make sense scientifically to go to one sex. So that's why that happens, right? But then, if you're thinking about, "Well, yeah, but then I only answered that question for one sex," then you would do it differently. So I think that's where it comes from. Honestly, I don't think my predecessors were necessarily sexist or anything. I think they were doing things in the way that made sense scientifically by keeping things constant and wanting to have clean results. So that is what it is, but I think in a world where we're thinking more about the impact of what we do, we can't do that anymore. [00:20:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, well, and I thank you for sharing that. I think that's a really great perspective and realizing that sometimes It's easy to get annoyed by something that when we don't understand maybe where it came from or why somebody chose the route they did and maybe there was a very just practical reason for it. And so I love that you shared that. Thank you for doing that. [00:20:53] Dr. Silvia Blemker: But I will say that I have gotten annoyed though when you ask the question, like, "Why did you just do men?" Sometimes the answer is just, "Well, that's just how it's done." Not reasonable. I don't think that's, I don't think that's an... [00:21:07] Lindsey Dinneen: A lazy answer. [00:21:08] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Absolutely. Yeah. [00:21:10] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. So, you know, either in your academic journey or perhaps in your entrepreneurial journey, are there any moments that stand out that really kind of affirm to you, "I am in the right industry, doing the right thing with my life?" [00:21:29] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Oh, huh. That's an interesting question. I'll tell you when I know that I'm doing the right thing, when I'm excited to get up and do it [00:21:39] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:21:40] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Morning, I'm like, "Oh yeah, I'm going to work all this. This is exciting. I want to figure this out." That's usually what gets me up. Like my husband knows when I'm, we call it "locked in" because, you know, we have Gen Z kids, when I'm really trying to figure something out. And that, that really like gets me like figure something out that I know is important and impactful. I just love doing that. I think ultimately that's what I like and being creative and coming up with solutions and questions and stuff like that. That's not, I don't know if that's answering your question though. [00:22:13] Lindsey Dinneen: It actually, well, it does though, because I mean, everyone answers that in different ways, but what I love is the fact that it's your daily life. That's a great answer to that question. It's, " I'm curious. I'm excited. I want to work with these students and solve these problems." And that's a dream. [00:22:32] Dr. Silvia Blemker: That's what I, that's what gets me up in the morning. I mean, obviously not every day can be filled with these super intriguing things. There's a lot about a daily routine of any job that involves other things. And I try to learn to do those. Like one example of that for me was when I first started as a graduate student. As a scientist, a researcher, you have to present your results or give presentations a fair amount, whether it be to your lab group or to your thesis committee or in at a conference or a seminar. And then ultimately as a teacher, you have to do that all the time too. And early on, I really did not like doing that. It was really painful for me. I was really anxious about it. I loved sitting there working stuff out on my computer. That I loved, I knew, but I did not think I could do any-- presenting was scary. The first time I had to go presented a conference, I literally memorized every single word of the presentation to the word, and even my friends, my graduate student friends who I shared a hotel room with, they could give my presentation. They literally could, but now I absolutely love presenting. It's something that I've come to really enjoy all aspects of it. So that's an example of maybe not everything initially seems like that's what I'm going to love doing, but sometimes you can surprise yourself. [00:23:57] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Well, and I actually, to expand on that, I think the idea of you never know what your next sort of joyful surprise is going to be. So try the things and we'll discover that not everything is for you, but that's such great advice also for students, I feel like in particular, or maybe those young in their career is, "Just experiment, try it." You know, use it as this exciting time to just see. And yeah, you might even hate it the first couple of times, but you never know. [00:24:27] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Yeah. Yeah. You never know. You never know. Absolutely. [00:24:30] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Well, this is going to be an interesting one because I'm going to pivot the conversation and ask you something that I ask all my guests, but in your case, you are used to teaching and giving classes. So the question is, if you were to be offered a million dollars to teach a master class on anything you want, what would you choose to teach and why? [00:24:52] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Oh, a million dollars. Oh, but I, like, I love teaching, [00:25:03] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah, I know. That's why I was like, oh man, this is gonna be interesting. [00:25:07] Dr. Silvia Blemker: I think it was last year I was so proud of the undergraduate students. They give these awards to professors and I got the Lecturer of the Year award. So that was fun. And then I brought it home and my teenage son was like, "Oh yeah, yeah, that tracks. Mom's the lecturer of the year." [00:25:26] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh! [00:25:27] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Momly lectures. So anyways, it's hard to turn it off, but let's see, what would I give it about? I mean, it would probably be something about how muscles work 'cause I love talking about muscles. Honestly, like at the end of the day, that's now I'm kind of all in it. So I, I like talking about that stuff. Randomly about tennis too. I love tennis. I play tennis as a very low level tennis player, but I've become a tennis nerd. So if I had another job, I would love to be like a tennis announcer, but the science tennis announcer to talk about the physics and stuff like that, biomechanics. I would love that. [00:26:05] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, I would love that. That would make it so much even more interesting to me because I'd go, "Oh my word, I had no idea that this was what's happening here." And yeah, that's cool. Excellent. Okay. Well, I like it. Well, how do you wish to be remembered after you leave this world? [00:26:23] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Ultimately for my children, like Mom to Jack and Daniel Blemker, number one, then wife to Wes and the rest of my family. I think, ultimately, that's the most important, right? And then as a mentor to my students. [00:26:41] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. [00:26:42] Dr. Silvia Blemker: And then for like, you know, doing things that help people. Products that we've put out there, I feel like we've had an impact and we continue to see the potential impact. But honestly, that isn't really about me. It's about the impact. So I don't know that I-- I guess it's good to get credit for stuff like that, but ultimately it's just cool to know that it's had an impact and it's really connected to a lot of people not just me, so I think it's cool like sometimes I do reflect on, when I see cool stuff that the company's doing like "Wow, that was my idea. That's cool." But it's like not just that, right? An idea is just an idea. There's so much more. And the people that we have at Springbok doing, it's just a fantastic team of just ridiculously smart people who are also great, work well as a team and really value having a positive environment and they're fun. They're funny. So that's all cool. [00:27:39] Lindsey Dinneen: That's awesome. That is so cool. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And then final question. What is one thing that makes you smile every time you see or think about it? [00:27:50] Dr. Silvia Blemker: I have a few different things, maybe. Well, the first one that comes to mind, honestly, is every time, and this is one of my favorite things about doing Springbok, is every time we get like an interesting new scan in, and we look at a large range of individuals now from people with muscle disease, neuromuscular disease, and all the way to NBA players and everywhere in between. But whenever I see one that's different, I'm like, "Ooh, that's cool. That makes me smile." So I guess that's muscles. And then also, I guess the other one is just seeing like a mentee or student shine in some way. One of my former student just defended her PhD two weeks ago, and just sitting there watching her do her PhD defense, she's phenomenal. It was just amazing. I mean, who wouldn't smile at that? But [00:28:43] Lindsey Dinneen: Yeah. Oh, that's amazing, and I love how it all ties together, just your answers are consistent, but I, what I love about hearing that is this just thread of appreciation for muscles and anatomy and impact and the students and the lives that you're touching. So I, you know, I definitely, I love that you're doing what you love and that it brings you joy. That's the best. Yeah. [00:29:11] Dr. Silvia Blemker: That's so nice. That makes me smile. [00:29:15] Lindsey Dinneen: Oh, I love that. Well, thank you so much for your time today. This has been such a joy for me actually, to get to talk to you and learn more about your background and what gives you energy, what gets you up in the morning. And so I just really appreciate you sharing about all the great work that you're doing. And I just wish you the most continued success as you work to change lives for a better world. [00:29:38] Dr. Silvia Blemker: Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Thanks for producing such a cool podcast. So very much appreciated. [00:29:45] Lindsey Dinneen: much. Thank you. Well, thanks for bringing a smile to my face. And thank you also to everyone who is tuning in today. And if you're as inspired as I am right now, I'd love it if you'd share this episode with a colleague or two and we'll catch you next time. [00:30:01] Ben Trombold: The Leading Difference is brought to you by Velentium. Velentium is a full-service CDMO with 100% in-house capability to design, develop, and manufacture medical devices from class two wearables to class three active implantable medical devices. Velentium specializes in active implantables, leads, programmers, and accessories across a wide range of indications, such as neuromodulation, deep brain stimulation, cardiac management, and diabetes management. Velentium's core competencies include electrical, firmware, and mechanical design, mobile apps, embedded cybersecurity, human factors and usability, automated test systems, systems engineering, and contract manufacturing. Velentium works with clients worldwide, from startups seeking funding to established Fortune 100 companies. Visit velentium.com to explore your next step in medical device development.

Tiokasin's guest this week is Qacung Blanchett. Qacung is a founding member of Pamyua, the iconic tribal funk & Inuit soul crew. Qacung's been making waves for nearly three decades. With a passion that's pure fire, he's dedicated to amplifying Indigenous voices through music, art, and culture. When he's not rocking the stage or producing music, Qacung's leading the charge as Creative Director of Áak'w Rock and shaping the future of Indigenous performance. With a trophy case full of accolades, including The Kennedy Center's Next 50, United States Artist Fellow, and Native Arts and Culture Foundation's SHIFT award, Qacung's the real deal. Get ready to vibe with this Indigenous innovator!" Find out more about Qacung at his website: https://qacung.com/Production Credits:Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Lakota), Host and Executive ProducerLiz Hill (Red Lake Ojibwe), ProducerKevin Richardson, Podcast EditorMusic Selections:1. Song Title: Tahi Roots Mix (First Voices Radio Theme Song)Artist: Moana and the Moa HuntersAlbum: Tahi (1993)Label: Southside Records (Australia and New Zealand)2. Song Title: The Gathering (feat. AirJazz)Artist: QacungAlbum: Miu (2021)Label: N/A3. Song Title: Our Stories (feat. Byron Nicholas)Artist: QacungAlbum: Miu (2021)Label: N/A4. Song Title: The SeedArtist: AuroraAlbum: A Different Kind of Human (Step 2) (2019)Label: Decca and Glassnote Records5. Song: Theo's DreamArtist: Robert MirabalAlbum: Indians Indians (2003)Label: Silver Wave RecordsAKANTU INTELLIGENCE Visit Akantu Intelligence, an institute that Tiokasin founded with a mission of contextualizing original wisdom for troubled times. Go to https://akantuintelligence.org to find out more and consider joining his Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/Ghosthorse

On the 85th episode of the What is a Good Life? podcast, I am delighted to introduce our guest, Jon Alexander. Jon is the author of CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us, a book that seeks to reframe the current moment as one of immense civic opportunity rather than merely a time of crisis and collapse.In 2014, Jon co-founded the New Citizenship Project, a strategy and innovation consultancy that aims to shift the dominant societal narrative from Consumer to Citizen. He is a Fellow of the Young Foundation, a founding member of the OECD's Innovative Citizen Participation Network, a Strategic Advisor to DemocracyNext, and a member of the Leadership Council of the Democracy and Culture Foundation. Additionally, Jon has represented Great Britain in both rowing and triathlon.In this inspiring conversation, Jon shares his journey of building greater trust in himself and others, which has shaped his ideas about evolving from a Consumer story to a Citizen story. In this new narrative, we expand our self-interest, connection, and sense of belonging, embracing the uncertainty we collectively face. We discuss the importance of stories over data, becoming who we want to be, reflection, and the immense satisfaction of being part of something bigger than ourselves.If you feel somewhat stuck and perhaps overwhelmed by the mounting crises, and if you are looking to reengage with a sense of agency and empowerment, this episode, along with Jon's journey, will give you much to contemplate, as well as inspiration for action.Subscribe for weekly episodes, every Tuesday, and check out my YouTube channel (link below) for clips and shorts.For further content and information check out the following:Jon's book & website: https://www.jonalexander.net/Jon's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-alexander-11b66345/Jon's Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonjalex- For the podcast's YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@whatisagoodlife/videos- My newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/- My LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/Contact me at mark@whatisagood.life if you'd like to further explore your own lines of self-inquiry or create experiences that lead to more connecting and genuine conversations amongst groups of people.00:00 Introduction02:55 Consumer Story & Citizen Story05:35 What would you do if you believed in yourself & others09:15 Self interest and expanded self-interest13:05 Human and community and connection16:45 Stories and connection over data21:55 Collectively becoming who we want to be25:55 Pretending we have answers and solutions30:40 Safe uncertainty34:35 A need for belonging, community, and contribution38:20 Trusting others43:55 Time to reflect and portals50:55 Not something to give up but to gain55:55 What is a good life for Jon?

You can do things differently, and just because it hasn't been done before, doesn't mean it can't be done," says Democratic Innovator Hall of Fame recipient Kate Chaney.In this episode, we talk with Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Curtin Kate Chaney about the importance of crowd wisdom and optimism in challenging traditional political paradigms. Through intimate conversations with voters- often sitting around the kitchen tables of their own homes to understand their priorities and values- she's reshaping how we think of democracy and creating a more compassionate politics.This episode was recorded at the Athens Democracy Forum in September 2023, where Kate was named a ‘Democratic Innovator of the 21st Century' by the Apolitical Foundation and the Democracy and Culture Foundation. Read our “Leaders or Latercomers” report about the barriers politicians face in implementing democratic innovations on our website.Reach us on X (@apoliticalfound), LinkedIn (Apolitical Foundation), Instagram (@apoliticalfoundation) and Facebook (@apoliticalfoundation) or email via info@apolitical.foundation. Sign up to our weekly briefing for inspiration to help you build better politics: bit.ly/3NlIWStReach us on Twitter (@apoliticalfound), LinkedIn (Apolitical Foundation), Instagram (@apoliticalfoundation) and Facebook (@apoliticalfoundation) or email via info@apolitical.foundation. Sign up to our weekly briefing for inspiration to help you build better politics: bit.ly/3NlIWSt

Alice Faulkner Burch is general editor of “My Lord, He Calls Me: Stories of Faith by Black American Latter-day Saints.” She also serves on the Utah State Historical Records Advisory Board, is on the Signature Books Editorial Advisory Board, and is the Director of Special Events on the Executive Committee of Sema Hadithi African American Heritage & Culture Foundation, (Utah's only 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to the researching, preserving, and teaching of Utah's Black American history founded by her husband). She enjoys writing, cross-stitching, and doing the dying art of whole-cloth quilting – a skill she learned on her own to honor her maternal Grandmother.Deseret Bookdeseretbook.com/product/P6001723.htmlAmazonamazon.com/My-Lord-He-Calls-Latter-day/dp/1639930299Sema Hadithi African American Heritage & Culture Foundationhttps://semahadithifoundation.org

Politicians and people must come together to solve the biggest issues of our time. But how do we facilitate productive relationships in an environment of cynicism, distrust and polarization?In this episode, we talk with Secretary of Citizen Participation in Nuevo León (Mexico) Ximena Peredo about strategies to mainstream participation and creating public policy. As a former activist and columnist, she's passionate about bridging the gap between citizens and government through innovative initiatives such as participatory budgeting in schools, a network of peace agents, and community mediation centers.This episode was recorded at the Athens Democracy Forum in September 2023, where Ximena was named as one of the ‘Democratic Innovators of the 21st Century' by the Apolitical Foundation and the Democracy & Culture Foundation.Check out our Democratic Innovators of the 21st Century list to find out who else was recognized!Reach us on Twitter (@apoliticalfound), LinkedIn (Apolitical Foundation), Instagram (@apoliticalfoundation) and Facebook (@apoliticalfoundation) or email via info@apolitical.foundation. Sign up to our weekly briefing for inspiration to help you build better politics: bit.ly/3NlIWSt

Democracy in Question? is brought to you by:• Central European University: CEU• The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: AHCD• The Podcast Company: scopeaudio Follow us on social media!• Central European University: @CEU• Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy in Geneva: @AHDCentre Subscribe to the show. If you enjoyed what you listened to, you can support us by leaving a review and sharing our podcast in your networks!  GlossaryDemocratic Odyssey (02:19 or p.1 in the transcript)The Democratic Odyssey is a decentralized, collaborative, and transparent exercise of crowdsourcing and co-creation kicked-off by a core consortium composed of The European University Institute's School of Transnational Governance, Particip-Action, European Alternatives, Citizens Take Over Europe, The Democracy and Culture Foundation, Democracy Next, Mehr Demokratie, Eliamep, The Real Deal, Phoenix, The European Capital of Democracy, as well as the Berggruen and Salvia Foundations. This community is open to all who want to be involved. Threatened from within and outside by the rise of partisan hyper-polarization, authoritarian buy-in, disinformation and electoral interference, European democracy is under attack on all sides. As Europe needs to address citizens' sense of disenfranchisement, pathways to renewal are necessary. For the Democratic Odyssey consortium, part of the solution lies in creating a standing European People's Assembly that will become a core part of the institutional landscape of the European Union, made of citizens selected by lot, serving on a rotating basis. This project comes at an opportune moment. In the past five years, in Europe, there have been ten national assemblies and around 70 local assemblies on the topic of climate change alone. The EU itself took a huge leap with the Conference on the Future of Europe which integrated transnational, multi-lingual, sortition-based deliberation into the policy making process. The Conference planted a seed which the Democratic Odyssey wants to make flourish. As James Mackay, the project's coordinator, declared in a recent interview with European Alternatives: “we are not aiming at making a ‘perfect' assembly (whatever that would even mean). Our hope is more modest: to offer a “proof of concept” that, in the window between the EP elections but before the new Commissions convenes, can bring grassroots and institutional actors together to consider how citizens' participation can be institutionalized in the longer term.” source

Hosts: Leah Murray and Greg Skordas Last year Utah legislators voted to recognize Juneteenth as a statewide holiday, which is coming up on Monday. We call Robert Burch, Executive Director of the Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation, to discuss the meaning of Juneteenth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts: Leah Murray and Greg Skordas Special Election Important Dates The special session is now over, and the dates have been set for the municipal and special elections. We speak with Utah Republican Party Chair Robert Axson and Utah Democratic Party Communications Director Ben Anderson to discuss the details of their parties' convention. We also call Niki Venugopal, Chief Deputy for the Salt Lake County Clerk, to discuss how they plan to handle their short staffing issues. Congressional Race: Kathleen Riebe There are three democrats who have filed to run for Utah's second congressional district. We speak to Kathleen Riebe, Utah State Senator, and Democratic candidate on her platform and why she is running. SCOTUS  Preserves Law To Keep Native American Children With Tribal Families The Supreme Court of the United States handed down a sentence today to preserve the system that gives Native American families preference in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children. Inflation Finally Falling There is finally some good news when it comes to inflation, the Labor Department reported the consumer price index rose 4% year-over-year in May. Phil Dean, Chief Economist & Public Finance Senior Research Fellow at Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, joins the show to discuss why that is good news. President Biden Push To Do Away With Junk Fees At this year's State of the Union, President Biden made a promise to get rid of what he calls “junk fees.” ABC News Correspondent Andy Field joins the program to discuss Biden's latest meeting with company executives. Celebrating Juneteenth Last year Utah legislators voted to recognize Juneteenth as a statewide holiday, which is coming up on Monday. We call Robert Burch, Executive Director of the Sema Hadithi African American Heritage and Culture Foundation, to discuss the meaning of Juneteenth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This guest impressed us so much that we gave her a job! French-Tunisian revolutionary, politician and social entrepreneur Omezzine Khelifa was part of the 2011 revolution, ran for office and then served as an advisor to two ministers in her country's early post-revolution governments.She started working for us as Executive Director of our flagship Apolitical Academy Global program in January. In this episode recorded long before her employment with us, Omezzine gets candid about what her and her colleagues could have done better during Tunisia's transition to democracy. She says many post-revolution leaders lacked humility and employed a top-down approach, despite their protestor roots. After growing frustrated with how new leaders were treating young people, Omezzine set up social impact organization Mobdiun to bring innovation to public policy with a mission to inspire youth-led change in Tunisia.  This episode was produced at the 2022 Athens Democracy Forum in partnership with the Democracy and Culture Foundation.Omezzine's book recommendation: In Tempo di Guerra, Conchita De GregorioReach us on Twitter (@apoliticalfound), LinkedIn (Apolitical Foundation), Instagram (@apoliticalfoundation) and Facebook (@apoliticalfoundation) or email via info@apolitical.foundation. Sign up to our weekly briefing for inspiration to help you build better politics: bit.ly/3NlIWSt

Date: July 7, 2022 (Season 4, Episode 15: 63 min. & 52 sec. long). For the entire show notes and additional resources for this episode, click here. Are you interested in other episodes of Speak Your Piece? Click Here. This episode was co-produced by Cassandra Clark, Brad Westwood and Chelsey Zamir. Post-production editing was completed by Cassandra Clark and Kennedy Oringdulph.This SYP episode is part of an ongoing series about women's history in Utah. It involves a discussion with SYP host Brad Westwood, Dr. Cassandra Clark (at the time of this recording, Utah Division of State History's first named women's historian), Alice Faulkner Burch (director of special events for Sema Hadithi Foundation), and Tiffany Greene (education director for Better Days and team leader of the research group for the Black Women Working Group at Sema Hadithi Foundation) about the mural unveiled in Richmond Park (444 East 600 South, Salt Lake City) in summer 2022 as part of Utah's Juneteenth celebrations. This episode will better acquaint listeners to the historical significance, the personal stories, and the broader context surrounding the lives of these four remarkable Black women featured on this mural: Jane Elizabeth Manning James (1821-1908), Elizabeth “Lizzie” Taylor (1873-1932), Elnora Dudley (1883-1956) , and Mignon Barker Richmond (1897-1984). The partnering organizations for this mural were the Sema Hadithi Foundation, African American Heritage and Culture Foundation, and Better Days 2020 (rebranded to Better Days). Wasatch Community Gardens, the Utah Division of State History, and the Utah Division of Arts and Museums were also part of this important effort.Greene, Burch, and Clark conclude this conversation by summarizing the influence these women have made. Greene notes that these four women bring to the forefront of what it really means to establish Utah history – they each played an important role being here in the state. Burch hopes that this mural means something to Black American women in Utah, that they can look at this mural and see that Black women have been in this state since the 1800s and have had such an immense impact and can say “I, too, belong here.”This mural is open to the public in the community garden at Richmond Park. The women's names and date ranges of their lives are on the mural. We encourage listeners, after finishing this episode, to please visit the mural and enjoy it with some context. For all of the speakers' bios, please click here for the full show notes. Do you have a question? Write askahistorian@utah.gov.

Turkish journalist and author Ece Temelkuran has seen the worst of people. That hasn't stopped her from believing in humanity. In this episode of A Political Hope, Ece talks about a language of progress, why she avoids the concept of political hope and how politicians can use radical love in their work. She also discusses why she chooses to have faith in humanity, no matter how many times people let her down. This episode was produced at the 2022 Athens Democracy Forum in Partnership with the Democracy and Culture Foundation. We mention two of Ece's books in this episode: Together, and How to Lose a Country. Ece's book recommendation: The Years, by Annie ErnauxReach us on Twitter (@apoliticalfound), LinkedIn (Apolitical Foundation), Instagram (@apoliticalfoundation) and Facebook (@apoliticalfoundation) or email via info@apolitical.foundation. Sign up to our weekly briefing for inspiration to help you build better politics: bit.ly/3NlIWSt

How do we get more passionate activists into political power? In this episode, we talk to movement builders Colombe Cahen-Salvador and Andrea Venzon about barriers to political office, what they look for in a future politician and what will happen if activists on the street continue to feel unrepresented in the halls of power. Colombe and Andrea are co-founders of pan-European political party Volt Europa and, more recently, global movement and party in the making Atlas. This episode was produced at the 2022 Athens Democracy Forum in partnership with the Democracy and Culture Foundation. Andrea's book recommendation: Atomic Habits, by James ClearColombe's book recommendation: Invisible Women, by Caroline Criado PerezReach us on Twitter (@apoliticalfound), LinkedIn (Apolitical Foundation), Instagram (@apoliticalfoundation) and Facebook (@apoliticalfoundation) or email via info@apolitical.foundation. Sign up to our weekly briefing for inspiration to help you build better politics: bit.ly/3NlIWSt

There is no shortage of podcasts. These days anyone can buy a microphone off the internet and start talking into it. The trick is finding an audience willing to listen. Passion is a great place to start. And there are few things people are more passionate about than music and food. So why not connect them? That's been the recipe for success for Greg Bresnitz. It all started with a TV show — Dinner With The Band — but took off with his long running podcast Snacky Tunes, which he began taping with his co-host and twin brother Darrin in 2009. Since then, the pair have recorded over 500 episodes interviewing chefs about the music that inspires their food. It's a format that lends itself to endless hours of conversation and makes for a pretty compelling live event, too.  In 2022, Greg debuted Crescendo! — a new show guiding listeners through a seven-course menu with a chef, pairing each dish with a song.  Greg grew up in Philadelphia, built his career in New York but relocated to Lafayette in 2020. He says it's a fitting landing spot for what he does. Few places combine food and music quite like Acadiana.  Knowing your audience is the first rule of media. And it's also the best way to make your case in advocacy. Especially when you're talking to the world.   Warren Perrin is an attorney by trade, but he's best known internationally as an advocate for Acadian culture and a preservationist of Cajun history. He's an author of books on Cajun History, including a biography of Beausoleil Broussard and he founded the Acadian Heritage and Culture Foundation, which operates the Acadian Museum of Louisiana in Erath, his hometown.  Warren made international headlines as the man who won an apology from the Queen of England. He spent a decade petitioning the British Crown to formally end the exile of the Acadian people. In 2003, the Crown issued a Royal Proclamation apologizing for the expulsion and setting July 28 as the official date commemorating the Acadian deportation. If that weren't enough, Warren was inducted into the UL Sports Hall of Fame for his achievements on UL's legendary weightlifting team.  Out to Lunch Acadiana is recorded live over lunch at Tula Tacos and Amigos in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show at itsacadiana.com, and on Instagram and Facebook. And check out more lunchtime conversation about uniquely Acadian entertainment that's as unique as it is Acadian. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a highlight reel episode all about laying a culture foundation. These highlight clips are taken from different Winning Through Culture episodes in the first half of 2022. We believe this format will provide a meaningful foundation you can use in your own business. And when grouping these highlights together, we think you will… The post Laying a Culture Foundation | First Half 2022 Highlight Reel! appeared first on Winning Through Culture.

On this episode of Reaganism, Dr. Janet Tran, Director of the Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity at the Reagan Institute, sits down with Gerard Robinson, Vice President for Education at the Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Gerard Robinson, former Commissioner of Education for the State of Florida, and Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia, discusses his leadership journey, pluralistic options in our education system, and the transformative power of education. Finally, Janet and Gerard discuss civics, particularly building character and bridging our racial and political divides.

On this episode of Reaganism, Dr. Janet Tran, Director of the Center for Civics, Education, and Opportunity at the Reagan Institute, sits down with Gerard Robinson, Vice President for Education at the Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Gerard Robinson, former Commissioner of Education for the State of Florida, and Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of […]

In this episode, taped live at the end of the United Nation's General Assembly meeting, three experts face the challenge of making up ground lost to the pandemic. Measures of wealth, health, education and equity have all been set back. “The world has a lot of work to do,” said co-host Edie Lush. “The pandemic has really set back the cause of human progress in terms of all the metrics around health, and inclusion and gender violence etc. etc. around the world,” reports Gillian Tett, co-founder of Moral Money at the Financial Times. “The reality is that grappling with these challenges and trying to uphold the SDGs now is harder than it was say two years ago in terms of where we are starting.” Co-host Claudia Romo Edelman shares data from the Gates Foundation Goal Keepers report that shows the start of recovery on everything from vaccination rates to total numbers of people caught in extreme poverty. Ivan Weissman, journalist and entrepreneur in South America, said that the pandemic crisis was accelerating the empowerment of women and thus economic recovery from the downturn. He cited, for example, the decision by Argentina to credit the domestic work women do at home when setting their pensions. Anthony Kefalas, Vice chair of the Democracy and Culture Foundation, offered a simple summary of the current challenge: “At the bottom of everything it is the question of inequality.” Rising inequality, compounded by the pandemic, is undermining support for democratic government. “The main problem is to reduce inequality. The corollary to this is that if you don't reduce inequality then you will not be able to operate in a system that you could call liberal capitalism. You can easily go into a system you where you have authoritarian capitalism.” Kefalas, author of the new Athens Charter for Business, said that the end goal of all corporate responsibility efforts must be to reduce inequality.

Gerard Robinson is a Fellow of Practice and Vice President for Education, Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Gerard served as Commissioner of Education for the State of Florida and Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia. His other leadership roles have included Executive Director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity and Director and President of the Black Alliance for Educational Options. Robinson also was a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He is coeditor of Education for Liberation: The Politics of Promise and Reform Inside and Beyond America's Prisons(2019) and Education Savings Accounts: The New Frontier in School Choice (2017). In addition, he cohosts The Learning Curve: National Education Podcast. Robinson has been published or quoted in AEI Ideas, Gallup News, Newsweek, The Hedgehog Review, the Hill, the New York Times, the Washington Examiner, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and US News & World Report. He earned a BA from Howard University and an EdM from Harvard University, as well as an AA from El Camino Community College. Produced by Show-Me Opportunity

This episode we are in conversation with artist Marie Watt. Marie is a member of the Seneca Nation and also has German-Scot ancestry. Her interdisciplinary work draws from history, biography, Iroquois protofeminism, and Indigenous teachings; in it, she explores the intersection of history, community, and storytelling. Through collaborative actions, she instigates multigenerational and cross-disciplinary conversations that might create a lens and conversation for understanding connectedness to place, one another, and the universe.This conversation took place in February of 2021 at Camp Colton during a residency Marie Watt and collaborator Cannupa Hanska Luger were in, hosted through the Portland based organization, Stelo Arts and Culture Foundation. Tucked into a cedar forest in the Pacific Northwest for two weeks, the artists and their families hung out in a pod as the artists worked to create together a new monumental work for their two person exhibition Each/Other: Marie Watt & Cannupa Hanska Luger. The piece is a canine form, created out of bandanas stitched with messages sent to the artists from around the world. http://mariewattstudio.comhttps://www.denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/each-otherMusic: A Fly In The Hand by Alice Russell

This episode we are in conversation with artist Marie Watt. Marie is a member of the Seneca Nation and also has German-Scot ancestry. Her interdisciplinary work draws from history, biography, Iroquois protofeminism, and Indigenous teachings; in it, she explores the intersection of history, community, and storytelling. Through collaborative actions, she instigates multigenerational and cross-disciplinary conversations that might create a lens and conversation for understanding connectedness to place, one another, and the universe.This conversation took place in February of 2021 at Camp Colton during a residency Marie Watt and collaborator Cannupa Hanska Luger were in, hosted through the Portland based organization, Stelo Arts and Culture Foundation. Tucked into a cedar forest in the Pacific Northwest for two weeks, the artists and their families hung out in a pod as the artists worked to create together a new monumental work for their two person exhibition Each/Other: Marie Watt & Cannupa Hanska Luger. The piece is a canine form, created out of bandanas stitched with messages sent to the artists from around the world. http://mariewattstudio.comhttps://www.denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/each-otherMusic: A Fly In The Hand by Alice Russell

These clips originally aired on the July 22, 2021, edition of RadioACTive Summer Break on KRCL 90.9fm in SLC, UT. To read the show notes, visit https://krcl.org/blog/radioactive-summer-break-july-22-2021/

In this episode, guest Stephen Qacung Blanchett will talk about how he started his journey in music and what it is like to work in music. Stephen is a member of the music group Pamyua. He is a graduate of the University of Alaska Anchorage with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Alaska Native Studies. He is a 2019 Dance/USA Fellowship recipient, a 2019 & 2016 recipient of the Rasmuson Foundation's Artist Fellowship, and a 2015 National Artist Fellowship recipient through the Native Arts and Culture Foundation.

In this episode we talk to Cindy Foley aka B-Girl Singery. She is the President, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Child of this Culture Foundation. In addition, Cindy is a USAF Veteran, mother of 3 children and has a Hip Hop cultural background in community-arts engagement with an emphasis on pedagogy development. She holds a Masters in Human Relations and certificates in Social Justice and Diversity. Also Cindy is the identical twin of Candy.In part 2, we talk about founding the non-profit foundation "Child of This Culture", building a team, working together as twins, applying to the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee, maintaining patience and self-disciplin, and much more.You can find her here:www.childofthisculture.com/www.facebook.com/ChildOfThisCultureFoundation/www.instagram.com/childofthisculture/Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soulsofhiphop)

In this episode we talk to Cindy Foley aka B-Girl Singery. She is the President, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Child of this Culture Foundation. In addition, Cindy is a USAF Veteran, mother of 3 children and has a Hip Hop cultural background in community-arts engagement with an emphasis on pedagogy development. She holds a Masters in Human Relations and certificates in Social Justice and Diversity. Also Cindy is the identical twin of Candy.We chat with Cindy about building a community, developing leadership qualities, growing up as identical twins in a military connected family, serving in the Air Force, fostering relationships and much more. Going with the twin vibes, we have chosen to make this a two-part interview. In our next episode, we dive deeper into the non-profit foundation "Child of this Culture".You can find her here:www.childofthisculture.com/www.facebook.com/ChildOfThisCultureFoundation/www.instagram.com/childofthisculture/Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/soulsofhiphop)

In this episode we sit down with Tish Harrison Warren, a priest within the Anglican Church and a member of the Clergy Group of VCG. She discusses her writing's relation to her pastoral vocation. In particular, she pushes on the need for metaphor to sustain faith in everyday life, marked as it is by both grief and triumph. Show Credits: Produced by Mike Cosper and the Narrativo Group for New City Commons and Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Recorded and Edited by TJ Hester Mixed by Mark Owens Music from the Porter's Gate Worship Project - https://www.portersgateworship.com/

In this episode, Dr. Maurice Wallace, Associate Professor of English at the University of Virginia and Associate Director of the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies, describes what it's like for him to have had "one vocation and two jobs." Until recently, he was both university professor and pastor of a local congregation outside of Durham, NC. In Maurice's view, the demands placed upon pastors by most congregations make the possibilities of true bi-vocational ministry increasingly rare. And yet, this interview with Maurice shows how a life lived between "church" and "academy" can be a faithful response to the call of God. Show Credits: Produced by Mike Cosper and the Narrativo Group for Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Recorded, Edited and Mixed by TJ Hester Music from the Porter's Gate Worship Project - https://www.portersgateworship.com/

Today's guest is with Max Anderson, co-founder of Saturn Five, a start-up studio based in Denver and Austin, founder of the Weekend Reader, a weekly newsletter covering a wide variety of topics, and a Venture Partner at Praxis Labs. Our conversation centers around the idea of technology and lack of critical thinking we, as a culture, apply to the implications of the ways digital technology increasingly shapes our lives. Show Credits: Produced by Mike Cosper and the Narrativo Group for Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Recorded, Edited and Mixed by TJ Hester Music from the Porter's Gate Worship Project - https://www.portersgateworship.com/

Victor Boutros is a member of the law group within VCG. As a founding director of the Human Trafficking Institute, Victor's work displays the value of developing expertise, pursuing genuine creativity in the face of wicked problems, and, perhaps most importantly, persevering against powerful systems of injustice. Show Credits: Produced by Mike Cosper and the Narrativo Group for Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Recorded and Edited by TJ Hester Mixed by Mark Owens Music from the Porter's Gate Worship Project - https://www.portersgateworship.com/

In this episode, Nicole Baker Fulgham discusses her efforts to remove the education achievement gap in America and the role the church can play in this vital effort. Nicole is founder and CEO of The Expectations Project, an advocacy organization addressing education inequality by resourcing churches and faith communities as they support their local public schools. Recently, Nicole was named one of the top 50 women leaders influencing American culture by Christianity Today. Show Credits: Produced by Mike Cosper and the Narrativo Group for Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Recorded and Edited by TJ Hester Mixed by Mark Owens Music from the Porter's Gate Worship Project - https://www.portersgateworship.com/

In this episode, Isaac Wardell talks with Philip Lorish about his vocation as a church musician, his work with Porter's Gate music, and the role the church has to play in vocational formation. Show Credits: Produced by Mike Cosper and the Narrativo Group for Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Recorded and Edited by TJ Hester Mixed by Mark Owens Music from the Porter's Gate Worship Project - https://www.portersgateworship.com/

Philip Lorish interviews James Davison Hunter about themes from his 2007 book, To Change the World, and implications for those themes in today's world. Show Credits: Produced by Mike Cosper and the Narrativo Group for Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Recorded and Edited by TJ Hester Mixed by Mark Owens Music from the Porter's Gate Worship Project - https://www.portersgateworship.com/

In this episode, we sit down with Grace Nicolette, Vice President for Programming and External Relations at the Center for Effective Philanthropy, and discuss God's calling on her work in helping philanthropists be more effective in their giving — as well as her view of faithfulness in the effective stewarding of what God gives. Show Credits: Produced by Mike Cosper and the Narrativo Group for New City Commons and Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation. Recorded and Edited by TJ Hester Mixed by Mark Owens Music from the Porter's Gate Worship Project - https://www.portersgateworship.com/

Let's cut to it: American schools were not designed for African Americans and still fail millions of black children today. It's no surprise schools have seen little to no innovation since the industrial period. That's a double whammy. Where was the first white school and black school located? How did school founders envision the future of schools? In this episode we focus on the history of schooling with the context of racial inequality in America. Featuring Gerard Robinson, Vice President of Education at the Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation in Charlottesville, Va; and, Paul Dauphin, Louisiana Deputy State Director at the American Federation for Children.

This is a podcast exploring the root causes of educational inequality and the hope we have for a better path forward. The world is in the midst of a civil uprising as more bear witness to the racial and social injustices that take place daily in America, sparked by the abhorrent murders of black men and women. We must commit to overhauling systems, and that includes acknowledging that our early justice system which hunted people of color as slave patrols. The education system, once a primary mechanism for segregation, is propped up and prowls for black minds just the same. Those committed to protecting black lives cannot simultaneously refuse to nurture black minds. Our essence and our being deserve life. Our black minds matter. This episode features Dr. Steve Perry, one of the most sought-after Nationwide Motivational Speaker in America; Ann Duplessis, executive VP of the Retail Banking, Marketing & Sales, and Strategic Planning Division for the Liberty Bank and Trust Company; Gerard Robinson, Vice President of Education at the Advanced Studies in Culture Foundation in Charlottesville, Va; and Hera Varmah, 2020 Future Leaders Fellow with the American Federation for Children. Moderated by Denisha Merriweather, author of 'Black Minds Matter'.

A winning company culture is more than free snacks and happy hour. It's about embedding your core values into everything that you do in your business including hiring the right staff. This week, we speak to two leaders, Sara Hodson, Founder of LIVE WELL Exercise Clinic and Mandy Rennehan, Founder & Blue Collar CEO of Freschco.ca who have prioritized their company culture. They each give us a glimpse of how they uncovered their core values and how they spread it company-wide.