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How do we rebuild trust in our institutions and leaders? Executive Vice President, Communications and External Relations at Brandeis University Ira Jackson and Boston chef and restaurateur Chris Coombs (dbar, Boston Chops and Deuxave) weave a powerful narrative about social responsibility, entrepreneurship and urban renewal with host Billy Shore. Jackson, who was Chief of Staff to Mayor Kevin White in 1970’s Boston, vividly describes the urban decay that defined the city at the time and the racism and violence that erupted over the school bussing program. “A whole generation of students was lost. The notion that 44 years later, today Boston would be the kind of tolerant, inclusive, hip, young city that it is, is a story of redemption,” he says. Coombs relates his own experience of becoming chef and partner of dbar, a restaurant that was built on a commitment to diversity and inclusion. “When you talk about stories in the mid 70’s, the amount of progress we’ve been able to make as a city and a country in very short amount of time is incredible. But progress only happens if you’re committed to making it. Coombs, who owns four restaurants and employs hundreds, has intentionally built social responsibility into his organization, focusing on family homelessness and hunger. “As we grow, it makes me realize how much it’s about imparting culture and vision and letting your team share that with others,” he says. Billy Shore asks Jackson what he has learned from a career that has spanned the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors. “Part of the moral of the story is we can’t do this on our own and government shouldn’t do it for us, so we need public/private partnerships and collaboration,” he believes. However, he is concerned that trust in our leaders and institutions has almost completely eroded. “I think you have to rebuild it locally - people have to see and touch and feel the impact they’re having because they don’t trust somebody far away,” concludes Shore. Listen to this conversation between two dynamic storytellers as they discuss urban renewal and revitalization through the lens of their personal experiences in the city of Boston. Resources and Mentions:· No Kid Hungry (nokidhungry.org): Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign is ending child hunger in America by ensuring all children get the healthy food they need, every day.· Ira Jackson is executive vice president, communications and external relations at Brandeis University. He provides leadership for Brandeis' relations with the community, government, businesses and other institutions locally, nationally and globally and assists the president and others in advancing and communicating Brandeis' intellectual and institutional contributions. Jackson has held senior positions in government, business and academia. In government, he served as chief of staff to former Boston Mayor Kevin White and later as Massachusetts Commissioner of Revenue under Gov. Michael Dukakis. In academia, he served as senior associate dean of Harvard's Kennedy School and director of its Center for Business and Government. He also served as president of the Arizona State University Foundation, dean of the Peter Drucker School of Management at the Claremont Colleges, and dean of the John W. McCormack School of Policy and Global Studies and vice provost of the University of Massachusetts Boston. In business, for a dozen years Jackson was executive vice president of BankBoston. He has also played leadership roles in a number of civic initiatives, including CityYear, the Boston Foundation, the New England Holocaust Memorial and Facing History and Ourselves. A graduate of Harvard College, he received his MPA from Harvard's Kennedy School and graduated from the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.· Brandeis University is a medium-sized private research university with global reach dedicated to first-rate undergraduate education while making groundbreaking discoveries. Its 235-acre campus is located in the suburbs of Boston, a global hub for higher education and innovation. Its faculty are leaders in their fields, as passionate about teaching and mentorship as they are about pushing the boundaries of knowledge. Brandeis students are motivated, compassionate, curious and open to exploring new and challenging experiences. It is a community rooted in purpose, guided by its founding values, poised to lead in education and research in the 21st century.· Chris Coombs is chef and co-owner of Boston Urban Hospitality which owns dbar, Deuxave, and Boston Chops. Coombs graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York and worked under award-winning chefs in Massachusetts and then Virginia. He returned to Boston and in 2006 and created Boston Urban Hospitality with business partner Brian Piccini. In 2010, Coombs opened his first restaurant, Deuxave, in Boston. Coombs’ cuisine at Deuxave is strongly rooted in the nouvelle techniques of contemporary French cuisine, married with the splendor of American ingredients in a refined setting. Since then, Coombs’ success has grabbed the attention of both local and national media, including an appearance on Food Network’s “Chopped” and recognition by Food & Wine magazine as a candidate for “The People’s Best New Chef in New England.” In early 2013, Coombs and Piccini debuted his third concept, Boston Chops. The urban steak bistro has been named one of Food & Wine magazine’s “Best New Steakhouses” and won Best Steakhouse 2015 from Boston magazine’s coveted Best of Boston awards. In 2013, Coombs was named “30 Under 30” for chefs by Forbes Magazine’s and Zagat. He was also named the Massachusetts Restaurant Association’s “Restaurateur of the Year” for 2015. · Boston Urban Hospitality currently owns and operates four restaurants in Boston--Deuxave, Boston Chops (South End and Downtown) and dbar. It is made up of a team of passionate hospitality professionals who believe in seasonal, sustainable, and local food and value a work environment where passion produces excellence. From focusing on exceptional service to cooking heartfelt and exciting meals to remember, Boston Urban Hospitality scrutinizes every detail that goes into orchestrating unforgettable culinary experiences.
This special episode is part of MIT's Together in Climate Action Summit, which is focused on sharing climate leadership strategies and exploring pathways forward in Northeastern North America. We interview Dr. David Cash, former commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Public Utilities, and dean of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. David explains the roles that governments can play in providing the right regulations and opportunities for sustainability to grow and thrive at the state and regional levels. David illustrates these roles with specific cases from his experience creating multi-state collaboration (e.g., Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) and state-level legislation (e.g., Green Communities Act and the Global Warming Solutions Act). We also discuss the importance of equity and justice in creating good policy. If you'd like to learn more about the Together in Climate Action Summit, which runs December 7th & 8th 2017, visit climatesummit.mit.edu
With Houston still reeling from Hurricane Harvey, Irma causing massive havoc in the Caribbean, and more storms on the way, I thought it would be timely and interesting to speak with my guest today, Maria Ivanova Maria Ivanova is an academic who straddles the university and policy worlds to help think through the connections between human security, environmental stresses and global governance--that is, the mechanisms that the international community and beyond have designed to deal with environmental challenges. In this conversation she helps put the onslaught of these hurricanes into a kind of broader global context that addresses how the international community might more productively organize itself to confront the realities of climate change. Maria is a Professor of Global Governance and Director of the Center for Governance and Sustainability at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at UMass Boston and a Visiting Scholar at the Climate CoLab at MIT. She is also Ambassador for the New Shape Prize of the Global Challenges Foundation. This is a $5 million prize that will be awarded next year to "the best ideas that re-envision global governance for the 21st century." Toward the end of this conversation we discuss what exactly that means. Become a premium subscriber to unlock bonus episodes, earn other rewards, and support the show!
This week on the podcast, I speak with Carol Hardy-Fanta and Dianne Pinderhughes, the co-authors (along with Pei-te Lien and Christine Marie Sierra) of Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Hardy-Fanta is Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; Pinderhughes is University of Notre Dame Presidential Faculty Fellow as well as Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Africana Studies, and chair of the department of Africana Studies. Based on comprehensive data from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership (GMCL) National Database and Survey, Contested Transformations provides a baseline portrait of Black, Latino, Asian American, and American Indian elected officials at national, state, and local levels of government. The book presents a complex picture of office holders across race and gender groups and the various backgrounds, paths to public office, leadership roles, and policy positions. The authors argue that the advances in political leadership by people of color are transforming American politics, but these gains have been hard fought and struggles for equality continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on the podcast, I speak with Carol Hardy-Fanta and Dianne Pinderhughes, the co-authors (along with Pei-te Lien and Christine Marie Sierra) of Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Hardy-Fanta is Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; Pinderhughes is University of Notre Dame Presidential Faculty Fellow as well as Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Africana Studies, and chair of the department of Africana Studies. Based on comprehensive data from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership (GMCL) National Database and Survey, Contested Transformations provides a baseline portrait of Black, Latino, Asian American, and American Indian elected officials at national, state, and local levels of government. The book presents a complex picture of office holders across race and gender groups and the various backgrounds, paths to public office, leadership roles, and policy positions. The authors argue that the advances in political leadership by people of color are transforming American politics, but these gains have been hard fought and struggles for equality continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on the podcast, I speak with Carol Hardy-Fanta and Dianne Pinderhughes, the co-authors (along with Pei-te Lien and Christine Marie Sierra) of Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Hardy-Fanta is Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; Pinderhughes is University of Notre Dame Presidential Faculty Fellow as well as Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Africana Studies, and chair of the department of Africana Studies. Based on comprehensive data from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership (GMCL) National Database and Survey, Contested Transformations provides a baseline portrait of Black, Latino, Asian American, and American Indian elected officials at national, state, and local levels of government. The book presents a complex picture of office holders across race and gender groups and the various backgrounds, paths to public office, leadership roles, and policy positions. The authors argue that the advances in political leadership by people of color are transforming American politics, but these gains have been hard fought and struggles for equality continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on the podcast, I speak with Carol Hardy-Fanta and Dianne Pinderhughes, the co-authors (along with Pei-te Lien and Christine Marie Sierra) of Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Hardy-Fanta is Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on the podcast, I speak with Carol Hardy-Fanta and Dianne Pinderhughes, the co-authors (along with Pei-te Lien and Christine Marie Sierra) of Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Hardy-Fanta is Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; Pinderhughes is University of Notre Dame Presidential Faculty Fellow as well as Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Africana Studies, and chair of the department of Africana Studies. Based on comprehensive data from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership (GMCL) National Database and Survey, Contested Transformations provides a baseline portrait of Black, Latino, Asian American, and American Indian elected officials at national, state, and local levels of government. The book presents a complex picture of office holders across race and gender groups and the various backgrounds, paths to public office, leadership roles, and policy positions. The authors argue that the advances in political leadership by people of color are transforming American politics, but these gains have been hard fought and struggles for equality continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week on the podcast, I speak with Carol Hardy-Fanta and Dianne Pinderhughes, the co-authors (along with Pei-te Lien and Christine Marie Sierra) of Contested Transformation: Race, Gender, and Political Leadership in 21st Century America (Cambridge University Press, 2017). Hardy-Fanta is Senior Fellow at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Boston; Pinderhughes is University of Notre Dame Presidential Faculty Fellow as well as Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Africana Studies, and chair of the department of Africana Studies. Based on comprehensive data from the Gender and Multicultural Leadership (GMCL) National Database and Survey, Contested Transformations provides a baseline portrait of Black, Latino, Asian American, and American Indian elected officials at national, state, and local levels of government. The book presents a complex picture of office holders across race and gender groups and the various backgrounds, paths to public office, leadership roles, and policy positions. The authors argue that the advances in political leadership by people of color are transforming American politics, but these gains have been hard fought and struggles for equality continue. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
Dr. Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, Visiting Scholar at the Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, UMass Boston
Dr. Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, Visiting Scholar at the Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, UMass Boston
Dr. Charleen Brantley, Research Fellow, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, UMass Boston
Bob Turner, Boston Globe Senior Research Fellow, John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, UMass Boston