Podcasts about social venture partners

Thanks to Social Venture Partners of Minnesota.

Thanks to Social Venture Partners of Minnesota.

Brill Family Foundation: https://peterbrill.net/ Beautiful Journey VR Project: https://beautifuljourneyvr.com/ Press Kit: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jbk8ah5pymfky70l38ocw/BeautifulJourneyVR_PressKit.pdf?rlkey=yzcmzgsi3pruupxop9mc9bg1u&dl=0 Stills from the experience (folder): https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/s2jq713q82n0gwhcmk0e0/AGeF9yCfX083yfNWmEk_B9w?rlkey=fejmwb7o8vvoeobco7ihvqxgq&dl=0 Bio photos of the team: Peter Brill received his M.D. from U.C.L.A. and became a board-certified psychiatrist after his residency at the University of Pennsylvania. He also attended the Wharton School of Business where he became a Senior Fellow. He founded and directed the Center for the Study of Adult Development affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He consulted to over 150 organizations, founded and ran two national companies, while carrying out a private practice. He is a best-selling author who has appeared numerous times on radio and television, and has also lectured internationally. Since moving to Santa Barbara he became the Director of the Third Age Foundation where he lectured and led groups and workshops. His latest publication is Finding Your J Spot, Joy in Midlife and Beyond. He also hosted a radio show titled The Third Age. Additionally, he has served on several boards in Santa Barbara and is currently a member of Social Venture Partners where he served on the executive committee for 3 years. He then founded the Sustainable Change Alliance, an impact investing membership organization.

Building Resilience and Disrupting HR with Chrissy Myers | The Beacon Way PodcastIn this episode of The Beacon Way Podcast, host Adrian welcomes Chrissy Myers, CEO of AUI and Clarity HR, and author of 'Reluctantly Resilient'. Chrissy shares her journey of taking over and scaling her family business, starting a new venture, and leading through personal and professional challenges. They discuss the importance of resilience, authenticity in leadership, and navigating the evolving HR landscape. Tune in to hear Chrissy's insights on managing generational businesses, the impact of the pandemic on work environments, and the critical role of peer groups for business leaders.About Chrissy Myers: Chrissy is the author of Reluctantly Resilient and the CEO of AUI and Clarity HR which serve small and medium sized businesses in both for profit and non-profit sectors in the areas of Human Resources and Employee Benefits.  Chrissy describes herself as the chief cheerleader setting direction, steering marketing content, and finding creative ways to disrupt two established business sectors.  Chrissy is also the author of AUI Gives Back & Clarity Cares two community impact programs where employees serve in the community, track their impact and share what they are doing on behalf of their customers.  Around Akron Chrissy works to leave her community a better place.  She is a graduate of Leadership Ohio, Torchbearers, Leadership Akron, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses, Sclaerator NEO and Community Leadership Institute.  She has received the 30 for the Future Award from the Greater Akron Chamber and an Achievement on Excellence Award from National Sales and Marketing Executives.  As an advocate for families struggling with addiction and mental health issues, Chrissy currently serves as Chair for the County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Greater Akron Chamber and Goodwill Industries of Northeast Ohio.  Previously Chrissy has served on the Board or Committees for Jobs for Ohio Graduates, Red Oak Behavioral Health, Community Partnership of Summit County, and Social Venture Partners. Chrissy received her bachelor's in business administration from John Carroll University and her MBA from the University of Akron.  When she is not plotting world domination of the insurance industry or volunteering in the community Chrissy can be found at home with Team Awesome Sauce including Steve, her husband, two kiddos - Maddy & Caleb.  Purchase Chrissy's Book Here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4RHL17L?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_4FJ68Q15WSE8XVMMHHCQ&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_4FJ68Q15WSE8XVMMHHCQ&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_4FJ68Q15WSE8XVMMHHCQ&bestFormat=true00:00 Introduction to the Beacon Way Podcast00:46 Chrissy Myers' Background and Journey01:57 Generational Business and AUI's History04:11 Launching Clarity HR07:07 Navigating HR Challenges During COVID-1914:54 Resilience and Leadership as a CEO18:16 Navigating Entrepreneurial Challenges18:40 The Myth of Perfection in Business19:25 Authenticity in Leadership20:08 Balancing Transparency and Leadership20:56 Building Resilient Teams23:05 The Reality of Startup Life24:53 Managing Growth and Transitions26:41 The Entrepreneurial Mindset34:32 The Importance of Peer Groups

Check our Best Books for Retirement ________________________ Have you considered phased retirement? Most working people dream about that day when they'll ride off into the sunset and into retirement. But a full stop retirement isn't for everyone. It can make the transition to retirement quite challenging. Many people are choosing insread to glide into retirement. Phased retirement is trending as a way to gradually retire, on your own terms. It's essential a flexible work arrangement. Our guest today is Jennifer Barnes, a CEO, who shares her experiences with phased retirement in her company. Jennifer Barnes joins us from San Diego. ________________________ Bio Jennifer Barnes, CEO of Optima Office, graduated with a Finance and Marketing degree from the University of Arizona, earned an MBA from San Diego State University, and completed the Becker CPA coursework. She spent 15 years as a Controller for numerous companies and non-profits throughout San Diego before starting her first company in 2012, which was the 5th fastest-growing company in San Diego in 2016 and made the Inc 5000 in 2017 and 2018. Jennifer has won numerous awards as the CEO of the two companies she founded. Her favorite is the best place to work because having high retention and happy staff is what drives her. Both of her companies have made it into the Inc 5000 and SDBJ's fastest-growing companies list. Between 2021-2023, Jennifer was named Woman of the Year by SDBJ, received the top corporate citizen award, made it in SD's top 500 most influential leaders, and the top 50 Women of Influence in Accounting and Finance for two years in a row. She was also recognized as a finalist for the Entrepreneur of The Year 2024 Pacific Southwest program. Jennifer has sat on many boards in her career and currently sits on the board of The Better Business Bureau, NuFund Venture Group (formerly Tech Coast Angels), Junior Achievement, and a publicly traded company, Presidio Property Trust (SQFT). She volunteers her time at SDSU and the REC at Miramar College by participating in mentor programs and as a judge in various student competitions. She is currently a member of Rotary 33, Vistage International, Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), Young Executives Council, and Social Venture Partners. ______________________ For More on Jennifer Barnes Company Website Fortune Article: I'm a CEO and 12 of my employees are in ‘flextirement.' With boomers opting not to retire, the arrangement will become more common _______________________ Podcast Episodes You May Like  Is Your Company Ready for the Aging Workforce? – Paul Rupert Unretired – Mark S. Walton _______________________ Mentioned in This Episode Poem - The Summer Day by Mary Oliver _______________________ Wise Quotes  On Why Phased Retirement Works  "What's interesting, Joe, is that at Optima, we've always had a flexible work environment and we didn't really think about it as flex retirement because we've always allowed employees to work whatever hours made sense for them. But as we looked at our workforce, we realized that many of our employees are over 50, some over 60 and some are even 70 and over. And what we find with these employees is they have a wealth of knowledge. They are so experienced, they've worked in so many different industries, and they can really add a ton of value to our clients. And so if we can capture these people's attention and get them to work with us on hours that make sense for them, whether it's 16 hours a week or 30 hours a week or somewhere in between, it is incredibly efficient. It is such a huge value add to our clients. The employees themselves really get a chance to work for different companies and not fully retire but still be engaged and many of them say, keeps them young." On Leading a Team with Flexible Retirement "When we're on, we're on. And so when you're billing clients and you're working on an hourly basis to help peop...

In today's episode, we talk with Rose Greensides, the Executive Director at Social Venture Partners (SVP). SVP is a unique partnership that brings together the time, talent, and funding from the community to support the nonprofit sector. Rose shares some inspiring stories about how SVP has helped several local organizations in the Waterloo Region. You'll be amazed at what SVP has been able to achieve through its community-driven approach.In addition to discussing SVP's work, we also delve into the concept of imposter syndrome and why being comfortable with being uncomfortable is vital. Rose shares her experiences as both a mentor and mentee, and we explore the richness of reciprocal mentorship and the valuable lessons that every relationship teaches.We also take a closer look at some of the larger issues facing Waterloo Region today, including the decline in volunteerism, housing and food insecurity. By the end of the episode, you'll find yourself considering how your own talents could contribute to Social Venture Partners' mission. Connect with Rose:WebsiteLinkedInDuring our conversation, we talk about some past episodes. Please find the links here:Jane KlugmanGinny DybenkoLisa BraggTracy VankelsbeekResources:Social Venture PartnersSexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo RegionBereaved Families of Ontario (BFO) – Midwestern RegionWhat did you think of today's episode? We want to hear from you!Thank you for listening today. Please take a moment to rate and subscribe to our podcast. When you do this, it helps to raise our podcast profile so more leaders can find us and be inspired by the stories our Voices of Leadership have to share. Connect with us:Voices of Leadership WebsiteInstagramBespoke Productions Hub

In today's episode, we talk with Rose Greensides, the Executive Director at Social Venture Partners (SVP). SVP is a unique partnership that brings together the time, talent, and funding from the community to support the nonprofit sector. Rose shares some inspiring stories about how SVP has helped several local organizations in the Waterloo Region. You'll be amazed at what SVP has been able to achieve through its community-driven approach.In addition to discussing SVP's work, we also delve into the concept of imposter syndrome and why being comfortable with being uncomfortable is vital. Rose shares her experiences as both a mentor and mentee, and we explore the richness of reciprocal mentorship and the valuable lessons that every relationship teaches.We also take a closer look at some of the larger issues facing Waterloo Region today, including the decline in volunteerism, housing and food insecurity. By the end of the episode, you'll find yourself considering how your own talents could contribute to Social Venture Partners' mission. Connect with Rose:WebsiteLinkedInDuring our conversation, we talk about some past episodes. Please find the links here:Jane KlugmanGinny DybenkoLisa BraggTracy VankelsbeekResources:Social Venture PartnersSexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo RegionBereaved Families of Ontario (BFO) – Midwestern RegionThank you for listening today. Please take a moment to rate and subscribe to our podcast. When you do this, it helps to raise our podcast profile so more leaders can find us and be inspired by the stories our Voices of Leadership have to share. Connect with us:Voices of Leadership WebsiteInstagram

Carla Fowler, MD PhD is the Founder and Managing Director of THAXA Executive Coaching, Inc., a boutique executive coaching firm that leverages the best ideas from performance science to help global leaders. Graduating magna cum laude from Brown University and holding both an MD and a PhD from the University of Washington, Carla's journey showcases her multidisciplinary expertise and unwavering commitment to excellence. As an angel investor with a focus on med tech and biotech, she has built a diverse portfolio of over a dozen investments. Additionally, Carla engages in social impact initiatives with organizations such as Social Venture Partners, Seattle Rotary Club, Washington Women's Foundation, Alliance of Angels, and the Keiretsu Forum. In this episode… Performance science shows us how combining different skills can lead to amazing results. Whether in sports, business, or everyday life, we can achieve incredible results when we combine skills like creativity, strategy, and communication. How can you tap into the diversity of talents around you and within you to open doors to fresh opportunities and transformative breakthroughs? Executive coach Carla Fowler believes that embracing diverse interests and skills, coupled with strategic focus and resilience, can lead to transformative career opportunities and personal growth. She emphasizes principles like brutal focus, relishing uncertainty, self-awareness, adaptability, and confidence in navigating career transitions as keys to personal power. To find what truly makes you happy in life, you must deviate sometimes from traditional career trajectories and empower yourself to pursue your passions. In this episode of the Lead Like a Woman Show, Andrea Heuston sits down with Carla Fowler, MD PhD, the Founder and Managing Director of THAXA Executive Coaching, Inc., to talk about performance science and how it can help us in our daily lives. Carla discusses repurposing your skills and capabilities, her top three performance science principles, and how to harness personal power in our lives.

Minneapolis based nonprofit Social Venture Partners recently asked youth ages 12-24 for innovations that could help their communities. The organization is celebrating five winners of the YouthSparks Ideas competition on Monday; 15-year-old Jaylen Jones is one of them. He pitched an idea for a business called “Jones Cleaning and Companionship,” which was inspired by his time helping his grandmother, Shonda James Ofili. Jaylen sees the business as a reciprocal benefit to three generations of people: teenagers who can gain employment and connection, middle-aged adults who need help for their parents and senior citizens who receive help in their homes and friendships.Minnesota Now Producer Alanna Elder recently talked with them both.Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

Philanthropists want to not just give but to make sure their money and effort are making a real difference. To that end, they are getting more engaged in such work. This is, therefore, a time of ‘engaged philanthropy', which focuses on the long term and collaboration to maximise impact. Govind Iyer, Founding Board Member and All India Chairperson of Social Venture Partners in India, speaks to All Indians Matter.

Carla Fowler, MD PhD is the Founder and Managing Director of THAXA, an executive coaching firm that helps people achieve big goals through performance science. Carla graduated from Brown University magna cum laude, earned her MD and PhD at the University of Washington, and completed her internship in general surgery at Stanford University.She founded THAXA to share her passion for performance science, where the fields of strategy, productivity, and psychology intersect.Outside of THAXA, Carla is an angel investor specializing in medtech and biotech with a portfolio of over a dozen investments. She is also an active member of Social Venture Partners, Rotary, Washington Women's Foundation, Alliance of Angels, and Keiretsu.Key Takeaways:Performance Science Definition: Performance science is a multidisciplinary field that explores how human beings achieve their best results in various domains, including athletics, business, and the military.Impact of Clarity: Lack of clarity inhibits success. Creating explicit goals and recognizing achievements motivates teams and helps them understand their roles in the bigger picture.Importance of Taking Time to Think: Setting aside time for reflection and strategic thinking is vital for clarifying objectives and making informed decisions.Creating Space for Clarity: Engaging in activities like journaling, meditation, or walks provides space for creative insights and clarity.Uninterrupted Thinking Time: Allocating quiet and uninterrupted time for thinking allows for focused reflection and strategic planning.Using Prompts for Productive Thinking: Thought-provoking prompts guide the thinking process and prevent stagnation.Embracing Uncertainty: Leaders foster an attitude of embracing uncertainty as an opportunity for growth and learning, enhancing adaptability.Running Good Experiments: Approaching uncertainty with experiments helps teams learn from outcomes and make better decisions.Balanced Problem-Solving Approach: Listing potential solutions, evaluating against criteria, and conducting small tests before committing fully helps in effective decision-making.Impact of Sleep and Nutrition: Adequate sleep and proper nutrition are essential for mental and emotional performance, leading to better decision-making and reduced stress.Top Three Takeaways: Clarity: Ensure clear objectives, focused priorities, and effective communication both upward and downward in the chain of command.Embrace Uncertainty: Foster a culture that embraces uncertainty and trains teams to be comfortable with it. Encourage running good experiments to learn from outcomes and make better decisions.Combat Disengagement: Provide growth opportunities and visibility for both teams and leaders to prevent boredom and stagnation, enhancing overall engagement and performance.For resources discussed in this episode: https://www.thaxa.com/p/corporate-cprHow to Connect with Carla:Website: https://www.thaxa.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-fowler/Twitter: https://twitter.com/DrCarlaFowler

In her unique journey to executive coach, today's guest started in the medical field. This different experience than most coaches has led her to apply science to leadership, strategy, and high performance. Carla Fowler, MD PhD is the founder and CEO of THAXA, a boutique executive coaching firm that leverages the best ideas from performance science to help leaders around the globe. In our conversation today, Carla explains the intersection between strategy, productivity, and psychology which is an interesting grouping. She beautifully articulates her message to help us understand the thinking and psychology around high performance and more importantly, how to sustain high performance. She lists the principles she has that can help us all perform better and continue on our journey to high performance. What We Talked About in This Episode: Carla's nontraditional journey to executive coaching The intersection between strategy, productivity, and psychology The importance of mental clarity The difficulty of communication without mental clarity Translating lofty priorities Role of clarity in lack of engagement Building a sense of momentum and progress What separates the average performers from the high performers What we accomplish over time How to sustain momentum Brutal Focus Protect your time to think and practice thinking Carla's learning experience and thoughts about value Carla's book recommendation and daily rituals About Our Guest: The Founder and Managing Director of THAXA is Carla Fowler, MD PhD. Carla graduated from Brown University magna cum laude, earned her MD and PhD at the University of Washington, and completed her internship in general surgery at Stanford University. She founded THAXA to share her passion for performance science, where the fields of strategy, productivity, and psychology intersect. Outside of THAXA, Carla is an angel investor specializing in medtech and biotech with a portfolio of over a dozen investments. She is also an active member of Social Venture Partners, Rotary, Washington Women's Foundation, Alliance of Angels, and Keiretsu. Connect with Carla Fowler:  Thaxa Executive Coaching LinkedIn Connect with John Murphy: LinkedIn Twitter YouTube Facebook If you liked this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, tune in, and share this podcast. Thanks for tuning in!

Prisma grew up in Dallas Texas as a first-generation American not really knowing much about the U.S. much less the rest of the world outside Dallas. As you will hear she went to college in Indiana at Notre Dame for no more significant reason than she saw the movie Rudy and then applied. Her parents let her go off to Indiana since as Catholics they felt that Prisma could go there and grow. Grow she did. She received her Master's degree in Science and Entrepreneurship in 2010.   Since graduating Prisma has worked in marketing jobs analyzing company's data looking to learn how to market to them. After two years she left her position to move into more social oriented opportunities she will tell us about.   Prisma makes it quite clear that she is a social kind of person and very people-oriented.   During our conversation we talk about a variety of issues including discussing Trust, what it is and how we can better learn to be open to be trustful.   I hope you enjoy my time with Prisma. I believe you will find her fascinating and engaging.     About the Guest: Prisma Y. Garcia joined MoneyGram International in August 2021 as part of the Social Impact team. She was the Director of Capacity Building at Social Venture Partners Dallas from July 2017 to July 2021. Prisma worked at The Concilio, a Dallas nonprofit, as a Program Director. She also previously worked as a Fundraising Consultant with Changing Our World, Inc. based in New York, NY. She received her Master of Science in Entrepreneurship as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Science-Business with a minor in Latino Studies from the University of Notre Dame. Most recently, she completed a Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from the University of Pennsylvania. Prisma is a board member for Refugee Services of Texas, Community Does It, and other community organizations. She loves traveling and spending time outdoors with her dogs. She resides in Pleasant Grove (Dallas, TX), where she was born and raised.   How to connect with Prisma: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prismagarcia/ https://www.prismagarcia.com/ https://communitydoesit.org/     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, and a gracious Hello, wherever you happen to be today. I'm Mike Hingson. And yes, you are listening to unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. I love the unexpected part, I get to meet all sorts of people. And sometimes we even get to talk about diversity and inclusion and such things. And today, we get to do some of that, among other things, we get to speak with Prisma Garcia, who is a social impact strategist at money, gram Prisma has been involved in a variety of different kinds of diversity things. She has worked with a number of social venture and nonprofit firms. She's done a variety of things that I think will be very relevant for us to talk about. And I'm really looking forward to learning more about what Prisma has to say. So we'll get to it. Prisma Welcome to unstoppable mindset. How are you?   Prisma Garcia  02:19 Yes, I'm happy to be here. Michael, thank you for having me. I you know, everything you mentioned, as far as the work, you know, people ask me what social impact? What does that all mean? And you know, really, I've worked mostly with nonprofits, some social enterprises and done some consulting work. But I'll stop there, because I know you're gonna ask me some questions. And you can just let me dive in once we get there.   Michael Hingson  02:48 Oh, sure, we'll do that. Well, let's start with tell us a little bit more about you growing up and what you did and how you got into sort of the field that you're in from school, and so on? What, what made all that happen? So tell us just a little bit about young Prisma.   Prisma Garcia  03:06 Young Prisma? Well, you know, it's interesting, because I, you know, I don't know if this is really a career that at the time was taught in school, or people said, Hey, this is a potential career, right. And so, I think that's what I find most unique. And I, you know, I grew up in Dallas, Texas, I am, you know, first generation American first generation college student, I've, you know, essentially, you know, had the whole American dream, right, my parents came to this country, you know, probably, you know, in the 80s or so, and then, you know, I was born here in Dallas, Texas, and spent most of my life in Dallas, Texas, in a neighborhood called Pleasant Grove. And really, like, even though it has a very nice name, Pleasant Grove, really, it really shaped me because it was, you know, it's a primarily Latino community, African Americans as well. And, and really, you know, I lived in my bubble, growing up, and, you know, my parents were hard workers, and that was the, the ethic, right, we work hard to try to get to where we want to be. And so, when I think back, and you mentioned, what was young Prisma I think young Prisma was, you know, very similar to now in some ways, but, you know, just wanting to help people and give back and so, I was wanting to be a doctor, I thought maybe that was the only way and I went away to school, I went to Notre Dame, which, you know, it was very uncommon for a person like me, you know, that looked like me that had parents like me to, to go to a school with such prestige. And so, you know, coming back home, I started to realize had even been there, right? It was a culture shock. And so, you know, I think a lot of the career and the drive comes from that. It comes from, you know, having challenges along the way. And then also finding spaces that sometimes you feel like you don't belong. And so, you know, young Prisma is definitely still here. And, you know, I moved back to the community where I grew up. And so that's sort of the backstory, you know, we know, I work at MoneyGram, I do a lot of social impact work there. But a lot of what has driven me to have positions like this is because of my background,   Michael Hingson  05:34 what prompted you to choose Notre Dame to go to,   Prisma Garcia  05:37 you know, I mentioned I was a first generation college student, I, I didn't actually know anything about the college admissions process. And when I was in middle school, I saw the movie Rudy is not anything in particular that I was like, looking for at the time. And I said, you know, I'm gonna check that out, because I was like, one of the only exposures to college and so I just so happened to, to read about it. And I grew up Catholic, and I'm still Catholic, and it's a Catholic institution. So I, I thought, what a great place I'm gonna apply there. And so really, if I didn't know much about it, love the place now. But you know, that's how I ended up in Indiana.   Michael Hingson  06:17 So is this the time to tell you that my wife got her master's degree at USC, and we intend to make sure that Notre Dame achieves its rightful second place at the football game in November?   Prisma Garcia  06:30 Well, you know, Michael, we didn't we didn't kick off saying that before this interview. But, you know, I've heard a lot of good things about USC, obviously, when we're on a football field, I always cheer for Notre Dame.   Michael Hingson  06:43 It's a fun rivalry. And that's what's really neat about college football, although the more and more money's getting into it, but the college rivalries that are real rivalries, where people take them seriously as rivalries, and deal with football as a fun sport in college are, are always good. So it'll be a good game. as they as they all are this year, USC is doing pretty well for a change.   Prisma Garcia  07:09 So we'll see. We had a rocky start, Mike,   Michael Hingson  07:11 you did. You did. And you're doing you're doing better. But the tough teams, to some degree are coming. So we'll see. We'll see. Yeah, but you. But you knew it was a Catholic college when you went there, I assume?   Prisma Garcia  07:24 Yes, I did. I you know, I think that was actually when I think about it. People were like, how do you go from not knowing college to like, your parents, I had never even flown on the plane. And they let me go to Indiana. And I said, You know what, it was a counseling college. And they were like, okay, that they felt like they belonged in some way.   Michael Hingson  07:45 So they, I guess, you would say are risk takers, they they let you take risks, they let you do things that might be daunting in some way? did? Did you have more of those kinds of experiences growing up? Did they let you and I don't mean it in a negative way. But take risks? Did they let you stretch the envelope?   Prisma Garcia  08:06 You know, I think so in some ways, you know, obviously, they were, in some ways, you will always have that Catholic guilt. And we have the, you know, very, in some ways due to the environment, the neighborhood and some of the issues, you know, they had to be strict right. But I will say that in terms of risk taking, I have found, you know, and even growing up that, you know, some things can be scary and that and then usually that's why I want to do them.   Michael Hingson  08:36 Well, I guess risk taking in risk taking in the sense. Did they allow you to be adventurous? Did they allow you to explore and I can appreciate strict, my parents, I think were strict in a lot of ways, but at the same time, and I use the term very deliberately, they were risk takers. They told the doctors when I was born, and they were told no blind child could ever grow up to amount to anything. So you should just put him in a home and they said, No, we're going to let him grow up. And we're going to teach him that he can do whatever he wants. And they left me for five years, well, not five, because we were five when we moved, but for the time, I was able to walk, walk around the streets of Chicago in our neighborhood and then ride a bike out here in California and other things. So they allowed me to explore and develop while keeping an eye on what I was doing. Needless to say, so probably risk taking is is accurate, but they allow me to explore and I'm gathering they must have allowed you to do something of that because you develop that spirit.   Prisma Garcia  09:43 Yeah, yeah. I mean, I always remember there were things that they were not 100% comfortable, right? Like they knew that they would, you know, like take letting me go on certain school trips, letting me you know, We'll visit Notre Dame, when I was a senior, I mean, things that were sort of outside the box of work traditional cultural values, you know, especially being a girl. I mean, I hate to put it in that way, but I mean, it's, it's just, you know, as a Latino family, you know, that there's that protection, and we want we're very collective. And I think in some ways, it was like, well, you also have to be an individual, and you have to find these things, you know, and explore, explore things that are sort of out of our comfort zone to, to be able to do great things,   Michael Hingson  10:38 but they they let you do that, had they gone to college? No, you   Prisma Garcia  10:42 know, they didn't, they didn't go to college. You know, my parents probably have a, I would say, probably like, elementary school education. My, my dad, he's, he was in this country a lot longer than my mom, actually, when he was like, 15, he was already working, and you know, working a job here in in California, and then Texas. And so, you know, the idea of college was very, you know, very, almost distant, my older sister hadn't gone to college right away. And, you know, it's, yeah, so it was definitely risky. But I think that they saw the value in it, you know, to be able to do that, especially not understanding, you know, what, what I had to do, right. And, and even, I would say, even in high school, you know, my parents couldn't help me with some of my math with, with with English, you know, a lot of the things that they were trying to learn themselves, right. And so, I, you know, I think a lot of it was, was realizing like, they also took a big risk, right, coming to a different country is a huge risk,   Michael Hingson  11:52 of course, but again, they had a dream, and they wanted to fulfill it. And I hope they did what, what kind of work did your parents do?   Prisma Garcia  12:00 Yeah, so my, you know, what, I was blessed to have a mom that stayed home. Um, she was a homemaker. And I, I think growing up, I always felt privileged in that way, because a lot of the students, they, you know, we were working class or maybe even below that. And so, you know, some of their parents of my friend's parents had to work, you know, a couple jobs. And you know, my mom always got to stay home with me, my dad, he, he was working at a lumber company for about 20 years, and then transitioned into owning his own construction company. And so really, you know, he was, he's been so focused on on the next thing, so sometimes I'm like, Oh, my parents didn't go to college, but they have goals, even if they don't call it them.   Michael Hingson  12:48 Well, and that's fair, the, the reality is not everybody goes to college, and it is always still about what you are inside, whether you go to college or not. And obviously, your your parents had dreams and goals. And they found ways to achieve them, which is as good as it can possibly be. They supported you and your siblings, which is, which is also good. Has your older sister gone to college now?   Prisma Garcia  13:17 Yes. You know, what she, she was actually a great inspiration. You know, she, she says that I was an inspiration because she went to Notre Dame, and she said, Oh, my gosh, all these young people have, you know, are have goals, and they're at school. She had, she was a teen mom, essentially. You know, and a lot of people in my neighborhood were, and continue to be and, you know, she went back to school, and she became an attorney. And so now we have an attorney in the family as well. And so, you know, I think everyone sort of has their own journey, and is what I'm finding in life. And, you know, there's sometimes there's no right or wrong, but you're right, not everybody goes to college, and maybe they do, they don't, and then they go back.   Michael Hingson  14:01 And we've been seeing even on the news, more and more instances of significantly older people. I think there was a recently a report about a woman she was in her 60s or 70s, he was a grandmother or even a great grandmother. And she went back and got her doctorate, I think. But people do that. So if they choose to do that, then great because they're, they're satisfying their own ambitions and, and proving something to themselves as much as anything else. We can call it an inspiration to us, but really, it's internal more than anything else, and they're inspiring themselves. And that's what really makes it makes it a good thing. When you said you wanted to be a doctor.   Prisma Garcia  14:47 Yeah, you know, I didn't growing up. I didn't know very many careers. That was the other thing. I I said, Oh, you know, you go to the doctor, you know, and I felt lucky because not a lot of people in my neighborhood even did that and And, you know, I thought, well, doctors seem to be, you know, they're always helping people. Right. And so they're helping them feel better. And that was sort of a common theme. And I, I agree that sometimes it's not so much about, you know, proving things to other people, it's about being fulfilled for yourself.   Michael Hingson  15:20 So when you went to Notre Dame, what did you major in?   Prisma Garcia  15:24 You know, what I came in, I was I stuck to it, I was a science major, I was a science, it was a very unique major called Science business. So I actually took some of the introductory coursework in business, and then took a lot of science, so like, a lot of biology. And, you know, I think I was very, I don't know if it was determined or stubborn. And I said, you know, a lot of people change their major, and I was just like, Well, I'm gonna finish this major. And, you know, I would say, I probably would have done better another, you know, social science or something else, or even just business. But, you know, I think it was the, you know, starting something, I want to finish it. And so I did finish that I stayed at Notre Dame for a master's and, you know, really was more focused on the business side of things. And, you know, I think I got further and further away from the doctor. But I found other other dreams.   Michael Hingson  16:22 Yeah, I hate to use the pun, but you were like me, you wanted to be a doctor and didn't have any patients. Right. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Anyway, so you got your master's degree? And then what did you do?   Prisma Garcia  16:37 So I got my master's degree. And, you know, it was at the height of the recession, in some ways, like, I graduated college in 2009. And then can't, you know, was like, you know, there are not any, hardly any jobs out there, right. And so, I really jumped to a master's because I said, you know, what I'm gonna do, I wasn't getting too many interviews. And that was a tough experience. Because when you're, you know, a student in high school, I was sort of the big fish. When I went to Notre Dame, you know, it's a very prestigious and rigorous academically. And so, you know, I don't think I was used to rejection rejection, but when I was in the job market, I just wasn't seeing it. And a lot of times, you'd have students who had jobs before they graduated college. And so I was like, if I'm not getting a job, or, you know, I was always sort of curious of like, well, I'm not sure why I'm a science major anymore. So I thought I'm gonna get a masters. And so I explored careers in public health, and then decided to go with more master's level business, since I had already taken some of those introductory courses. And so I stayed at Notre Dame for a very intense year, and, you know, intense cold to Michael, I know, you know, what that's like, over there. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  17:59 Oh, yes. So, you, when did you get your Masters?   Prisma Garcia  18:04 So I got it right after I'm technically a double dome, or as we call them, and I have a master's and it was 2010 Whenever I graduated, and it's a Masters of Science and entrepreneurship, which, at the time, I was like entrepreneurship, like, I feel like you have to go build a business, right. But I think, now I've taken a lot of what I've learned, and sort of that mindset, and applied it to other things. Well, what is mindset, Mike?   Michael Hingson  18:34 Oh, there you go. What, what does entrepreneurship mean to you,   Prisma Garcia  18:39 you know, for having the background and in terms of like, these courses, having read a lot of case studies and things like that, I can only tell you, now that I've had years of experience, that really, to me, it's more of this mindset of like, you know, we you know, we live in a world where there are things that exist, and I think that we are in a can be more innovative in some areas, right. And that can apply to diversity, equity, inclusion, business, and, and so many areas of work and including nonprofits. And so I think it's more of that innovation, having that critical thinking mindset to apply new solutions to problems.   Michael Hingson  19:23 But you got your masters in 2010. And by that time, we had started to, I think, really come out of a lot of the recession. So what did you do? What?   Prisma Garcia  19:35 So I got out and I said, you know, I thought for a little bit there, I thought that I was going to follow my friends and move to Chicago and do all of that. But you know, I think once the winter came, I was like, you know, I'm from Texas, maybe I'll go back home. So I made my way back home. I started working in a marketing company, it was marketing analytics. I think when I looking at my resume from the time I had done a lot of service learning, I had spent time on the border, I had done research, I it seemed like it was not very related to my master's. And almost then my Bachelor's was in science. So, you know, I got this job. And I can tell you, it was, it was maybe not what I want to do for the rest of my life. Right. But it was, I did have a great manager. And so that was a big plus. And so we did like, you know, all that tracking, call tracking analytics things that were I think up and coming in that age. And I mean, now everybody does it. Right. And so, I spend a little bit of time there.   Michael Hingson  20:45 So when you were there, what is it basically you did? You You got information about companies? Or? Or what did you do? Exactly.   Prisma Garcia  20:53 So I actually would, you know, would work on these innovative products that I actually wasn't so sure about, you know, I had actually had a program where we would identify new business through phone calls. And so, you know, a lot of these products were getting built right in house. And then, you know, I would look at a lot of data, you know, I think whenever people see a science degree, they even if it's in science, or you know, biology, or, you know, it could be it could be any of the other STEM degrees, they think, oh, this person must, must be analytical. So, I was doing a lot of a lot of the backend things. You know, I worked in a lot of databases, I mean, very different work from from what I do now.   Michael Hingson  21:43 But what kind of things did you do for companies? So, what was the benefit of your work, I guess, is the best way to put it.   Prisma Garcia  21:49 Yeah, the benefit of the work is was, I mean, looking at marketing analytics, for example, we had call tracking numbers placed on advertisements, you know, you see numbers on billboards, you see numbers on websites, and you don't always know like, what the return on what's the ROI, right. And so, you know, if there's a number on a billboard of any deed, number one 800, you know, eat pizza, I don't know, I'm making this up. But the, it could be anything, we could identify how many people call them number, we could identify where they were calling from, we could identify, you know, just different things that were sold from that number. And so it was very interesting. I even got to be the voice of state farm for a little bit there. When you call one 800. State Farm, I would sort of I would even do the voiceover. So I would say, you know, whenever you if you're a new business, click one if you're, you know, existing customers click do so we did it all, essentially, it was a small company, but it actually blew up, it grew.   Michael Hingson  22:56 Well, back in those days, that was long before Jacot StateFarm came along. So you probably didn't know Jake, huh? No, no, no. You know, who Jake is?   Prisma Garcia  23:06 Yes, yes.   Michael Hingson  23:10 He's, he's evolved. It's been an interesting, interesting run for him. So you, you gave companies information so that they could see whether what they were doing was effective, and meaningful? Or how they could tweak it essentially?   Prisma Garcia  23:28 Correct. Correct. And, and, you know, I think, as the company evolved, and I wasn't necessarily a big part of that anymore, but, you know, they start to do a lot of search engine optimization, a lot of things tied to digital marketing. But at the time, you know, and I can tell you even now, like, you know, we use our phones, right, and so we, we could track, you know, how many times somebody, you know, called from a cell phone versus, you know, at the time there were still a couple of health phones, but um, you know, it's just, it would tell you all this interesting information. And so I was pulling a lot of that helping collect on a lot of that and analyzing a lot of it. And, you know, a lot of that was, was helpful for the companies to see, like, where do I need to invest more of my marketing dollars?   Michael Hingson  24:18 So how long did you do that?   Prisma Garcia  24:20 You know, I didn't do for very long, it wasn't like I said, I had a great manager that I still keep in touch with and, you know, I was there probably for about a year and a half, two years. So it was very early on before I you know, ran into somebody else and decided to jump to that.   Michael Hingson  24:39 So, what did you learn from that job? What did you take away that helped you in your career?   Prisma Garcia  24:46 You know, I think back and I have mentioned mentioned the Met my manager many times, but I noticed that he was very much about the person right. And so he wanted to build a relationship with me and People ask me, Why do you stay at the call tracking so long? And I say yes, because of the people. Because because of the manager, I and I think I've carried that with me throughout my career, I especially now working in a very social oriented, you know, position, and even the nonprofit work. And so the biggest thing I learned was, you know, that while that we're always being watched Michael, but then, but then I also learned that, you know, it's about people,   Michael Hingson  25:30 you know, you said something just now, that's extremely interesting. That strikes me we're always being watched. And as a as a person who happens to be blind. Intellectually, I know that I can be walking down the street. And don't even think about the fact that I'm probably always being watched. And a lot of times people may wonder, how does that guy do that? Or does that guy need help or any number of different things. But the reality is, we're always being watched. And it doesn't necessarily mean electronically, and it doesn't necessarily mean in a negative way. But one way or another, we always interact with other people. And I know when I'm walking down the street, I'm listening to what goes on around me, and I hear conversations, or I hear how people are doing what they're doing, and getting a lot of information and drawing conclusions like the next person.   Prisma Garcia  26:24 Yeah, yeah, it's true. And, and the thing about it, and, you know, I, it's beautiful, how you relate it to your experience, but I also think it's, you know, it's not always people that you would expect, I mean, sometimes, sometimes you get opportunities, because someone was watching the work that you were doing, or or heard you say something or, or you know, and I don't know, it was just an interesting thing. Like we're not, even if we'd have felt, were on our own. We're not,   Michael Hingson  26:59 if we would only take advantage of all of that, and maybe engaged some of those Watchers or find ways to develop better relationships, that would probably be really valuable for us to do. But we, we hide too much from that we've been taught to do that we've been taught not to trust. And the fact is that most of the time, there isn't really a hidden agenda that we have to worry about.   Prisma Garcia  27:29 Yeah. And one thing that you mentioned was trust. And I, I think about you know, I was reflecting before our conversation, and I thought the one thing that I think, you know, I can say that it's also something that's helped my career and helped me in my current position is, is really building that trust with people, because even in the nonprofits that I've worked at, or have helped start, you know, it's been a trust factor,   Michael Hingson  27:59 which talked about that a little bit. How do you develop trust? How do you deal with that trust is so much under attack today? In so many ways? I mean, we see all the polls for what they're worth about. We can't trust politicians, we can't trust what they're doing. One party doesn't trust the other party both ways. And there are so many ways that trust is under attack. How do we deal with that? How do you develop trust?   Prisma Garcia  28:28 You know, I think, in my work, Michael, it's a lot of it has been recognizing the stories, the journeys that the people have experienced, listening more, right. And then valuing the assets. You know, I've worked with several nonprofits, in the community. And sometimes we're trying to tackle things that, you know, that maybe some of the leaders haven't even experienced themselves. And so, one of the biggest things for me, and even in my corporate job, well, you know, I come with, you know, sort of this background. And, you know, I frame a lot of things just as everybody doesn't, in terms of what we know, but I realized, like, even when we're doing volunteer, you know, groups, and we're taking them places that they haven't been, I think, you know, just listening, right, listening to the stories and listening to the people and also holding the value, right? It could be, it could be any group of people, but recognizing that we have all these assets, right, because I think, you know, especially in the communities where, you know, I've worked in with different nonprofits and even my own community growing up, sometimes you look at it, and you're like, what, you know, and you could look at the facts and figures and think these communities don't have a whole lot going for them. They don't have anything good, right. And that's not always the case because we haven't heard from from the people and that's been common experience for me. And, you know, I helped co found a mental health clinic here in the neighborhood called community does it and the way I've built trust there is, is really, you know, coming as a very authentic person and then listening to people.   Michael Hingson  30:17 So if I could summarize what you're really saying is that you listen, and that you're open to the possibility of trusting.   Prisma Garcia  30:29 Correct? Yeah, I mean, I think, open to the possibility of trusting and recognizing that it's not going to be a one time thing. Right. And, and I think sometimes we want to go into communities. You we want to, you know, do things instant, right. I think our recent culture is instant gratification, especially for younger people. And, I mean, I think creating trust takes time and you it's something you have to continue to guard. Because even in the community work I've done it's, you know, we'll always ask myself, you know, what is what, what is the community thing? What should I, you know, I can't make decisions on my own, I need to have these conversations,   Michael Hingson  31:18 I've maintained for years that I've learned a lot more about trust, and teamwork by working with a guide dogs than I've ever learned from all of the experts in any of the related fields, because dogs while they love unconditionally, and I think that's absolutely true, their their psyche is that they're, they don't trust unconditionally. But the difference is that dogs are open to trust. So every time I get a new guide, dog, it's about developing a new relationship, it's about developing a new team. And we both don't trust each other. At first, we have to get used to each other, we have to see how the other is and reacts and works. And we have to develop that feeling that we know the other member of the team is going to support us, and that we can support the other member of the team. And it is so true with dogs because dogs don't have hidden agendas. And their expectation is that we don't either.   Prisma Garcia  32:24 Yeah, it's true. And, and also making sure that that we put it you know, I think it's hard for us sometimes to know what other people experience, you know, and I found in my corporate life that, you know, I'm Latina, I'm my parents are born and raised in Mexico. And just because, you know, me doesn't mean that, you know, every single Latino, right, and a you know, and so, really, our experiences are so, so unique to our, you know, just our being, and, and I know that it's not, you know, the openness of trust is definitely important. And but it's not easy, right? It's not easy in some of the environments that we find ourselves, and especially like work in the workplace.   Michael Hingson  33:15 Have you ever had your trust betrayed by someone?   Prisma Garcia  33:20 You know, I could definitely say yes. You know, I can't think of a specific example. But I think I think about family, right? There are times where, you know, we have certain expectations, especially in my family, we have certain expectations of what we should do, and what we should be and collective in some ways, you know, working toward some of the same goals, right? Like, if I have something my sister, that's, you know, we're all going to be happy for one another. And it's all of our success. But I think, you know, sometimes having these expectations does let you down. Right? And it does, sometimes it is the trust factor.   Michael Hingson  33:59 Have you ever had a situation on the job where you worked with someone and you thought you could trust them, and you trusted them? And it turned out that that ended up not really being the case?   Prisma Garcia  34:10 You know, I can't think back and realize, like, there have been times where I think, and probably this is a common human experience, where sometimes we want what we put into it, and we want that other person to give us as much as we've given them. And so there have been times where I have felt like, oh, I will do anything to support this person, right. And my colleague and I want them to be successful. But then I don't always see them recognizing or doing that for me, right. And, and, you know, I've had to really think about, you know, myself and realize, like, Well, who do I want to be and, and there are moments that, you know, I realized like maybe that other person isn't gonna help me in the same ways that I might help them. And, and I either have to be okay with that, or, or you know, or I change my perspective completely, but I definitely have had my trust broken, especially when it comes to competitiveness, I think people, you know, unfortunately in a corporate structure or even even just trying to climb the ladder, right, I've met a lot of young professionals or younger professionals that, you know, I can recall, like, you know, they're looking after themselves. And, and you know, you can't blame them, right. But at the same time, I realized, like, there's a part of me that felt like betrayed.   Michael Hingson  35:44 Yeah. Unfortunately, all too often, they do get blamed. And that that's part of the issue, of course, that starts to send you down the rabbit hole of distrust. But it sounds like what you do is a lot of introspection, and a lot of, to put it in the scientific terms, I guess, analysis and you, you've made some choices about trust. If somebody betrays your trust, you don't go down the path of I'm going to hate them. It does tell you perhaps how you're going to work and react with them to some degree. But hatred isn't part of what apparently is, is the psyche that you've chosen?   Prisma Garcia  36:27 No, it's not, you know, I can say that there are moments where you know, you want to you're it's almost like you are called to hate that person, right? Like, oh, I wish they wouldn't have reacted that way. I wish they would have helped me in this way. But I think it actually I tried to make be positive, right. And it doesn't always happen right away. Sure. Sometimes you feel deflated. And you're like, That person could have helped me or could have recognized me or could have done this for me. And I would have done it for them. Right. And they've known that. So maybe that's where the material is. But the for me that I mean, it may not be instant, and I may not hate him. But at the same time, it is a thought process of like, well, you know, I need to be careful, right? So you want to be careful, but at the same time, like, at the end of the day, right? The decisions you make affect you and who you want to be right. And so I'm more focused, internally, right, what am I comfortable sleeping with? Right, like, at night that I hate 10 people? Probably not that maybe I've created some distance, some boundaries to where I found trait found betrayal. Possibly, right, that that might be the case.   Michael Hingson  37:38 Yeah. But you can deal with it. You've learned how to deal with it, then you've learned how to do it in a positive way, as opposed to a negative way.   Prisma Garcia  37:48 Yeah, and it might not be not might not be instant, right? It might take some time to process and reflect.   Michael Hingson  37:56 It takes thinking it's a process. It's absolutely a thought process. So you did call tracking and so on. And then where did you go?   Prisma Garcia  38:06 You know, I I realize now that I have a tendency to to talk to all people, right. i   Michael Hingson  38:16 i what you said, you said you met someone and then and then jumps and   Prisma Garcia  38:19 everything else. Yeah, I met someone I met a woman named Mary. I had met her at Boston Market, right. I submitted an application to a job and she said, meet me near your job. I said, Well, I'll the closest thing I could think of was the Boston Market. So I went there. It was, it was funny, because I thought oh, like we're I'm having this very serious conversations that at a Boston mark, a busy Boston Market, they're going to lunch hour, but the you know, we had a moreso conversation about just people right and how I would approach different situations, you know, regarding people, and she specifically worked in fundraising, right. And so I knew it was that type of job, but it wasn't really a formal interview. And so you know why I met her and then I just really loved her. I was like, she seems great. And so she said, You know, I'm hire, I'm going to be hiring. And she, she hired me to be a fundraising consultant. And I spent probably about four years or so working with her. And we did a lot of fundraising, we fundraise for bigger nonprofits, we fundraise for the Catholic Church, which is a whole other experience that you know, had its pros and cons, because I have grown up in a Catholic household went to Notre Dame, we talked about that. And then now I was fundraising. Right. And the church was a part of it. And it was the first time where I recognized like, wow, this is a   Michael Hingson  39:52 business too. Yeah. Very much. And it's it's interesting You talk about Boston Market. Many years ago, I decided for a little while to sell some Amway products. And I went to a major meeting, where there was a diamond distributor who was talking. And they were giving what I'm, I'm sure well, what there was an inspirational speech and was encouraging people to do more. One of the things they talked about was board meetings for their company. And the board was primarily the husband who was speaking and his wife, who was also speaking there. And one of the things that they said was that when they do board meetings, they go to a restaurant, they go to a neutral place. And it forces them to not be volatile, and to actually have better discussions. So I'm not surprised that you, although it was certainly something that seems strange that you found Boston Market was a an interesting place to have an interview.   Prisma Garcia  40:58 Yes. And it wasn't, I would say, it wasn't a very formal interview, it was a very different type of interview, you know, it was more about me, and how I would react to all these different situations. That didn't quite seem, I didn't know what it would entail, right? How does this relate to the job? And, you know, I would say, I was glad that I had a lot of energy. And I was able to do all these meetings. But when I, I essentially turned into a consultant, and I traveled around the city, around the country at times. And I did a lot of fundraising. And I realized, like, the one thing way they that people can feel comfortable and have the trust to to give me money for an organization was always because they felt felt that it was I was going to a good cause. But then also that, that it was going to be in good   Michael Hingson  41:52 hands. Yep. Trust again.   Prisma Garcia  41:56 Yeah, exactly. It came back to that.   Michael Hingson  41:59 Did you ever ask Mary, what she was looking for, or why she was comfortable having an interview in a place like Boston Market?   Prisma Garcia  42:09 You know what the one thing I remember from that day was that she said, there were going to be moments that we were going to be in settings that we're not able to control. So we're we were potentially going to be meeting with someone for coffee or dinner, and there were going to be so many distractions, but we still had to keep the meeting on pace. And, you know, that was somewhat of her rationale for just having me pick any place that was nearby. And you know, when I suggested that place, I didn't think that she was going to go for it. Because I thought, well, I don't know if this is the I don't know if she wants me to find some more quiet. I don't know if she wants me to find a coffee shop. But you know, she said, No, it has to happen anywhere. Because you have to be able to control the meeting, even if you're in an uncontrolled environment.   Michael Hingson  42:59 And that's, of course, the point she was looking to see how you are going to react in a situation you couldn't control. And I'm sure the very fact that you suggested Boston Market must in one way or another have pleased her at least a little bit.   Prisma Garcia  43:17 Yeah, exactly. Yeah, she's very comfortable. And she was very season. So she knew she knew all about the business. And essentially, she's in the business of relationships.   Michael Hingson  43:31 And besides, the food was good. Yeah, the food was great.   Prisma Garcia  43:35 Yeah, we had a good time. She became a great friend.   Michael Hingson  43:39 So you did work with her for about four years. And then you switched again, huh?   Prisma Garcia  43:44 Yeah. You know, I think people of my generation, Michael, they, they just switch very often in four years. They seem like an eternity at the moment.   Michael Hingson  43:54 What did you go next?   Prisma Garcia  43:55 So, you know, I started at the end of the job, right, I started to just fly a lot. And I remember running a few campaigns in, in St. Louis, actually, I ended up back in the Midwest. And it came to a point where, you know, I took so many flights that last year. You know, it was like every other week, you know, or every week that I truly start to think why am I in this work? Why don't why I mean, I just happened to run into Mary right. We connected everything worked out and I was in the space and I said I I do actually really love nonprofits and social work, right social impact work. I wasn't calling it that at the time. But I, I left there and I went to work for an organization called the Concilio, which I still you know, support in some ways and it's local here in Dallas, working with primarily immigrant Latino families, to educate them on on health and the school system. And so I had I've known of the organization I saw, they had a job opening, I wasn't quite sure I was going to be a fit. And I knew would be also taking a pay cut. And so, I, I was, you know, there were a lot of ifs, and I can tell you that I took the job, I decided to come back to Dallas, when I took that job and be here full time and primarily, you know, focused on, on on really just working in the community.   Michael Hingson  45:32 So this was probably what about 2016? or so? Correct? Yep. So you, you did that? And what did you do for them?   Prisma Garcia  45:43 You know, I came in as a Director of Community Health, and that's a big change, you know, I've spent Yeah, I spend time in marketing, I went to be a fundraiser, and then I was back in the health space, so not as a doctor, but as a community health advocate. And so I had a team of staff and they we work together to, to essentially like, you know, provide information to the Latino community and giving them the tools they needed to be successful. And, you know, it was a lot of work, because when you do that, you were, you know, my role was really, you know, I had to look at staff, there were programs out in the community, there was fundraising to do there, you know, including some grant writing, and, you know, just a lot more things than then sticking to just the fundraising or just the marketing. And this was, you know, you have to be good at working with people, and not just people that can give you money, people that are in the neighborhood that may not have a clue of, you know, what, what their potential is, and I can tell you that it was a great position for me, because, you know, I was finally able to put all the pieces together, like, you know, this, it related, like, the families that I saw reminded me of my own family. And so, to me, that was that was the work that I was most interested in doing at the time.   Michael Hingson  47:18 How long did you do that?   Prisma Garcia  47:19 You know, I did that officially for about a, maybe under two years, maybe a year, in eight months, or nine months. So it was it was not a one time, but you know, I stuck it out with them. And, you know, now I hope that I still help them in some ways with some of their special projects, and, and really have given some time and, and even through money, Graham have helped sponsor some events. So, you know, I tend to have this, this pattern of not leaving places, I should carry some of it with me to the next place.   Michael Hingson  47:54 So did you go from there to MoneyGram? Or Did ya, you know,   Prisma Garcia  47:57 I had another job. So I lent it at Social Venture Partners Dallas, after the Concilio.   Michael Hingson  48:08 And what did you do there? So,   Prisma Garcia  48:11 you know, SVP, as they call it, is an international group, right? International Organization, they're different chapters around the globe. And the focus really is on on bringing philanthropists together, essentially, you know, providing the space for philanthropists to learn and grow. And then we were addressing organizations or supporting organizations that were addressing root causes. And so, you know, my work there was also very relational in the sense that our quote unquote, partners, they were individuals in the business community that wanted to give back with more than just their money, they want to give back with their time, and not so much with the clean cleanups, for example, or packing a box, it was more so giving back their skill set. So it was a sort of a pro bono consulting organization. And so I spent a lot of time there, you know, a lot of time being for years, right? That seems to be my, my traditional my long term job. And I left there about a year ago, and that's how I ended up at MoneyGram.   Michael Hingson  49:28 You ended up with MoneyGram. Yeah, which is, which is where you are and your associate, you deal with social impact and so on. I want to understand a little bit more about what that is and also, how did you get to become involved in the whole concept of diversity, equity and inclusion? Yeah, so interested in both of those.   Prisma Garcia  49:48 Yeah, so anyways, I at SVP, Social Venture Partners, I spent a lot of time and capacity building capacity building of organizations connecting the He's business partners to different organizations, and in Dallas, primarily nonprofits, but also some social enterprises and, and really getting projects off the ground because we realized, like, let's amplify their impact, right? Let's give them more tools, more resources and get them to do more. And, you know, in that work, we found that, you know, at least it was our theory of change or logic that a lot of our community was struggling, and it wasn't so much the poverty factor, as people think, you know, they think, Oh, well, it's because these people are poor. And maybe that's why they need all these things. And that's why these nonprofits exist, it was more so a factor of a racial injustice. And so we looked at it everything from that lens of like, their issues, and even in our own city of Dallas, right? We know that redlining has caused a lot of disparities. And, you know, you have certain pockets of communities that are going to be concentrated in poverty, because of, you know, past racism, and they're still, you know, we all still have some implicit bias. And so, so, you know, coming from that, I, I think, I really start to dig deeper, and like, what is diversity, equity and inclusion mean? You know, we can say, we'll bring all these people to the table, but will we give them let them speak? Right. And so, the equity part was a big component of my SVP role, providing equity, you know, in terms of like, a supporting these organizations that were doing this work, and so, so that's really how I ended up moving into this more dei focused space. And, you know, I could say, at SVP, it was always thinking bigger, thinking, you know, I've done the grassroots stuff, and I still do some of it as a volunteer. But, you know, looking at these issues through a systemic lens, and so, fast forward to money, gram, you know, it is a big, it's a big part of my role. And also, the strategy that we're working on was approved during the height of the pandemic, right, we know that we saw my, we saw George Floyd, the murder of George Floyd was a big conversation starter, and it, we saw it right. And so MoneyGram adopted the strategy in 2020. And so I've come on board along with two of my colleagues to, to bring it to life.   Michael Hingson  52:41 So what does dei mean to you?   Prisma Garcia  52:45 So to me, the the biggest thing would be, I mean, obviously, there are different ways to track it, there's different ways to measure it, their companies are doing all of this right. But I think, as an employee, and when I really put myself in that position, I think a lot of is belonging, right. And unfortunately, our corporate structures and capitalist viewpoints don't always allow for people with differences or that don't look the same or, or, you know, come from diverse backgrounds. We don't always feel like we belong, right. And so for me, it is broader than having, you know, people that fit certain descriptions, but it's more so the cohesiveness of the culture and below and feeling like you belong.   Michael Hingson  53:34 So you come to that environment from the standpoint of being a Latina, and clearly you're dealing with the issue of, I guess, in a sense race, which is, which is fine. But as I got the honor to talk to a number of people about diversity, equity and inclusion, and so on, one of the observations that I make is the problem with talking about diversity is we rarely if ever discussed disabilities. You don't see it you you saw the Oscars do it this year, at least because Coda one, but you don't you don't hear about blind directors or really blind actors. You don't hear about persons with disabilities in a lot of the major kinds of conversations that you hear or participate in when you're discussing diversity. How do we change that? The fact is, most everyone leaves out disabilities even though we're a much larger minority than any of the races. I suppose if you add all the race differences together outside Caucasian that that's a larger minority, but the the number of persons with a disability, according to the CDC is somewhere around 25% of all Americans. How do we change that conversation? Or what are we going We need to do to recognize that we're also part of what's being left out that needs to be included and addressed.   Prisma Garcia  55:09 Yeah. And I know, I didn't touch upon that. But you know, I think and I know that October is is National Ability Awareness Month. And not every corporation, not everyone is talking about dei in relation to disabilities. Right. And I. Yes, yeah. And and I think it's time to start. I mean, I know that even in my role I have made been very intentional not to just focus on race, because, you know, coming from a global company perspective, I also realized, like, it's different in Europe, it's different in Africa, it's different in these some of these regions, right. And so I don't want to be just US centric and focus on race or ethnicity. And obviously, you said, you know, there are many disability out there, right. And so, the, looking at things that we cannot see, right, we you know, and so I think for me, it's, it's being humble and learning from individuals. I know that last year, I was able to United just started the job, I was able to connect with a group called Best Buddies, which you might have heard of heard about, and just really started having conversations, how do we, how are we equipped to develop or bring more people and, you know, make sure that they have the comfort here and MoneyGram? And also, and also have what they need, right? Because I think what happens is that sometimes we're not compassionate enough and don't realize, like, you know, even in benefits, like if I don't need something, I'm not probably looking for it. And so how will we know that is by by being more intentional and deliberate about what we're doing, and how we're hiring and what we're offering.   Michael Hingson  57:03 In a recent podcast interview here, I had a discussion with someone about diversity and disabilities in general, and how they're treated and persons with disabilities are treated and addressed in other countries. And one of the things that he said was that typically, it's much more obvious that people in other countries who happen to have a disability are treated as less than equal. And he had, for example, had had been has been in a couple of places where families with people with disabilities would even, in part, possibly shun those people. And there was a lot of trafficking of persons with disabilities. And I asked him, How do you contrast that with what goes on in the United States, and he said something very interesting. What he said was, that in this country, the attitudes are mostly still there. But we're more subtle about it. Oh, we love those people. There's the word right, those people, but you know, that we just don't think that they can do the things that we can do, or we're concerned about that. It's much more subtle, because they can't come right out and say it because there are laws. But then the and the laws prohibit supposedly discrimination, but we still do it. And but in a more subtle way, we see it a lot with things like internet access. And as you know, I work for accessibe, which is a company that manufactures products that make websites more usable for persons with disabilities. And we've, in our tracking, found that probably over 98% of all websites don't include a lot of the coding that would really make the website a lot more usable. And the problem is, it's a very expensive process to do it, especially if you do it after the fact. But accessibe has, has created some ways to make it a lot less expensive than most people experience. But the gap grows wider every day as more and more websites are created. And most of those websites are not accessible or inclusive as the way they should be. And again, it's a way of illustrating the conversation that just tends to leave people out. The major companies who really ought to deal with it, whether it be the WordPress is of the world or the Shopify is or Amazon's don't, in creating all the little shopping websites that people create to, to be able to market their products. There's no mandate for accessibility, even Apple on the iPhone. Apple has made the iPhone very accessible in in what it does, but there's nothing in the app store that mandates or requires accessibility to make sure that products are accessible. That Conversation still isn't there?   Prisma Garcia  1:00:03 I think you're right. And, you know, I'll, I'll mention, I want to tell you a quick story. And also something that I think has put disability at the forefront for me in terms of the work right. When I was at SVP, one of the things that I was responsible for was a young professionals program. And, you know, each year they would we would take a trip to the Dominican Republic, and the one of the philanthropist, he, you know, before he passed, he said, philanthropy is the is, is a game that everybody could participate in. Right? And in other words, right. And he said that the children in the Dominican, you know, we're playing sports, but there was, there was a student, it was at a, you know, an after school program, that he was blind, or he's, he's blind, and, and he couldn't see. And they were like, how is it gonna play? Right? How is he gonna play soccer, everybody's playing soccer. And they said, the kids drilled a hole in the soccer ball, and they put, they put beans in, and then he could hear he could hear the ball coming. And so it became, you know, it was a story that we would tell, and we were talking about this philanthropist, because he said, you know, philanthropy is something that everybody can have a role in playing play the game, right. And so, for me, I've tried to think of that too, right? We know that we talk, we have conversations of equity in the workplace, I think diversity is only a starting point. As I mentioned, like, if we don't have these conversations, then there's, there's not a lot of point of bringing people that look differently that come from different backgrounds that are have different abilities. It's not until we start to have these conversations and listen, because like I said, I'm not going to be looking maybe for some things that you would look for. And so I think they're having that openness to actually have these conversations and, and really calling it out. Because I think, you know, again, from my perspective, as a Latina, from your perspective, from all of our perspectives, you know, we're gonna find places that we don't, you know, not having that accessibility on a website, Michael, I can only imagine, I mean, how can you feel like you belong, right. And so for me, I'm, you know, you've triggered me in terms of like thinking more about these things. But then also, you know, how do we, I think we just need to keep asking ourselves, like, how can we make the workplace something that we can all participate in, right, just like the story I told I mentioned to you.   Michael Hingson  1:02:47 The problem is we have this term disability, and we can change what that means. We've changed what diversity means because diversity leaves out disabilities, we've changed many terminal terms over the years. But when we continue to say, So and so is disabled, that still comes back to they're not as able, as I. And the other part of it is the fear. Oh, my gosh, that could happen to me, because most persons with especially physical disabilities are probably persons who didn't necessarily start their lives that way. I don't know the statistics. So I won't swear to that. But the reality is there. There are lots of people in the Vietnam era, a lot of people came back from the wars, needing a wheelchair and having physical mobility issues and so on, or people who became blind or whatever. So there is also that fear, but we're not disabled. We do have this characteristic that has been generally classified as a disability. But we've got to separate that out from thinking that means we don't have the abilities that other people do. And people always try to hide it Oh, you're differently abled, not the last time I checked, the brain still works the same, I may use different techniques. So there's a lot that we really need to change, and words matter. It is something that we really need to start to work on a whole lot more like people constantly say, well, you're visually impaired. Not really, I don't think I look different because I'm blind visually, that has nothing to do with it, and impaired. Why does it have to be equated to eyesight? Deaf people are deaf or hard of hearing you would be plastered on the sidewalk by a sledgehammer. If you said deaf or hard of hearing or excuse me, deaf or hearing impaired, deaf or hard of hearing is the terminology that is generally used and I think blind and low vision is probably a more accurate term, but impaired again, words matter and we need to change that?   Prisma Garcia  1:05:01 Yes, so much of it is and you know, I think we constantly all of us, right, and even at being in this space, I, you know, I have found places where I can learn more as well. And, and I do think that the vocabulary is important. And, you know, I think so much I think so much about, you know, taking some of these words, take the humanity out of us, right. And that happens so often. I mean, whenever we hear immigrants, some sometimes it's, it's now associated to something negative whenever we, you know, people say legal right? Or, or people say, homeless like this, this group of people, and they're just out there, right? They're homeless versus, you know, we're, we're still hold, we can still be a hole and, and be different. And so, you know, it is you bring up great points my go on, and I know that for me, I'm constantly identifying vocabulary that is inequitable, because so often, and I think about it, especially when I do some of our my nonprofit work and, you know, in the mental health clinic, and then the, you know, with the different groups I talked about, you know, is, you know, we talk about like these at risk communities as at risk children, you know, things that essentially almost like downgrade you, right? Like, I was essentially an at risk kid, right? Just because I'm part of the zip code or that neighborhood. And so, but I'm still child, right, I was still child. So I think sometimes, you're completely right, the vocabulary, it's almost like you're less than   Michael Hingson  1:06:44 well, and in fact, it, it becomes that way, because that's the way people think, Well, you do a lot with social impact. And I wanted to quickly understand what what that means. And how do you measure it?   Prisma Garcia  1:06:57 Yes, in terms of social impact, I mean, I think in my specific role, obviously, I do a lot of things outside my actual job. You know, I'm MoneyGram. But um, money, gram is very focused on volunteerism, employee engagement. There's, we have a found

Our guest on this episode of Unstoppable Mindset is Sentari Minor. Mr. Minor, a Phoenix native grew up learning to be a storyteller and writer. As he explains, today he uses his ability to write to communicate and help CEOs to learn more about philanthropy, policy, and driving social impact in their spheres of influence.   Two years ago Mr. Minor joined EvolvedMD as its head of strategy. EvolvedMD works at the forefront of the healthcare industry, among other things, combining the work of practicing physicians and therapists to better help patients especially, where both a physical issue and a possible mental or emotional crisis may be contributing to the same illness. He will tell us some stories about his current work. Even in the time of Covid, his company's cadre of workers has grown from 10 to several hundred. Sentari's work recently earned him a place on Phoenix Business Journal's prestigious “40 Under 40” list for 2022.   As usual, our guest inspires both through his stories and his work. I trust that you will find Mr. Minor's time with us beneficial and informative. Most of all, I believe you will find his work shows that he legitimately is unstoppable and a good example for all of us.     About the Guest: Sentari Minor is most passionate about bringing the best out of individuals and entities. His love languages are strategy, storytelling, and social impact. As Head of Strategy for evolvedMD, Mr. Minor is at the forefront of healthcare innovation with a scope of work that includes strategy, growth, branding, culture, and coaching. His deft touch recently earned him a place on Phoenix Business Journal's prestigious “40 Under 40” list for 2022.   Prior to evolvedMD, he advised prominent and curious CEOs and entrepreneurs regarding philanthropy, policy, and driving social impact as the Regional Director of Alder (Phoenix, Dallas, San Francisco), and strengthened social enterprises as a director at venture philanthropy firm, Social Venture Partners. When he's not busy making change, Mr. Minor enjoys health and fitness, engaging issues on social media, exploratory writing, and spending time with the people who make him smile.   Ways to connect with Sentari:   Website – About Sentari Minor Medium – Sentari Minor on Medium LinkedIn – Sentari Minor on LinkedIn         About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.     Michael Hingson  01:20 Well, hi there, wherever you happen to be today. And I am Mike Hingson, host of unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're with us. And we have a guest today Sentari Minor, who will tell you that his passion is trying to be bring the best out of individuals and entities. And I'm gonna be very interested to hear about that and all the other things that that you have to talk about. So welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Sentari Minor  01:47 I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me.   Michael Hingson  01:50 Well, what's our pleasure? Tell us a little bit about you kind of go back to the beginning. And you know, what your roots are and how you got a little bit of where you are today in schooling and anything else like that that you want to throw in,   Sentari Minor  02:02 man. So just back to the beginning. That takes the first hour, right? I'm trying to that is a that's a lot, but I'll try to I'll try to condense it into something that's five minutes or less. So I guess super excited to be here. So I am a Phoenix native. I grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, which has grown so much essence when I was a little kid out. So I grew up here in Arizona, and was always a very, very interesting kid. I did a I did a a storytelling session. There's this group called the whole story that got together kind of six to eight Black Storytellers and just had them come on stage and like talk about something. And what I talked about was being like the first Black Nerd, as I put it before, it was cool. And so I was always just like a very interesting kid that loves school loved reading was pretty introverted, even though I'm naturally an extroverted person. And so I was kind of like an always an oddball, but in like, in a way that I loved and it was very embraced. So grew up in Phoenix, went to an International Baccalaureate High School, so a very kind of competitive High School. And there, I really got the bug for academics, and was really successful in that in that realm. And for those who are listening, you'll know that Arizona, great state, great state universities, but very, very big universities. And so I knew for me that for me that to thrive, I needed to find a smaller school, so I looked elsewhere. So I went to I went to college in Indiana, so I went to Phoenix, Arizona, one of the largest cities in the country to Greencastle, Indiana, a small rural town of about 10,000, to a university that was smaller than my High School at DePaul University where I studied English with an emphasis in creative writing. So I thought I wanted to be a writer, a journalist. And turns out I do a lot of writing in my current career. So that background served me well. But after college, I've always worked a lot in the social impact nonprofit space is done everything from program management, to program development to a lot of marketing, communications, and fundraising. Actually, I think where I hit my stride was working for a firm called Social Venture Partners, where I worked with nonprofits, social impact organizations, and also donors to really build capacity in organization. So folks that are really passionate about their mission, but just need a little help on how to support that mission from an infrastructure standpoint. So I got to be the director of that firm, and we had a lot of wonderful people and help a lot of really impactful organizations. Following that, I joined a group called Gen X, which has now been rebranded to older and that the mission of that organization was to really take purposeful leaders so owners, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and provide them the education and kind of the space to work really figured out how they wanted to leverage their networks and their kind of expertise and influence to make a better world for the next generation. And so that looked like curating content on education, economic opportunity, national security, facilitating these really, really intense dinners on how Jeffersonian dinners on just topics of the day, doing a lot on policy during London philanthropies. So I had a cohort, a cadre of about 30, CEOs in each of the markets that I ran, which was Phoenix, Dallas and San Francisco and got to just see a lot of really impactful and powerful people that play. And I learned a lot from them on a lot of things. But out of that one of the CEOs that was part of that group is the CEO I work for now. And the company that I'm with as head of strategy at evolved and D, and we integrate behavioral health into primary care. So we put a therapist where you would, where you get your primary care. So where your doctor OBGYN, we embedded therapist right next to them, so they can work on your pair together to some great clinical outcomes. So I've been with this company for two years, and it's been amazing learning a lot about the healthcare world, learning a lot about building a strategy for a company that when I started was about 10 employees will be at 100 by the end of the year. So really privileged and honored to be part of an executive team that's growing very quickly, and part of a solution to a growing problem. And that's me. So that's from when I was a kid out to today.   Michael Hingson  06:33 How many years is that?   Sentari Minor  06:35 That is 30, I'll be 37 in less than a month, October?   Michael Hingson  06:41 Well, you, you summarized a lot in a fairly short amount of time. That's pretty cool. What made you decide to go to a small school as opposed to one of the bigger schools like Arizona, Arizona state and so on,   Sentari Minor  06:54 you know, I just liked I just knew that I wanted a little bit more kind of direct education or rather direct instruction. So you're there. You have a there's an estate great again, great schools, but a lecture hall with 400 kids was just never going to be my thing, right? I, I went to a kind of a school within a school. So we had a cohort of same kids from freshman through senior year of high school. And I wanted that kind of that kind of vibe. And I also knew that I wanted to just really have some time to understand what I really wanted to do. I went in to college as like an econ. Econ major, and then quickly pivoted that to English. And I don't know if I would have done that at a larger school, but I love the small. The small school, but my senior year of college, I had a history class with four students, which is great, right? Like you have deep, deep conversations about a lot of things. And so I enjoyed the smaller schools. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  07:55 Well, I know that I read a book. Well, you may have read it, you've may have heard about an David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell, you're not. And he talks about fitting into different places. And he talked about the very subject of a lot of people want to go to these big colleges like Harvard and so on, when really their disposition and maybe their talents would be better. By going to a smaller school, he put it in terms of being a fish, big fish in a small pond, rather than being a smaller fish in a huge pond, where you don't get the same level of what you need. And I know for me, personally, I very much enjoyed going to a smaller school, at least at the time, UC Irvine back in late 1960s, early 1970s. We had I think, 2700 students the year that I enrolled, that was the fourth year of the school, and it was so much better having a small amount of people.   Sentari Minor  08:52 Right now you see your friends a huge squat. Well, in my mind a huge school.   Michael Hingson  08:56 Yeah, well, now, I don't know, I think the population is about 28,000. So it has grown a little bit. Yes, quite a bit. But you, you've you've evolved into this, this person that loves to, as you said, bring the best out of people. What, what drove you to do that, as opposed to sticking with English and just writing or telling stories? Well, yeah, let me let's start with that. Yeah, that's   Sentari Minor  09:20 a good question. I think, um, I think for some reason, I think it's probably mostly around like, I the thing that bugs me the most is inequality and injustice. And so I've always been drawn to the social impact sector. So doing good has always been like a through line in my life. And so, for me, doing good looks like helping and I think most of my career, you'll see has been helping leaders. So people of influence, kind of figure out how they can help others and so I've been really good at the coaching the advising that being a thought leader in spaces and rooms where folks are looking to me to kind of guide them on what that looks like. And it's been really I think it's been so rewarding to see you know, a see Have a company or someone that helps a brand learn from me and say like, this is the strategy we're going to use, either in our corporation or in our person in my personal life to, to launch this, this platform of kind of just social good. And I just love, I love that. And I think I had a really good time, I think I've been successful and building a brand around me kind of thinking, I think people come to me to want to figure out how to better themselves from like, a social impact standpoint. And it's been really, it's been really, really wonderful to kind of create, create that ecosystem around me.   Michael Hingson  10:36 Well, have you? Have you been able to use your your English in your writing as you go? Because obviously, you're not writing books and writing stories all the time and doing that? Or are you   Sentari Minor  10:47 know, so that's really, I think, one? I think it goes back to your question that you just asked, I think a liberal arts education actually helps you become just a much more rounded, well rounded person. So I think for me, I was able to come out of my years at at DePaul just learning how to think and like how to think critically and understand like problems and and synthesize them. So whether it was English or econ, I think I would have had that kind of same mindset or me, I think, also, what is what is becoming? Well, there's a lot of research around it, what is becoming more abundantly clear is that the the ability to write, to communicate, to really have a compelling arguments, which comes from having a background in English, or journalism is so invaluable. So for me, English, has helped me become a phenomenal writer, right. And then in my day job, I oversee a team that does our comms and content, and showing constantly the power of storytelling, and how that can compel someone to do something that is socially good. So I don't write stories or novels. But I do write all the time and then do coaching with my team on how do you take, take some words into a compelling piece of copy that drives someone to do to make a decision that can ultimately do good. So I use English every day. And I'm very thankful for that, that kind of the instruction and background that I have in it, because I think it's served me quite well.   Michael Hingson  12:15 And I think that's the real key. My background is in physics. And although I don't do physics, and I haven't really spent time doing physics. At the same time, the skills that I learned and the attitudes and the philosophy, I think make such a huge difference. In the way I approach thing, one of the one of the things I learned in physics is you always pay attention to the details. And it isn't always the way the numbers work out. But if the units don't work out with the numbers, there's something wrong. So if you want to compute acceleration, if you don't get meters per second squared in your units, or, or feet per second squared, then you've got a problem. And it's always a matter of paying attention to the details as much as anything else.   Sentari Minor  13:00 Love that sector. I've just wrote that down into the details. I love that.   Michael Hingson  13:03 So one of the things that I learned a lot was paying attention to details. And recognizing that there are a lot of ways to expand. I also agree that telling stories is extremely important. I've been in sales most of my life. And one of the things that I learned early on. And I don't remember whether it was just something that I figured out, or someone said to me was that good salespeople can tell stories that relate and I think I didn't hear that from someone. But I am a firm believer in it that the best salespeople are the people who can really advise, can tell stories, and relate. It isn't just pushing your product, especially if your product might not be the best product for an individual. And so that gets to another story. Yep. I agree about that. So it's it's telling stories is a lot of fun. And I always enjoy hearing good well told stories or reading, well written story. So it works out well. So you are obviously trying to bring the best out of in people and all that. And in my experience, usually something happens to people that kind of shaped their their life plans or whatever, did you have an experience? Or Did something happened to you really that led you to just choose the career path that you have?   Sentari Minor  14:23 No, I wouldn't say it links you the career path that I have. Because I think my career path has kind of been by happenstance, like I'm just really opportunistic. So what I would I would have set out to be at 22 was not what I am now and I don't think I think it's I think that's how people are most successful and how it works out that way. But I do think I can point to I've been reflecting on this experience where that might have shaped my values. And that would be so I so I came out when I was 13 which is really which is really a you know, beautiful experience. I luckily had a very supportive family. And a great support system. So my coming out story is not like a lot of coming out stories which are unfortunately, riddled with sadness, and just a lot of terrible things that come out of that. But I was always embraced for my sexuality, and that was something that I know a lot of 13 year olds don't get. But it also instilled just a competence in me from a very young age that I think happened, and helped a lot of the way that I've looked at the world, which is like to be unabashedly authentic. And I believe that one of my, I believe, admirable traits is just how authentic I am and how I show up for for people for the brands that I represent for the things that I do. And it was because I was so supported at that young age. And it taught me that like, the world is gonna view you in a certain way, no matter what, but it's how you how you overcome that, and how you manage and shape yourself around that, that is truly important. Because of that, I think I am able to go into spaces, go into companies go into these conversations with folks at a high level and really show up as myself and someone that is obviously very much passionate, very much caring, and just wants to do good. And I have to do the good because I know there are people like me that don't have the same that didn't have the same reaction to something that should be so beautiful, that I did. And I just want to make sure that all those folks as well as folks who have experienced any other kind of hardship are well taken care of too, and, and get to have that platform, because of what I do.   Michael Hingson  16:27 That's cool. And being authentic. Being authentic is as important as it gets, no matter what you do. And it's all too often that we see in the world, people who just feel they can't be authentic, or they don't want to be authentic, or they want to hide and it's great when you get to understand that that's an important thing. And bring that forward in your life. Because anyone you deal with is going to certainly recognize that it was when you're authentic, people know it and people know when you're blowing smoke.   Sentari Minor  16:59 It was so true. Yeah. And it just being authentic leads so much credibility to things. And also I think being authentic also means not being perfect. And I think people really resonate with folks that say like, this isn't going well, or I failed at this or you know, I don't have the answer. And I think I've always showed up to spaces and say like, I'm the first one to say like, I have no idea. But we can work on it together. And that's a piece of puffins being authentic, that is so, so, so important.   Michael Hingson  17:27 Yeah, it's really important to be able to do that I when I was a student teacher, I had a math class that I was teaching. And one of the students asked a question, and I should have known the answer. But for whatever reason I didn't. But what I said to him into the class was, you know, I don't know, I probably shouldn't know it. It's not that magical. This is freshman algebra. And I'm getting a master's degree in physics, but I don't I wouldn't know this. But I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to have the answer by tomorrow. And after class, my master teacher who was the football coach, so a real tough guy comes up to me. And he said, You don't know how much you scored in the way of points and how much adoration admiration you got from those kids, because you were honest. And you know, that's always been the way I am. By the way, the next day, I did have the answer. But the the young man who asked the question also came in him before I got to say anything, he said, I figured it out. And so I said, Alright, Marty, come up and write your answer on the board. Because being blind, I'm not a great Blackboard writer. And so I always chose a different student every day to write on the board. When we needed to do Blackboard writing. I had him come up and I said write it on the board. And it was great. And I know that I had an impact on him. Because 10 years later, I was at a faire in Orange County, California, the Orange County Fair. And this guy with his very deep voice comes up to me and he says, Hey, Mr. hingson? Do you remember me? And no, who are you? Because as Marty was his very high pitched young voice anyway, he said, I'm Marty, I met you and I was in your class 10 years ago. I remember who he was. That's so cool. Which was really cool. Well, you know, the very fact that you had a good support system and so on, was really cool. And you didn't probably go through a lot of the traumas that, that people did. But, you know, if I were to ask this out of curiosity, what would you like to have known at 10? That you didn't know, at 10 years old?   Sentari Minor  19:29 Oh, about that, huh? When I was 10, I think that the God I probably I would say this now, but that there's just so much of the world ahead of you and that like the gravity and weight of the quote unquote problems just aren't there. And people tell you that like your whole world, you have your whole world and so much life ahead of you and your gender, like whatever. But I wish I could go back and like the lessons like you don't have to have it all figured out. Um, all this stuff that in flux is going to change. You know, pain, it's only temporary, like, I think that'd be heavy for a 10 year old to understand. But I think hearing that as a 10 year old, like, if I could see me talking to my 10 year old self, that would be what it is like, there's just so much more that's going to happen than what's happening right now.   Michael Hingson  20:19 How about when you're older? When you're 21? What do you wish that you had known that that you didn't learn till later,   Sentari Minor  20:25 kind of what we talked about before that, like what you, your journey is going to be very different than what you think it is. So don't be caught up on like, what's your job and be don't be caught up on who you're dating or who your friends are, who your friends are like, Your journey is going to change so much. And you're going to be introduced to so many people that are going to push you and pull you in different directions that there's no possible way that the track you have all mapped out because everyone does it through on the track, you have all map that is ever going to kind of come to fruition and be okay with that. Like, it's actually great that it's not going to I wish I knew that then because I wouldn't have put so much pressure on myself to do quote unquote, the right things, I would have just let it be, which would have been super helpful.   Michael Hingson  21:07 The other side of that is that even if your path and your track go exactly as you thought they would, if you're open to to change, and you're open to listening to people, then it's only going to enhance whatever you do anyway,   Sentari Minor  21:21 I think that's probably an even better way of putting it like just be open to feedback and be open to really coaching and guidance. And now in my life, I have an executive coach. So therapists like these things would have been much more probably impactful at 21 than now because it's like, I would have I wish I would have had someone to tell me to like listen to other people more. I think that's actually a great point. Just listen to other people more.   Michael Hingson  21:45 Of course, the other side of it is of course a 10 You You knew everything there was to know. And then by the time you were 21 or 25, you're surprised at how much your parents learned, right? That's so funny. Oh, yes, it always happens. But it is. Life is such an adventure. And I've always viewed it as an adventure and really love that. It's an adventure. And I think that whatever we do, it's important that we think about it that way. Because having an adventure for life, even if it's what other people would call just sort of humdrum. And it's not very exciting. But if you can see the excitement and bring out the adventure in life, that just makes you a better person, it seems to me   Sentari Minor  22:33 Yes, I completely agree. That's Yes, that's a beautiful way of putting it.   Michael Hingson  22:37 Well, even with that. So do you have any kinds of things in life that you wish hadn't happened? Maybe that you regret? Does anything impact you with with that sort of thing?   Sentari Minor  22:47 Oh, there too. I think the big? Oh, that's a good question. I wish I would have spent more time with my dad, he, he passed when I was a junior junior in college. And we were just kidding, my mom's split when I was younger. And so we just never, like, we just were never very close. And I wish that I would have spent more time getting close because it was also it was kind of a matter of like, not even inconvenience. It was more so apathy. Like he was around, he lived in the same city, but like we never really got together. And I wish that there was more time that I got to spend with him because I think there would be so much more about myself that I learned about me. And so like when you do a lot of therapy you have you talked about your family of origin, right, like your parents and what you why you show up, the way that you do is always because of like how you're raised and your parents, it's up. And I wish I had like that data points from my dad to understand. So I regret not knowing him more.   Michael Hingson  23:45 Yeah, my dad and I had a close relationship. But even so, I wish we had more time to spend talking with each other.   Sentari Minor  23:55 Yeah. And then going back to, you know, when you're 10 that I think the what I wish I knew there is that also, while there's so much life ahead of you. Life is finite, like there's a will, there will be things that do end, and I wish I because when you're 10 you're like well, I'll get to it later or like I'll spend time later, and it just never came. And so that would also been helpful like that. And I think that as I reflect on that, like that's a regret of mine that obviously I can't really do anything about now, but if I were to go back   Michael Hingson  24:26 other than passing that knowledge on some way to others and who are growing up and helping them maybe not make that same mistake.   Sentari Minor  24:36 Yeah, I think I think it's good to have that but I feel like so many people have that knowledge already like everyone's like you never know when your parents are gonna pass or like you always you never know what anyone that you love is going to kind of be out of your life and yet still, that doesn't. I don't think that advice like empowers people enough. Yeah, make the phone call and so maybe it's just repetition like keep saying it or like I went through it. You should know this like Go call your parents because you just never know.   Michael Hingson  25:01 Or go well, yeah, you, you can approach it from a sense fear like that of you never know when they're gonna pass. Or you can say, you know, they've had a lot more experienced than you and this is your time to take advantage of that.   Sentari Minor  25:14 I love the way you put that because it goes to what you just asked about the being 21. It's like you can learn from these people around you that you have great access to so do it.   Michael Hingson  25:22 Yeah, we we just don't always take advantage of a lot of things that we can we we all think we know too much. And as a as a person who happens to be blind. Of course, I hear it all the time about what I can't do, because I can't see. And I've learned along the way, that one of the ways to maybe make people think about that is well, how do you know, have we ever tried being blind? You know, the fact is that the concern the concepts and the attitudes and misconceptions that people have are what what drives us and what make us what we are. But by the same token, if we're not open to exploring new things, and recognizing this is the time to learn. Whenever it is, we don't we don't grow.   Sentari Minor  26:07 Yeah. And you know, wonder I love your take on it. Like, do you feel like most people have a growth mindset or like a cure? Maybe not even a growth mindset, but like a curious mindset, one of the values that I have, for me and then disappear. I surround myself as being like, intellectually curious, but I don't know if most people are so I don't know, like, if what we were talking about resonates with a lot of people, but I would hope it does. Yeah, I   Michael Hingson  26:30 agree with you. And I don't think that people always have as much of a curious mindset as we should. One of my favorite books is a book entitled, surely you're joking, Mr. Mr. Fineman adventures of a curious fellow and it's the autobiography of Richard Fineman, the physicist and he talks even in the first chapter about the fact that his father pushed him to be curious about everything. They were, I think, because I recall, him telling the story in a park one day, and his father said, why is that bird flying? How can that bird fly? You know, and he, he really encouraged Fineman to be a curious individual. And I wish more people would do that. Rather than making assumptions no matter how much they see, no matter how much they have experienced. That goes one way, it doesn't mean that it always will. Yeah. Yeah. And so there's, there's a lot to be said for being curious. And no, I really wish more people were more curious. And we generally tend to be I agree with that, and ask questions, whether it's about disabilities, whether it's about sexuality, or race or anything else. It I think is so important that we learn to be more curious than we are   Sentari Minor  27:50 curious. And the nice thing also on the other side of that on the third person that's being questioned, having some mercy and some grace for the for the question. So if someone's being vulnerable, vulnerable enough to be curious, with you and about you, you also have to be vulnerable enough to understand that, like, part of this conversation and curiosity, there might be some missteps, but they're coming from, from a place of genuine curiosity, and in that curiosity, kind of love for lack of a better term of you. And I think that's something that we've been missing a lot as a as a society. But I, this is a this inspired me to kind of say that too.   Michael Hingson  28:24 And it goes both ways. If somebody is curious and asking me questions, I feel I should answer, but I also want to understand more, more of why they're asking the   Sentari Minor  28:35 question, they're asking the question, yes, for sure. Absolutely. Yes.   Michael Hingson  28:38 Because that teaches me something. Right. And I think that that is just as important as being able to teach something to somebody else. I want to learn as well. I've always said on this podcast that if I'm not learning at least as much as everyone else who listens to it, then I'm not doing my job. When I go deliver a speech if I don't get to learn a lot from all the speakers around me or just being around the people who are attending the event, then I'm not doing my job well because I should learn from that as well. Love that. Love that. So it is it is kind of important to be able to do that. So I'm curious Alder, how did that name come about?   Sentari Minor  29:22 No, they actually it's interesting. They rebranded after me. So when I left the company, they rebranded to Alder Alder, which I think was like the burgeoning of a seed. So I don't know that the reason behind the the tweet because that happened, right, right after I left the company.   Michael Hingson  29:38 Hmm. Has it been successful for them? Do you think or,   Sentari Minor  29:42 you know, talking to my colleagues, it seems like it I haven't really done a deep dive into it. But I think from what I can understand from the conversations I've had with both members, staff, you know, my peers there and then just from general viewing on social media, it seems like it's a it's been a great rebrand and we roll out of I'm repositioning of the work. Okay.   Michael Hingson  30:04 Well, as long as it as long as it makes sense, and people can relate to it, of course, branding is all about trying to get people to relate to you or doing something that will help people remember you. So, absolutely. So what is the evolved MD? That's an interesting name.   Sentari Minor  30:22 Yeah, so it's exactly what it says sounds like, really, our tagline is like, we want to reimagine behavioral health. And so watching medicine evolve. We, again, we're our approach to mental health. It's not, it's not new, but it is novel. So what we do is actually a model called collaborative care that came out of the University of Washington, 18 center, but we was kind of the kind of at the forefront of really figuring out how to commercialize it, and then enhance it in a way that is both better for or better for both patients, the providers and all the other stakeholders. And so I think when I think of evolved, it's like, how do we kind of evolve this model, how we evolve medicine, and especially how we evolve behavior and   Michael Hingson  31:06 mental health. Right? So tell me a little more if you could about this whole concept of having a doctor and a therapist together?   Sentari Minor  31:14 Yes, won't do. So. collaborative care really is and it makes so much sense. And I was I was actually on a podcast yesterday with a one of the dogs that we work with in Utah, and he came from the military. And he said, he was very good about saying, you know, the military has always done this, the military has been integrated. So your physical and mental health are, are kind of done in this under the same roof. And so it's that model of you, Michael would go into your primary care physician, they would screen you for anxiety, depression, any other negative mental health symptoms and say, Hey, there's seems like there's some things that are a cause for concern, we have a therapist in the next room, I will do the warm handoff, introduce you, and then that therapist would go about your care. And then the cool part of the model is that that therapist then circles back with your doc and say, This is what I've learned from there. And then we're going to collaborate and it's been a collaborative care, we're going to collaborate on your care, and pull it any other resource that we need, so that Michael is healthy physically. So he's healthy mentally. And it comes to great clinical outcomes. And so the cool thing about the model was that we've learned that people really, really trust their primary care physician, so you can trust your doctor a lot. If your doctor says, Hey, I think you should see someone and I trust that person. And by the way, they're just in the office next door, you're definitely going to, you're definitely going to do that. And it's just such a beautiful model to see how it's reduced stigma, because you don't have to go to a special place or special clinic to go see mental health, it's just right where you see your doctor. It normalizes care. And so it's all in that same kind of care continuum that you you're already in by being in your PCP, and just increases access, it's really, it makes it easier for folks. It makes it financially viable. And so we're really excited about the work that we do, I'm really honored and proud of how we've grown the company. And just the two years I've been here, and then now you're seeing a lot of literature around behavioral health integration. In fact, the Biden administration just put out something in the last couple of months that saying like, this is the way of the future, and we're going to put money and incentivize and, and really implore a lot of people to integrate care, and we get to be at the forefront of that. So it's been, it's been a wonderful journey so far.   Michael Hingson  33:31 So what exactly does evolved do in the process evolved?   Sentari Minor  33:35 So what we do is, we are think of us, if you're a primary care group, we were kind of your, your, your partner, your white label, partner in behavioral health. So we recruit, hire, train, and embed the therapist. So all the therapy parts are our folks. And so they are our employees, they do look and feel like the wherever you see your position, which is really cool. So it's essentially a white level label approach. And we also provide a lot of we do the clinical supervision, the training, and then we get to be the thought partner in mental health. And so when I came on to the your question about English, when I came on, I said, we have to start telling the story not only about integrated health, but how do we normalize care. And that's and reduce stigma. And that's sharing stories, all of the executive team sharing their personal stories with mental health and making that very public conversations like this. And there's really this pushing out the forefront of like, this is this is normal, like these conversations should be normal. And by the way, we have an option where you get to go have this conversation with your doctor, they can also tie it to your physical health. And it's been it's been wonderful. It's been great.   Michael Hingson  34:42 Well, since you're a good storyteller, can you actually tell us a story about maybe a success where, and give us an example of how this has all worked and came brought about a successful conclusion. Obviously, not mentioning names or anything but yeah, stories are always great.   Sentari Minor  34:59 I think I can give you two and both, unfortunately around suicidal ideation. So our model has seen, I'm trying to kind of make us this as generic as possible. So one of our primary care physicians, when they first started the program, I had a patient artists panel that he's seen for a while. So just a regular gentleman that's been coming to the same doctor for years. Very successful man, very baffling part of town of affluent part of Phoenix. So we started seeing this person and then our, our therapist, started getting embedded in the, in the clinic, and started seeing this person to and came in by the work of having both of those two people, therapists and the physician in the same place, they were able to uncover that this man, this very ostensibly successful man had been sleeping with a gun under his pillow, and had been contemplating suicide for quite some time. The doc had no idea. Obviously, this man presents very well, I he's, he's healthy, presumably happy. But just having the therapist there to ask the right questions. And also, here's the other part, not only ask the right questions, but then be there as a resource complex, save that man's life. And I think the big thing to take away from that is that people who are having suicidal ideation and suicidal thoughts don't appear, how you might think they were, they could be the ones that are smiling, the ones that are happy that whatever super successful, but it takes someone to ask the right questions to make sure that they're okay before something happens. And that's one that I think is really, really, really powerful. And then one that happened. Recently, also around a suicide was having a patient in crisis in clinic. So if you're a physician, unfortunately, right now, if you're a physician, without our services, you're just not equipped to deal with a patient in crisis, someone's going through something in your finger, in your exam room, where you happen to be there on a day where there was a patient in crisis, and it was very clear that this person was going to hurt the heart of themselves. And very soon, so are our therapists. And this is why we love our model so much, our therapist that's on site that was right there was able to deescalate the situation, get them immediately into the care that they needed. And obviously, again, seems like they're so I think those are the stories that are kind of the big stories. But there's also come some small wins, where we've had patients say, like, You've helped me with my anxiety, and now I can actually, like leave my home. Or I realized that these are some things that I've been really scared of, and I haven't been able to articulate it. But just having these sessions with you has really helped me thrive and prosper. It's just like, we have countless mission moments, every week, where we have stories of just successes within the clinics that are super exciting and hearing how are our services are not only like transformational, but sometimes life saving, it's very rewarding to be part of you   Michael Hingson  37:58 telling the second story about the patient in crisis just reminds me of something that all of us hear about every day. And that is all the things that go on with police and encountering patients with some sort of mental health crisis. And they don't have the training to deal with that. To a large degree, and that creates problems. And oftentimes, a gun goes off, which isn't going to help. But we we do hear occasionally. And I've seen I think on 60 minutes and a few other places where there have been some police departments that are shifting some of what they do, recognizing what the real issues are over to more mental health professionals who are able to go in and deescalate and bring about a much more positive solution.   Sentari Minor  38:42 Yep. You know, I think there's a fine line, I have folks that are in law for law enforcement. And then obviously friends who do this work in social work. So I think there's there has to be the right balance and mix. But I do think there's an appropriate response from an on call response from a social worker, but also realizing that there's a realities of the world where a police officer just has to be there. So hopefully those two working collaboratively, we'll find some better solutions in the coming years around. How do we get ahead of that?   Michael Hingson  39:09 Yeah. And it's, and it's important to be able to do it. How about the docks, when you go when you go in and start to work in places? are the primary care physicians generally open? Or do you oftentimes, at least at first see a lot of resistance to changing the way in a sense they operate? Oh,   Sentari Minor  39:31 that's a great question. I think it really just depends on kind of the culture of the community and the and the practice already. Right. So there are some folks and some groups that we work with that are just naturally collaborative. So we go in and they're like, Oh, we understand. We understand. We're excited for you to be here. Some take a little bit of finessing and work but I say kudos to our team for on the front end having those conversations before our even before our therapists even start day one of like, these are the expectations this is why we're doing it and getting the buy in from the physicians on the front end, but at the end The day, it just takes a little bit of it just takes what hear one story about like the ones that I just told you. Yeah, all it's seeing it in action. We're like, whoa, and we hear from customers all the time. Like, we have no idea what we did before you were here. And so I think any resistance is assuaged once they actually see the programming, and motion. But I just doing this work for the last few years and hearing more about kind of the instruction curriculum and kind of the programs that MDS or do is go through, there's not a lot around integrated health, and so are integrated care. So sometimes people are just the concept of it doesn't make sense to them. So we get to be on the front end of the education. And then of course, you get the buy in once you have the patient stories and get to see the impact firsthand.   Michael Hingson  40:50 Because you've often the just something in Phoenix or is it nationwide? Or how large of an area do you care, we're   Sentari Minor  40:55 in Phoenix metro area, and then other parts of Arizona and then a big a big piece in Salt Lake and then our sales team is rapidly trying to figure out where we're going next. So I bet if you if we did this again in a year that that those two cities would be expanded quite a bit,   Michael Hingson  41:12 well, then we should plan on doing this in a year or two. Important? Well, so it's exciting that you've gone, as you said, in two years from 10 people to over 100. Early in the time,   Sentari Minor  41:27 we'll get 100. But God will be at 100 by the end of the year. Yeah. So we're   Michael Hingson  41:30 in a time of COVID, you're expanding? Yes.   Sentari Minor  41:34 You know, fortunately, unfortunately, COVID really exacerbated the need for mental health services. And so I think it actually, it actually kind of rocket ship and launched a lot of our sales funnel, because so many primary care groups, and large healthcare systems were like, Oh, my God, we we see in our clinics every day, the need for some behavioral health component. And so we were able to kind of go in and be the savior of the solution for a lot of folks. So we've grown exponentially during that time, because, as I said, at the beginning of this, the problem is just so harrowing.   Michael Hingson  42:05 Why do you think that the Biden administration in the government is now taking such an interest in collaborative care? And I guess the other part of that is, if the administration changes, will that go away? Or is it something that will stick? Oh, those are big. I know, I have not given a lot of thought. It's a really scary one to   Sentari Minor  42:28 see the first question, I think, integrated and collaborative care. Again, it's been something that's it's not new, but it's been novel. And I think they're now starting to really understand the commercial viability, and then the clinical efficacy, the AMA, American Medical Association, and then a number of other physician based groups came out and said, like, from the physician, the MD, the physical health side, we need this. And this has got to happen. And I think the administration also understands that it's probably the best way when there's this idea of like value based care where we're a essentially, healthcare entities will be paid based on the outcomes of patients. And understanding that integration is actually a cost savings mechanism, if I can work with you and your primary care office to have a conversation around suicidal ideation, or what you might need rather than you showing up in an ER, that saves the country's money. And so they're understanding like, from a holistic point of view, this is probably the best thing that we can do overall, for people's care. I don't know, I think with any piece of legislation or any, not even just legislation, because it hasn't been legislated yet, but any type of like a referendum or initiative that starts in an administration, there's always the, the, there's always the possibility that it could go away. But I think I'm confident that this, people will understand how impactful this is. And it will be kind of an evergreen thing. It's just like, I envision a world where people were like, This is just how care is done. Like this is just the standard in the United States. So regardless, if it's, if it's Biden, whoever, if it's a Republican, Democrat, doesn't matter. This is just how we do care. And I think we can kind of prove out that model, or at least I hope so.   Michael Hingson  44:08 Well, they're very fact that the AMA is a part of it, and is endorsing the concept has to help a lot.   Sentari Minor  44:14 Yes, yes, yes, yes.   Michael Hingson  44:15 I would think that, like with most professions, and so on a lot of doctors or the profession, generally tends to be pretty conservative. Although when you get down to the specifics of Physical Medicine, and so on, they're always looking for the next good thing. But this is a little bit of a departure from that. So if they're taking an interest in, in supporting it, that's got to help   Sentari Minor  44:39 you and I think it's mostly because they're seeing patients and they're, they're seeing patients in your clinic that you are not either equipped to handle or that you just don't have time to and I think that's the other big piece is even a physician physician wants to do the right thing and help that patient. They just don't have enough time to do it. Whereas we were there to help and work on I'm alongside them to say, hey, we're gonna take this review. This is stuff that we know how to do, by the way you get to go do the great things that you know how to do with physical care.   Michael Hingson  45:07 Yeah. And are able to move forward? Is collaborative care a concept that is being embraced outside the US as well?   Sentari Minor  45:19 That I do not know. That's a good question. I, um, we focus mostly around the United States. But I don't know. Be interesting to see, that is a good guy.   Michael Hingson  45:29 And again, it does have to start somewhere. And if it starts here, and expands, then so much the better. I love that. Yep. But you, you have a lot of tough challenges to, to deal with and helping to introduce these concepts and moving people forward, which is great. How do you how do you build and keep a sense of resiliency in your life and what you do? Oh,   Sentari Minor  45:53 that's a great question. I think building resiliency is, it's like, it's a mindset and framework of how do you position things and that happened to us? So for me, I think of everything. And I was doing my second podcast today, by the way. The first one, I was talking more   Michael Hingson  46:08 about resilience.   Sentari Minor  46:12 How do I approach failure, which is something that you learn from and so every time that there's a challenge or setback, I think about it from a gift of it occurs, but it's a gift of I get to learn from this. And so I think that builds resiliency, I think having a great community around me, I have a great group of friends, coworkers, loved ones, a great partner, a great therapist, a great coach. And so all of those things together helped me everyday build up a little something. And then also, just honestly, not taking life too seriously. I think. Yeah, it's, you know, at the end of the day, like, I lose my job, I get all these things can happen. But I know that like, I'll figure it out. And I think that's actually been one of the things that really saved me and my mental health, like, and anything I approach or anything I do, it's like, I'll figure it out. I will be okay. Like it, it may suck, it may be hard, but I'll get through it. And that's, that's, I approach everything like that. And each each day of my life that way. And so once you have that mindset, you're like, Yeah, I'll get through it. If not, I'll make it work. And so that's been a that's been very, very helpful in doing this work.   Michael Hingson  47:20 Cool. Well, at the same time, have you had major times where you've had adversity that really made life tough for you that helped them as a result, build resiliency Do you think   Sentari Minor  47:35 I wouldn't say like a specific example. But I do think that I've been reflecting on this a lot more, there was something that someone who's read Instagram, which I thought was like, so spot on, which was a black man talking about, you know, you can be very successful in corporate America and I have been, but unless you're a person of color, or someone from minoritized community, you don't understand the extra kind of work and baggage that goes into, I'm typically the only in every room, right, so there's just an extra piece of man, I walk into this room with an automatic like Target on my hand, not because of anyone's like not because anyone's doing anything pernicious or adversarial. It's more for that, like, I just physically show up different than everyone else, which means that I now have to make sure that I am doing all the right things. Keeping there's just like an extra piece of an extra piece of like, mental bandwidth that has to happen for me, that doesn't have to happen for my white male candidate counterparts. Right. And so I don't think it's really an adversity, it's more so like, it's just a little harder. And I think for me, that's also shaped and how I approach things, because I think of even think of like, how we do things in the company where, you know, a white CEO, how they approach problems, like, oh, that seems like a, like, that's an interesting mindset. I don't have that luxury, right? Like, I could never walk into a room and say that or think that because I am a black man, it just never happened for me. And so like, we just I just have a different mindset, not good or bad, right? It's just different. And I think the adversity is just, there's an extra step and an extra layer constantly. And I that's what that's probably what I would name there.   Michael Hingson  49:20 But you can embrace that and endorse it, recognize it and use it as an advantage. Or you can consider that a drawback. And those are two very different views. And clearly you take the former not the latter.   Sentari Minor  49:37 Yep, yep. Yeah. I think it's, it also is like it is what it is like, I can't I can't change my race. And so I kind of how do you build strategies and resilience, ease around it and also leverages as a good talking point, I think it's one of the things that I loved about the work that we do it evolved in D and kind of building our executive team because I was the first I was the first non clinical employee. It's like the conversations we have about like, race and how we show up. And it's like, Hey, I can't just, you know, I could never do that, or show up to something that way we say that to a person without me being like, oh, shoot, and you can have those conversations. And I think that's, that's the beautiful thing about something like that, that can be seen as adversity. But really, it can be leveraged as a great and beautiful like talking point and discussion that can that can help everyone.   Michael Hingson  50:23 Yeah. And it's all in the mindset, isn't it? All in the mindset, it's really important to, to, again, look at it from a positive, adventurous standpoint, I face the same thing. Of course, every single day, I look at least as different as you look different. And more important, have to physically do things in a much significantly more different way, then oftentimes you do, right. And you either can accept that. Think that's a very positive thing or not.   Sentari Minor  50:58 Right? Yeah. Yeah. Again, mindset goes back to mindset.   Michael Hingson  51:02 It all goes back to mindset. And the reality is that for me as a person who happens to be blind, and I will, and I like phrasing it that way, as as many others are learning to do, because blindness is a characteristic, it's not what really defines me. And your race. And or sexual orientation shouldn't be what defines you. It's what you do with it. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that makes for a more exciting life anyway.   Sentari Minor  51:30 Yeah, I agree. I agree.   Michael Hingson  51:32 So what do you so what do you do when you're not working?   Sentari Minor  51:36 What do I do when I'm not working? i   Michael Hingson  51:37 There must be some time when you're not working. Okay, that is working. Working at your day job.   Sentari Minor  51:42 I, let's see, I like to I like to fitness is a big part of my life. So I like to be at the gym, I like to read I go to I try to be in a movie theater at least once a week. Like just spending time with, like, friends, family, loved ones just like to hang out. Yeah, I do like to take long drives. But yeah, there's like a, I'd say if you're catching me on any given weekend, and I am probably reading a book or by the pool, or I am watching the movie. Good for   Michael Hingson  52:17 you. My wife and I have both embraced reading audiobooks. I've taught her how to listen to books, as opposed to just reading them. So we do a whole lot more sharing, because we now read books together. And it's a lot more fun than what's mostly on TV. So we we do that, and spend a lot of time doing it. And oftentimes, when she's doing what she does, she's a quilter. And so she's doing a lot of quilt projects, and so on and I'm doing the things I am will just pipe a book through the house. So we both have it to listen to and we keep up with it. And then we talk about it when we get back together for dinner or whenever we're done doing what we're doing. I like that idea. I like them a lot. Yeah, so we just have it all over the house, as opposed to carrying something and works out pretty well. That's great. And watching movies are always fun. We we do some of it. But we've been so much involved in reading lately that we just enjoy it a great deal.   Sentari Minor  53:20 I like that idea of like using reading as something that you can do together. That's that's, that's great.   Michael Hingson  53:24 Yeah, it's pretty cool. And, and have a lot of fun doing it. And as, as you said, and being fit. I don't go to the gym, and I don't walk around and get as much exercise as I should. But I have a guide dog and he keeps me pretty honest. And we we work together and wrestle and play. So that works out. Great. Yeah. So so he helps the process a lot too, which is which is pretty good. That's good. But you know, it's, it's all part of life and even working with a dog. I love telling people that I have learned more about trust and teamwork from working with now eight guide dogs over my life than I've ever learned from all the experts, the managers, the ken Blanchard's and so on of the world because it's fascinating learning how to interact with someone who doesn't think at all like you do. Who doesn't speak the same language, and whose overall behavior and loan and life experiences are totally different than what humans experience.   Sentari Minor  54:30 Yes. Wow. Yeah. I never thought about that. Yeah. I bet you'd have   Michael Hingson  54:36 well, and and, you know, we we have a lot of a lot of fun and I've I've enjoyed working with a number of Guide Dogs. I don't know how much you've investigated me, but you may know that we were in the World Trade Center on September 11 With my fifth guide, dog Roselle. And that really validated all of the whole concept of how we can communicate and work together no matter who we are. It's all about building trust, and establishing a relationship. And that's why I really enjoy hearing about the things that you do, especially when you're talking about the docks, and the therapists and so on all learning to work together, because they develop this trust. And this understanding that you just can't be   Sentari Minor  55:21 good. Thanks for those were actually some great questions about the model and how it works. So I appreciate those those questions.   Michael Hingson  55:28 Yeah, and thank you and I, I enjoy learning about it. It's fascinating. I, my wife, and I go to Kaiser. And we so we use a lot of services at Kaiser and I haven't seen the collaborative care model there. I don't know whether it's there or not. Or maybe we just haven't needed to use it.   Sentari Minor  55:47 Yeah, checking to see if they are doing anything integrated. But yeah, that would be like a perfect system. For us.   Michael Hingson  55:56 It would be a really a perfect system. There. There are challenges in Kaiser's communications in terms of dealing with one area from another like my my wife's physical medicine doctor, she's been in a chair her whole life wheelchair. He is in Corona, which is part of the Riverside district of Kaiser. But our primary care physician is up here in Victorville where we live, and as part of the Fontana area. And there just seems to be this incredible barrier that the two districts don't communicate at all, which is crazy for a large organization. Hard. That's fair. Yeah. And they've converted everything to being electronic. But when we moved, for example, from Northern to Southern California, the Southern California people couldn't see our Northern California records for years. That's crazy. Today, so I don't know what the logic and the thought processes of that but you know, over time, hopefully things will will communicate more, or for people? Well, you know, in talking about all this, what what are some other things that you'd like people to know about you or, or the model or the kinds of things that you're doing that they can look out for that might help them?   Sentari Minor  57:09 You know, um, nothing at the top of them? I think we've covered a lot of ground. And I again, thank you for the very thoughtful, very thoughtful questions, I think, for any of the listeners. And we'll probably put this in the show notes. But, you know, follow us on LinkedIn, I've often do on LinkedIn, because we put out a lot of really good content around mental health and normalizing and then, if you ever want to learn more about the work that we do about the.com, or the work that I'm doing just Suntory minor.com. But I think we talk a lot about I love the conversation around adversity and having a different mindset and then the intellectual curiosity piece. So I'm just excited to share this podcast with the world and I'm excited that you that you brought me on.   Michael Hingson  57:49 Well, we will do it spell Sentari Minor for me and everyone. Okay, so   Sentari Minor  57:53 it's S as in Sam, E N T A R I  Minor M I N O R. So Sentari Minor.com, check out my website. We're actually in the process of updating it right now. But yeah, I'm just excited to hear from folks. And if you have any questions, I'm always open for a conversation.   Michael Hingson  58:12 Well, of course, I can't resist asking what you're doing to make sure that it's inclusive and accessible for blind people and other persons with disabilities.   Sentari Minor  58:19 I will I'm working with our website developer, right. Like, he was really texting me before this. So that would be something I texted him back and say, make sure that this happens. So thank you, thank you, good on you for that.   Michael Hingson  58:29 And we can help with that. AccessiBe is a company that makes products that help make

Today's guest is Colleen Kazemi, CEO at Social Venture Partners (SVP) Denver, which serves as a vital connector between local changemakers across the Denver metro area and beyond.Welcome to Agency for Change Podcast! 

Bemnet Meshesha, serves as Vice President of Community, Culture & Equity at Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. She oversees the development and implementation of equitable strategy, practices, and policies. She also leads the organization in creating people-centric organizational culture and strengthening their community engagement. Although based in Dallas, Bemnet is an Ethiopian immigrant and that lens remains central to her advocacy in understanding nuanced experiences of people of color and its intersection in navigating inequities within systems and interpersonal connections. Bemnet also serves on a few boards-- Social Venture Partners, Deep Vellum, Harmony CDC and co-chairs the sponsoring committee for the Urban League affiliate. And when she's not working on these amazing initiatives, she is busy catching flights traveling to the next destination with a beach! Dr. Y. “Falami” Devoe also known as “Dr. Falami” is a Holistic Human Development Strategist, Public Speaker, Educator, Poet and Self-Care Ritualist. She is passionate about centering the voices of Black women and curates' intentional spaces for authentic dialogue, self-reflection, and community building. Dr. Falami specializes in community conversations with higher education institutions, public school systems, and nonprofits. She has facilitated training for hundreds of participants across the United States focusing on self and collective care, leading from within, and mindfulness. Dr. Falami is a Self- Care Ritualist and integrates meditation, sound healing and reiki practices into her a private well-being practice, Holistic Alchemy. She received her PhD from the Graduate School of Leadership and Change from Antioch University. She is a Certified Holistic Health Coach and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.   Being a curious and creative learner sets Valerie Hope apart as a leadership coach and professional speaker. For more than two decades, Valerie has been called to inspire and activate global leaders to become more conscious, connected, and creative.  After traveling to more than 30 countries and living with 400+ host families, she's learned that life is the best teacher and that we humans are the star pupils

The Founder and Managing Director of THAXA is Carla Fowler, MD PhD. Carla graduated from Brown University magna cum laude, earned her MD and PhD at the University of Washington, and completed her internship in general surgery at Stanford University.She founded THAXA to share her passion for performance science, where the fields of strategy, productivity, and psychology intersect.Outside of THAXA, Carla is an angel investor specializing in medtech and biotech with a portfolio of over a dozen investments.She is also an active member of Social Venture Partners, Rotary, Washington Women's Foundation, Alliance of Angels, and Keiretsu.www.thaxa.comwww.livelifedriven.com

Carla is the Managing Director of THAXA, Inc. THAXA works with clients who are pursuing ambitious goals in the business and non-profit sectors achieve greater success through brutal focus. Bringing the best research from performance science to her work with clients, she helps them identify the most critical factors to reaching their goals to maximize their impact.Prior to founding THAXA, Carla attended Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude with a BA in Human Biology. She then completed her MD PhD at the University of Washington, researching cancer immunology at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Continually passionate about high performance environments, she chose to complete her intern year in the field of general surgery at Stanford University. Following this, Carla returned to Seattle to found THAXA and apply her science background to conversations about performance to benefit clients.Outside of work, Carla enjoys running, hiking, and skiing the many trails and mountains of the Pacific Northwest. Her community involvement includes being a partner at Social Venture Partners where she has helped launch and moderate a new Jeffersonian dinner series around big ideas and challenges in philanthropyCarla is a member of the Washington Women's Foundation and Seattle Rotary and chairs the Board of Trustees for Bloodworks Northwest.

Even if all of the unemployed people in Connecticut took one of the 109,000 open positions in the state, there would still be thousands of jobs left unfilled. What that says to Mark Argosh, chair of the Governor's Workforce Council, is the state needs to get more people off the sidelines. “We have to be able to increase the labor force participation rate in Connecticut, and what that means is especially focus on underserved populations that face significant barriers,” he tells Futuro Health CEO Van Ton-Quinlivan. That recognition has prompted investment in services such as childcare, transportation and supportive housing. But that's just one element of a multi-pronged approach that includes building partnerships within industry sectors, consolidating training programs in higher ed and providing a central point of contact in state government on workforce issues. The state is also supporting one of the largest government-funded job training programs in the country and it recently won the largest award in the U.S. Department of Commerce's Good Jobs Challenge. “I think what this represents is an endorsement of the strategies and approach that we're taking to transform workforce development.” Tune in to this episode of WorkforceRx for a deep dive into best practices in workforce development at the state level, and learn how the non-profit Argosh leads, Social Venture Partners Connecticut, employs a “venture philanthropy” model to close opportunity gaps in the state.

What is a venture philanthropist? Robert Kaplan of Social Venture Partners explains this unique and enticing concept to Gary S. Cohn of Painted Rock Advisors. Robert breaks down his one-of-a-kind decision making process and explains how him and his partners choose who they donate to. ------------ GUEST: Robert Kaplan | www.DRKFoundation.org HOST: Gary S. Cohn | Painted Rock Advisors | (510) 402 - 8877 | paintedrockadvisors@gmail.com ------------ This is a Mr. Thrive Media production | email: Chaz@MrThrive.com | stay connected on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Authenticity, humanity, and integrity are just a few of the words to describe the two gentlemen on this show and the direction that the conversation went in. When it comes to pairing guests for the Culture Crush Business Podcast, we pair strategically. We tend to pair a company that has a great culture with a company that offers resources to improve culture. For this show, each of the two companies that were on the show fit into both of these categories. BOTH companies are growing a great culture while ALSO supporting companies with improving their company culture. This conversation started strongly in the direction and importance of DEI in the workplace and supporting individuals in being their authentic selves in a psychologically safe work environment. Psychological safety is a shared belief held by members of a team that the team is safe for interpersonal risk taking. It gives the employees the opportunity to disagree and still be supported in the workplace. This was part of the bigger conversation of things that leaders and companies can do to support the mental health of their employees. Companies can't just talk about supporting mental health- they actually need to take action on it. We walked away with tons of examples on how to do this!! Ask the right questions What am I doing and what is the company doing that can be improved on? How are you doing professionally? How are you doing personally? Have open visibility to what goes on the calendar Therapy sessions Dentist Appointments Doctor appointments A block on the calendar for self care Support from leadership to the staff in being their own authentic self Provide a stipend that allows them additional mental health support Allowing them the time for self care during the work day Letter from the CEO articulating the importance of mental health Putting in boundaries for when emails can be sent to the staff When trying to find out more info about Hummingbird Humany, head to their website www.hummingbirdhumanity.com and go to the resources tab where they offer free resources to the Hummingbird community. From the website, visitors can also sign-up for their weekly newsletter or follow their social media accounts. evolvedMD has a variety of resources listed at their website as well. Head to their main page, https://www.evolvedmd.com/ and then head over to their resources and news tab. Both Sentari and Brian are on podcasts out there as well! Make sure to find them and follow them! Let's just say this conversation will definitely have to have a Part B to it! Hummingbird Humanity is committed to amplifying the voices of the unheard. Hummingbird's offerings include a consulting practice which partners with companies to build human-centered workplace cultures through assessment, strategy, and implementation; a speakers bureau featuring diverse voices who share about their lived experiences and offer suggestions for tangible action in their message; a growing collection of children's books and resources for grown-ups to have age-appropriate diversity conversations with kids; and a soon to be launched practice for coaching and facilitation helping leaders develop their skills to be inclusive and people-centered. Brian McComak is a consultant, speaker, author, and facilitator with over 20 years of experience in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, HR, company culture, change management, internal communications, and employee experience. He is the founder and CEO of Hummingbird Humanity, a consulting firm that cultivates and champions inclusive workplace cultures and human-centered leadership. Connect with Brian on LinkedIn and Instagram. evolvedMD is leading the integration of behavioral health services in modern primary care. Uniquely upfront and ongoing, our distinctive model not only places but embeds behavioral health specialists onsite at your practice. We offer an economically viable and better way to integrate behavioral health that ultimately drives improved patient outcomes. Sentari Minor is most passionate about bringing the best out of individuals and entities. His love languages are strategy, storytelling, and social impact. As Head of Strategy for evolvedMD, Mr. Minor is at the forefront of healthcare innovation with a scope of work that includes strategy, corporate development, growth, branding, culture, and coaching. Prior to evolvedMD, he worked with some of the Nation's most prominent and curious CEOs and entrepreneurs advising on philanthropy, policy, and everything social good as Regional Director of Alder (formerly Gen Next) [PHX + DAL + SFO] and strengthened social enterprises as Director at venture philanthropy firm, Social Venture Partners. A Phoenix native, Mr. Minor continued his education in the Midwest and is an alumnus of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where he studied English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. He is also a member of Class IV of the American Express Leadership Academy through the Arizona State University Lodestar Center. If you want to profile him: he's an ENTJ (Myers Briggs), a Maverick (Predictive Index), and trimodal Blue/Green/Red (Emergenetics). Where does he shine? In high-touch stakeholder engagement, capital raising, public relations, and strategic planning. With his background, Mr. Minor serves on the board of directors for a diverse set of social impact organizations, as a venture mentor for socially conscious companies nationwide, and as a facilitator for businesses who want organizational clarity. Committed to strengthening brands doing good in the world, Mr. Minor speaks nationally and publishes often on strategy, marketing, leadership, capacity building, social entrepreneurship, and engaging high-profile leaders in the dialogue of today. For his impact on business and community, he was honored among the Phoenix Business Journal's “40 Under 40” class of 2022. When he's not busy changing the world, self-care to him looks like working out, stirring the pot on social media, being an amateur author, and spending time with the people who make him smile. Connect with Sentari on LinkedIn and Instagram. About Culture Crush Culture is not just a tag word to be thrown around. It is not something you throw in job descriptions to draw people to applying for jobs within a company. According to Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall in their book Nine Lies About Work, “Culture is the tenants of how we behave. It's like a family creed. This is how we operate and treat each other in the family.” As a growing company- Culture Crush Business Podcast is THE culture improvement resource that supports companies and leaders.  Our Mission is to improve company cultures so people WANT to go to work. Employees and leaders should like where they work and we think this is possible. Within the company: Culture Crush has Vetted Resources and Partnerships with the right people and resources that can help improve your company culture. On this podcast:  We focus on everything surrounding businesses with good company culture. We will talk with company leaders to learn about real-life experiences, tips, and best practices for creating a healthy work environment where employees are finding joy and satisfaction in their work while also striving and growing within the company.  We also find the companies that offer resources to help improve company culture and showcase them on the show to share their tips and tricks for growing culture. About the Host Kindra Maples  is spartan racer, past animal trainer, previous magician's assistant, and has a weakness for Oreo cookie shakes. Her journey working with people actually started working with animals as a teenager (don't worry we won't go that far back for her bio). She worked for over 15 years in the zoo industry working with animals and the public. Her passion of working with animals shifted into working with people in education, operations and leadership roles. From there her passion of leadership and helping people develop has continued to grow. Then came the opportunity for leading  the Culture Crush Business Podcast and she jumped on it. Leadership, growth, and strong company cultures are all areas that Kindra is interested in diving into further. Shout Outs We want to thank a few people for their behind the scenes effort in helping this relaunch to come to life. James Johnson with Tailored Penguin Media Company LLC.– It is a small, but powerful video production company with a goal to deliver the very best by articulating the vision of your brand in a visually creative way. Gordon Murray with Flash PhotoVideo, LLC. -Flash Gordon has been photographing since high school and evolving since then with new products that will equip, encourage, engage, and enable. Renee Blundon with Renee Blundon Design – She is not only one of the best free divers (that's not how she helped with the podcast) but she is great with graphics design and taking the direction for the vision that you have while also adding creative ideas to bring to your vision to life. These are just a few of the folks that supported the relaunch of the podcast. If you would like to be part of the Culture Crush team or would like to support underwriting the show- please reach out: info@culturecrushbusiness.com

The rising costs are negatively impacting the nonprofit industry. Nonprofit organizations have to deal with increased wages, logistics, and other similar expenses that make it difficult to do their job. But if these nonprofit organizations aren't operating at full capacity, the people they try to help suffer the most. Social Venture Partners San Antonio cultivates local philanthropists, strengthens nonprofit organizations, and invests in collaborative solutions to build powerful relationships in their communities. Find out how Social Venture Partners San Antonio makes a difference by building connections. Want to support Social Venture Partners San Antonio? https://svpsa.org/ Find the episode on Great.com: https://great.com/great-talks-with/social-venture-partners-san-antonio/ 

Mitch talks to Eddie Izzary, Community Impact Lead at Social Venture Partners, Philadelphia. Eddie is a powerful example of how being exactly who you are can translate into powerful leadership: she began her work in the front-lines of community-based nonprofits, working with Philadelphia communities dealing with drugs and human trafficking. She then transitioned to the foundation side, where she uses her own experience and skills to organizations accountable for fighting poverty. Pull up a chair and get inspired to use your own superpowers for impact! 

How to start saving the planet for generations to come Climate change is at the forefront of our world's issues, and it's going to take all of us to move the needle. Kathleen Hebert has dedicated her post-Microsoft career to fighting climate change, an issue she's made her purpose. Her multi-pronged approach to change includes volunteering, investing, learning and making changes in everyday life that can have lasting impact. In this episode of Beyond the Blue Badge, host Paul Shoemaker sits down with Kathleen to discuss why and how she's tackling climate change, the environmental responsibilities that different organizations and businesses have, what the future of climate change looks like for all of us and how we can contribute. Kathleen was a corporate vice president at Microsoft from 1989 to 2003. After leaving the company, she spent 19 years at Social Venture Partners, deep diving into the world of philanthropy. She's now a venture partner, board member and investor at E8 Ventures, which is investing in clean tech for environmental impact. She also serves on the board of the Clean Energy Transition Institute and The Nature Conservancy.

Zach talks with Pima County Supervisor Rex Scott about his position on voting centers and e-poll books, as well as the rise in deaths at the Pima County jails. Then, Brittany Battle and Michael Brasher come on to talk about the Fast Pitch event put on by Social Venture Partners to support emerging non-profit initiatives and organizations in Greater Tucson.

NUGGET CONTEXT Ravi speaks about the different forms of Capital that we possess and how we can deploy that in the context of a situation. He specifically refers to the conversations at Social Venture Partners, a philanthropic organization I am a part of. GUEST Ravi Venkatesan has been on the podcast about 5 years back. In that conversation we spoke about his journey and his transition from Cummins to Microsoft to Board Roles. In this conversation, we dive into his recently published book - What the Heck Do I Do with My Life.  Some of the topics we cover include the notion of a punctuated equilibrium and the implication on how we adapt, being intentional about life, cultivating an abundance mindset (irrespective of how much we have), different forms of capital that we can work with, specialisation versus generalisation (do you want to be a bird or a frog) and what we can learn from the phenomenon of stotting in the animal kingdom (and the link with personal branding).   Published in March 2022. HOST Deepak is a Leadership Advisor and an Executive Coach. He works with leaders to improve their effectiveness and in helping them make better decisions specifically around organizational and career transitions. He currently runs Transition Insight (www.transitioninsight.com) and works with leaders to handle phases of transition thoughtfully. He has worked as an Operations Consultant with KPMG in UK, Strategy Consultant with McKinsey in the US and as a Leadership Consultant with EgonZehnder (a Swiss Leadership Advisory firm) where he helped companies recruit CEOs, CXOs and Board Members and worked on Leadership Development. Deepak is a certified CEO Coach and is an alumnus of IIT Madras, IIM Ahmedabad and London Business School. His detailed profile can be found at https://in.linkedin.com/in/djayaraman OTHER GUESTS 1.Vijay Amritraj 2.Amish Tripathi 3.Raghu Raman 4.Papa CJ 5.Kartik Hosanagar 6.Ravi Venkatesan 7.Abhijit Bhaduri 8.Viren Rasquinha 9.Prakash Iyer 10.Avnish Bajaj 11.Nandan Nilekani 12.Atul Kasbekar 13.Karthik Reddy 14.Pramath Sinha 15.Vedika Bhandarkar 16.Vinita Bali 17.Zia Mody 18.Rama Bijapurkar 19.Dheeraj Pandey 20.Anu Madgavkar 21.Vishy Anand 22. Meher Pudumjee 23.KV Shridhar (Pops) 24.Suresh Naraynan 25.Devdutt Pattanaik 26.Jay Panda 27.Amit Chandra 28.Chandramouli Venkatesan 29.Roopa Kudva 30.Vinay Sitapati 31.Neera Nundy. 32.Deepa Malik 33.Bombay Jayashri. 34.Arun Maira 35.Ambi Parameswaran 36.OP Bhaat 37.Indranil Chakraborty 38.Tarun Khanna 39. Ramachandra Guha 40. Stewart Friedman 41. Rich Fernandez 42. Falguni Nayar 43. Rajat Gupta 44. Kartik Hosanagar 45. Michael Watkins 46. Matt Dixon 47. Herminia Ibarra 48. Paddy Upton 49. Tasha Eurich 50. Alan Eagle 51. Sudhir Sitapati 52. James Clear 53. Lynda Gratton 54. Jennifer Petriglieri. 55. Matthew Walker 56. Raj Raghunathan 57. Jennifer Garvey Berger 58. BJ Fogg 59. R Gopolakrishnan 60. Sir Andrew Likierman. 61. Atul Khatri 62. Whitney Jonson 63. Venkat Krishnan 64. Marshall Goldsmith 65. Ashish Dhawan 66. Vinay Sitapati 67. Ashley Whillans 68. Tenzin Priyadarshi 69. Ramesh Srinivasan 70. Bruce Feiler 71. Sanjeev Aggarwal and T. N. Hari 72. Bill Carr 73. Jennifer Wetzler 74. Sally Helgesen 75. Dan Cable 76. Tom Vanderbilt 77. Darleen DeRosa 78. Amy Edmondson 79. Katy Milkman 80. Harish Bhatt 81. Lloyd Reeb 82. Sukhinder Cassidy 83. Harsh Mariwala 84. Rajiv Vij 85. Dorie Clark 86. Ayse Birsel DISCLAIMER All content and opinions expressed in the podcast are that of the guests and are not necessarily the opinions of Deepak Jayaraman and Transition Insight Private Limited. Views expressed in comments to blog are the personal opinions of the author of the comment. They do not necessarily reflect the views of The Company or the author of the blog. Participants are responsible for the content of their comments and all comments that are posted are in the public domain. The Company reserves the right to monitor, edit, and/or publish any submitted comments. Not all comments may be published. Any third-party comments published are third party information and The Company takes no responsibility and disclaims all liability. The Company reserves the right, but is not obligated to monitor and delete any comments or postings at any time without notice.

Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you The Red Pegasus Podcast's fifth guest! Throughout our series of guests, we welcome Seth Block to the show. Seth was born in Philadelphia, moved to Dallas in 1993 and has been here ever since. He is our podcast's self-titled, "Dallas' influencer of good vibes".  Seth has been heavily active in the local nonprofit scene for a few years now. Not only is he involved in good works in and around the DFW area, but he also is an incredible person and it is shown throughout this conversation. Just follow his Instagram account or check out the numerous organizations (all listed below) he has served in or is currently a part of. Throughout episode 48, Seth and the guys discuss how the average person can get involved in volunteering along with a few local places to start. He shares a fantastic story of how he ended up being "voluntold" to run in an Ironman relay down in Waco for an event benefiting Refugee Services of Texas. Speaking of stories, for the first time ever, Seth opens up about the time he served unaccompanied migrant minors at an emergency shelter. They were underserved and oftentimes felt imprisoned here in Dallas nearly a year ago. Seth would share that an ambulance would frequently show up to take a child to the hospital and the food they were served was horrid, so bad that the people employed at the facility, were having their own food delivered to them. This is just a few things that turned the sickening story into major news. That was just the beginning of the story of how Seth and other volunteers attempted to improve conditions within the shelter and advocate for the kids. (Disclaimer: None of the organizations Seth is, or has been, a part of were involved in the operations or conditions at the emergency shelter for unaccompanied migrant minors.) It's an episode you will not want to miss. Also, go support Seth's efforts at Union Coffee with their monthly "Shot of Generosity". 15% of sales will go to supporting a specific nonprofit this Saturday, February 26th! Follow Philanthropist, Seth Block on Instagram @iam_sethb. Support other organizations Seth is involved with:   - Union Coffee co-organizer for their "Monthly Shot of Generosity" (@uniondallas) - Refugee Services of Texas advisory council member (@refugeeservicesoftexas) - Emerging Leaders Steering Committee at United Way Dallas volunteer committee chair (@unitedwaydallas) - Dana Juett Residency Alumni and partner at Social Venture Partners (@svpdallas) - DJR Alumni Auxiliary Association chair member  - Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy at Communities Foundation of Texas (@emergingleaders_cft)   Lastly, follow along with all things involving the Red Pegasus Podcast. We're on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @RedPegasusPod. If you subscribe, rate and review, we will personally give you a shoutout on the show.  Do you have a story idea or want us to discuss something specific on the pod? Maybe you have a small business or individual you want us to promote? We're always looking to highlight local Texans and their passions, so email us at redpegasuspod@gmail.com. The Red Pegasus Podcast Shop: https://my-store-11619045.creator-spring.com

As PepsiCo's Global Marketing Director of Sustainability & Purpose, Maddy Kulkarni has been an integral part of charting a new course for one of the world's largest enterprises. And now she's passing on that knowledge to younger generations as a professor at the University of Texas. She even created her own textbook! In this episode Maddy and I chatted about the importance of educating the next generation of business leaders on how to blend purpose and profit, the case studies she uses from PepsiCo, and some of the exciting details of pep+ (pep Positive), a strategic end-to-end transformation of PepsiCo that will drive growth by restoring the planet and inspiring positive behavior change.  Maddy Kulkarni Maddy Kulkarni is the recent author of Social Impact Marketing: The Essential Guide for Changemakers, a textbook for her new course at the University of Texas at Dallas. She is also the Global Marketing Director for Sustainability & Purpose at PepsiCo where she consults marketing leaders on how to connect the organization's sustainability agenda with their consumers through the voice of their brands. Recognized as a 40 Under 40 business leader by Dallas Business Journal, Maddy has served on boards of Social Venture Partners, the Terry Foundation, and the PR Committee of the Dallas Arboretum. She is also the Founder and Executive Director of Dallas Heroes Project, an organization that creates engaging marketing campaigns to drive awareness of the positive impact local heroes and organizations are making in their communities. Through her new textbook, she is enjoying teaching our next generation of leaders on how marketing can be a force for good. This episode of Lead With We was produced and edited by Goal 17 Media and is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. You can also watch episodes on YouTube at WeFirstTV. Resources Visit leadwithwe.com to learn more about Simon's new book or search for “Lead With We” on Amazon, Google Books or Barnes & Noble.  Learn more about PepsiCo's pep+ strategic plan at pepsico.com/pepsicopositive Connect with Maddy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madhura16 For case studies and other free resources about purposeful business, go to WeFirstBranding.com

The post Episode 50 // Amy Armstrong Social Venture Partners appeared first on The Remarkabrand Podcast.

The post Episode 50 // Amy Armstrong Social Venture Partners appeared first on AZ Brandcast.

Amy HyunAh Pak and Sarah Kim Park, two incredible Korean adoptee mothers, antiracism activists and adoptee community leaders, join us for our very first episode. They generously share their journeys as Korean adoptees, daughters of the diaspora, and community mothers. We traverse deep territory, touching on areas such as ancestral connections, healing through parenting, and the strength and love that it takes to create new and mixed family cultures. Amy HyunAh Pak Bio Amy is a Korean American immigrant, transracial adoptee, and a mother with two decades of cultural community work in Seattle organizing around healing centered traditions and anti-racist coalition building with families of color and youth. After 15 years of service with numerous Seattle non-profits, and as a student advisor at UW's Office of Minority Affairs, in 2013, Amy founded and served as Executive Director of Families of Color Seattle (FOCS). With a collective of new mothers committed to community transformation, Amy built a loving community of 3000+ changemaking parents raising compassionate, powerful children. Over the next eight years, FOCS became a critical family resource, providing BIPOC parent groups and anti-racist consulting to schools and institutions. Seattle Human Services Coalition awarded FOCS The 2016 Ron Chisom Anti-Racism Award. Currently, Amy leads as a Strategic Advisor for Best Starts for Kids with King County Public Health. Amy holds a Master of Social Work from University of Washington, is Dare to Lead (c) trained, and serves on the Board of Directors of Asian Counseling & Referral Services, Global Perinatal Services, and as a Partner with Social Venture Partners. Amy was honored with Seattle University's 2019 Red Winged Leadership recognition, Female Founders 2019 Unsung Heroes award, and Seattle Storm's 2019 Ginger Ackerley Community Service award. Amy is a daughter of the diaspora, a community mother, and is deeply committed to the advancement of and building sisterhood with BIPOC women and femme leadership. Sarah Kim Park BioSarah is a Korean adoptee, mother to two sons, and a community organizer in the Korean adoptee and transracial adoptee community. Since 2001, Sarah has served in leadership roles for various adoptee organizations, including 15 years as a board member and advisory board member of Asian Adult Adoptees of Washington (AAAW) and four years as a board member for International Korean Adoptee Associations (IKAA). Her work includes teaching at adoptee heritage summer camps, organizing adoptee conferences such as the IKAA Gatherings in Seoul, Korea and various Korean adoptee mini-gatherings in the U.S., speaking as a panelist at the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network (KAAN) conference, consulting on Asian adoptee exhibits at the Wing Luke Museum in Seattle, WA, and fundraising for adoptee artists and filmmakers. Sarah holds a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Washington and completed her master's internship at Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L) in Korea. Co-Hosts: Nari Baker & Robyn ParkMusic: Mike Marlatt & Paul GulledgeEditing: Federico aka mixinghacksArtwork: Dalhe KimListen on: iTunes & SpotifyInstagram: @laboroflovepodcastVenmo: @laboroflovepodcast

Josh Silberstein is currently the CEO of Social Venture Partners, Boulder County; he's spent almost two decades in the nonprofit world and was previously a professional musician.

Tony Fleo is the CEO of Social Venture Partners Dallas, an organization of over 200 engaged professionals dedicated to helping social enterprises and philanthropists thrive. Tony holds the CFRE credential for fund development and a certificate for non-profit management. Tony has presented at national and international conferences on topics ranging from human development to systems development. He is a native of Pittsburgh, P.A. and attended Duquesne University where he received a B.A. and M.A. in Psychology. Tony has more than 30 years of experience in assisting enterprises grow in organizational strength, funding, and staff and board development. His extensive background in psychology and systems theory, coupled with his hands-on experience leading organizations to fulfill their missions, enables him to bridge the gap between theory and practice and create transformational change in systems and organizations. On this episode, we'll discuss #bigBANGtx and The New Economy: Healing Our Divides Topics: ✓ The politicizing of human issues ✓ The root cause of social ills ✓ How to begin healing our divides Keys to Success: ✓ Focus on your circle of influence ✓ How to identify and recruit young leaders ✓ Tips to cultivate and grow young leaders Social: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-fleo-a191907/ Main Site: https://www.socialventurepartners.org/dallas/    bigBANG! 2021: https://bigbangtx.com   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DallasSVP  Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/SVPDallas    Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/svpdallas/    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/svpdallas/?hl=en   Twitter: https://twitter.com/SVPDallas  Pathways to Success is brought to you by: Codeup: https://codeup.com/ CityCentral: https://citycentral.com/ (Promo Code "Pathways" for 50% off first 3 months) DeadSoxy: https://deadsoxy.com/?ref=pathways (Promo Code "Pathways" for 30% off)

Seth Block is passionate about helping in the community and giving back. This includes being an alumnus of the 2020-2021 Dana Juett Residency at Social Venture Partners and an alumnus of the 2019-2020 Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy cohort at Communities Foundation of Texas. Currently, Seth serves on the Dallas Chapter of the Advisory Council for Refugee Services of Texas, is a member of the Steering Committee for Emerging Leaders at United Way, a partner at Social Venture Partners Dallas, and is a co-organizer for Shot of Geneoristy at Union Coffee. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/grayson-mask/support

LoveBabz LoveTalk with Babz Rawls-Ivy: Social Venture Partners Connecticut by WNHH Community Radio

Bill invited Aaron to stop by The Business Brew to have some fun and do a 4/20 episode.  While the conversation does touch on cannabis, the more important parts of the conversation involve Aaron's philosophy of work life balance.  Aaron is a strong advocate of the 24/6 workweek.  He is a staunch advocate of observing a work sabbath weekly.  We hope there is wisdom and entertainment in this episode.   Aaron's bio is as follows:    Aaron M. Edelheit is the CEO and Founder of Mindset Capital, a private investment firm. Aaron also was the Chief Strategy Officer of FLO Technologies, after being one of the first investors in the company, helping the company grow from a pre-revenue startup to raising $28 million and launching in over 500 Home Depot stores. FLO was acquired in January of 2020 by Fortune Brands. In his previous role as CEO of The American Home, Aaron founded and grew a company from 16 rental homes to one that owned 2,500 single family rental homes and was sold in April 2015 to a publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust. Aaron also founded and ran a successful money management firm, Sabre Value Management from 1998 to 2011. In 2018, IdeaPress published Aaron’s first book, The Hard Break: The Case for a 24/6 Lifestyle. The book makes the case for taking one day off from work, email and smartphones for a more productive, healthier and more creative life. Aaron has served on the boards of non-profits such as the Moishe House Foundation and Global Village Project. And he is also a member of Social Venture Partners in Santa Barbara, California. Aaron has also been featured and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, and CNBC among others and has given lectures on business and entrepreneurship in the U.S., Canada and South Africa.

Sentari Minor is a social impact advocate, passionate relationship builder, and co-host of the podcast Sentari & George Figure It Out. Nationally, he speaks on governance, leadership, and the concepts of venture philanthropy, nonprofit capacity building, and social entrepreneurship. On this episode of Real Talk, we discuss a variety of topics, including: Sentari’s podcast (Figure It Out): co-host, politics, favorite episodes (3:11) evolveMD: marrying behavioral health practitioners with traditional family practices How COVID is impacting valley businesses (30:30) Community involvement (39:09) Rapid Fire Questions: movies, poetry, and Kim Kardashian (44:01) EPISODE RESOURCES: evolveMD http://www.evolvedmd.com/ Figure It Out podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/figure-it-out/id1190137632 Local First Arizona https://www.localfirstaz.com/ Greater Phoenix Leadership https://www.gplinc.org/ Social Venture Partners https://www.socialventurepartners.org/arizona/

Spotlight On Arts & Culture | January 11, 2021 | How 2020 Changed the Face of Arts and Culture Funding Hosted by David Green of The Cultural Alliance Of Fairfield County. Our January edition of the SPOTLIGHT is on “How 2020 Changed the Face of Arts & Culture Funding.” This program is inspired by the discussion in our November program that celebrated Federal CARES Act funding for arts and culture organizations. In that show, it became apparent that the intertwined crises of 2020 were changing some of the ways funding decisions were made. We decided to devote this Spotlight program to changes that are taking place within funding agencies and to hear from some new funders on the scene and the ways they are distributing funding. We welcome back Elizabeth Shapiro, Director of the CT Office of the Arts, and Frank Mitchell, chair of CT Humanities Application Review Committee. They are joined by: Jacqueline Coleman, Senior Community Impact Officer for the Hartford Foundation, who put together a working group of artists and arts organizations of color to inform the Foundation’s arts and culture funding; Michael Van Leesten, who has organized a Social Venture Partners’ new Racial Equity Fund for community-based projects with decision-makers based inside those communities; and Abe Hilding-Salorio, Community Outreach Manager for Sustainable CT that funds community projects, using a crowdfunding model, working with Patronicity. Hear how the crises of 2020 continue to affect the networking, strategies, and community relationships within traditional funders and how new funding types are emerging to better deal with the inequities of the prevailing systems.

Mickey gets to spend some time speaking with Erika Feinberg, of Social Venture Partners, talking about the importance of connecting, passion, purpose, and a new method Erika has under development right now called Peek Forward. We welcome support of the Nonprofit SnapCast via Patreon. We welcome your questions and feedback via The Nonprofit Snapshot website.

Zach talks about the tipping point we are at on COVID response; Brittney Battle from Social Venture Partners comes on to talk about how they are supporting the nonprofit community through Fast Pitch and other initiatives; Ramon Valadez, chair of the Pima County Board of Supervisors discusses COVID policy change and response with Zach; Jason and Brian from MassMutual come on for Financial Friday! 1030 The Voice at 9.

Beyond the Blue Badge host Paul Shoemaker speaks with fellow Microsoft alum Terri Cole on National Philanthropy Day about her work with Social Venture Partners and United Indians of All Tribes. They talk about listening and learning, being an advocate and ally, her work with United Indians, where she derived her passion for philanthropy, and more.

In this episode of Remote Pathways podcast we welcome Kristin Winkle Beck. Kristin is the founder of Pivot Point Professionals and the Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Charlotte. She is an enthusiastic coach, optimistic problem solver, and servant leader. She spent more than 20 years managing teams, business units, and strategic vendor relationships with Fortune 100 companies prior to her career pivot into coaching. In this episode we explore:The dream job Kristin never knew existedPivoting to virtual eventsWorking effectively with external companies around the worldBenefits discovered about working remotelyCoordinating volunteers virtuallyWorking from home vs. living at workThe Remote Pathways podcast is co-hosted by Jennifer Britton and Michelle Mullins. It is based on the writing of Jennifer Britton, author of Remote Pathways.Connect with Kristin:Click here to visit our guest page to learn more about our guest, Kristin Winkle Beck!Episode Download:Tips to Pivot to Virtual Events Episode Question:Are you working from home or are you living at work?Follow our Podcasthttps://www.RemotePathways.com/podcast Follow us atFacebook.com/RemotePathwaysInstagram.com/RemotePathwaysTwitter/RemotePathwaysJoin the ConversationOur favorite part of recording a live podcast each week is participating in the great conversations that happen on our live chat, on social media, and in our comments section.  If you are a new listener to the Remote Pathways podcast, we would love to hear from you.  Please visit our Remote Pathways Podcast page, or reach out to us to discuss coaching, consulting or training support around remote work. Need a Presenter?Contact Jennifer to speak virtually on topics related to effective virtual conversations, virtual team development, virtual team leadership, growing a solopreneur business OR her own experience in leading remote teams globally in the voluntary sector. Contact Michelle Mullins to explore programming for Women Working RemotelyTags: Remote Work, Non-Profit, Voluntary Sector, Remote Leadership, Virtual Teams, Mobile Work, Remote Collaboration, Virtual Collaboration

010: If you want to work in social justice, it's important to understand why focusing on systems change is vital to addressing social issues. This episode we speak with Christine Margiotta, who is Executive Director of the Los Angeles chapter of Social Venture Partners. Christine and her team run a system changes accelerator for local nonprofits, helping them hone in on their systemic problem so they can create lasting impact. We talk about what systems change is, and why it's critical to social justice work. Christine describes the commonalities she sees in successful changemakers, and she gives insight on what to think about when deliberating between a nonprofit or for-profit legal structure for your mission-driven initiative. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/goodmakers/message

In this episode we talked about two major subjects: growing your network once you move to a new city/country and how to find new partnerships and the second topic being the fundraising itself. Zenetta Burger explains what she does as a scout for Mucker Capital and how scouts work and can be helpful for startup founders. Mucker Capital: https://www.mucker.com/ Social Venture Partners: https://www.socialventurepartners.org/ Invest in your host through an IPO: https://humanipo.app/id/konstantin.dubovitskiy

There are plenty of social challenges in Charlotte, and gratefully, also a great number of non-profit organizations tackling those challenges, too. The annual SEED20 program is just one effort from Social Venture Partners that identifies and connects the community to some of the most innovative ideas for solving social problems. Social Venture Partners has invested more than $1.5 million dollars in 21 organizations since 2005, in addition to $350-thousand dollars just for SEED20 since 2012. That is a lot of good for our community! And SVP has just named a new SEED20 class in its first-ever online celebration and vote. Kristin Beck is joining us on Charlotte Real Estate Talk to tell us how this all works.

Kristin Beck, Executive Director of Social Venture Partners (SVP) and Kerry Tornesello, SEED20 Volunteer Coach, share how venture philanthropy is empowering local nonprofits and encouraging social innovation in Charlotte. They also share about the impact the annual SEED20 event is having on our community. Get your ticket to the virtual SEED20 event at 7pm on March 31, 2020! Learn More:Social Venture Partners CharlotteSEED20SEED20 Tickets

THE SELF MADE STRATEGIES EPISODE WITH JENNIFER GLEASON SVP PHL specifically helps those out to do good, do better, bringing together donors, nonprofits, and social enterprises so we can all make a greater collective impact. SVP Philadelphia cultivates effective philanthropists, strengthens nonprofits, and invests in collaborative solutions, building powerful relationships to tackle our community's social challenges. Jennifer Gleason is the managing director of Social Venture Partners, Philadelphia, a role in which she is charged with leading the launch of this transformational new initiative. Earlier in her United Way career, she oversaw capacity building initiatives designed to sustain and strengthen nonprofit partners through leadership development, strategic partnerships, and outcomes measurement. SVP Philadelphia is a regional network of community leaders and philanthropists who are committed to leveraging their social, financial, and intellectual capital. To provide grants and volunteer assistance to the leaders of high potential nonprofit organizations whose missions can help bring an end to intergenerational poverty. SVP Philadelphia is part of a global network of more than 3,500 partners in 43 cities who have collectively contributed more than $60 million to over 900 organizations. On today's episode, we'll get to know Jennifer and hear more about about SVP PHL, how to create collaborations with industry stakeholders, and we'll explore best practices for leadership development and strengthening your relationships with strategic partners. SHOW AGENDA On today’s episode we will: Get to know Jennifer and hear about SVP PHL We will discuss Jennifer's strategies for building capacity Discuss the amazing things that SVP PHL is doing for the nonprofit community What you will learn on this episode: Hear about how SVP PHL is helping to combat poverty in Philadelphia How to increase opportunities and learn to build a community around your brand by collaborating with like-minded folks How to strengthen organizations through investments of financial capital as well as intellectual, social, and cultural capital How to use strategic partnerships to help grow your organization And so much more! After you’ve listened to the episode, make sure you visit SVP PHL (https://www.unitedforimpact.org/job/social-venture-partners-associate/) to check out their latest philanthropic efforts. Make sure you subscribe to the Self Made Strategies Podcast on your favorite podcasting platform.  You can find us on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Spreaker. Do you want even more awesome Self Made Strategies content?  Make sure you follow Self Made Strategies on social media:  Facebook – Instagram – LinkedIn – Twitter Here is the transcript for Episode 054 of the Self Made Strategies Podcast: Tony Lopes, Esq. - Self Made Strategies & Lopes Law LLC: [00:00:18] Welcome to a brand new episode of the Self Made Strategies podcast. I'm your host Tony Lopes. Joining me today is special guest cohost Katie Wright. Hey Katie, welcome back. Thanks for coming in. Katie Wright - Right Cause: [00:00:29] Thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Tony Lopes, Esq. - Self Made Strategies & Lopes Law LLC: [00:00:30] Katie was on our show on episode 37 of course, when she spoke about her business, Right Cause Consulting, and all things cause marketing. So go back and listen to that episode after you're done listening to this one, of course. And today's guest on the self-made strategies podcast is Jennifer Gleason, managing director of SVP PHL. That's Social Venture Partners in Philadelphia. Hey Jen, how are you? Jennifer Gleason - SVP PHL: [00:00:57] Hey, I'm good. Thanks, Tony. Thanks so much for having me. Tony Lopes, Esq. - Self Made Strategies & Lopes Law LLC: [00:01:00] Yeah, thanks for coming in. Of course, you and Katie know each other from being around the nonprofit space...

THE SELF MADE STRATEGIES EPISODE WITH JENNIFER GLEASON OF SOCIAL VENTURE PARTNERSSVP PHL specifically helps those out to do good, do better, bringing together donors, nonprofits, and social enterprises so we can all make a greater collective impact. SVP Philadelphia cultivates effective philanthropists, strengthens nonprofits, and invests in collaborative solutions, building powerful relationships to tackle our community's social challenges.Jennifer Gleason is the managing director of Social Venture Partners, Philadelphia, a role in which she is charged with leading the launch of this transformational new initiative. Earlier in her United Way career, she oversaw capacity building initiatives designed to sustain and strengthen nonprofit partners through leadership development, strategic partnerships, and outcomes measurement.SVP Philadelphia is a regional network of community leaders and philanthropists who are committed to leveraging their social, financial, and intellectual capital. To provide grants and volunteer assistance to the leaders of high potential nonprofit organizations whose missions can help bring an end to intergenerational poverty.SVP Philadelphia is part of a global network of more than 3,500 partners in 43 cities who have collectively contributed more than $60 million to over 900 organizations. On today's episode, we'll get to know Jennifer and hear more about about SVP PHL, how to create collaborations with industry stakeholders, and we'll explore best practices for leadership development and strengthening your relationships with strategic partners.SHOW AGENDAOn today’s episode we will:• Get to know Jennifer and hear about SVP PHL• We will discuss Jennifer's strategies for building capacity• Discuss the amazing things that SVP PHL is doing for the nonprofit communityWhat you will learn on this episode:• Hear about how SVP PHL is helping to combat poverty in Philadelphia• How to increase opportunities and learn to build a community around your brand by collaborating with like-minded folks • How to strengthen organizations through investments of financial capital as well as intellectual, social, and cultural capital• How to use strategic partnerships to help grow your organization• And so much more!After you’ve listened to the episode, make sure you visit SVP PHL (https://www.unitedforimpact.org/job/social-venture-partners-associate/) to check out their latest philanthropic efforts.  Make sure you subscribe to the Self Made Strategies Podcast on your favorite podcasting platform.  You can find us on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Spreaker. You can also connect with us on: • https://www.facebook.com/selfmadestrategies/ •• https://twitter.com/SelfMadeStratGs •• https://www.instagram.com/selfmadestrategies/ •• https://www.linkedin.com/company/self-made-strategies/ •

WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER FANTASTIC SELF MADE STRATEGIES HUSTLE STORY In this short podcast clip, you will hear about how Jennifer Gleason had to work hard to earn enough to get started on her entrepreneurial journey.  You can hear more with her on this week’s Self Made Strategies podcast. ABOUT THE SMS HUSTLE STORY This is the Self Made Strategies Hustle Story about Jennifer Gleason, Managing Director of Social Venture Partners (SVP PHL).  Make sure you tune in this Thursday, wherever you listen to your podcasts, to hear Jennifer’s episode on the Self Made Strategies Podcast. About SVP PHL and Jennifer Social Venture Partners, powered by United Way, is a philanthropic network, but they do more than give away money. SVP helps those out to do good, do better – bringing together donors, nonprofits and social enterprises so we can all make a greater collective impact. SVP cultivates effective philanthropists, strengthens nonprofits, and invests in collaborative solutions – building powerful relationships to tackle our communities’ social challenges. Jennifer Gleason is the Managing Director of Social Venture Partners Philadelphia (SVP), a role in which she is charged with leading the launch of this transformational new initiative. Earlier in her United Way career, she oversaw capacity building initiatives designed to sustain and strengthen nonprofit partners through leadership development, strategic partnerships and outcomes measurement. SVP Philadelphia is a regional network of community leaders and philanthropists, who are committed to leveraging their social, financial and intellectual capital to provide grants and volunteer assistance to the leaders of high potential nonprofit organizations, whose missions can help bring an end to inter-generational poverty. SVP Philadelphia is part of a global network of more than 3,500 Partners in 43 cities, who have collectively contributed more than $60 million to 900+ organizations. Production Credits: The Self Made Strategies Hustle Story is a SoftStix Productions LLC jawn.  This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Tony Lopes, co-hosted by Katie Wright (of Right Cause Consulting - https://www.rightcauseconsulting.com/), with associate production by Ryan Martin.  The Self Made Strategies Podcast is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).

WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER FANTASTIC SELF MADE STRATEGIES HUSTLE STORYIn this short podcast clip, you will hear about how Jennifer Gleason had to work hard to earn enough to get started on her entrepreneurial journey.  You can hear more with her on this week’s Self Made Strategies podcast.ABOUT THE SMS HUSTLE STORYThis is the Self Made Strategies Hustle Story about Jennifer Gleason, Managing Director of Social Venture Partners (SVPPHL).  Make sure you tune in this Thursday, wherever you listen to your podcasts, to hear Jennifer’s episode on the Self Made Strategies Podcast. About SVPPHL and JenniferSocial Venture Partners, powered by United Way, is a philanthropic network, but they do more than give away money. SVP helps those out to do good, do better – bringing together donors, nonprofits and social enterprises so we can all make a greater collective impact.SVP cultivates effective philanthropists, strengthens nonprofits, and invests in collaborative solutions – building powerful relationships to tackle our communities’ social challenges.Jennifer Gleason is the Managing Director of Social Venture Partners Philadelphia (SVP), a role in which she is charged with leading the launch of this transformational new initiative. Earlier in her United Way career, she oversaw capacity building initiatives designed to sustain and strengthen nonprofit partners through leadership development, strategic partnerships and outcomes measurement.SVP Philadelphia is a regional network of community leaders and philanthropists, who are committed to leveraging their social, financial and intellectual capital to provide grants and volunteer assistance to the leaders of high potential nonprofit organizations, whose missions can help bring an end to inter-generational poverty. SVP Philadelphia is part of a global network of more than 3,500 Partners in 43 cities, who have collectively contributed more than $60 million to 900+ organizations.Production Credits:The Self Made Strategies Hustle Story is a SoftStix Productions LLC jawn.  This episode was produced, edited, and hosted by Tony Lopes, co-hosted by Katie Wright (of Right Cause Consulting - https://www.rightcauseconsulting.com/), with associate production by Ryan Martin.  The Self Made Strategies Podcast is sponsored by Lopes Law LLC (www.LopesLawLLC.com).You can also connect with us on: • https://www.facebook.com/selfmadestrategies/ •• https://twitter.com/SelfMadeStratGs •• https://www.instagram.com/selfmadestrategies/ •• https://www.linkedin.com/company/self-made-strategies/ •

Julian Placino is a Fortune 500 Speaker who’s spoken hundreds of times at various corporations, conferences, universities, and non-profits, including Staples, Whole Foods, StaffOne, Kaye/Bassman International, DisruptHR, TalentNet, DallasHR, SMU, UNT, UTD, SkillQUEST, and Social Venture Partners.As the host of the Pathways to Success Podcast, Julian interviews exceptional leaders about their journeys to success. He's produced over 160 episodes, generated more than 73,000 downloads, achieved a 5-star rating on iTunes, amassed a regular listening audience from 12 countries, and interviewed company founders, CEOs, New York Times bestselling authors, TEDx speakers, celebrity athletes, and prolific entrepreneurs. Julian has also attracted sponsorships from various brands, including Compete Every Day, Deadsoxy.com, and Focusrite, the #1 selling USB audio interface in the world.With 11 years of recruiting experience, he’s helped leading corporations attract, recruit, and retain top talent. Julian has personally hired over 400 world-class professionals in the areas of technology, sales, and creative arts. For seven years, Julian led talent acquisition for Bottle Rocket, one of the premier mobile development firms in the world. He now consults with staffing firms on business development strategy, performance coaching, content creation, and employer branding.In this episode, Julian discusses his upcoming series on Amazon Prime, The Social Movement, as well as his passion for being an entrepreneur and stewardship being the future of leadership by accessing our talented resources to share with others.  You’ll Learn  Listen and learn about the power of having a podcast in your business.Find out the value of stewardship, networking, and personal branding.What made him quit his job and pursue his passion.And much more! Favorite Quote“Stewardship is the discovery, deployment, and development of our talents and resources to be of service to others.”  - Julian Placino Click here to check out Julian Placino’s WebsiteClick here to check out Julian’s LinkedInClick here to check out Amazon: The MovementClick here to check out Julian’s Podcast How to get involvedLisa is a visionary, who utilize all her multi-passionate strengths in Business and Mindset coaching to help get business and individuals from where they are to where they want to be. Check her website Recognize Your Truth to learn more, download here a FREE Guidebook on How to Launch a Podcast, and you can purchase her Inspirational Sticky notes here. Connect with her via LinkedIn. If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave a review. We love to hear your feedback and we’d love for you to help us spread the word!

Lauren Harper, Founding Director at Social Venture Partners, shares the purpose behind Social Venture Partners and the importance of their role in supporting changemaking social entrepreneurs in Miami.

From Band Central Radio: "Good morning world ... from WPKN- 89.5-FM nonprofit, independent community radio TODAY check out Band Central Radio'S PODCAST on WPKN with Andy Kadison and Rob Fried for a fun show of community-oriented talk, music and information. Today's featured guest is Mark Argosh, Executive Director of Social Venture Partners.

From Band Central Radio: "Good morning world ... from 12:00-1:00pm TODAY check out Band Central Radio on WPKN with Andy Kadison and Rob Fried for a fun hour of community-oriented talk, music and information. Guests include Mark Argosh, Executive Director of Social Venture Partners, Audrey Nefores, social media wiz and designer for Band Central and Crispin Cioe, local music sensation who has played sax with The Rolling Stones and James Brown. WPKN, FM 89.5 or streaming at wpkn.org. Check WPKN Podcasts if you miss the live stream. Be safe, be happy."

Solynn McCurdy, Senior Vice President of Cooperative Affairs of BECU, a Seattle Metro Chamber board trustee, and former CEO of Social Venture Partners, discusses the significance of mentorship, changing Seattle, and his work giving voice to people who have been marginalized.

What's your purpose? Who are you and why are you here? If you don't know where to start, think about this advice: if you dive in, you've won. That's what Blossom Johnston, Purpose-Driven Leader, wants you to know - getting started may not be easy, but that first step is the most important one: dive in! Work on your life plan, and revisit it regularly. Ask for help when you need it, and provide help to others on their journey. Blossom is starting a Social Venture Partners chapter in Idaho. The philanthropic organization will work with the state's non-profits to help families and children thrive. Here's a link to the podcast Blossom mentions in the episode: Ep 037: Chip Heath with Craig Groeschel *** Love Shadow (Remix Safety Guide) by rocavaco (c) copyright 2015 Licensed under a Creative Commons Noncommercial Sampling Plus license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/rocavaco/52156 Ft: Loveshadow

Loved this interview with Julian Placino, Sr. Recruiting Lead at Bottle Rocket & Founder of the Pathways to Success Training Co. We have met 7-8 years ago and the recording with him, as one of my mentors, brought me a lot of joy. We talk about his journey from the University of North Texas to the corporate world, Social Venture Partners, his amazing podcast, the importance of Branding, Mentorship, Building a Network and Humility. Connect with Julian HERE.

Today we had the privilege to sit down with Cameron Law. Cameron played baseball at UC Davis and after earning his Masters degree in Australia, now works as Executive Director of Social Venture Partners of Sacramento.  In our discussion, we touched on the recruiting process, battling through injury, cultivating a positive team culture and how to leverage your skills learned as a college athlete to become a corporate recruiters dream candidate. 

When a business leader begins to look for opportunities to give back, options range from charitable organizations to social ventures. Organizations, like Social Venture Partners, exist to engage business leaders and leverage their expertise and passion to help build social good capacity in social enterprises and charitable organizations. The CEO of Social Venture Partners Dallas, Tony Fleo, offers his insights and experiences on how to engage locally and make an impact. Participation in Social Venture Partners is as important for 20-somethings as it is for all generations. Join our conversation! Listen to the Activate World Podcast Follow Activate World on Twitter Follow Activate World on LinkedIn

Follow a few organizations who are going through Fast Pitch, a program provided by Social Venture Partners, to help craft a strong pitch. We go behind the scenes and look at what it takes to develop a simple, clear and impactful pitch.

I'm always impressed with people who have made it their mission in life to make this world a better place for all of us.   My guest on the show today, Tony Fleo, is not only one of those people, but he takes that mission several steps further as CEO of Social Venture Partners - Dallas.   With a global network of local partners, Tony and SVP are improving lives and maximizing social impact.     It's so important to understand that once a social cause gathers a following and makes its first hire, it's a business.  Social Venture Partners helps pull together the business resources for organizations like those and makes sure that they have the ability to succeed.   Tony shares inspiring stories of how he got to SVP-Dallas and of how they've helped so many people and organizations.   And…this is episode 50 of The Jason Croft Show!     So amazing.  Thank yo

We are living in an era of unprecedented crisis, resulting in widespread feelings of fear, despair, and grief. Now, more than ever, maintaining hope for the future is a monumental task. Intrinsic Hope: Living Courageously in Troubled Times by Kate Davies, M.A.D., offers a powerful antidote to these feelings. Kate Davies has worked with numerous nongovernmental and governmental organizations on environmental issues, including Greenpeace, and is currently core faculty at Antioch University Seattle’s Center for Creative Change and Clinical Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Washington. Are you trapped in wage slavery at a dead end job, not knowing how to channel your talents to your real life’s purpose? In Work That Matters: Create a Livelihood that Reflects Your Core Intention, life coach Maia Duerr shares her “6 Keys to Liberation-Based Live-lihood� to point you in a positive direction towards breaking that glass ceiling. Maia is a writer, organizational consultant, and coach for people going through life and career transitions, drawing years of Zen meditation practice and training in anthropology to create powerful tools for integrating mindfulness into the workplace and home life. Aaron Edelheit used to work so hard, it nearly killed him. In The Hard Break: The Case for a 24/6 Lifestyle, he breaks down the myths around productivity, revealing how taking a one day “hard break� each week to reset can be a life-changing experience, and shares the seven steps to a successful Sabbath. Aaron is the Chief Strategy Officer for FLO Technologies. He is the founder of Mindset Capital, a private investment firm, and serves on the board of Moishe House Foundation, also partnering with Social Venture Partners in Santa Barbara working on homelessness.

What if the real secret to greater productivity, happiness and success is a habit that is thousands of years old? Productivity has become an international obsession. We celebrate a work culture where people boast of long working hours, their extreme schedules and how little they sleep. A constant stream of emails, texts, tweets and more keeps us connected every minute and we rarely put our phones down. Every moment needs to be maximized and no time can be wasted. And yet most of us also feel something is wrong. All of these attempts at optimizing business and life aren't really making us happier. Ironically, it might not be making us all that productive either. In this groundbreaking book, noted entrepreneur and money manager Aaron Edelheit breaks down the myths around productivity and offers a startlingly simple solution: the Sabbath. Aaron M. Edelheit is the Chief Strategy Officer of FLO Technologies. Since selling his company, The American Home in 2015, Aaron founded Mindset Capital, a private investment firm. Aaron has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg, and the New York Times and has given lectures on entrepreneurship and investments all over the U.S., Canada and South Africa. Aaron serves on the board of the Moishe House Foundation and is a Partner of Social Venture Partners in Santa Barbara working on homelessness. To learn more about Mr. Edelheit, visit: https://www.thehardbreak.com/about-the-author/ To learn more about Houston Money Week visit: www.Houstonmoneyweek.org   http://www.cheatsheet.com/personal-finance/how-schools-can-improve-their-personal-finance-education.html/ Financial Advisor Magazine Articles: http://www.fa-mag.com/news/advisors-stay-the-course-amid-monday-s-market-drop-22864.html?section=3  http://www.fa-mag.com/news/on-it-s-80th-anniversaryadvisors-consider-social-security-s-impactfuture-22784.html?section=3 You can listen live by going to www.kpft.org and clicking on the HD3 tab. You can also listen to this episode and others by podcast at: http://directory.libsyn.com/shows/view/id/moneymatters or www.moneymatterspodcast.com #KPFTHOUSTON #HoustonMoneyWK #aaronvalue

Erika Boll, Global Development Incubator Darcy Brownell, Social Venture Partners Susan Musinsky, Social Innovation Forum George Tsiatis, Resolution Project Event: Social Enterprise Conference at the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Links: http://socialenterpriseconference.org/ Sponsors: www.rebelmethod.com/listen Host: Sergio Marrero https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergiomarrero/ Music credit: Starlight by NUBY https://soundcloud.com/nubymusik/starlight Keywords: impact innovation startups startup podcast socialenterprise harvard hbs hks incubators accelerator

Ryan is one of the engines stirring the pot of the Pittsburgh nonprofit scene. In addition to incubating young organization through Social Venture Partners, he also actively consults using his experience in sales, partnership development, strategy execution, and sustainable investment analysis.   Prior to CitizenCity, Ryan led U.S. outreach for Humanity in Action–an international human rights organization that cultivates ethical leaders. We discuss his background and his views on what makes a project successful. Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Ryan’s Challenges; If you’re an entrepreneur, think about how your core tenets could help solve a community challenge. If you’re in Pittsburgh and want to be more involved in your philanthropy, come join SVP.     Mentioned Effective Altruism #15 Ian Neumaier Social Venture Partners   If you liked this interview, check out more interviews with Pittsburgh's Movers and Shakers. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

On this episode of SPx, we sit down with innovative investor and former Wall Street executive, Irv Cohen. As St. Petersburg Group Insight Board Member and through other platforms like Social Venture Partners and Seed Funders, Cohen is trying to change the way Tampa Bay supports start-ups. He believes that new companies need active investors who lend their acumen on a regular basis. Enjoy this lively discussion about needed change and how SPG could be a catalyst.

On this episode of the Pathways to Success, we discuss how to bridge the gap between Millennials and Baby Boomers. Tony Fleo is the CEO of Social Venture Parters Dallas. He has more than 30 years of experience in assisting enterprises grow in organizational strength, funding, and staff and board development. His extensive background in psychology and systems theory, coupled with his hands-on experience leading organizations to fulfill their missions, enables him to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Tony serves as the CEO of Social Venture Partners Dallas, an organization of over 160 engaged professionals dedicated to helping social enterprises and philanthropists thrive. Tony holds the CFRE credential for fund development and a certificate for non-profit management. Tony has presented at national and international conferences on topics ranging from human development to systems development. He is a native of Pittsburgh, P.A. and attended Duquesne University where he received a B.A. and M.A. in Psychology. Tony is married to an event planner and knows more about weddings than any man ever should, has three adult children, and makes his home in Dallas, Texas. Sean Caho is the Director of Strategy & Innovation of Social Venture Partners Dallas. He is a strategist, entrepreneur, and marketer who uses classical wisdom and contemporary process to help organization pierce the ambiguity that surrounds their goals and capitalize on new opportunities. In his role at Social Venture Partners Dallas, he is focused on developing the organization's impact investing activities, expanding its corporate programs, and overseeing communications. Prior to joining SVP Dallas, Sean founded or co-founded multiple businesses, including a full-service digital marketing agency and an accelerator program for startups in real estate technology, wherein he played active, operational roles. Sean's career began as a business analyst at a boutique venture capital firm operating in China and North America. He is a graduate of Baylor's Business Fellows Program where he had an advisor gracious enough to let him spend as much time studying classics and philosophy as business. He continues to split his time between these pursuits, believing that wisdom endures while methods change.    Topics:  The different in values  The power of community and substantial relationships Culture, values, and conversation Mentoring and reverse mentoring Seeking community  Bridging the gap    Connect with Social Venture Partners Dallas Website Facebook Instagram Twitter

Kenny Chen serves as the Program Director of Ascender, where he focuses his attention on curating and delivering innovation programs and building collaborative relationships with people and organizations throughout Pittsburgh, as well as nationally and internationally. This culminates each year with the Thrival Innovation + Music Festival, which brings together local and international influencers for multiple days of innovation-focused programs followed by a two-day outdoor music experience. On the side, Kenny is the co-founder of involveMINT, and serves on the boards for the Pittsburgh Entrepreneurs Forum and Social Venture Partners. Kenny was born in Madison, WI, raised in Las Vegas, NV, and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Social Psychology. He has worked in several places around the world, including San Francisco, Washington DC, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. He came to Pittsburgh in 2014 for the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs, a transformative experience that quickly gave him a wide breadth of knowledge and a deep love for the city.   Attend my one-day conference January 27th in Pittsburgh. Learn more here.   Kenny’s Challenge; Intentionally seek out opportunities to interact with and learn from someone who doesn’t share your beliefs, views, or background.   Connect with Kenny LinkedIn Twitter Website   If you liked this interview, check out all my interviews with the people shaping the future of Pittsburgh. Subscribe on iTunes | Stitcher | Overcast | PodBay

Social Venture Partners is a nonprofit that uses the venture capital model to help other nonprofits build capacity and grow. Sometimes you want to do more. It might feel satisfying at the moment to march and chant. But does the impact last? You can donate money to social causes, and that’s important. But sometimes, it feels like you want to do even more. One trend in philanthropy is engaged philanthropy. Engaged philanthropy recognizes that you have more than financial capital to give to a cause. You also have intellectual capital and social capital. You can use your skills and experience to help a nonprofit. You have a network of connections which can benefit a nonprofit. Social Venture Partners allows individuals and corporations to practice engaged philanthropy. There are 42 Social Venture Partners affiliates around the globe. Social Venture Partners, Minnesota is one of them. They focus their efforts on serving youth. The partners at Social Venture Partners identify potential nonprofits to target. They look for nonprofits that are emerging early stage, with some proof of concept. Ann Herzog-Olson, the Executive Director of Social Venture Partners Minnesota says, “We focus on nonprofits who have a vision of where they want to go and look like they’re emerging. Then we help them build a capacity building plan.” The individual and corporate partners at Social Venture Partners stick with the nonprofit for three years as they build their capacity. In some cases, the nonprofit wants to serve more youth. In those cases, Social Venture Partners help them to scale. In other cases, the nonprofits want their existing programs to be more effective. Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Ann Herzog-Olson “Youth are kind of lost in the middle.” “Social Venture Partners is focused on building capacity.” “We look for nonprofits that are directly serving youth.” “It’s what we call engaged philanthropy.” “It’s skilled expertize, professional expertize, that we provide to the nonprofits.” “We usually get about 30 to 50 applications, and we select just one nonprofit.” “We walk alongside them.” “It’s highly strategic skilled volunteers.” “We use revenue as a proxy.” “They double their revenue in three years.” “We expect our partners to become involved and volunteer their time.” “It’s sophisticated volunteering.” “We train people to use their skills to help a nonprofit in a strategic way.” “We are impacting more teens as we add more partners.” “Development’s really about the donor.” “They need to have a vision of where they want to take their organization.” Social Entrepreneurship Resources: Social Venture Partners, Minnesota: http://www.socialventurepartners.org/minnesota Social Venture Partners, Minnesota on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/svpminnesota Social Venture Partners, Minnesota on Twitter: https://twitter.com/svpminnesota Book: Crazy Good Advice: 10 Lessons Learned from 150 Leading Social Entrepreneurs: http://tonyloyd.com/book  

Our guest today is Lauren Harper, Founding Director of Social Venture Partners, Miami. We talk with Lauren about impact investing, venture philanthropy and the mission of Social Venture Partners.

Today we were joined by Denise Burkard, the Lead Partner for Seed20, and Susan Daniel, the Executive Director of Social Venture Partners, to talk about the Seed20 program and what is does for the Charlotte community. We also were also "speed dated" the following semifinalists: KNOW Charlotte (Levine Museum of the New South) 20:34 MusicalMinds NC - 2701

Listen to the first ever taping of Seattle Growth Podcast before a live audience at the Impact Hub in Seattle. University of Washington's Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship organized the event on October 17th, 2016. Host Jeff Shulman moderated a panel of three individuals who have made immeasurable contributions to Seattle and will play a major role in its future: Maggie Walker, John Connors, and John Creighton. Maggie Walker is well known in Seattle as a philanthropist and civic leader. Walker was a founding member of Social Venture Partners and of the Washington Women's Foundation. She is Chair and Board President of Global Partnerships. She is Vice Chair of the National Audobon Society Board of Directors. She is a member of the UW Foundation Board of Directors and the Seattle Art Museum Board of Trustees where she previously served as President. She is a board member of Friends of Waterfront Seattle. She is an advisory board member for the University of Washington's College of the Environment, the Evans School of Public Policy, and the College of Arts & Sciences. Walker previously served as chair of The Bullitt Foundation's Board of Trustees, co-chair of the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) Board of Trustees, chair of the Washington Women's Foundation (founding member and first Chair) and was the first vice-chair of The Seattle Foundation Board of Trustees. John Connors is a managing partner at Ignition Partners, an early stage, business software venture capital firm. Connors was named to the 2013 Forbes Midas List, a ranking of the world's top venture capital investors, and to Business Insider's 2013 list of top enterprise technology VCs. Connors joined Ignition in 2005 after a distinguished career as a software-industry executive. Connors spent sixteen years at Microsoft in several high-level, strategic roles. From January 2000 to April 2005 he was senior vice president of finance and administration, as well as the company's chief financial officer. Connors is a member of the board of directors of Nike (NKE), Splunk (SPLK), FiREapps, DataSphere, Motif Investing, Chef, Azuqua, Tempered Networks, and Icertis. John Creighton has served on the Port of Seattle Commission since 2006. He came to the commission with broad experience as a lawyer specializing on complex international transactions in the port cities of Singapore, Helsinki and Istanbul prior to returning home to Seattle. Creighton currently has a solo practice focused on business law and public policy. As a commissioner, Creighton has focused on keeping the Port strong as a jobs creation engine while increasing the agency's commitment to the environment and making it a more accountable, socially responsible public agency. Creighton grew up on the Eastside and graduated from Interlake High School in Bellevue. He earned a B.A. and M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, a J.D. from Columbia University and a Certificate of Administration from the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

Social Venture Partners Executive Director Julia Waterfall-Kanter stopped by 30 Minutes to discuss SVP Tucson. SVP is currently accepting applications…