Professor Alex Gomez is a dedicated border historian with a passion for shedding light on the intricacies of the US-Mexican border region. His academic journey includes a Bachelor’s degree in Latin American History, a dual Master’s degree in Latin American Studies with a focus on the US-Mexican border region, and a Master’s degree in Latin American Literature from SDSU. He is pursuing a Ph.D. in Refugee and Migrant Studies at Linköping University in Sweden.
For the last 25 years, Professor Gomez has guided both college and high school students along the US-Mexican border region to better understand globalization and migration patterns. He does this in hopes of sparking a renewed sense of urgency in young people for creating a better world.
Kaeden Cameron is one of the leaders at Made to Serve, a Austin, Texas based Christian nonprofit committed to reaching out to the homeless community by providing free meals. Kaeden comes from a background in technology as an engineer at Apple but made it a point to find like minded people in his community who wanted to address the hunger facing the homeless population in Austin. Kaeden serves as an example of how everyday people without substantive experience in nonprofit operations can come together and have an outsized impact on their local community.
Made to Serve has provided nearly 7000 meals. They are over 100 volunteers strong. The organization consistently hits the streets of Austin every Saturday and Sunday. You can catch these folks around downtown Austin every weekend and join their mission.
Pastor Justin Adour is the Founding and Senior Pastor of Redeemer East Harlem, a Presbyterian Church in and for East Harlem. He also serves as the Executive Director of Pray. March. Act., a civic discipleship coalition that helps churches understand the root causes of injustice in New York City and mobilizes them to pray, march, and act for policies and practices that promote justice.
Pastor Justin began pastoring in NYC 16 years ago and has served in pastoral ministry for over 20 years. From Youth Pastor to Campus Ministry to eventually securing his Ph.D. in Theology and leading REH, Pastor Justin has been a fixture amongst NYC’s Christian leadership.
Dr. Karambu Ringera is the Founder and President of International Peace Initiatives, an organization providing children who's parents have passed, women living with HIV/AIDS, survivors of violence, and communities with the tools and resources to move from violence, poverty, and crisis to stability and self-reliance, thereby building resilient communities.
Dr. Ringera earned her Ph.D. in Intercultural Communication in 2008 from the University of Denver. She earned a Masters Degree in Media from Natal University, South Africa, as well as a Master of Theological Studies from the Iliff School of Theology in Colorado. She received her Bachelor of Education degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Mass Communication from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. She has won several awards recognizing her international leadership and activism.
Tristan participated in a Students Shoulder to Shoulder field study with The Small World, a nonprofit focused on sustainable development, rural education, and women’s empowerment in Nepal. Upon finishing his field study, Tristan returned to his hometown of Portland, Maine and was inspired to analyze needs in his own community. Tristan's story serves as a powerful narrative reinforcing the idea of the greater scale that one act of service can have through inspiring action in others.
Dennis Pooler is the Director of College Access and Post Secondary Success at Comp Sci High. Comp Sci High is a charter high school in The Bronx, New York dedicated to ensuring every student graduates with college acceptance letters, high tech skills, real work experience, and a plan to turn those opportunities into a successful career.
Dennis is an experienced school leader with an expertise in building college and career programs and has collectively yielded over $50 million in scholarship awards for students.
Richard Lackey is the Chairman & CEO of the World Food Bank, which he founded in 2015 as a sustainable solution to hunger and food security issues across the globe. Richard is a career entrepreneur with 30 years of leadership experience in the trading and securities industry, having founded and led companies that were sold to Goldman Sachs and eTrade, serving as the managing director for five successful private funds, and authoring three books on technical analysis and market analysis.
By partnering with farmers, non-profits, financial institutions, agricultural input suppliers, and others, World Food Bank creates an ecosystem that provides stable commodity pricing to farmers, resilient soil to the planet, high quality food to consumers, and enriches local economies. Come learn about the operations of this company that puts sustainability and impact at the center of its mission.
Grace Klepacz is a 7th and 8th Grade Teacher at the St. Andrew’s School in Savannah Georgia. She has served as a Course Instructor for Students Shoulder to Shoulder, a non-profit dedicated to teaching middle and highschoolers about ethical leadership through field studies which take students to serve alongside grassroots community organizations around the world.
Come hear about why teaching ethical leadership is more important now more than ever from a teacher on the frontlines of the classroom.
The Ethical Leadership Forum hosted by Students Shoulder-to-Shoulder happens on October 17th to 18th for educators and on October 18th for EVERYONE. Vail, CO never felt so warm. See what Ethical Leadership looks like in action.
Timothy McNutt is the Director of the Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. McNutt began his law career as an Assistant District Attorney at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office where he conducted long-term narcotics investigations. Later, as an Assistant District Attorney at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, McNutt also prosecuted violent and white collar crime. He uses his extensive background in criminal law and policy to assist people with criminal records in reducing barriers to reentry and improving employment outcomes.
Come learn about why employment is a central element to lowering rates of recidivism, how to work with employers to accept justice impacted people into their workforce, and how to make a business case for increased hiring for formerly incarcerated people.
Jerry Hartman is the President and Board Chairman of the Barbara McDowell Gerald S. Hartman Foundation. The McDowell Foundation aims to improve the economic well-being, social conditions, and civil liberties of disadvantaged persons and groups in the United States. The Foundation accomplishes this goal by providing over $1.7 million dollars to organizations performing impact litigation that seeks to protect the rights of underserved communities. Through victories in securing the rights of prisoners, children, racial minorities and more, the Foundation has shown that contributing to the right people seeking to do the right thing makes the world a better place to be in.
Jerry has had a long career as a litigator, including four years in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. He received the Department’s prestigious Special Commendation Award from the Attorney General of the United States. Jerry was a tenured law professor at Wake Forest Law School and has been a partner in several national law firms representing major American corporations in class action employment discrimination cases.
Chelsey Roebuck is the President and Co-Founder of Emerging Leaders in Technology and Engineering or ELITE. ELiTE is an academic preparation program that increases equity, opportunity, and readiness for STEM-related postsecondary pathways for students attending public schools that serve majority low-income Black and Latino populations. ELiTE is at the forefront of minting the world's future leading Black and Latino engineers. Everything from securing internships during high school at the largest technology companies in America to 1-on-1 mentorship is included in ELiTE’s rigorous programming.
Chelsey graduated from Columbia in 2010 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. From Forbes 30 Under 30 to being an Echoing Green Fellow, Chelsey is a force for good in educating New York City’s underserved students.
Captain Neekenson Fils Aime is a Captain in the Salvation Army, the renowned, international Christian organization known for its impressive track record of uplifting the most underserved communities around the world. Captain Neek leads the Harlem Temple Corps of the Salvation Army which oversees the Salvation Army’s work throughout Harlem, NYC. Come learn about the most pressing challenges facing the Harlem community and the solutions being employed by Captain Neek alongside his wife Captain Jeanne Elie.
Dr. Sarah Bennison is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Mattering Movement. The Mattering Movement is a New York incorporated non-profit that teaches students, teachers, and parents what it means to matter by providing tools to identify needs in local communities and the skills to make a positive impact on the world. The Matter Movement seeks to combat the pandemic of loneliness and despair that are harming America’s youth. The Mattering Movement provides practical toolkits of curriculum in order to support teachers and parents in creating environments that make students feel like they matter.
Dr. Bennison is an educational leader, activist and founder of Trinity School (NYC) Office of Public Service, where she led service learning initiatives engaging students, faculty, families and alumni in ongoing, meaningful community engagement work with social impact curriculum. She started her career in New York City public schools in the South Bronx and has more than twenty-five years of teaching and leadership experience.
Ramón Javier is the Head of School at George Jackson Academy. George Jackson Academy (GJA) is a selective, need-blind, all-boys middle school located in the East Village of Manhattan. GJA educates high-achieving boys, regardless of their families’ economic means, with some of the best independent school education around. The school’s tuition is $25,000 per year, but 100% of the families receive financial aid, some families pay as little as $50 a month. The school truly believes that if you have the ability to thrive academically, then the education that will push you should be available regardless of your economic status. Ramon has two decades of leadership experience at some of the most pre-eminent independent schools and educational access programs in New York City such as Prep for Prep, The Trinity School, TEAK, and Packer Collegiate. He graduated from Williams College and then earned a Masters of Education (Ed.M.) and M.A. in Psychological Counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Roslyn Rivas is the Public Programs Manager at NYC Audubon, a grassroots non-profit that has been working for the protection of wild birds and habitat in New York City for over 40 years. If you want to know how urban conservationists have saved millions of birds, changed major construction like the Javits Center to be more environmentally friendly, and have brought together the NYC community around an appreciation of birds, this episode is for you. Roslyn is a Bronx, New York native and grew up right next to the iconic Bronx Zoo. Her early love of environment and animals propelled her to Yale where she graduated undergrad with a degree in ecology & evolutionary biology and then earned a wildlife management certificate from Oregon State University. Roslyn has worked for the New York Botanical Garden and the National Audubon Foundation before bringing her talents to NYC Audubon. Get ready to learn about practical ways urban living folks can be just a little bit more environmentally conscious.
Josh Benitez is the Co-Director of Common Ground Relief, a New Orleans, Louisiana non-profit committed to working for environmental and disaster justice. Common Ground Relief performs the essential work of planting native marshes and trees into the shoreline of Louisiana which provide the state with natural defenses against the devastation of hurricanes. Due to a combination of natural and man-made causes the protective shoreline of Louisiana has seen severe erosion. A strong shoreline serves as an invaluable defense in lessening the severity of hurricanes. In one year alone, Common Ground Relief has restored over 23 miles of shoreline and 17 acres of forest. Common Ground does this on top of organizing a “Free Pantry” that provides fresh food to all members of the Southeast Louisiana community for free. Josh is a New Orleans native and has spent years working in urban reforestation, hurricane relief, and all forms of environmental protection advocacy in the State of Louisiana. On top of that Josh is a phenomenal musician who frequents New Orleans’ world-famous Bourbon Street on guitar. Come learn about an organization working to stop natural disasters from becoming human devastation and doing it all while keeping bellies full.
Emily Talentino is the Executive Director of Give and Surf. Give and Surf is a grassroots organization based in the island community of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Give & Surf has built 8 classrooms for local schools, 3 community centers, and several other projects in the Bocas region. Give & Surf now runs 5 year-round educational centers whose programs are led by a team of local teachers and supported by international volunteers. Emily first joined the team as a volunteer in 2013 while living in Massachusetts and working at the YMCA. Eventually, she moved to Panama in 2015 and committed herself full time to supporting the indigenous community of Bocas. Come and learn of Give and Surf’s unique strategy of not seeking to have a small impact on the greatest number of people possible, but instead, having a deep, long-lasting, sustainable impact within the small communities that they serve.
Welcome to Non-Profit Prophets and thank for joining! YouthxYouth is planning its next year and working to secure the support it needs to continue its operations. You can support here. On this episode, we talk to Valentina Raman, the Co-Founder of YouthxYouth and the Weaving Lab. YouthxYouth is a global community of youth activists and adult allies dedicated to the reimagination and transformation of education for collective liberation. Their goal is to accelerate the process of young people influencing, designing, and transforming their learning experiences and education systems. The Weaving Lab is an organization focused on fostering purposeful and synergistic collaborations and developing learning cultures for teams and communities engaged in social justice work. Come and learn how she has built a community of people focused on changing educational systems around the world from archaic, industrial-style systems to places curated for and by young people.
Welcome to Non-Profit Prophets! On today's episode we have Dr. Baz Dreisinger, a Professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Professor Baz serves as the Executive Director of Incarceration Nations Network a global network that supports, instigates and popularizes innovative prison reform and justice reimagining efforts around the world. She is the Founding Academic Director of John Jay's Prison-to-College Pipeline program, which offers college courses and reentry planning to incarcerated men and works to increase access to higher education for incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals. Dr. Dreisinger's 2016 book Incarceration Nations: A Journey to Justice in Prisons Around the World was critically acclaimed by the New York Times, NPR and other new outlets. The book recounts Professor Dreisinger’s time teaching in prisons around the world ranging from South Africa to Rwanda, Australia, Thailand and more countries.
Patrick Rodriguez is the Co-Executive Director for the Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison. The Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison builds high-quality educational pathways, from pre-college rcoursework to accredited degree completion, for people who are in prison and people who have left prison in Georgia. Patrick and his team handles the unique challenges of spreading associate degree programs in Georgia prisons with an approach centereed in the lived experiences of the incarcerated. Patrick himself was formerly incarcerated and is a testimony of the profound effect higher education can have on the life of anyone, but especially in the lives of the formerly incarcerated. Patrick has racked up several accolades including being selected as a Changemaker in the inaugural cohort for The Obama Foundation Leaders USA Program. Stay tuned to learn about the triumphs and challenges of spreading higher education in prison from a masterful operator in the prison reform space.