State of Inclusion

Joel Dock, of Louisville Kentucky, shares how owning the history of their city's planning process and the harm done from that process helped inspire his city to take action to make their community more equitable and more inclusive. Joel also shares about the process his team used and introduces us to a visualization and communication tool called StoryMaps. This conversation with Joel, reminds us that it is often not one big thing but a series of many small things layered over time, one on top of another, that helps us change inequitable systems, procedures, and policies. 

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

In this episode, we lean into Community Equity with Kimberlee Archie.  We touch on complex topics such as reparations, sharing power, and confronting community history. Join us as we continue our journey to learn more about how individuals and their communities are taking on this challenging and difficult task of building a more inclusive world, one community at a time.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

In this episode we interview Alaina Lavoie, Program Manager for the nonprofit, We Need Diverse Books. Why do we need more diverse books? What is happening in the publishing industry that is helping to drive inclusion and what are some of the barriers that marginalized groups still face.  Alaina gives us peak behind the curtains of the publishing industry and the efforts to build a more inclusive world, one book at a time.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

Our public libraries are vital resources to our communities and, as citizens, we own them. In this episode, we interview two librarians: Sarah Voels, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Karin Michel, from Chapel Hill, NC.  Sarah and Karin give us an introduction to the work that libraries are doing in support of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Join us and learn more about how our public libraries can make their community a more inclusive and equitable place. This is a particularly timely discussion as Congress debates infrastructure funding and the Build America's Libraries Act (H.R. 1581).

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

In this episode we discuss diversity and inclusion in art with Suzanne Thomas. Her organization, Inclusion in Art, seeks to build opportunities for artists of color in Oklahoma.  My discussion with Suzanne is a reminder of how art and community culture play a role in helping us build more inclusive communities. It may be through developing and supporting diversity and emerging artists. Maybe it's building a more inclusive artistic community, or it may be in celebrating the work of our masters, those mature and diverse artists in our community. We also talk about how partnering can be used by smaller organizations to increase their impact, their reach, and even help larger and more traditional organizations become more inclusive.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

In this episode we talk with De'Amon Harges to learn about the Asset-Based Community Development. De'Amon Harges also shares lessons learned from his 20+ years of experience with community development and the work he is doing within his own community to build a practice of abundance.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

In 2014, Charlotte faced a major wake-up call when it learned that it had the worst economic mobility among the fifty major cities in the country. The community responded by launching a community-wide, multi-year effort to help ensure that "within a generation, every child in Charlotte-Mecklenburg will have an equal chance to achieve social and economic success."  In this episode, we interview Sherri Chisolm, Director of Leading on Opportunity for Charlotte, NC, and learn what it means for a community to commit to making the American Dream a reality.   

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

Across our country, many cities and counties are working to make their communities more inclusive and equitable—not just as a better place to work for their employees, but also leading the way to build a more inclusive and equitable community for their citizens. Portland, Oregon is one of those cities. In this episode, we interview Judith Mowry, Senior Policy Advisor on Equity Strategies and Initiatives for the City of Portland, in their Office of Equity and Human rights.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

In this episode we explore the role that community conversation has in ending oppression and creating equity for all. Our conversation is with Davelyn Hill, Executive Director of Speaking Down Barriers (SDB). SBD is a nonprofit located in Spartanburg, SC. that "provides encounters that transform our life together across human difference for healing and justice."

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

In this episode we discuss racial truth and reconciliation. We interview Dr. Feliccia Smith and Ms. Ellen Stevenson, the co-directors of the Community Remembrance Project of Greenville County, S.C, and we learn about the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL and their Memorial for Peace and Justice.  

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

Join us as we talk with John Andoh about how his leadership at the Comet, in the midlands of South Carolina, is strengthening inclusion and equity in his community. 

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

Being a single parent with custody of your kids can be a hard and lonely job. If you're struggling financially, maybe you don't have good support from your family, or maybe you're just getting out of a violent relationship, it can feel downright overwhelming. You feel like you're up against impossible odds. Getting ahead, making a better life for your kids, all that seems impossible. In this podcast, we’ll learn how one community has changed the odds for their single parents. They've made the impossible possible. We'll interview Cathe Dykstra of Family Scholar House in Louisville, Kentucky.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

Join the Compassionate Cities movement to awaken compassion in your own community. We'll interview Rev. Kory Wilcoxson and learn about how Lexington, Kentucky has done just that through their Lex Give Back program. We'll also learn what it takes to become a Compassionate City.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

In this episode, we'll meet Janice Tufte, who is working to make our healthcare and health systems more inclusive and equitable. We'll talk about patient-centered research and learn more about the role of ambassadors. While progress has been made, we'll also discuss the people who are still not well represented in our health systems and opportunities that remain in our own back yard.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

Can art change the way we interact with one another, build community equity?

Our interview with Monique Davis from the Mississippi Museum of Art's Center for Art and Public Exchange (CAPE) will open our minds to what art can do in our lives and for our communities.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

How can a community achieve sustainable equity?

Join as Dr. Susan Glisson shares information about her method for supporting communities as they embark on a process of racial healing and equity.

Along the way, Susan will share her experiences with different communities and projects.

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

Join me as we talk with Danny van Leeuwen about the importance of equity in achieving our "Best Health." Danny "Health Hats" van Leeuwen talks about the concept of equity as it relates to our health and shares examples of why this matters to each of us. He'll also share a little about the work he is doing to shift the "Health Industrial Complex" on this important issue.

In the interview, Danny mentions the concept of redlining and housing segregation. This article will provide a little more insight into the term redlining.
https://www.npr.org/2017/05/03/526655831/a-forgotten-history-of-how-the-u-s-government-segregated-america

Link to Full Transcript and Show Notes

Signup for The Inclusive Community Newsletter 

What does it take to have real staying power? Last episode we met Emma Winiski a new Equity Warrior, just entering the fight, right out of college. Today, we'll meet Sandra Bullock, a life-long Equity Warrior. Sandra is the Greenville S.C. Circles Coordinator. We'll learn about the Circles, USA framework and how communities, like yours, are using it to lift families and individuals out of poverty, one person at a time. We'll also learn about Sandra's newest project, what she calls her legacy project. Join us as we get to know Sandra and learn more about Circles.

This is the perfect episode for anyone interested in fighting poverty in their community or learning more about Circles.

Learn more about Circles, USA at their national site:
https://www.circlesusa.org

Learn more about First Impression, SC at their website:
https://firstimpressionsc.org

In this episode, we interview Emma Winiski from our State of Inclusion team. Emma is a young woman just beginning her work as an Equity Warrior. Emma has recently graduated from Furman University and started her career working with Urban Institute. She is young but still has a realistic view of the possible ways to impact communities.

Access the full transcript  HERE

Sign up for our newsletter and join us at The Inclusive Community to discover conversations, insights, and practices to encourage and support each of us working to build a more inclusive and equitable community.

Listen to the trailer to learn more about the State of Inclusion Podcast. 

Access the full transcript  HERE

Sign up for our newsletter and join us at The Inclusive Community to discover conversations, insights, and practices to encourage and support each of us working to build a more inclusive and equitable community.