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2025 Community Engagement & the Grassroots of Change: An Inspirational Year in Review

2025 Community Engagement & the Grassroots of Change: An Inspirational Year in Review

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 2025 Theme: “Community Engagement & the Grassroots of Change.” Throughout the year we have explored stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. In our last show for 2025 we recap the year with our most inspiring episodes and introduce the theme for 2026. Throughout 2025 we have stimulating discussions between Anita, Mavis, and Gail. We have also had an awe-inspiring group of guests, handpicked to reflect the theme of community engagement and the grassroots of change. We honor our guests and the works they have done and continue to do in the name of transformation, empowerment, engagement across the multiple sectors of our society.Is It Possible to Build Trust in Community-Police Relations? Conversation with Shadae McDaniel Senior Vice President/Programs and Strategic Initiatives/Director, All Stars Project (ASP) of New Jersey. Beginning in February we hosted an in-depth exploration of the All Stars-Project and its signature program "Operation Conversation Cops and Kids." Among many accolades, Shadae was ranked among the ROI-NJ “2023 Influencers: People of Color." NJUrbanNews.com Article: “Shadae McDaniel Builds Bridges, Provides Opportunities for Youth Through the Power of Performance.” Founded in 1981, All Stars Project (ASP) is a 501(c)3 national nonprofit that uses a performance-based approach to help tens of thousands of inner-city youths and their families create success in their lives. Operation Conversation: Cops & Kids (OCCK) is an innovative police–community relations model program run by ASP in partnership with the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the Newark Police Division (NPD). This award-winning program uses performance, improvisation, and conversation to help inner-city teenagers and police officers build trust and improve their relationship.Until We Are All Free Movement, a human rights organization led by formerly incarcerated criminal justice experts. In March our case study focused on the Until We Are All Free Movement with guest Kevin Reese, Co-Founder/Co-Executive Director of UWAAF and Co-Founder/CEO of Until We Are All Free Consulting Group.Question: God, what is it that you’re working on in my life? What do you do when the answer is build a bridge of people and be a bridge through and with people? Kevin is the answer. Kevin grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He spent 14 years incarcerated inside of the criminal justice system. During that time, he founded the BRIDGE, a grassroots group of directly impacted criminal justice experts whose mission is to abolish mass incarceration and to find a path to true transformative criminal justice. Kevin says,“My idea was to create a program that builds a bridge between people like me, mostly men in prison but women, too, and the community. That bridge and this work is actually revolutionary. Because I’m not supposed to be able to make a connection to people on the outside. Prison is all about preventing that. But the BRIDGE partnership we’ve been working on gives light to an entire caste of people who are incarcerated.”Youth Empowerment Services, of Pittsburgh PA: “Ahead of its time and punching above its weight, Youth Enrichment Services (YES) formed in 1994...The heart of YES is a spirit of mentorship...By leveraging their unique skills and abilities and centering their voices, YES has created a formula for success that influences community growth, economic prosperity, and student-driven leadership." In our case study of the YES organization we invited Denise Jones, Educational Consultant at Youth Enrichment Services into the studio. Denise Jones is the daughter of two passion-driven educators. She attended Allegheny College, majored in Economics and minored in Black Studies. Later Denise applied for Teach for America and came to understand the joys and limitations of teaching, particularly in bureaucratic systems. Eventually she agreed to work at her father’s community-based non-profit organization, Youth Enrichment Services (YES), to help young people become their own best resource. She is now pursuing a PhD in education and psychology from the University of Michigan.Ujamaa Collective, Pittsburgh PA: A Unique Cultural Enriching Experience! Ujamaa Collective is a 501(c)3 non-profit artisan boutique. We (Anita is a member!) serve Africana women providing cultural, artistic, and entrepreneurial exchange in the historic Hill District of Pittsburgh. Our passion for cooperatives is rooted in our values of Fair Trade, meaningful work, creativity, community, and wellness. Two Sisters from the Ujamaa Collective shared their wisdom, community engagement practice, and the cooperation with our audiences — Lakeisha Wolf, Executive Director, and Alana Griffin, Ambassador. LaKeisha is a cultural worker, creative entrepreneur, and teaching artist with an emphasis on identity, racial justice, community connection, and whole-body wellness. She is a founding...
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