Join Andrew Gregson as he sits down with Howard Kummerman, the compassionate force behind the Cypress College Foundation, to explore how a tight-knit campus community keeps students in the classroom and changes lives.

Through candid stories, Howard shares the journey of a former Cypress College student in his 30s who was living in his car while attending classes, a student who, with the right support, went on to transfer to Stanford, alongside the story of a beloved professor whose lasting legacy brought hundreds together to celebrate her life. Together, these moments illustrate how small acts of care can create life-changing outcomes.

Howard also walks listeners through the traditions and fundraising efforts that sustain the college, including the Americana Awards, alumni engagement, and scholarship programs that thoughtfully connect students with donors. Along the way, he reveals the deeply human side of philanthropy: donors who once needed help themselves, committed board members, and dedicated staff quietly working behind the scenes to hold the campus together. It’s a hopeful, human story about education, community, and the powerful ripple effects of giving back.

On her 296th day as Mayor, Joyce Ahn takes us from global sales floors to neighborhood sidewalks in a conversation that unfolds like a close‑up of leadership in action. She recounts late nights launching tech brands, years of volunteer work that pulled her into public service, and the unexpected moment the community asked her to become their voice, a story of quiet conviction that becomes a public calling.

Along the way she wrestles with real stakes: revitalizing an aging Friendship Park, growing Buena Park’s Koreatown as an economic engine, and modernizing public safety, all while balancing the strain of decision‑making and the reward of community moments like CultureFest and youth programs. Listen for practical lessons on civic teamwork, the grit of municipal strategy, and a mayor’s personal promise to leave a safer, stronger city for the next generation.

On a stormy morning in Orange County, immigration attorney Lisa D. Ramirez recounts the moment she could no longer stand on the sidelines: the day enforcement swept through Santa Ana and she felt the law and people’s lives slipping away. For 25 years she has stood beside asylum seekers, trafficking survivors, veterans and families, and that work becomes the heartbeat of her campaign for California’s 40th District.

This episode follows Lisa from an eye-opening exchange student summer in Italy to a nonprofit fellowship that redirected her toward immigration law, and then into the courtroom and the community where she’s fought for due process, DACA youth, and a Marine’s family caught in the immigration system. Through candid stories of clients, the strain on small businesses, and a vision for affordable healthcare and housing, listeners are invited into a personal and pragmatic case for public service, one driven by compassion, urgency and the belief that government should work for people, not politics.