Chama Mechtaly is the Founder of The Emma Lazarus Institute for Liberty and Tolerance, an action tank bridging media and policy gaps between the Middle-East and the Democratic West. She is a policy advisor, public speaker, artist, entrepreneur and activist working in service of conflict transformation, deradicalization and regional integration in MENA and beyond. Chama’s art has been shown across the world, and is the founder of the jewelry brand Moors & Saints. Jay and Chama discuss Chama’s...
Jul 07, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 81
Tiffany Yu is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise to elevate disability pride; the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, a monthly micro-grant that has awarded $92.5k to 93 disability projects in 11 countries; and the author of The Anti-Ableist Manifesto: Smashing Stereotypes, Forging Change, and Building a Disability-Inclusive World. As a person with visible and invisible disabilities stemming from a car crash, Tiffany has built a career on...
Jun 23, 2025•30 min
Princess Noor Pahlavi was born into the Iranian royal family as the eldest child of the Crown Prince. She heard the call to civic duty from an early age, inspired by the legacy of her grandfather, the last Shah of Iran, along with her grandmother, The Empress of Iran. But she was not content to sit on the sidelines, and decided to use her place of privilege to be a voice for progressive change for the people of Iran. Princess Noor joined host Jay Ruderman to speak about her distinctive path in c...
Jun 16, 2025•32 min
Steve Preston is the CEO of Goodwill Industries. Though Goodwill is known for big stores where people can donate clothes and buy them secondhand, those stores are just the first level of what Goodwill Industries are about. Those stores fund an international organization that provides job training, employment placement services and other community-based programs for people who face barriers in their employment. Steve joins Jay to discuss the ways Goodwill Industries support veterans and individua...
Jun 09, 2025•30 min•Season 1Ep. 78
Gary Sinise is an award winning actor, on the stage, TV and big screen. He is best known for playing Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump. Inspired by this role and his family members, Gary is now the head of the Gary Sinise Foundation, which offers support for service members who need help with mental wellness, trauma, physical recovery, and loss. He Also plays concerts worldwide for our nation’s defenders and their families, boosting morale and offering gratitude for their sacrifices as part of the ...
May 27, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 77
Ashlyn So is a remarkable rising star in the design world, already showcasing collections at New York and Paris Fashion Weeks by age 16. She powerfully combines her striking fashion with dedicated activism, driven by the belief that fashion provides both identity and a voice. This conviction fuels her work speaking out against bullying and AAPI/Asian-Hate. In this conversation, host Jay Ruderman and Ashlyn delve into the experience of being an introverted activist, the importance of building sup...
May 12, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Eli Beer is a pioneer, social entrepreneur, President and Founder of United Hatzalah of Israel. In thirty years, the organization has grown to more than 6,500 volunteers who unite together to provide immediate, life-saving care to anyone in need - regardless of race or religion. This community EMS force network treats over 730,000 incidents per year, in Israel, as they wait for ambulances and medical attention. Eli’s vision is to bring this life-saving model across the world. In 2015, Beer expan...
Apr 28, 2025•30 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Jonathan Jones is an NFL cornerback for the Washington Commanders who rose from the undrafted ranks to become two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, a businessman, philanthropist, and licensed pilot. In 2019, Jonathan founded the Jonathan Jones Next Step Foundation in 2019, a platform dedicated to empowering youth through education, professional development, and mentorship. The foundation works to alleviate food insecurity, promote women in stem and sports, and to promote pr...
Apr 14, 2025•23 min•Season 1Ep. 74
Jay is more than just the host of All About Change podcast. He is a lawyer and international activist, who has focused his life’s work on seeking social justice by advocating for the rights of people with disabilities worldwide. On the special episode of All About Change, Mijon Zulu, the managing producer of the "All About Change" podcast, is taking over hosting duties to interview Jay Ruderman about his new book, his activist journey, and why activism is even more important today. Episode Chapt...
Mar 31, 2025•32 min•Season 1Ep. 73
Alexis Tutunnique is a ballet dancer, a graduate of the Kyiv National Ballet School, a member of the United Ukrainian Ballet Company, and the subject of the recent documentary Front Row. In Front Row, Alexis befriends and invites Sascha, a former Ukrainian soldier who lost his legs in a bombing, to join the dance troupe for a performance in LA. Jay and Alexis discuss the state of cultural activism, the way Ukrainian artists and soldiers inspire each other, and Ukraine’s national identity post-20...
Mar 17, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 72
Chris Nowinski is a former football player at Harvard University and professional wrestler with WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment. After enduring a career-ending head injury, Chris has dedicated his professional life to serving patients and families affected by brain trauma, particularly Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that develops after repeated head injuries. Jay and Chris discuss the state of head injuries in American athletics, the differen...
Mar 03, 2025•27 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Tyler Merritt is a Nashville-based actor, comedian, vocalist, and creator of The Tyler Merritt Project. He believes empathy is a powerful tool to fight injustice and encourages people to step out of the anonymity of social media and engage in face-to-face conversations. Using his creativity, Tyler Merritt challenges racism and promotes empathy. In 2018, Tyler's viral video "Before You Call The Cops" (released by The Tyler Merritt Project) was viewed by over 18 million people worldwide and voted ...
Feb 18, 2025•31 min•Ep. 70
Joe Bates is a member of the Bad River Band, a Native American Tribe residing along Lake Superior in Wisconsin. He and his community have been embroiled in a long-standing legal and public relations battle against Enbridge, a Canadian energy company, to protect their ancestral lands. This struggle has been documented in "Bad River," a documentary film released in early 2024, which showcases Bates and his fellow activists within the band. Joe joins Jay to share his personal journey of activism, t...
Feb 03, 2025•27 min•Ep. 69
In 2016, Yuriy Boyechko founded Hope for Ukraine to raise awareness for voices not heard in Ukraine, especially children affected by HIV and AIDS. Providing medical care for children with disabilities as well as food and clothing for families that live in extreme poverty. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Yuriy’s work surged in importance. Today he joins Jay Ruderman to talk about how the work of providing food and material support to those who remain in Ukraine has become h...
Jan 21, 2025•31 min•Ep. 68
Vicki Sokolik refuses to be an Ostrich. Her son brought to her attention the crisis of unhoused youth — youth unhoused, not living with a parent/guardian, and not in foster care — in America, and she has been fighting to support this vulnerable population every since. Most active in Tampa Bay, Florida, Vicki is the founder and CEO of the nonprofit Starting Right, Now, which removes barriers for unaccompanied homeless youth to cultivate long-term well-being and self-sufficiency. She is also the a...
Jan 06, 2025•33 min•Ep. 67
All About Change is on break for the holidays. For now, we are re-airing one of our favorite episodes, Jay’s conversation with fellow dog lover, Lee Asher. Lee Asher is known for his positive presence. Visit the Asher House page and you'll be met with countless videos of Lee greeting animals getting a second chance at his Oregon sanctuary. But Lee's struggles with mental health don't often get the same spotlight. Lee joined host Jay Ruderman to talk about the importance of pet adoption, resilien...
Dec 23, 2024•39 min•Ep. 66
Like many activists, Peter Egan found his cause by chance. When a labrador named Custard collapsed outside the Downton Abbey actor’s house, his wife jumped into action, taking the animal to a vet, and eventually the family adopted the dog. For Egan, this moment opened his eyes to the crisis of surplus pets in the UK, and it served as his initiation into advocating for animal rights. Peter Egan joined host Jay Ruderman to discuss the great number of organizations and animal rights causes he suppo...
Dec 09, 2024•36 min•Ep. 65
As a toddler, Mia Silverman had a near-fatal encounter with an allergen. That emergency revealed to her parents not only that she was allergic to dozens and dozens of different everyday foods and additives, but that many of those allergies were life-threatening. Later, as a teen, Mia made a TikTok listing her myriad of allergies. What she didn’t anticipate, however, was that her TikTok would go viral and give her a platform through which to advocate for awareness for others just like her. Mia Si...
Nov 25, 2024•35 min•Ep. 64
Montana Tucker built a massive platform on social media using her talents in art, music, and dance. She even shared her personal journey of exploring her family’s history with the Holocaust. But after October 7th, she knew she had to use her platform to combat antisemitism and make a difference. Montana Tucker joined host Jay Ruderman to talk about her experiences raising awareness about antisemitism and supporting Israel. Montana speaks about her deep-rooted connection to her Holocaust-survivin...
Nov 11, 2024•33 min•Ep. 63
Dr. Michelle Oakley decided that as a veterinarian, she wanted to treat all species in her practice. And as if that were not enough of a challenge, she built her career treating wildlife in some of the most remote areas of North America. Dr. Michelle Oakley joined host Jay Ruderman to talk about her career as a veterinarian specializing in treating all species of wildlife in Alaska and the Yukon. Dr. Oakley speaks about turning her lifelong love for animals into a career where she works with wil...
Oct 28, 2024•38 min•Ep. 62
Amanda Jones never set out to be an activist. As an award-winning librarian and educator in her small Louisiana hometown, she had sought to shape the minds of and inspire the love of reading in her students. But when the book bans sweeping our nation came to her front door, she realized the importance of using her position and privilege to speak out for free speech. Amanda Jones joined host Jay Ruderman to talk about the growing issue of book bans across the United States. Amanda discusses her p...
Oct 15, 2024•35 min•Ep. 61
Princess Noor Pahlavi was born into the Iranian royal family as the eldest child of the Crown Prince. She heard the call to civic duty from an early age, inspired by the legacy of her grandfather, the last Shah of Iran, along with her grandmother, The Empress of Iran. But she was not content to sit on the sidelines, and decided to use her place of privilege to be a voice for progressive change for the people of Iran. Princess Noor joined host Jay Ruderman to speak about her distinctive path in c...
Sep 30, 2024•33 min•Ep. 60
Kyle, also known by his gamer tag Bugha, started playing Fortnite as a young teen. He soon realized that he possessed exceptional skills and began competing. In 2019, at the age of 16, he entered the Fortnite World Cup and defeated 99 other players. However, the pure joy of that fame was short-lived when trolls hacked his phone, and Bugha had to learn to deal with online hate. He was also a victim of "swatting," a dangerous prank where someone falsely reports a serious crime to emergency service...
Sep 16, 2024•41 min•Ep. 59
Octavia Spencer is an Academy Award and Golden Globe award-winning actor and film producer, but her story has many different turns. Octavia thought studying law would be her path to change the world. But when a movie started production in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, her persistence landed her an internship that set her on a path to a successful career in Hollywood. Octavia joined host Jay Ruderman to talk about her inspiration to become an actor and producer, as well as the challenges s...
Sep 03, 2024•42 min•Ep. 58
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau has spent much of her adult life in the public eye as a broadcaster and political leader. And, as someone who has been public about her own struggles with mental health, Sophie believes that the key to restoring trust in our institutions lies in our leaders reckoning with emotional awareness and their own traumas. Sophie joined host Jay Ruderman to discuss the complexities of mental health and the power of vulnerability and connection, topics she also explores in her new ...
Aug 19, 2024•35 min•Ep. 57
Torrey DeVitto grew up in an entertainment family, and as an adult, she has gone on to star in a number of shows, including Pretty Little Liars, The Vampire Diaries, and Chicago Med. Her many roles and personal experiences with two very different abortions helped empower and inspire her to speak up for hospice, women, and reproductive rights. Torrey joined host Jay Ruderman to talk about learning to handle her anxiety during her early career, as well as channeling her innate fearlessness into ad...
Aug 05, 2024•34 min•Ep. 56
Erin Brockovich became a household name when her crusade against the polluting power company PG&E in a small California town was dramatized in the Oscar-winning movie Erin Brockovich, starring Julia Roberts. But her mission to empower communities to fight for environmental justice didn't end there. Erin joined host Jay Ruderman to share her journey from a Kansas childhood marked by dyslexia to becoming a pivotal figure in environmental advocacy. Jay and Erin talk about the immense influence ...
Jul 22, 2024•42 min•Ep. 55
Bill Courtney first became widely known as the volunteer coach who transformed an underprivileged high school football team into champions in the Oscar-winning documentary “Undefeated.” But going from a traumatic childhood to becoming an inspiring community leader was a hard-fought victory. Bill joined host Jay Ruderman to talk about how overcoming a difficult upbringing led to his success in business, his community, and on the field. They discuss how Bill’s challenging journey that led him to b...
Jul 08, 2024•43 min•Ep. 54
Lee Asher is known for his positive presence. Visit the Asher House page and you'll be met with countless videos of Lee greeting animals getting a second chance at his Oregon sanctuary. But Lee's struggles with mental health don't often get the same spotlight. Lee joined host Jay Ruderman to talk about the importance of pet adoption, resilience, and what it took to go from a 9 to 5 to running a 240-acre animal sanctuary. The two also discuss Lee's long road with depression, and what changes he'd...
Jun 24, 2024•42 min•Ep. 53
In 2013, Jason Collins made history. On top of his storied basketball career, he was the first male player of any major American team sport to come out as gay. Jason was well-known for his leadership on and off the court. That reputation stands strong even after he retired from the league. Today, Jason is a steadfast advocate for the LGBTQ community. Jason sat down with host Jay Ruderman to talk about coming to terms with his sexuality, his coming out journey, and the roles allies can play. For ...
Jun 10, 2024•44 min•Ep. 52
