The rent is too damn high, housing quality standards are far too low, and Tara Raghuveer is doing something about it. Tara is director of Kansas City Tenants , a tenant union which organizes to ensure that everyone in KC has a safe, accessible, and truly affordable home. In this powerful conversation with host Gloria Riviera, Tara explains how the union of more than 10,000 members is fighting against our country’s dysfunctional housing market and standing up for what they truly deserve. Th...
Apr 01, 2025•39 min
Is it time to rethink how we do school? In 2022, over 2 million students between the ages of 16 and 24 left school without earning a high school diploma or GED. But what if we could change that by taking an innovative approach to education? In part three of our three-part series about helping young people thrive economically within safe communities, Allison Gerber (The Annie E. Casey Foundation) and Betsy Delgado (Goodwill Excel Center) join us for a conversation about how education doesn't have...
Mar 18, 2025•28 min
Does the key to preventing gun violence lie within our own communities? In this episode, guests DeVone Boggan (Executive Director, Advance Peace) and Timmeka Perkins (Senior Associate, The Annie E. Casey Foundation) share the data about the power of credible messengers to transform neighborhood safety. In part two of our three-part series about helping young people thrive economically within safe communities, we are diving into data-driven strategies that effectively reduce violence and help ent...
Mar 11, 2025•35 min
What happens when an award-winning actress, producer, director, author, and activist uses her platform to shine a light on the criminal justice system? Kerry Washington's recent projects, UnPrisoned and Daughters, tell stories of incarceration, family separation, unification, and love that we rarely get to see. In our conversation, she explains how portraying a daughter navigating her father's return from prison transformed her understanding of reentry and gets personal about how the system has ...
Mar 08, 2025•34 min
In Baltimore, young people are finding ways to create their own economic opportunities through entrepreneurship. Dr. Ron Williams (Coppin State University) and Sara Cooper (The Annie E. Casey Foundation) join us to dig into research about youth entrepreneurship in Baltimore and show how community collaborations like the Baltimore-based Excellence in Entrepreneurial Learning (EXCEL) Research Project are creating pathways to success. This conversation kicks off our three-part series about he...
Mar 04, 2025•25 min
What does it mean to be smart on crime? Jeanne Woodford, former warden at San Quentin State prison, has been a longtime advocate for rehabilitation. In our conversation, she offers a new vision of what prisons could look like, from removing prison cells to providing opportunities for incarcerated people to garden, take college courses, and even play chess with correctional officers. Follow When it Clicked wherever you get your podcasts, or listen ad-free on Amazon Music with your Prime Mem...
Mar 01, 2025•32 min
In Illinois, like in other places affected by the War on Drugs, many people are feeling the impacts of incarceration and its negative, prohibitive effects on their futures. In this episode, Richard Wallace, founder of the organization Equity and Transformation (EAT), shares how guaranteed income has proven to be a transformative tool for this kind of systemic disruption. EAT is built on a reparations framework, providing direct cash support for recipients and leading directly to new employment, ...
Feb 25, 2025•31 min
What happens when we give someone a second chance? For Glenn Dahl, it led to Dave's Killer Bread, a family business success story that not only revolutionized bread, but also changed how companies think about second chance hiring. Glenn, the former CEO, opens up about taking a chance on his brother Dave after his release from prison, and continuing to take a groundbreaking approach to hiring people with criminal records. To learn more about second chance hiring, you can check out The Responsible...
Feb 22, 2025•22 min
The juvenile court system in Pierce County, Washington recognizes that most youth who get in trouble with the law can get back on track without incarceration. And they're more likely to thrive in their own communities than in detention. Kevin Williams, Manager of Probation Services for Pierce County Juvenile Court, and Steve Bishop, Associate Director for Probation and System Transformation at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, talk with host Maya Rupert about what probation transformation looks lik...
Feb 18, 2025•36 min
What happens when the criminal justice system invests in education instead of punishment? Larry Miller is the Chairman of the Jordan Brand Advisory Board and played a pivotal role in the brand’s growth. Yet behind his success was a secret – at age 16, he was convicted of second degree murder, which he shares in his book, “Jump: My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom.” For Larry, it was education in prison that changed his life's trajectory, giving him the cha...
Feb 15, 2025•26 min
Steve Bishop used to be a youth probation officer. He wanted to help young people navigate out of a juvenile justice system he knew was flawed. Now, as the Associate Director for Probation and System Transformation at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Steve works to transform youth probation systems around the country – from one that punishes making mistakes in ways that leave young people worse off and neighborhoods less safe to one that holds kids accountable for their actions by steering t...
Feb 11, 2025•34 min
How can art transform a life? For Clarence Maclin, the answer unfolded during his incarceration at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Through a program called Rehabilitation Through the Arts, he used theater as a way to process trauma onstage and off. Now starring in the A24 film "Sing Sing", Clarence tells us what it was like acting out his own story on the big screen. Plus, how a more compassionate justice system doesn’t just transform the lives of incarcerated people – it strengthen...
Feb 08, 2025•30 min
A lot of us did some questionable things as teenagers, like drinking alcohol, doing drugs, and shoplifting. We’re likely not proud of these moments, but they happened, and we moved on. For some of us though, this normal adolescent boundary-testing can lead to involvement in the juvenile justice system, which is ripe with racial disparities and poor results. Nate Balis, Director of the Juvenile Justice Strategy Group at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, talks with host Maya Rupert about refram...
Feb 04, 2025•37 min
What’s it like to spend years in a state penitentiary and then make it big in Hollywood? What makes a death row warden become a leading voice in prison reform? How does a conservative Christian in the deep South decide we can’t incarcerate our way out of a drug crisis? For all of these people, they had a moment when their thinking about justice and safety changed. In this series, host Ana Zamora – founder of The Just Trust – sits down with business leaders, advocates, act...
Feb 01, 2025•33 min
In the final episode of our CAPS series about community violence intervention work we talk about how improving the criminal justice system is a huge piece of the puzzle. Travon checks in on Indianapolis, Indiana and sees how people there are pushing for less incarceration and breaking cycles of recidivism. Executive Director at the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform David Muhammad and RecycleForce Director and councilwoman Crista Carlino share the ways in which they are reducing crim...
Jan 28, 2025•44 min
In the third episode of our series about The Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS) and its partner organizations making a difference in communities across the U.S., we take a closer look at Baton Rouge. Antohony Smith is the Executive Director of Cities United which works closely with the local community street team to reduce crime and boost violence prevention efforts. He tells Travon why this work starts with shifting people's perception of public safety, nurturing relationships with city ...
Jan 21, 2025•45 min
In the next episode of our series about The Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS) and its partner organizations spearheading community violence intervention efforts throughout the U.S., we hear from changemakers in Newark, New Jersey. Travon chats with co-founder of the Community-Based Public Safety Collective, Aqeela Sherrills, and CEO of New Direction, Shadee Dukes. We learn how they are leveraging relationships to curb crime inside their neighborhoods and serving as prime examples of why ...
Jan 14, 2025•43 min
In this special 4 part series, we’ll be highlighting The Coalition to Advance Public Safety (CAPS), a coalition of organizations working to intercept and prevent violence in communities across the U.S. The coalition’s work builds on years of knowledge of public health, gun violence prevention and the particular needs of different locales, as well as the lived experience of community members on the ground. With these tools, CAPS creates and maintains community violence intervention (C...
Jan 07, 2025•43 min
In episode three of Making of an Activist we discover that after stints in Baltimore and Harlem Children’s Zone, DeRay Mckesson heads to Minneapolis to lead the human capital department for Minneapolis Public Schools. In the safety and security of a career-defining role, DeRay watches the immediate aftermath of Mike Brown’s brutal murder at the hands of a police officer in Ferguson and simply cannot sit still. There is no going back for DeRay, we discover what sparked his drive down to Ferguson,...
Dec 20, 2024•22 min
Aldine Independent School District in Texas began the journey of drastically changing how reading is taught in 2020 – not knowing that a global pandemic was on the horizon. When COVID hit, the district didn’t abandon the plan; they persevered. In part three of our series on literacy, host Gloria Riviera talks with Aldine Superintendent LaTonya Goffney and Executive Director of Literacy and Social Studies Jacqueline Beas about what it was like to make the seismic shift. This episode i...
Dec 17, 2024•29 min
What does the upcoming Trump presidency mean for the care economy and the over 105 million family caregivers in our country? In this post-election bonus episode, caregiving expert and policy advocate Ai-jen Poo returns to tell us what challenges lay ahead for families and care workers, and how we can keep fighting for a better system that allows us to truly show up for care. This season of Uncared For is presented by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit foundation making grants to promote an equit...
Dec 10, 2024•34 min
In episode two of Making of an Activist we dive into DeRay Mckesson’s college years where he was the first and only class and student body president at Bowdoin, DeRay was the centre of civic life on campus. We explore the formative experiences on and off campus, what drew him to the classroom, and revisit what key people in his life at that time remember about DeRay the student, leader, and teacher. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 22, 2024•23 min
At age 14, Luz Hernandez left her home country of Honduras to cross borders into the U.S. She was fleeing poverty, sexual abuse, and medical malpractice. The journey was harrowing and so was making a new start in the U.S. Eventually, Luz became a social worker and now offers youth and families the support she had needed when she arrived. In the second episode of our two-part series created with Voice of Witness, host Maya Rupert talks to Luz about grit and determination, hope and belonging, and ...
Nov 19, 2024•33 min
We hope you have been enjoying the incredible guests and stories from this season of Good Things. Now, we want to hear from you. We’re conducting a survey with three simple questions: Did you learn something, has your opinion changed, and do you feel empowered to put these new ideas into action? You can complete this simple, three question survey at bit.ly/goodthingssurvey . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 14, 2024•38 sec
How do stories help us challenge, shape, and navigate our democracy? In this two-part series created with Voice of Witness, we’ll explore oral histories as powerful tools of resistance and belonging. In this first episode, host Maya Rupert sits down with Ashley Hemmers, a member of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe, whose path winds from growing up on her reservation to attending Yale to returning home again. Now a tribal administrator, Ashley shares how storytelling is both a bridge to the past and ...
Nov 12, 2024•30 min
Nurturing relationships with safe and dependable adults, like early childhood educators, can make a profound difference for kids who’ve experienced early adversity. Early childhood expert Kai-leé Berke knows this firsthand and she’s spent her career working to improve resources for early childhood educators. Through training and awareness, these educators can help prevent the damaging impacts of trauma, and instill skills like how to love, how to trust, and how to learn. This episode is made pos...
Nov 05, 2024•32 min
Danielle Atkinson has been organizing mothers of color since 2012 to not only knock on doors, but to knock down the doors of power. Danielle is the founder and executive director of the grassroots advocacy organization Mothering Justice. With the 2024 election upon us, host Maya Rupert talks with Danielle about how BIPOC mothers can shape some of the most critical issues this election, like childcare, paid sick leave and improving wages. And what it looks like to build a future that truly center...
Oct 29, 2024•35 min
In episode one of Making of an Activist we explore DeRay Mckesson’s early years in Baltimore, growing up with two parents struggling with addiction. However, with the assistance of a broader support system, DeRay manages not just to survive, but to thrive. At a young age, he was already campaigning and organizing. We explore the nature and nurture circumstances of DeRay’s activism. Expert commentary and historical context provided by Harvard Professor, Brandon Terry, and other experts. See omnys...
Oct 25, 2024•23 min
What does it take to build confident readers? Just ask educators at Baltimore City Public Schools, where students are outpacing the rest of the state in English Language Arts thanks to a focus on literacy instruction and intensive professional development. In part two of our series on literacy, Gloria dives into how BCPS is engaging diverse, multilingual learners with Dr. Joan Dabrowski, Chief Academic Officer at BCPS, and Olia Hardy, Principal of William Paca Elementary. This episode is created...
Oct 22, 2024•29 min
Across the country, states and school districts have been changing their approach to early literacy, particularly how reading is taught. In this two-part series, we’re highlighting two school districts that have been on the front lines of this shift. In our first episode, host Gloria Riviera sits down with Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras and Literacy Coach Megan Siepka. They talk about literacy as a means for empowering students and the real, hard, everyday work of teaching i...
Oct 15, 2024•32 min
