Season 4 of the Unsung Stewards podcast kicks off with Kellie Easton, President and CEO of Action4Equity, an organization working to transform the education system in her hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In Episode 1, Kellie starts off by grounding us in Action4Equity’s whole-school, whole-community, whole-child approach, demonstrating the connection to the other vital conditions, and how we can do systems change work at multiple levels so that everyone can thrive—in Winston-Salem and beyond. Our conversation with Kellie reveals an approach that is deeply rooted in racial justice and strong shared stewardship, heard in her call to, “build a table that’s big enough and long enough for everyone to have a seat.” 

Our next guest on the Unsung Stewards podcast is Tonia Wellons, President and CEO of the Greater Washington Community Foundation (GWCF) in Washington, D.C. Tonia’s path to D.C. began in positions abroad that provided her with a deep understanding of how social justice, democracy, and systems change work operate at the global level. Tonia shares how the parallels between international and local community development contexts eventually led her to GWCF, where she is using the global insights she’s gained throughout her career to serve her community.

Episode 3 of this season of Unsung Stewards features Nate Boateng, Vice President for Community Impact and Engagement at Valley Health Partners Community Health Center (VHP) in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. As an Allentown native, Nate has a deep understanding and connection to the region—the people, resources, and systems—that have all shaped his stewardship journey. The podcast conversation explores the role of community health centers in creating thriving communities, Nate’s view of how strong partnerships can lead to better health and well-being, and his work to build coalitions among the community organizations, allies, and partners in Lehigh Valley.

Nate’s passion for improving the health and well-being of historically marginalized communities was inspired by the legacy of his grandfather, who was a veteran and lifelong civil rights activist. Listen to the full episode to learn more about Nate’s story.

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In this episode, you will hear from Brian Archie and Evelyn Harris of Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative. Both lifelong residents of Niagara Falls, NY, Brian and Evelyn are working to address the legacies of structural racism and disinvestment that have affected their community, helping residents increase civic and social connections and find innovative ways to use their skills and talents to inspire and serve others so that everyone can thrive.

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In Episode Two, Mo Manklang and Terrell Cannon discuss the importance of agency and a sense of belonging in the workplace, along with the vital role that caregiving plays in the health and well-being of a community. Mo, the Policy Director at the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, tells a compelling story of what might be possible if we reframe the way that we consider work and business. Terrell, who is the Director of Training at Home Care Associates (itself a worker owned cooperative) discusses the benefits of being a worker-owner and the importance of treating home care as an essential service.

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Episode three features four guests from Florida and Washington State who discuss their work with young people experiencing poverty, trauma, and homelessness. The conversation illustrates how critical it is to provide trauma-informed services, center youth voices, encourage creativity, and support pathways to economic well-being as ways to build resilience and belonging. Tune in to hear their insights.

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In episode four, we sit down with Chris Casillas, director and founder of Regenerating Sonora. Regenerating Sonora is a place-based organization committed to nurturing the vitality and potential of Arizona’s Copper Corridor—focusing on both the natural environment as well as the people who live there. Chris discusses how a multigenerational approach and a deep understanding of a region’s legacies and history can help communities build a resilient and thriving future.

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In the debut episode of Season 2, Colin Killick, Executive Director of the Disability Policy Consortium, shares his vision for an equitable future while addressing the social, medical, and political frames that shape disability rights as well as the legacies that his work is built upon.

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In Episode 2, we spotlight another steward, Sterling Cruz-Herr, a teacher, executive, and entrepreneur committed to creating an equitable culture to advance trans individuals and communities through training and coaching.

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In Episode 3, Maka spotlights equity issues affecting the Indigenous community, touching on the importance of stewarding the land and resources that she grew up upon as well as honoring and sustaining the legacies of her ancestors.

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Joy opens up about her family’s legacy in community gardening, shining a light on the food insecurity that became so prevalent and exposed with the onset of COVID-19. Joy discusses how food goes beyond providing sustenance and nourishment—highlighting how it can serve as a connector, a cultural identity marker, a conduit for healing, and a basis for storytelling.

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In times of crisis, organizations can resort to top-down responses. But when his community faced COVID-19, Pat McNamara threw that playbook out the window. What if local leaders were the ones naming their needs and aspirations? In the first episode of #UnsungStewards, Pat shares how his team shifted to a hyperlocal approach.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many health systems did not prioritize Black and Brown communities. When faced with this reality in Pittsburgh, Fred Brown founded the Black COVID-19 Equity Coalition to increase COVID-19 testing and address the social determinants of health for his community. 

When COVID-19 hit, many schools across the country were unprepared for remote learning. Wanda Stansbury worked to equip families in Trenton, New Jersey with the resources children needed to continue to reach their educational potential while learning from home. From the interfaith student protest movement in the sixties to remote learning inequities during the pandemic, Wanda shares her stewardship journey on many different levels: the street level, the scholarly level, the systems level, and the spiritual level. Wanda Webster Stansbury is the executive director of the Center for Child and Family Achievement.

When Covid-19 hit the village of Maywood, Randy, Chris, and Lena mobilized community relationships to address food insecurity, mental health, and other needs exacerbated by the pandemic. The three share poignant stories of the experiences of individual community members in Maywood, which has a history and legacy of grassroots advocacy. This effort has also led to unconventional collaborations between residents and Loyola Medicine, the large local hospital, that has inspired change agents to take positive action in the community.

When Covid-19 hit the village of Maywood, Randy, Chris, and Lena mobilized community relationships to address food insecurity, mental health, and other needs exacerbated by the pandemic. The three share poignant stories of the experiences of individual community members in Maywood, which has a history and legacy of grassroots advocacy. Part 2 explores the unconventional collaborations between residents and Loyola Medicine, the large local hospital, that has inspired change agents to take positive action in the community.

When the city of Roanoke received federal HUD funds, Shauneequa Owusu, Chief Strategy Officer at ChangeLab Solutions, along with the NY Academy of Medicine, supported the city through a public deliberation process to empower residents to shape the investment decisions. As we look towards rehabbing sectors hit hard by the ongoing pandemic, Shauneequa’s experiences shed light on how we can ensure that the use of the American Rescue Plan Act funds could lead to equitable and community driven investments.