Sandy Rosenthal was an ordinary citizen who became an extraordinary activist following Hurricane Katrina. After uncovering that defective flood walls built by the Army Corps of Engineers caused the disaster, Sandy founded the nonprofit levees.org and rallied over 25,000 supporters for safer infrastructure. Her book, 'Whispered in Water,' and her podcast, 'Beat The Big Guys,' continue to inspire change and empower listeners to take on powerful institutions and make a difference in their communities. Sandy shares her journey from a part-time copywriter to a relentless advocate for truth and accountability, highlighting the power of community mobilization and persistence.

What You Will Hear in This Episode

00:21 Meet Sandy Rosenthal: Uncovering a Scandal

02:08 The Day the Levees Broke

04:41 Life After the Disaster

09:51 Fighting Back: Founding Levees.org

12:33 Facing Harassment and Legal Battles

17:35 The Aftermath and Lessons Learned

21:22 Mobilizing Communities and Partnerships

33:03 Conclusion and Call to Action

Quotes

" I'm gonna point out first that two thirds of the nation's population lives by levies and probably don't know it. "

" You do have to ask the questions, and if you stop asking, and if it appears that you're not paying attention, that's when bad things can happen, and that's when, I don't wanna call 'em the bad guys, but that's when the big guys win, when you stop paying attention."

" It didn't take me long to realize that the big guys, like the Army Corps of Engineers are really just like bullies in the fourth grade playground. They're, they're big, but they're not smarter. They, they they, and, and the, they're elegant because they're big. And, and you know what happens when you're big and you're arrogant, you make big mistakes."

" When that criticism comes, you need to look at it like free advice, free advice. What they're doing is they're finding problems with what you're doing and, and some of their points may actually be correct. They've actually helped you, even though they didn't mean to."

Mentioned

SandyRosenthal.net

Levees.org

eConnect with Bonnie

Substack Newsletter: Own Your Ambition

Gendered Ageism Survey Results

Forbes article

5 Tips to own the superpower of your age

IAMMusicGroup

Purchase my book Not Done Yet on Amazon:

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