Connect Kindness Podcast

In this episode we interview Phi Pham, the Founder and Executive Director of Building Beats. Their mission is to provide DJ and music programs that teach entrepreneurship, leadership, and life skills to under served youth.

Phi shares with us how his love for music inspired him to start Building Beats. We discuss the programs offered in the New York City schools. He opens up about how one of their students started with building beats in the 7th grade, to now being accepted into the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. Building Beats is such a cool and innovative non profit and it was an honor learning more about Building Beats.

In this episode we interview Troy Reinhart, the Senior Vice President of Smile Train.Their mission is to provide training, funding, and resources to empower local medical professionals in 90+ countries to provide 100%-free cleft repair surgery. Their model is based on true sustainability and Smile Train is raising the standard of cleft care and safety.

Troy shares with us the founding story of Smile Train, as well as opens up about his remarkable 18 year journey with the organization. We discuss the impact that Smile Train is having world wide and the process for helping a children with cleft lip & or pallet. It was a real pleasure talking with Tory and learning more about Smile Train.

In this episode we interview Lauren Courville the President of Dress for Success Houston. Their mission is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools to help women thrive in work and life.

Lauren shares with us about the growth of Dress for Success Houston over the past 21 years and how they have been positively impacting woman in the community. Dress for Success is not just providing woman with a suit for their job interview, but also creating a support network as these woman continue in the career. Lauren has a passion for help woman and you can hear it in our interview.

In this episode we interview Kristina Dulaney, who is the founder of Cherished Mom, which is a non-profit that promotes awareness and education for perinatal mood disorders. Cherished Mom focuses on the importance of self-care to new moms, families, healthcare professionals and the community by providing free self-care boxes to new moms after they view a series of educational videos surrounding perinatal mood and anxiety disorders.

Kristina shares with us how her own battle with postpartum psychosis made her realize the need for education on perinatal mood disorders. She details what steps to take if you or one of your family members are battling perinatal mood disorder. It was a pleasure interviewing Kristina and learning more about her organization.

In today's episode we interview Leah Caffarelli & Dan Breidenstein of Living Lands and Waters. Over the past 20 years their organization has removed over 10 million pounds of garbage from American rivers and waterways. They not only clean up trash and debris along the rivers, but they also educate the communities that they visit on how to reduce trash getting into the rivers.

Leah and Dan share how the organization was founded, as well as how they got involved with Living Lands and Waters. They both live on the boats for 9 months a year and clean our rivers on a daily basis. We learn the process involved from cleaning the rivers to disposing and recycling the trash. Leah and Dan are protecting our environment and it was a pleasure interviewing them and learning more about the organization.

In this episode we interview Ryan Hreljac, who is the founder of the Ryan's Well Foundation. Their foundation is bringing clean water to almost a million people across the world. Their focus is building wells and improving sanitation in rural communities that may not otherwise have access to clean water.

Ryan shares with us how a 1st grade fundraiser ended up turning into a passion project that he has dedicated his life to. Ryan talks in-depth about the process of funding a well and the actions needed to sustain the well in the communities. Ryan is a very humble guy with a huge heart. It was a pleasure interviewing him and learning more about his 21 year journey of helping others.

Imagine losing your home in a blink of an eye to a natural disaster. Unfortunately every year in the US many Americans know what this feels like. In today's episode we interview Kelsey Pett who is the Volunteer Manager for SBP in Houston, TX. SBP is a disaster resilience and recovery non profit.

Kelsey shares with us the background of SBP and how she was drawn to the organization by wanting to help in her hometown. Kelsey and her team are helping to rebuild Houston, TX from hurricane Harvey. We are 2 years removed from the storm and they estimate that Houston will not be fully rebuilt for another 8 or more years. Connect Kindness volunteered with SBP in June 2019 to help rebuild homes that were affected by hurricane Harvey.

In this episode we interview Mike Charbonnet of Beyond the Teams. Mike is a retired Navy Seal and he started Beyond the Teams along with 4 of his Navy Seal team members. Mike and his team raise money and awareness for nonprofits in need.

Mike opens up about how a tragic accident involving his son, who is also a Navy Seal, drew him to want to help others in need. Mike and his team are organizing a 1000 mile bike ride to raise money for a rehabilitation clinic that is run by his son and daughter-in-law. Mike is an amazing human being and a true American. Although Beyond the Teams is just getting started, the future impact that they will have is so exciting.

In this episode we interview Kate Church, who is the founder of African Wildlife Vets. With inspiration from her mother, Kate founded the organization because she saw a desperate need for conservation of endangered species in protected areas of South Africa. African Wildlife Vets provide enhanced veterinary support to wildlife and partner with other non profits in the area that need their assistance.

Kate shares with us how she went from being a school teacher one day, to being the founder of a nonprofit the next day. Kate talks about the animals that they help and the importance of conservation. Kate shares an incredible story about how they helped relocate lions by air, which you don't want to miss.

In this episode we interview Laura Wood, the executive director of Kids in a New Groove. They are the only nonprofit in the US focused on providing music mentorships to kids in foster care. Kids in a New Groove are celebrating their 10th anniversary and we learn all about the amazing things they are doing to serve the foster care community of Austin, TX.

Laura shares with us in detail on how Kids in a New Groove was founded, as well as how they operate in finding their students and mentors. Laura talks about how she was drawn to the organization 6 years ago and with the help of her team and community, has been able to exponentially grow the program. She also shares with us a story about one of their students and how the program is re-shaping his future. This is such a unique organization to get involved with, and we really enjoyed our conversation with Laura.