Design Influence

In this episode, host Isabelle Swiderski is joined by Alexzandria Poole, Director of Defender Initiatives at Zealous, as she shares her journey from being a public defender to spearheading systemic advocacy.

Through her personal story and work at Zealous, Alexz highlights the power of storytelling, education, and media in challenging systemic injustices from the inside and fostering community-led change.

00:00 A Touching Encounter with a Client

00:26 National Advocacy and Zealous Organization

00:54 Transition from Public Defender to Systemic Advocate

01:43 Community Initiatives and Systemic Advocacy

02:54 Teaching and Training Public Defenders

03:25 Police Accountability and Legal Reforms

04:49 Community Defense Center in Roseland

07:58 Challenges and Innovations in Public Defense

09:21 Storytelling and Shifting Narratives

19:49 Empowering Communities and Building Trust

21:08 Training New Defenders and Collaborative Efforts

26:52 Reflections on Systemic Change and Hope

Host Isabelle Swiderski sits down with Meaghan Kennedy, founder of Orange Sparkle Ball, an innovation consultancy focused on public-private partnerships to explore the role communities / networks / ecosystems can serve as a supportive framework for change.

“What if we thought of the Bronx as an economy of scale? And what if we try to create a plan for the borough that actually brings all of us in, where we share a vision, where we share in leadership, and where the wealth and capital is owned by us and bred by us? So the simple phrase is: what if we ran it?”—Michael Partis

Host Isabelle Swiderski sits down with Michael Partis, current Executive Director of the Red Hook Initiative and previously ED of the Bronx Cooperative Development Initiative to discuss the making of the Bronx-wide plan and what it takes to build economic democracy in a borough that’s been underestimated and underfunded but never gives up on its people and its values.

This episode features April De Simone, a transdisciplinary practitioner working at the intersection of architecture, planning, and systems thinking. She collaborates with different communities across the country, bringing to light the lasting impacts of redlining, urban renewal, and gentrification.

What are new ways to explore housing as a key node in ecosystems underpinning community fabric and the reinvention of democracy? How might we consider where we live as one aspect of our entire experience and health? How can under-represented voices finally be heard and valued to co-create equitable systems and shared value?

April shares insights related to her collaborative experiences surfacing, reframing, and dismantling intentionally designed systems of inequity and, how, through this reimagining, we might, somehow, find a new path to democracy.

Sana Kapadia, director of strategy at 2X Global, sits down with host Isabelle Swiderski to talk about the current state of gender lens investing and the resources and approaches that support the people and partnerships behind the work.

This episode features Vicki Saunders, founder of Coralus (formerly SheEO) based in Toronto. Coralus now operates in 5 countries and through the annual contribution of individual activators, provides interest-free loans and, crucially, a community of support, to ventures led by women- and non-binary folks. Over 140 ventures tackling the world’s to-do list have been taken in and gone on to grow their impact.

This episode, the last in Season II, features Darrell Schuurman, co-founder and CEO of the Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. 

The CGLCC is a coalition of LGBTQ2S+ businesses, government, corporate and community partners advocating for change to make a more inclusive Canadian economy possible. Darrell sheds some light on the evolution of the organization as it navigates its domestic role and its growing impact in other countries.

This episode features Sarah Burgaud who leads Programs and Partnerships at StartOut, a national US 501c3 organization supporting LGBTQ+ founders. StartOut’s mission is to accelerate the growth of the LGBTQ+ community to drive its economic empowerment, building a world where every LGBTQ+ entrepreneur has equal access to lead, succeed, and shape the workforce of the future.

After 5 years with the not-for-profit, Sarah shares her insights on building lasting partnerships and what has made the pandemic an accelerator to the far-reaching systems change work StartOut is leading in the U.S. and globally.

This episode features Al Ramsay, VP and Head of 2SLGBTQ+ & Black Customer Segments at TD Bank Group.

How do corporations navigate changing social mores and customer expectations and still successfully develop thriving corporate cultures founded on diversity of thought and service to customer? What does it mean to truly live values of inclusion and diversity?

Al Ramsay shares insights gleaned from over 15 years of supporting diverse communities, partners and teammates as part of one of the largest banks in North America.

This episode features Louise Chernin, an activist, LGBTQIA business and community leader, and the former CEO of the Greater Seattle Business Association. 

What does it mean to create shared value partnerships uniting small businesses, corporations, and government? How might we best redirect resources, technical support and money where it's most needed? 

Louise shares insights gleaned from 20 years on the front lines of community building and economic empowerment:

1. seeing opportunities for reinvention in crisis

2. supporting collective impact and systems change by making human connections

3. showing up as an ally as well as a leader to reach other economic sectors and communities within communities

4. embracing activism as a synonym for evolving, mutually beneficial, action-oriented partnership