This week the podcast continues its theme of governing during pandemic. Ashley and Casey welcome Jacob Dudley, a recent Kent State University graduate with a degree in Applied Conflict Management. Jacob is currently helping to address the COVID-19 pandemic as a contact tracer with a local county health department. The discussion includes how local health departments are trying to minimize the spread of this deadly virus and explores the intersection between contact tracing, civic engagement and conflict management.

This week the Growing Democracy Podcast looks back at its very first episode featuring Katie Carver Reed, Director of Network Partners & Programs at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. Released during the early months of the pandemic, this episode examined how the foodbank is adapting to the changing environment for those experiencing food insecurity during this global crisis. The Growing Democracy Project wishes everyone a healthy, happy, and safe Thanksgiving.

Links:

Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank - https://www.akroncantonfoodbank.org/

Feeding America - https://www.feedingamerica.org/

Greater Cleveland Foodbank - https://www.greaterclevelandfoodbank.org/

Geauga County Hunger Task Force - https://www.geaugahungertaskforce.org/

Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland - https://hungernetwork.org/

Ohio Association of Food Banks - http://www.ohiofoodbanks.org/

Society of St. Vincent de Paul Cleveland - https://www.svdpcle.org/

This week the podcast continues the theme, Power of Political and Civic Engagement. Discussions with local elected officials, public officials, and community activists about what civic and political engagement means to them. On this episode, Ashley and Casey talk with Dr. Katrina Phillips, Assistant Professor of American Indian History at Macalester College and an enrolled member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe. The discussion centers around the history and current advocacy efforts concerning Indigenous Activism in the United States.

Links-

American Indian Movement (AIM) - http://www.aimovement.org/

Cleveland AIM - http://clevelandaim.us/

Book

Phillips, Katrina, Staging Indigeneity: Salvage Tourism and the Performance of Native American History UNC Press (American History books are currently 40% off right now!)

Public Scholarship by Katrina Phillips

“‘Where The Waters Reflect The Clouds’: Examining Minnesota’s Indigenous History,” The Metropole, October 13, 2020

o Reprinted by Belt Magazine, October 21, 2020

Moderator: “Shared Spaces & Public Places” series from the Minnesota Historical Society, July-October 2020

o Session 1: “A Conversation about Monuments and Memory with Mni Sota Indigenous Scholars”

o Session 2: “A Conversation about Confederate Monuments and Memory”

o Session 3: “A Conversation about Historical Erasure”

o Session 4: “A Conversation about Public Art and Memory”

This week the podcast welcomes Vicki Clark, President and CEO of Ravenwood Mental Health. Ravenwood Health provides mental health and addiction services in Geauga County, Ohio. The discussion includes how Ravenwood Health is coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic while trying to ensure quality mental health and addiction services within the community.

Help for Today, Hope for Tomorrow

Links –

Ravenwood Health (https://ravenwoodhealth.org)

24/7 Copeline – 1 888-285-5665

National Suicide Prevention Hotline (https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/) 1-800-273-8255

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline) Hotline – 1 800-662-HELP

This week the podcast continues the theme, Power of Political and Civic Engagement. Discussions with local elected officials, public officials, and community activists about what civic and political engagement means to them. On this episode, Ashley and Casey welcome Jamie Levine Daniel, Assistant Professor at The Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI in Indianapolis. The discussion examines the intersection of higher education and civic engagement and teaching public policy through a critical theory lens.

Links-

Jamie Levine Daniel Biography

Robert A. Dahl - On Democracy

This week the podcast continues the series, Serving the Public Interest. Each episode will introduce listeners to elected officials and public administrators who are serving the public interest within their communities. This week the podcast welcomes Summit County Council Member Elizabeth Walters. The Councilwoman discusses what motivated her to run for office and explains the duties of county-level government. The discussion includes how local government can help break down barriers and build bridges within a diverse county.

Links-

Summit County, Ohio

Vote.org Ohio

League of Women Voters 411

This episode introduces the series, Serving the Public Interest. Discussions with elected officials and public administrators who are serving the public interest within their communities. The discussions will explore what motivated them to serve in government and what they are doing to break down barriers and increase civic engagement. This week Ashley and Casey introduce listeners to this new series and what serving the public interest means to them.

Links-

How to Run for Office in Ohio

This week the podcast welcomes veteran community organizer Kirk Noden. The discussion centers on the different ways one can be involved with community organizing, including how organizing efforts can differ around the country, and world, based on the needs of the community.

Links-

Ohio Organizing Collaborative

Policy Matters Ohio

Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity

Ohio Justice and Policy Center

The Battleground Taproom & Mexican Kitchen

Articles by Kirk Noden about community organizing:

"Building Power in Forty Languages: A Story about Organizing Immigrants in Albany Park" Social Policy Magazine

"From Olympic People’s Guarantees to a Living Wage, Organizing takes root in the UK" Social Policy Magazine

"When will the Parts Equal the Whole? (Statewide Organizing in Ohio)" Social Policy Magazine

"In Ohio a Win for Unions that Just Preserves the Status Quo" The Nation

"Making it Happen in Bankrupt Cities" Belt Magazine

"Why Do White Working Class People Vote Against Their Interests? They Don’t" The Nation

This week the podcast welcomes Dr. Brandi Blessett from the University of Cincinnati, and Dr. Sean McCandless from the University of Illinois Springfield The discussion centers on what civic and political engagement means at the academic level and how a community of scholars are bringing a social justice focus to Public Administration.

Links:

Scholar Strike for Racial Justice - https://www.scholarstrike.com/

Dr. Brandi Blessett - University of Cincinnati Faculty Bio - https://researchdirectory.uc.edu/p/blessebi

Dr. Sean McCandless – University of Illinois Springfield Faculty Bio - https://www.uis.edu/publicadministration/faculty/sean-mccandless/

This week the podcast welcomes Katie Moorman, State Outreach Data Research Manager at ActBlue. The discussion centers on how technology has helped build the small dollar donor grassroots movement in politics and how political engagement can be defined as more than a yearly trip to the voter’s booth.

Links mentioned in this episode-

https://secure.actblue.com/

Also, some studies she references:

1. Study on gifts inducing decision makers to favor the gift giver: https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.20140890

2. Study on donors in Washington DC’s 2014 Elections: https://www.demos.org/research/dcs-white-donor-class-outsized-influence-diverse-city