Roads Taken

Guest Brad Parks, Dartmouth '96, figured out in high school that he loved the world of sports journalism and honed his craft in college by founding The Sports Weekly. After graduation, he was on the road—literally—to a career in sportwriting, covering just about every Tiger Woods match in the golfer’s heyday and a host of other top sporting contests.

Eventually stories featuring high-paid athletes became harder to write when he was seeing so many other lives worth highlighting—like those in post 9/11 New York, or Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, or everyday inner Trenton. But when he saw the impacts the internet was having on print journalism, he started thinking about plan B.

In this episode, find out from Brad how reading the writing the wall and writing what you know can be the best advice when your world is in flux…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley

About This Episode's Guest

Brad Parks is the acclaimed thriller author of the award winning Faces of the Gone, Say Nothing, and the new Interference. He lives in Virginia with his wife, Melissa Taylor ’96, and their two children. Find him at BradParksBooks.com

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Fiona Danks, Dartmouth '96, thought she was going to be a doctor or veterinarian and has almost all of the pre-med credits to prove it. But she didn’t love the competitive nature of those courses and was drawn instead to geography. A happy chance of a lack of summer funding led her to Arctic science, which just happened to meld her love of biology and the physical and human sides of geography.

Not wanting to be pigeonholed into one narrow field, though, she stayed away from doctoral programs—until she didn’t—and kept finding ways to expand her knowledge and experience base, both inside the classroom and in the field.

After years of adventuring, running an Arctic research center in Svalbard—think polar bears, reindeer, and lots and lots of snow—she is now in an office job in Cambridge. But the impact that she’s having on a variety of the world’s conservation issues is just as breathtaking as when she was in snowshoes. 

In this episode, find out from Fiona how sometimes environment is a complex thing and you might just find adventure where you look for it…on  ROADS TAKEN…with Leslie Jennings Rowley. 

About This Episode's Guest

Fiona Danks is Head of the Science Programme at the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), where she helps to develop tools and processes to aid decision makers understand how to account for the value of biodiversity in policy-making for development and the environment. She also teaches and advises students at Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge. And if there is ever a future medical doctor or vet in the making, our money would be on Fiona. 

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Aassia Haroon Haq, Dartmouth '96, always considered herself a writer and had the opportunity right after college to return home to Pakistan and begin writing international news stories that it may have taken her years to have the chance to cover in other markets. But a chance encounter with a childhood friend blossomed into romance and required a move back to the States and an investigation of how to parlay her communications experience into business opportunities. Eventually, having moved through the ranks of major consumer goods companies, a wake-up call inspired a leap into the entrepreneurial world.

Aassia used her experience in corporate communications and brand management to launch her own company in the #futureofwork space before self-employment and the rise of the independent worker was the mega-trend it is today. She now helps to lead an organization focused on elevating and supporting the independent consulting sector and thinking more strategically about how to serve talent outside the full-time workforce. And somehow, she still finds time to keep her entrepreneurial spirit alive on the side. 

In this episode, find out from Aassia how recognizing you can be something other than what you are today takes both looking forward and looking back…on ROADS TAKEN…with Leslie Jennings Rowley

About This Episode’s Guest

Aassia Haq is an entrepreneur and an expert in the mega-trend of self-employment and the rise of the independent worker. She currently works at MBO Partners, a leading name in enabling both organizations and talent to thrive in the independent economy, and still owns Guidrr, a content marketing platform connecting travel influencers and brands through building mobile-first travel guides.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Betsy Miller, Dartmouth '96, left college directly for law school but had this sinking feeling she probably should have been a therapist. What she found, though, was that it just meant that she was drawn always to the human elements of the law. After years of varied work in the legal field—from accomplished litigator to law school instructor—she started asking where others in the legal profession were going to get the leadership lessons they needed to succeed and not just the “vocational training common to the field.

Having returned to school herself to delve into organizational development, change management, and leadership development, she now is on a mission to make an impact on the law both in practice and in the educational setting so that a new crop of lawyers—including women and other underrepresented groups—have the skills that they and their organizations need to excel in a field that relies solely on human talent and team-based work.

In this episode, find out from Betsy how sometimes you need to step up an answer your own questions in order to make a real impact …on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Betsy Miller is Partner at Cohen Milstein and is co-chair of the firm’s public client practice group. In her work, she represents state Attorneys General in civil investigations and litigation in areas that protect government interests and vulnerable communities, mainly from corporate abuse. When she’s not using her voice for your rights, she can be found using her voice to get you pumped as a fitness instructor. 

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Kelcey Grimm, Dartmouth '96, planned a one-year sabbatical from her VC job with three months in southeast Asia, three months in India, and three months in Africa. But after meeting a loveable group of lion dens and bonding with them immediately, she scrapped her itinerary and stayed with her new brood. No long after, though, she realized all was not as it seemed. Thus started nearly two decades of struggles against the canned farming industry, the South African government, and local actors as she has attempted to conserve wildlands and the species that make them their home.

Kelcey co-founded the Enkosini Wildlife Reserve (now Lapolosa Wilderness) in South Africa and 2001. She has since rescued a variety of wildlife, and now dedicates all her time to the education, management and social change needed to protect wildlife and wild lands in Africa. The vast majority of the operating budget for the conservancy is derived from the Enkosini Eco Experience, a collection of voluntourism projects that Kelcey curates and helps to bring to life.

In this episode, find out from Kelcey about the balance between doing what’s right and finding what works and how a need for connection and something greater than yourself can be fulfilled in more than one way.

About This Episode's Guest

Kelcey Grimm is the co-founder of the Enkosini Wildlife Reserve (now Lapolosa Wilderness) and Director of Philanthropy and the driving force behind the Enkosini Eco Experience. After well over a decade living deep in the bush and off the grid in Africa, she is running her organization’s operation from Seattle, where she lives with her two children.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Having grown up with traditional Passamaquoddy traditional music in his home community of Motahkmikuhk in Maine, guest Chris Newell, Dartmouth '96, got into pow wow singing in college and helped found an intertribal drum group on campus. But it was an elective in world music that really awakened the performing spirit from this once-engineering major. Playing at more pow wows and circles, he made connections around the drum and ultimately was asked to join the professional touring group Mystic River and ultimately unenrolled from the College.

His years getting to know a variety of native communities and their traditions led him to the public education world, specifically in the museum arena. An expert not only in the cultures and stories of his own community and that of his children, he is a sought-after expert in navigating public history and incorporating the voices of communities in projects.

In this episode, find out from Chris how sometimes cutting one journey short can uncover the road to both your past and your future…on ROADS TAKEN…with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

Bonus from Chris: In June 2021, Yo Yo Ma joined Chris in a tube to pay tribute to the Wabanaki Nations in this unannounced concert at Jordan Pond House in Acadia National Park

About This Episode's Guest

Chris Newell is Executive Director and Senior Partner to Wabanaki Nations at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he works to center the voices of the Wabanaki people in telling their stories and sharing their traditions. He also co-founded the Akomawt Educational Initiative in response to observations of the public school system and the lack of representation of Native history and social studies and served for six years as the Education Supervisor for the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center.  Though a long-time member of the Mystic River singers, an internationally acclaimed and award-winning intertribal pow wow drum group based in Connecticut, he was drawn to pow wow singing as an undergraduate and helped found the intertribal Occom Pond Singers. As mentioned in this ROADS TAKEN interview, along with his work in education, Chris has also appeared in feature films and was the Senior Advisor on the Emmy winning documentary Dawnland , chronicling the historic first-ever government-sanctioned Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the State of Maine. 

And did you know…? According to the Alumni Association constitution, membership includes “every person who has ever matriculated as a full-time student in pursuit of a Dartmouth degree” at the undergraduate College, even if that individual never graduates from the institution. Dartmouth still claims the beloved Fred Rogers as an alum, and he attended the College for only his freshman year. In our book, our beloved Chris is still a member of the great class of 1996.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Recently, ROADS TAKEN sat down to talk with Jeneen DiBenedetto Graham about her journey that included a quick jump to independent schools after graduation, a pause for early motherhood, and a return leading a school of her own. Entrusted with the safety and well-being of a school full of students and educators when the coronavirus pandemic hit, she had to send everyone home and work with her colleagues to make plans for delivering meaningful online education—all in about 72 hours. Join Leslie Jennings Rowley as she talks to Jeneen about this for a special covid-19 Bonus Episode of ROADS TAKEN.

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Jeneen DiBenedetto Graham, Dartmouth '96, had been intrigued by the world of Independent Schools after college and so thought she was on the right path consulting and recruiting for independent schools.

But after starting to question things and wondering who she was, she left her job and moved across country as a new wife and a new mother—both earlier than she’d envisioned. Feeling a loss of her own identity, she thought of where she most felt herself. She had to look no farther than her own backyard—literally—to find the University of California, Irvine and enrolled immediately. Though the road to her doctorate in education was longer than she thought, she emerged not only with a degree but a new sense of how and who she wanted to be in the world. And, wouldn’t you know, that had something to do with Independent Schools?

In this episode, find out from Jeneen how sometimes doing something for yourself can actually put you on the path to serving others……on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Dr. Jeneen DiBenedetto Graham is Upper School Principal at St. Margaret's Episcopal School, an independent school in San Juan Capistrano, California. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of the Center for Research on Cognition and Learning at the University of California, Irvine. Her dissertation in educational psychology was entitled, “Elements of Human Effectiveness: Intelligences, Traits and Abilities that Lead to Success and Fulfillment in Life.

Mentioned in this episode is the book The Defining Decade by Meg Jay.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Pace Duckenfield, Dartmouth '96, had been pursuing a legal career in the telecom policy and regulation area—just as planned. But he also knew that he would need to make good on his commitment to the military. Instead of continuing to process security clearances—same process, different day—he decided that going active duty would help him develop more skills.

Finding himself in the Middle East just after the U.S. invaded Iraq, his days were definitely anything but mundane. His work as an intelligence officer (and paratrooper) put him in contact with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and gave him the chance to learn volumes more than books would have provided, then his lust for lifelong learning pushed him into cyber operations and training.

In this episode, find out from Pace how intelligence is one thing, but lifelong learning is another…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Pace Duckenfield is a Cyber and intelligence leader for the U.S. military, whose  focus has been on guiding teams to provide critical data collection and analysis for tactical, operational, and strategic uses. Set to retire from the military in 2021, his interests in cyber law may bring him full circle. Or perhaps another he’ll get a little intel about another opportunity and seize it.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]

Guest Michelle Villalobos, Dartmouth '96, was hanging with Shakira, taking the Latin lifestyle publication biz by storm, and then launching her own consulting firm. But the vida ended up being a little too loca.  When she felt she hit bottom she realized she’d been listening to all the wrong voices and what looked cool and shiny on the outside didn’t really reflect the deeper truth somewhere under the surface.

Uncovering her own truth, she found a path toward helping others align their own purpose and values with the lives they are meant to lead. In this episode,find out from Michelle how sometimes you need to quiet the outside noise and listen more carefully inside…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley

About This Episode's Guest

Michelle Villalobos is founder of Superstar Activator, a consultancy that empowers creative professionals to align their business with their purpose, desired lifestyle, and values. She is also the host of the “Awaken Your Inner Superstar” podcast. Find her at superstaractivator.com. 

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at [email protected]

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at [email protected]