Mindy Romero is the founder and director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy that is part of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy based in Sacramento, California. Romero is a political sociologist whose research focuses on political behavior and race/ethnicity. The research and reports of the Center seek to explain patterns of voting and political underrepresentation, particularly among youth and communities of color in California and the U.S.

For over 40 years, Louis Clark has led the Government Accountability Project (GAP), an organization dedicated to protecting whistleblowers and ensuring government accountability. During the Trump administration, GAP is overwhelmed with the number of government employees seeking support in disclosing illegal, unethical, and fraudulent conduct. It is also addressing a new form of retaliation against whistleblowers, physical harm, and death threats. Learn more about the organization and its work at https://whistleblower.org.

Vanessa Priya Daniel’s first book, Unrig the Game: What Women of Color Can Teach Everyone About Winning, centers the work of women of color in social justice movements. Daniel discusses her personal journey from community organizer to the founder and Executive Director of Groundswell, a philanthropy organization committed to intersectional organizing. She shares the three superpowers of successful WOC leaders that we can all adopt: a 360 vision, boldness, and generosity.

We The Action has a simple premise – lawyers have the power to do good. The organization started in 2017 to help connect lawyer with pro bono causes, from immigration and domestic violence representation to non-profit governance and tax issues, from voting rights to copyright.  Anna Chu, the Executive Director, describes how nimble organization started the Federal Workers Defense Network to provide pro bono support for the thousands of federal workers who were fired from their positions in violation of law and without legal process. You can find pro bono opportunities at https://wetheaction.org/lawyers

Erica Pinheiro serves as the Executive Director of Al Otro Lado providing holistic legal and humanitarian support to refugees, deportees, and other migrants in the US and Tijuana through a multidisciplinary, client-centered, harm reduction-based practice. The organization provides direct, free, legal services on both sides of the US-Mexico border and beyond through zealous individual representation,  medical-legal partnerships, and impact litigation to protect the rights of immigrants and asylum-seekers.

Thirty years ago, Cassandra Dahnke and Tomas Spath founded the Institute for Civility with the goal to promote civility—in government, workplaces, schools—and to catalyze change. They describe their journey, how they define civility, what they have learned about reducing polarization, and why they have hope for the future.  https://www.instituteforcivility.org/.

Meals on Wheels does more than just provide home delivery of healthy food for Seniors. President Christine Winge reminds us that maintaining human connection is a critical and essential part of physical and mental health as we grow older and risk becoming more isolated.

After a long career in the corporate world, Beth Wilbur decided she would serve children as the Executive Director of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Monterey County.  She discusses the incredible work that CASA volunteers do to support children in the foster care system and how they change lives through their efforts.  She describes her motivation as a moral call to protect children.

Lisa Sperow is the Executive Director of the Cal Poly Low Income Taxpayer Clinic. The clinic provides free representation to low-income taxpayers in disputes with the IRS. Many of the clinic’s clients have nowhere else to seek help when they receive frightening notices from the IRS. It is even more alarming for taxpayers who do not speak English and who are completely unfamiliar with the process and documents necessary to respond to government claims, even if the claims are in error. As Lisa says, “this program helps ensure the fairness and integrity of the tax system by educating low-income taxpayers about their rights and responsibilities and by ensuring that their individual rights are protected.”

Cathy Sakimura has spent her entire professional life empowering young people, first as a youth organizer, then as the Deputy Director at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, and now as Executive Director of Legal Services for Children (LSC) in San Francisco. In this episode, Cathy describes why she has dedicated her life to serving children and families, how she manages the challenges, and what each of us can make a difference in a child’s life, including donating money to LSC because it lost its federal funding that allowed it to serve immigrant children in detention. https://secure.everyaction.com/cVYzZjzhqkC12TIE2v3q7A2