GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is in conversation with Lakisha Young, Founder & CEO, The Oakland REACH.  

Who is Lakisha Young?

Lakisha Young is the Founder & CEO of The Oakland REACH, a parent-run organization founded in 2016. She knows from her own story that winning in education is par for the course when you already have what you need to win in life — and because of that, everything the REACH does must be about ensuring every family has what they need to win in life.

Lakisha developed a formula that has guided the REACH’s work since day one: Ask families questions. Listen to their aspirations. Build the solutions. This formula has produced a mix of groundbreaking programming and advocacy work over the last 6 years, including The Opportunity Ticket, which gives the most vulnerable students higher preference for enrolling in quality schools, and the Literacy for All campaign.

What is The Oakland REACH? 

• The Oakland REACH is a parent-run, parent-led organization. Our parents know what it’s like to be overlooked, mistreated, and miseducated by the school system. We are committed to changing that for future generations. We empower families from our most underserved communities to demand high-quality schools for their children.

In this episode: 

• Background 
  • Why "education is destined to be [her] journey" 
• The Oakland REACH 
• Family Advocacy Fellowship / The Hub / Opportunity Ticket (2019)
• Paid family tutors + graduation
  • Focus on implementation
• Relationship with local district and charters
• What does the future look like for Oakland Reach

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is in conversation with Jia Lin-Bothe, Director of Family Empowerment Work, Charlene Mack, Vice President, National Partnerships & Training, Innovate Public Schools, and Katura DeVane, Parent, and part of SchermCo’s family empowerment work.

What does Innovate Public Schools Do?

• Innovate Public Schools is a nonprofit organization working to make sure that all students — especially low-income students and students of color — receive a world-class public education that prepares them for success in college, careers, and beyond. 

Interested in the Parent Leadership Institute? 

• Innovate Public Schools invites you to join parent leaders from across the country for their first-ever in-person East Coast Training on March 10th -12th.
•  Build your leadership skills and learn how to leverage the power of community organizing to make transformational change for students in your community.
• Learn how to:
  • Organize effectively for community change
  • Deepen your public leadership
  • Engage more parents in the effort
  • Use your voice to hold public officials and systems accountable to students and families

In this episode: 

• Sharing more about PLI and this incredible opportunity
• Connection to SchermCo’s family empowerment work
• Why is PLI an important opportunity for families
• Positive outcomes that have been seen from families who have previously taken advantage of this opportunity

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is in conversation with Nehemiah Frank, Black Wall Street Time. 

The Black Wall Street Times was founded by Nehemiah in 2017. He is the descendent of two families that survived the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

This prosperous community was the victim of the worst act of racial violence against Black people in American history. As a means of honoring the victims, survivors, and descendants, Nehemiah named his publication The Black Wall Street Times.

The Black Wall Street Times  maintains a hyper-focus on issues affecting the City of Tulsa and the Greenwood community or Black Tulsans. 

In this episode: 

• Connection to the Square Pizza Podcast 
•  Background 
  • Family 
  • Education 
• The Black Wall Street Times
• The Grammy’s 
• Delegate at the National Parents Union

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is in conversation with another set of members from SchermCo. Alex Abisch is our Director of Strategic Implementation, and Jia Lin-Bothe is our Director of Family Empowerment. This is the second time we have interviewed team members of SchermCo, and this won't be the last! We hope you enjoy! 

In this episode:

• Alex Abisch
  • Artist and Art Therapy, Masters in Art Therapy
  • Why Art is a core part of who she is
  • Corporate Relations - what she learned in these experiences
  • What her day to day looks like leading our SI work
  • Why SchermCo? 
• Jia Lin-Bothe 
  • Background in Architecture 
  • What lead her to education 
  • Experience as an immigrant in this country
  • What her day to day looks like leading our FE work
  • Why SchermCo?

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is wrapping up the 2022 year! We have had one of the best years thus far and are excited to share these milestones with you. Here’s to many more years to come. 

In this episode: 

•  What we’ve done over the course of the year 
• Accomplishments we’ve achieved 
• Who we’ve interviewed on the Pod 
• Plans for the future 

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is in conversation with the two newest members of SchermCo. Taylor James is our Strategic Implementation Associate, and Mathu Gibson is our Associate Director of Family Empowerment. Did you know Taylor published a book or that Mathu is a former NFL player turned educator? This is the first time we have interviewed team members of SchermCo and this won't be the last! We hope you enjoy! 

In this episode:

• Taylor James
  • Acting background / aspirations
  • Writing: published book (The Inheritance of Noise in Joburg)
  • Agnes Scott - All Women’s College
  • Why SchermCo?
• Mathu Gibson
  • Football Career 
  • Writing
  • Education/Family Engagement
  • Why SchermCo?

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is in conversation with Maurice Jones, CEO of OneTen. One fun fact you will learn about Mr. Jones is that he grew up on a tobacco and corn farm. 

In this episode:

• Background
• Birth of OneTen
• Creating 1 million family-sustaining jobs for Black talent in America by 2030
• Board of  OneTen
• How leaders helped shape the vision of OneTen

Guest Question:

• Dewey Norwood, Senior Lead Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Enterprise HBCU Strategy
  • 8 years from now, once you’ve reached the goal of 1M sustaining careers, what do you believe the societal change will be?
  • If you have to deliver a message to corporate partners on why they should join the OneTen family, what would you tell them? Why are non-degreed individuals so important in today’s society?

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is in conversation with Reuben Ogbonna, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Marcy Lab School. One fun fact you will learn about Marcy Lab School is that they aspire to be incredibly transparent with their team, including sharing salaries. You will find out why this is important to them in this episode. 

In this episode:

• Advice for securing a major partnership
• Lessons learned from his experience with Teach for America  
• Marcy Lab School
  • Overview and outcomes
  • What makes Marcy unique from other alternatives to college programs, bootcamps, and workforce development programs
  • Gap between colleges/job training programs + employers
  • Sharing salaries

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Welcome back to another episode of the #squarepizzapod. This week, Greg is in conversation with three guests, Jonathan Gardner,  Director of GardHouse, Jania Massey,  Founder and Executive Director of Stiletto Boss University, and Manuel Campbell, CEO of Aspire Community Capital. One fun fact you will learn about these three incredible individuals is that they served on a panel together recently about leading non-profits of small businesses as black lead founders and owners. 

In this episode:

• Positive changes or feedback since the panel
• What the funding community can do differently
• How to better support black-led nonprofits/organizations
• Advice to aspiring non-profit leaders

Support the show

GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

• Education PowerEd
• Culture to the Max book 
  • The inspiration behind writing book
  • Who is culture to the max for
  • How educators and families can work together to ensure equality in a classroom/school
  • Texas book ban 

Support the show