The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

Systems change in workforce development is the collective efforts of employers, workers, talent developers, and other stakeholders to make a transformative impact and create opportunities for others in our community. It asks those in the work to go beyond traditional models of workforce development.\r\n\r\nAs the CEO of Incept since 2012, Sam Falletta oversees customer acquisition strategies and outreach for major global companies, including Microsoft, Ford, and Honda. Under his leadership, the Canton-based marketing company has grown and is consistently recognized as a leader in its field and in the Northeast Ohio business community. Incept has received numerous awards for its innovative business practices and its positive workplace culture. Outside of his work at Incept, Falletta is the founder of TEDxAkron and a skilled public speaker.

It\'s evident that Cleveland is positioning itself as a burgeoning technology and arts and culture hub, rapidly expanding its network of startups and visionary individuals. Still, there remains an imbalance in the accessibility to capital and growth prospects, particularly for BIPOC communities.\r\n\r\nGhanaian filmmaker, and Kent State University alum Blitz Bazawule, knows first-hand the challenges that lie at the intersection of entrepreneurship, arts & culture, and the startup economy. Now, he is making headlines as director of the musical reimagining of THE COLOR PURPLE, a film produced by Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Quincy Jones, which is set to release in theaters on Christmas Day.\r\n\r\nBazawule is also an author, visual artist, rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. Blitz Bazawule, or 'Blitz The Ambassador' is a visionary artist who has been making waves in the American music and film industry since his debut album in 2004. He also served as director for Beyonce\'s visual album Black is King in 2020. He first stepped into the literary scene in 2022 with the publication of his novel The Scent of Burnt Flowers, detailing the story of a Black couple seeking asylum in Ghana.

In 1955, the integration of a lily white Cleveland suburb began with one Black family and an unexpected response from that family\'s new neighbors. While some had responded with the racism and bigotry common to that era, the neighbors welcomed them and stood with them. Eventually, together they created an intentionally integrated community in Ludlow, on the west side of Shaker Heights.\r\n\r\nThese events set a course for the community and the Shaker Heights school district became a beacon for racial school integration and academic excellence. But not without its challenges. In Dream Town: Shaker Heights and the Quest for Racial Equity, author Laura Meckler explores Shake Heights school\'s history as a case study of what\'s possible and how hard the work can be.\r\n\r\nUsing her years of experience as a journalist, Meckler turns her investigative eye toward the city that formed her, delving into difficult questions about this complicated part of Shaker Heights' history-and its effects on the country's racial academic achievement gap. Publishers Weekly called the book "a nuanced and impressively detailed study of the barriers to racial equality."\r\n\r\nMeckler is a national education reporter for The Washington Post. She previously worked at The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press. She was part of the team that won the George Polk Award for Justice Reporting for a 2020 series on the life of George Floyd. Before coming to Washington, Laura covered state government in Columbus. She got her start at The Repository in Canton.

For many small to medium-sized arts venues, the last few years were some of the toughest to navigate. The COVID-19 pandemic, supply chain struggles, and the contracting of the global economy all played a part. Many venues struggled to stay open or were forced to close down permanently, and ultimately support from COVID era stimulus packages saved the industry from mass collapse. Independent venues play important roles as third spaces for social engagement, but they also generate jobs and contribute greatly to economic activity.\r\n\r\nFormed during the pandemic, the National Independent Venue Association recently hosted its first conference in Cleveland in 2022; and the Cleveland chapter just recently announced the Cleveland Music Census--an effort to gather measurable data on the economic impact of independent venues.

Since 1935, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards remains the only American book prize that recognizes books that have made significant contributions to our understanding of racism and human diversity. Joining us at the City Club is this year\'s Lifetime Achievement award winner, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, a civil rights icon and a veteran journalist with a remarkable career.\r\n\r\nHunter-Gault first made history in 1961 when she desegregated the University of Georgia after she mounted a successful legal challenge that granted her admission. In 1963, the Georgia governor declared her marriage to University of Georgia classmate Walter L. Stovall, who was white, "a shame and disgrace." The state's Attorney General even threatened prosecution.\r\n\r\nCharlayne has worked for The New Yorker, The New York Times, PBS, NPR, and CNN. She has received multiple awards, including an Emmy and Peabody for her distinguished work covering the Apartheid at PBS NewsHour. In her latest book, My People: Five Decades of Writing About Black Lives, Charlayne chronicles her lifelong commitment to reporting on Black people in their totality, from the Civil Rights Movement to the election of Barack Obama, and beyond.

Over the decades, NASA has become synonymous with scientific discovery, innovation, and economic opportunities. Now, with Artemis missions, NASA will land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon, using innovative technologies to explore more of the lunar surface than ever before. Then, NASA will use what is learned on and around the Moon to take the next giant leap: sending the first astronauts to Mars.\r\n\r\nAt the helm of these efforts is NASA\'s Jim Free. He leads America's deep space human exploration efforts, including developing the systems for NASA's Artemis missions and planning the agency's Moon to Mars exploration approach and architectures. A native of Northeast Ohio, Jim Free previously served as Center Director of the NASA Glenn Research Center and has over three decades of experience in government and the industry. Under his leadership, humanity will establish a long-term presence on the Moon to conduct fundamental scientific research, send humans to further destinations, and advance economic opportunity--including right here in Northeast Ohio.

When the City Club convened its first forum in 1912, Cleveland Mayor Newton D. Baker, Cincinnati Mayor Thomas Hunt, and Toledo Mayor Brand Whitlock came together to discuss the work of city government, the challenges they faced, and the solutions they were implementing. Now, more than 110 years later, as the City Club opens a new home for civic dialogue at Playhouse Square, Cleveland Mayor Justin M. Bibb and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval will join us to discuss the work of governing Ohio cities today.\r\n\r\nJustin M. Bibb is the 58th Mayor of Cleveland. He has prioritized improving public safety, investing in neighborhoods, and modernizing City Hall. Mayor Bibb was born and raised on Cleveland's southeast side in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.\r\n\r\nAftab Pureval is the 70th Mayor of Cincinnati. Raised in Southwest, Ohio, the son of first-generation Americans, he is the city's first Asian American mayor. He served as Hamilton County Clerk of Courts from 2016 to 2021 and was the first Democrat to hold this office in over 100 years.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are vital to our communities. They generate jobs and contribute greatly to U.S. economic activity. BIPOC small businesses and entrepreneurs in particular bring diversity and cultural richness to the surrounding community, enriching marketplaces with unique products and services. In doing so, the money earned by these companies helps fuel the surrounding economy. One of the places highlighting the importance of BIPOC, and specifically Latino, businesses is CentroVilla25.\r\n\r\nCentroVilla25 is an adaptive reuse of a vacant 32,500 square foot warehouse and office building with an additional 12,500 square foot expansion. They strive to showcase Northeast Ohio's Hispanic community through job creation, business development, and creative spaces. The Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development is working to ensure CentroVilla25 becomes a reality for the Hispanic community of Ohio by April 2024.\r\n\r\nJenice Contreras is the Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development. An established leader in small business and community development, as well as healthcare and nonprofit management, Contreras is a driving force in the revitalization of Cleveland's Clark-Fulton neighborhood (where CentroVilla25 will be).

Since May of this year, more than 5,000 fires have ravaged Canada causing environmental issues in several parts of North America. The 2023 wildfire season has already eclipsed Canada\'s previous annual record from 1989, with more than month left in the peak season.\r\n\r\nSmoke from the wildfires spread quickly, crossing international borders, and settling over many US states and resulting in unhealthy air quality. Residents of Northeast Ohio have noticed the "campfire smell," hazy skies, and disappearing downtown skylines. NOACA issued air quality warnings, and health officials urged Ohioans to limit their time outside or take necessary health precautions for those who must be outside.\r\n\r\nPeople at higher risk for smoke-related health issues, such as the elderly, children, and those with preexisting conditions were affected the most by the air issues. The air quality forced many to either stay indoors or return to masking in order to stay safe. As with many effects of climate change - the effects are disproportionately shouldered by low-income and BIPOC communities. For some, staying indoors was not an option. And those who work outdoors or travel by foot, bike, or wait for public transit were disproportionately affected by the toxic fumes.\r\n\r\nJoin the City Club at Playhouse Square for a conversation about climate change, air quality, and what can be done to protect the air we breathe.

The notion of equitable public health seeks to address health disparities and social determinants of health that affect an individual's ability to achieve optimal health. While public health inequities are not a new concept, research in recent years has revealed how a community's demographics and surrounding environmental conditions impact residents' quality of life and actual life expectancies. Health equity requires dismantling systems that lead to inequalities and providing additional resources to underserved communities. Currently, equitable public health is a goal that many are working towards, with physicians such as Dr. David Margolius striving to make it a reality.\r\n\r\nDr. David Margolius was appointed as Director of Public Health for the City of Cleveland in 2022. Prior to that, he served as the Division Director of General Internal Medicine at MetroHealth. An active educator, Dr. Margolius is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and was faculty co-lead for the Medical Director Leadership Institute at Harvard Medical School's Center for Primary Care.\r\n\r\nDr. Margolius' work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals on a wide range of public health topics from COVID-19 response in underserved communities to best practices in primary care and preventative and family medicine.\r\n\r\nJoin us for a free outdoor LIVE broadcast on 89.7 Ideastream Public Media in Playhouse Square on equity in public health.