The Strategerist

Where you’re born often plays a significant role in the path your life takes.  This is true on an international level as well as a local level. In Dallas, I30 marks a barrier between North Dallas and communities like Jubilee Park in South Dallas. Nonprofits like the Jubilee Park and Community Center are using innovative, cohesive methods to try to gain equal opportunity for South Dallas residents. 

Related:

• Jubilee Park and Community Center
• The State of the American Dream issue of The Catalyst
• Bush Institute Blueprint for Opportunity
• Bush Institute Education and Workforce Pipeline

As a 22-year old, Aya Chebbi’s voice was at the heart of the democratic revolution in Tunisia in Northern Africa.  Now, 10 years later, she is still committed to fighting for human rights — including gender equity here on International Women’s Day.

Related:

• Aya Chebbi on Twitter
• Aya Chebbi on Instagram
• About the Bush Institute's Women's Initiative

The Constitution opens, “we the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union”. It doesn’t say that we will always be perfect, but rather we’ll will strive to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty for generations to come.

Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, Bush Institute Kelly and David Pfeil Fellow, discusses the principles of our democracy and how we can all work to ensure its health.

• Read the Choose Freedom report from the Bush Institute

Wendy Kopp had an idea.  She wanted to borrow a tactic from other industries: if she could convince students fresh out of college to commit to teaching for two years in communities that desperately needed teachers, she could really make an impact in education and broaden the perspectives of the young adults before they move into their planned careers.  Thus, Teach for America was born.  Today, Wendy has broadened her goals, and co-founded Teach for All to impact education worldwide.

Wendy shares how her parents’ commitment to her education impacted her, and how local communities — not necessary federal governments — are at the core of driving change.

Related Content

• Teach for All
• Teach for America
• 2020 Bush Center Forum on Leadership

When you’re browsing for something to read or watch online , algorithms usually decide what content will be put in front of you. Whether that’s what search result shows first, or what news stories are in your social media feed, somewhere a computer is following a complex but predefined set of rules to decide what content you’ll see first. Renée DiResta, Research Manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, explains how these algorithms try to deliver content that you’ll  find interesting and relevant — and how that leads to your online world looking very different from your neighbor’s online world.

We sat down before the recent elections to talk about how information spreads online — whether true, false, or somewhere in between — and how we can all be better consumers of information.

Related Content

• Renée DiResta on Twitter: @NoUpside
• Democracy Talks from the Bush Institute

Roda Ahmed is the author of Mae Among the Stars, the critically acclaimed children’s storybook which is a selection on Mrs. Bush’s 2020 reading list for kids.

Born in Somalia and raised in Norway, Roda speaks five languages — and has now founded her own publishing company. We talked to her on Zoom from her home in Oslo this summer about about why she wrote Mae Among the Stars, and how important representation is in children’s literature. We also discuss challenges she herself has had to overcome, and how she felt when she finally met Mae Jemison.

Related Content

• Mae Among the Stars: Barnes and Noble / Amazon
• Mrs. Laura Bush Reading List for Kids, 2020
• The Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries -- grant applications now open

Thanksgiving always looks different for men and women deployed through our armed services. And this year, even more so. For 80 years, the USO has worked to connect service members to family and home. CEO J.D. Crouch discusses the ongoing work of serving our nation's warriors -- and how the organization with a global footprint is adapting to a global pandemic.

Dr. Crouch also discusses his optimistic style of leadership, as well as what he learned during his time as Deputy National Security Advisor in the George W. Bush administration. And shares his memories of the late Alex Trebek — a longtime USO supporter.

Related:

• The USO
• The Bush Institute's resources for veterans and the nonprofits who serve them

In this Veteran's Day episode, we talk to U.S. Army Second Lieutenant Melissa Stockwell -- the U.S. first female to lose a limb in combat and now Paralympic Games medalist -- about her journey representing America both before and after active duty.

• Purchase Melisssa's book, The Power of Choice: From Wounded Warrior to World Champion
• Learn more about the Tokyo Paralympic Games
• Learn more about the Bush Center's W100K
• Watch the George W. Bush Presidential Center Dedication Ceremony, including Melissa reciting the Pledge of Allegiance as five U.S. presidents look on

Hannah Song, CEO of Liberty in North Korea, envisions a world where North Korea isn’t the worst place on earth. LiNK supports the people of North Korea in their attempts to escape, helps them resettle in free countries, and is working to change the narrative around the country that is known as the worst place in the world to live.

• Learn more about the Liberty in North Korea organization
• Learn about this episode's co-host, Joseph Kim, who was born in North Korea
• Explore the Bush Institute's work in supporting freedom in North Korea

Two stars from the ABC hit show Shark Tank -- Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, and Daymond John, founder and CEO of apparel company FUBU -- aren't just successful on the balance sheet.  They're inspirational figures for American entrepreneurs from all backgrounds.

We cover serious topics such as:

• How businesses can adapt to disruptive events like the coronavirus
• How money has (or has not) changed the two -- and why they still get up every morning eager to do business
• How businesses can navigate challenging relationships with China
• How manufacturing can return to the U.S.

And share some laughs with:

• Mark and Daymond's competition to be the better dancer
• Daymond's dad jokes
• Behind-the-scenes stories from the set of Shark Tank

Be sure to watch them on stage at Engage at the Bush Center, presented by Highland Capital Management.