We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments

By The Heinz Endowments

What's We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments about?

Those working for a more just world tell their stories of community and possibility to The Heinz Endowments’ leaders. Episodes take you behind the scenes of in-the-news individuals and topics, revealing honesty, humanity and hope at every turn.

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We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments episodes:

09.28.2022
Breaking down the hydrogen hub hype w/ Joanne Kilgour, exec. dir. Ohio River Valley Institute (We Can Be S04EP16)
Ohio River Valley Institute Executive Director Joanne Kilgour joins host Philip Johnson, the Endowments’ senior program director for Environment & Health, in breaking down the hype around hydrogen hubs and carbon capture. Hydrogen hubs have as their centerpiece massive pipeline...
09.21.2022
Groundbreaking Post-9/11 veterans data w/ Dr. Daniel Perkins, founder Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness @ Penn State Uni.(S04EP15)
Dr. Daniel Perkins, professor, founder and principal scientist of the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness at Penn State University, leads the largest-ever longitudinal study of post-911 transitioning veterans, “The Veteran Metrics Initiative.” Danny joins host Megan Andros, the Endowments’ senior program...
09.14.2022
Black Urban Gardeners’ Raqueeb Bey is growing food, minds & leaders (S04EP14)
Raqueeb Bey, the founder and executive director of Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh, joins this episode’s host, Endowments Vice President of Sustainability Andrew McElwaine, to discuss food deserts, the healing effects of holistic gardening and the organization’s surprise...
09.07.2022
PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown: Yes, the arts are essential & here’s why (S4E13)
Jeffrey Brown, PBS NewsHour chief correspondent for arts, culture and society, joins “We Can Be” host Janet Sarbaugh, The Heinz Endowments’ vice president of Creativity, as they tackle one of the creative realm’s big questions: Are the arts essential? “Art matters...
08.31.2022
”Your dreams are possible” w/ Dr. Kathy Humphrey, trailblazing pres. of Carlow University (S4E12)
“I’ve had letters from young Black girls saying ‘I now know this is possible,’” Carlow University’s groundbreaking president Dr. Kathy Humphrey, tells “We Can Be” host Michelle Figlar, The Heinz Endowments’ vice president of Learning. As the first Black president in...
03.23.2022
Grant Oliphant on gratitude, speaking truth to power & making room for everyone (We Can Be S4EP11)
The importance of gratitude, what makes a community great, & his hope for what the future holds for the social change realm are among subjects Grant Oliphant covers as his tenure as president of The Heinz Endowments – & as...
10.13.2021
Facing America‘s crisis of connection w/ Jenn Hoos Rothberg, Einhorn Collaborative Exec. Dir. (We Can Be S04EP10)
“The circle of concern has to be wide enough for all of us to fit inside,” Jenn Hoos Rothberg tells host Grant Oliphant on this episode of “We Can Be.” Jenn is executive director of the Einhorn Collaborative, a nonprofit foundation...
09.29.2021
The New Climate War author Michael Mann & the fight to take back our planet (We Can Be S04EP09)
Michael Mann, one of the world’s preeminent experts on climate change, said in a Boston Globe editorial published shortly after the devastating storm made landfall in Sept. '21: “Hurricane Ida was a shot across the Earth’s bow." Michael is distinguished professor...
09.22.2021
Appalachia‘s battle b/w wish & hope w/ energy industry researcher Sean O’Leary (We Can Be S04EP08)
Energy industry researcher and “The State of My State” author Sean O’Leary zeroes in on the role of coal, natural gas and petrochemicals in the economies of Appalachia. He does it with with a deep respect for the region where he...
09.15.2021
Environmental Health News investigative reporter Kristina Marusic uncovers hard truths & arms public w/ facts (We Can Be S04EP07)
Kristina Marusic is an investigative reporter covering environmental health & justice issues for Environmental Health News, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to driving science into public discussion and policy. In early 2021, Environmental Health News published Kristina’s “Fractured: The body...
09.08.2021
The true cost of military service w/ War Horse founder/journalist Thomas Brennan (We Can Be S04EP06)
Thomas Brennan is Founder and Exec. Director of The War Horse, a nonprofit newsroom that has gained international respect for reporting on the often-unspoken human impacts of military service. A former Marine Corps sergeant who served as an infantryman in Iraq...
09.01.2021
Reinventing Social Change author Nell Edgington on embracing abundance, joy & power of “yet” (We Can Be S04EP05)
Nell Edgington, author of “Reinventing Social Change: Embrace Abundance to Create a Healthier and more Equitable World,” has traveled coast to coast in her quest to guide social-change warriors in realizing their full power and capability. Social change movements have been...
08.25.2021
Dr. Barry Kerzin, personal physician to Dalai Lama & Altruism in Medicine Institute founder on power of compassion (We Can Be S04EP04)
Dr. Barry Kerzin is foremost a kind, giving, smart and all-around inspirational human being. And if that were all he was, it would be more than enough. But Barry is also a Buddhist monk, a personal physician to the Dalai Lama, and...
08.18.2021
Rebuilding Appalachia for a new energy economy w/ Coalfield Development CEO Brandon Dennison (We Can Be S04EP03)
Coalfield Development CEO Brandon Dennison & his team are rebuilding the Appalachian economy one job at a time, with gumption, grit & grace as their guide. The wide valleys, imposing mountains and steep ridges that make up the topography of Appalachia...
08.11.2021
How & why radical generosity works w/ GivingTuesday co-founder Asha Curran (We Can Be S04EP02)
GivingTuesday co-founder Asha Curran has been key in producing 20 billion social media impressions & raising nearly $2.5 billion dollars to help others in a single year. Digital generosity platform GivingTuesday was created in 2012 to be, in her words, “an...
08.04.2021
“Diversity Explosion” author/demographer William Frey on where America is headed & why it's good for us (S04EP01)
William H. Frey (“Diversity Explosion: How New Racial Demographics are Remaking America”) joins host Grant Oliphant in diving into new census data - and shares what it could mean for the future of our nation. The internationally renowned demographer and senior...
04.28.2021
Bridging gap between university & community: The Center for Shared Prosperity (WeCanBeSpecEp)
Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab leader Illah Nourbakhsh, & Raqueeb Bey, exec. dir. of Black Urban Gardeners & Farmers of Pittsburgh join host & Endowments Pres. Grant Oliphant as they dive into the fascinating backstory of the new & innovative Center for...
09.23.2020
Designing cities for justice w/ Toni Griffin, “Patterned Justice” co-editor & Harvard’s Just City Lab lead innovator (We Can Be S03EP12)
Toni Griffin, head of the Harvard Graduate School of Design’s Just City Lab and co-editor of “Patterned Justice,” joins host Grant Oliphant for this episode of “We Can Be.” Our country has perpetuated structural race and class inequities for more than...
09.16.2020
“Reach” author & BMe co-founder Trabian Shorters on the astounding power of asset framing (We Can Be S03EP11)
Trabian Shorters, international expert on the cognitive structure of “asset framing” and co-founder and CEO of the Miami, Florida-based BMe, joins host Grant Oliphant for this episode of “We Can Be.” Trabian is a former vice president of the John S....
09.09.2020
"White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo: why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism (S03EP10)
Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People to Talk About Racism,” began an 85-week run on The New York Times Bestseller List upon its release in 2018. It has since been published in five languages, and as...
09.02.2020
Artist & cultural agitator D.S. Kinsel protests w/art & leads w/heart (SE0309)
D.S. Kinsel is – in his own words – a “multidisciplinary artist and cultural agitator” who in 2014 co-founded BOOM Concepts, an art collective “dedicated to the advancement of Black and brown artists from marginalized communities across America.” D.S.’s art –...
08.26.2020
The radical imagination of PolicyLink founder Angela Glover Blackwell is building a more equitable world (S03EP08)
The very fact that our country is having a conversation about equity now is due in no small part to the groundbreaking work of Angela Glover Blackwell, who founded PolicyLink 20 years ago with a simple but profound aim: to...
08.19.2020
The fight against climate racism w/ NAACP Environmental Justice program dir. Jacqueline Patterson (S03EP07)
Communities of color breathe in nearly 40 percent more polluted air than white communities, and African-American children are three times as likely to suffer an asthma attack. And that’s just the tip of the environmental racism iceberg. While these are undeniably...
08.12.2020
Election safety & equity in algorithms w/ cybersecurity expert David Hickton (S03EP06)
The nation’s leading cybersecurity expert, David Hickton, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security joins host Grant Oliphant for this episode of “We Can Be.” David has been a steady force in some of...
08.05.2020
Justice, poetry, race & activism in education w/ Dr. Valerie Kinloch (WeCanBeS03EP05)
Author, scholar & education visionary Dr. Valerie Kinloch joins host Grant Oliphant for this episode of “We Can Be.” Valerie has penned “Harlem on Our Minds: Place, Race, and the Literacies of Urban Youth” and “Crossing Boundaries ― Teaching and Learning...
07.29.2020
Why tackling climate change is absolutely doable w/ Jonathan Foley, Ex. Dir. Project Drawdown (S0EP04)
Dr. Jonathan Foley, world-renowned environmental scientist, sustainability expert, author, and executive director of Project Drawdown, joins host Grant Oliphant to talk about why – despite seemingly insurmountable political and cultural obstacles - he believes tackling climate change is “absolutely doable.” Regardless...
07.22.2020
How Indigenous wisdom can help heal inequities w/ Decolonizing Wealth author Edgar Villanueva (S03EP3)
Edgar Villanueva, Lumbee Indian tribe member and author of “Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance,” shares with host Grant Oliphant why “listening in color” may be a key in addressing our nation’s systemic racial and ethnic...
07.15.2020
Columnist Tony Norman & the "revolution in attitudes" fueling social change (S03EP02)
For the past 24 years, renowned Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist and book review editor Tony Norman has written about the most pressing issues of the day, proving to be an important and eloquent voice of truth. Tony began his journalism career covering...
07.07.2020
Artist Mikael Owunna reveals inherent beauty, power & dignity of Black & LGBTQ+ bodies (S03EP01)
Mikael Chukwuma Owunna has described himself as a “queer Nigerian-Swedish American photographer, Fulbright Scholar and engineer” who “imagines new universes and realities for marginalized communities around the globe.” “Infinite Essence,” Mikael’s exhibition of large-scale photographs presenting glittering Black bodies as gorgeously...
06.11.2020
Truth in science advocate Dr. Todd Woylnn on a COVID-19 vaccine & what it unveils about our society (Stronger than This series EP8)
Nationally renowned vaccine expert Dr. Todd Wolynn, co-founder of the vaccine-advocacy group Shots Heard Round the World, joins host Grant Oliphant to discuss what the journey to a COVID-19 vaccine could look like, the politicization of mask wearing, and the...
06.05.2020
Emmai Alaquiva on using art to expose truths in historically trying times (Stronger than This series EP7)
Emmy-winning composer, director & photographer Emmai Alaquiva joins host Grant Oliphant to discuss the role of art in fighting “the radical particles that have been dropped in our laps” by the COVD-19 crisis, & protests brought on by the killing...
05.21.2020
What COVID-19 reveals about food insecurity w/ 412 Food Rescue’s Leah Lizarondo (Stronger than This series #6)
Global Leadership Award winner Leah Lizarondo, founder & CEO of 412 Food Rescue, talks with host Grant Oliphant about what COVID-19 reveals about food insecurity, the “Mister Rogers mentality” that drives the largest volunteer-led food transport network in the nation,...
05.08.2020
Air quality & COVID-19 w/ Clean Air Task Force’s John Graham (Stronger than This series EP5)
Dr. John Graham, a senior scientist with the Clean Air Task Force, talks with host Grant Oliphant about the effects COVID-19 is having on the air we breathe, why this is an “exceptional moment” for air quality, and what the...
05.01.2020
Kids & COVID-19 w/ Patrick Dowd, Exec. Dir. Allies for Children (Stronger than This series EP4)
Patrick Dowd, executive director of Allies for Children, joins host Grant Oliphant to talk about the myriad of ways COVID-19 is affecting our young people, including hunger, access to technology, the health and well-being of their parents, child care –...
04.24.2020
Redirecting anger into action w/ Monica Ruiz, ED of Latino advocacy entity Casa San Jose (Stronger than This series EP3)
Monica Ruiz, executive director of Latino advocacy entity Casa San Jose, joins host Grant Oliphant to talk about the unique ways COVID-19 is affecting immigrant and refugee communities, why the census is key to changing the narrative around Latinos, and the...
04.22.2020
The moral lessons of COVID-19 w/ Dr. Andre Perry, Brookings Institution scholar & Know Your Price author. (Stronger than This series EP2)
Brookings Institution scholar and author Dr. Andre Perry joins host Grant Oliphant to talk about the moral lessons we can learn from the COVID-19 crisis, why black and brown people are dying from the virus at a vastly disproportionate rate, and...
04.17.2020
Art in times of crisis w/ 1Hood Media Co-Founder/CEO Jasiri X (Stronger than This series EP1)
Artist/activist Jasiri X, co-founder/CEO of 1Hood Media, joins host Grant Oliphant to talk about the role of art in times of crisis, why COVID-19 lays bare a historic distrust of the medical system by people of color, & the reality...
11.13.2019
Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson: “Protest is speaking the truth out loud.” S02EP20
DeRay Mckesson and his instantly recognizable blue down vest have become synonymous with advocacy for victims of police violence and an end to mass incarceration. A civil rights activist, community organizer and former middle school teacher, DeRay came to national prominence...
11.06.2019
Andre Perry’s genius blend of information & inspiration is helping individuals realize their value & worth. S02EP19
Dr. Andre Perry of The Brookings Institution has made exploration of race and structural inequality – especially as it affects education and economic inclusion – his life’s work. A Pittsburgh native born into a challenging family environment, Andre learned early the...
10.30.2019
Outdoor Afro founder Rue Mapp: "Nature is a refuge from all the '-isms'" S02EP18
Rue Mapp founded Outdoor Afro, a “social media community that introduces African Americans to the Great Outdoors” because she remembers the exhilaration she felt as a child in the run from the car to the creek when her parents pulled...
10.23.2019
The joy & complexity of giving w/ Giving Done Right author Phil Buchanan S02EP17
In 2018, Americans gave $427 billion to charities of their choice. Phil Buchanan, founding chief executive of The Center for Effective Philanthropy and author of “Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count,” is working to make certain...
10.16.2019
Poet, soldier, author & father Tim O’Brien on the extraordinary, beautiful power of maybe S02EP16
“The Things They Carried” brought National Book Award-winning author Tim O’Brien fame, and the unparalleled poetic beauty and honesty of his novels, short stories and memoirs have cemented his status as one of our most revered contemporary writers. Born and...
10.09.2019
Building an army of support for refugees: Hello Neighbor’s Sloane Davidson S02EP15
As the national rhetoric about refugees skews toward outright xenophobia, Hello Neighbor Founder and CEO Sloane Davidson is “creating an army of support” that is changing their lives and strengthening the fabric of neighborhoods. At a 2016 family Thanksgiving dinner with...
10.02.2019
Blindsided by the Taliban: Journalist & Postindustrial media co-founder Carmen Gentile S02EP14
In 2010, journalist and Postindustrial media co-founder Carmen Gentile was embedded with the 32 Calvary regiment in eastern Afghanistan when he was struck in the right side of the face by a rocket-propelled grenade. Carmen details the moment he was blinded...
09.25.2019
From homelessness to Emmy Award winning composer & director: the shining light of Emmai Alaquiva S02EP13
Emmy-winning composer, in-demand director and respected mentor Emmai Alaquiva is candid about what rescued him during his early hard times: “The arts saved my life.” CEO of the media production entity Ya Momz House (a tribute to his own mother) and...
09.18.2019
Dr. Cornel West & Bikari Kitwana 2: the revolution in priorities our society needs S02EP12
In part two of host Grant Oliphant’s two-episode conversation with Dr. Cornel West and Bakari Kitwana, they examine the revolution in priorities our society needs if we are to thrive, the young activists that are driving their hope, and why...
09.11.2019
Dr. Cornel West & Bikari Kitwana on the joy & struggle of today’s freedom fighters S02EP11
In part one of a two-episode conversation, Dr. Cornel West and Bakari Kitwana examine why joy is important in our lives (especially for those in the social justice realm), what reparations could mean to our nation, and why artists are the indispensable...
05.29.2019
Different but united: the palpable positivity of 24-hours-a-day bridge-builder Wasi Mohamed S2EP10
When Wasi Mohamed led the Muslim community in an international fundraising effort that raised a quarter of a million dollars for the families of those killed in the attack on the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the world...
05.22.2019
From Parkland to Pittsburgh, student activists are forever altering the social change landscape S2E9
More than 2,300 lives have been lost and 8,500 people wounded in over 2,000 mass shootings in the United States in the past seven years. Survivors of the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida., that left...
05.15.2019
From Air Force plane nosedive to university president: Dr. Chris Howard & the power of mentoring S2EP8
As a United States Air Force pilot, newly engaged to his South African fiancée, Chris Howard ejected from his aircraft as it fell into a nosedive during a solo training mission in January 1995. Twenty years later, he was one...

What's We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments about?

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We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments episodes:

Breaking down the hydrogen hub hype w/ Joanne Kilgour, exec. dir. Ohio River Valley Institute (We Can Be S04EP16)

Groundbreaking Post-9/11 veterans data w/ Dr. Daniel Perkins, founder Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness @ Penn State Uni.(S04EP15)

Black Urban Gardeners’ Raqueeb Bey is growing food, minds & leaders (S04EP14)

PBS NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown: Yes, the arts are essential & here’s why (S4E13)

”Your dreams are possible” w/ Dr. Kathy Humphrey, trailblazing pres. of Carlow University (S4E12)

Grant Oliphant on gratitude, speaking truth to power & making room for everyone (We Can Be S4EP11)

Facing America‘s crisis of connection w/ Jenn Hoos Rothberg, Einhorn Collaborative Exec. Dir. (We Can Be S04EP10)

The New Climate War author Michael Mann & the fight to take back our planet (We Can Be S04EP09)

Appalachia‘s battle b/w wish & hope w/ energy industry researcher Sean O’Leary (We Can Be S04EP08)

Environmental Health News investigative reporter Kristina Marusic uncovers hard truths & arms public w/ facts (We Can Be S04EP07)

The true cost of military service w/ War Horse founder/journalist Thomas Brennan (We Can Be S04EP06)

Reinventing Social Change author Nell Edgington on embracing abundance, joy & power of “yet” (We Can Be S04EP05)

Dr. Barry Kerzin, personal physician to Dalai Lama & Altruism in Medicine Institute founder on power of compassion (We Can Be S04EP04)

Rebuilding Appalachia for a new energy economy w/ Coalfield Development CEO Brandon Dennison (We Can Be S04EP03)

How & why radical generosity works w/ GivingTuesday co-founder Asha Curran (We Can Be S04EP02)

“Diversity Explosion” author/demographer William Frey on where America is headed & why it's good for us (S04EP01)

Bridging gap between university & community: The Center for Shared Prosperity (WeCanBeSpecEp)

Designing cities for justice w/ Toni Griffin, “Patterned Justice” co-editor & Harvard’s Just City Lab lead innovator (We Can Be S03EP12)

“Reach” author & BMe co-founder Trabian Shorters on the astounding power of asset framing (We Can Be S03EP11)

"White Fragility" author Robin DiAngelo: why it’s so hard for white people to talk about racism (S03EP10)

Artist & cultural agitator D.S. Kinsel protests w/art & leads w/heart (SE0309)

The radical imagination of PolicyLink founder Angela Glover Blackwell is building a more equitable world (S03EP08)

The fight against climate racism w/ NAACP Environmental Justice program dir. Jacqueline Patterson (S03EP07)

Election safety & equity in algorithms w/ cybersecurity expert David Hickton (S03EP06)

Justice, poetry, race & activism in education w/ Dr. Valerie Kinloch (WeCanBeS03EP05)

Why tackling climate change is absolutely doable w/ Jonathan Foley, Ex. Dir. Project Drawdown (S0EP04)

How Indigenous wisdom can help heal inequities w/ Decolonizing Wealth author Edgar Villanueva (S03EP3)

Columnist Tony Norman & the "revolution in attitudes" fueling social change (S03EP02)

Artist Mikael Owunna reveals inherent beauty, power & dignity of Black & LGBTQ+ bodies (S03EP01)

Truth in science advocate Dr. Todd Woylnn on a COVID-19 vaccine & what it unveils about our society (Stronger than This series EP8)

Emmai Alaquiva on using art to expose truths in historically trying times (Stronger than This series EP7)

What COVID-19 reveals about food insecurity w/ 412 Food Rescue’s Leah Lizarondo (Stronger than This series #6)

Air quality & COVID-19 w/ Clean Air Task Force’s John Graham (Stronger than This series EP5)

Kids & COVID-19 w/ Patrick Dowd, Exec. Dir. Allies for Children (Stronger than This series EP4)

Redirecting anger into action w/ Monica Ruiz, ED of Latino advocacy entity Casa San Jose (Stronger than This series EP3)

The moral lessons of COVID-19 w/ Dr. Andre Perry, Brookings Institution scholar & Know Your Price author. (Stronger than This series EP2)

Art in times of crisis w/ 1Hood Media Co-Founder/CEO Jasiri X (Stronger than This series EP1)

Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson: “Protest is speaking the truth out loud.” S02EP20

Andre Perry’s genius blend of information & inspiration is helping individuals realize their value & worth. S02EP19

Outdoor Afro founder Rue Mapp: "Nature is a refuge from all the '-isms'" S02EP18

The joy & complexity of giving w/ Giving Done Right author Phil Buchanan S02EP17

Poet, soldier, author & father Tim O’Brien on the extraordinary, beautiful power of maybe S02EP16

Building an army of support for refugees: Hello Neighbor’s Sloane Davidson S02EP15

Blindsided by the Taliban: Journalist & Postindustrial media co-founder Carmen Gentile S02EP14

From homelessness to Emmy Award winning composer & director: the shining light of Emmai Alaquiva S02EP13

Dr. Cornel West & Bikari Kitwana 2: the revolution in priorities our society needs S02EP12

Dr. Cornel West & Bikari Kitwana on the joy & struggle of today’s freedom fighters S02EP11

Different but united: the palpable positivity of 24-hours-a-day bridge-builder Wasi Mohamed S2EP10

From Parkland to Pittsburgh, student activists are forever altering the social change landscape S2E9

From Air Force plane nosedive to university president: Dr. Chris Howard & the power of mentoring S2EP8