In this episode, Stuart Comstock-Gay speaks with Dogfish Head co-founder Mariah Calagione about the value of philanthropy for both businesses and the communities they serve.

Mariah Calagione is the co-founder of Dogfish Head Brewery and recently retired as the Social Impact Leader at the Boston Beer Company. Raised in Milford, Delaware, she met her husband, Sam Calagione, during high school, and together they established Dogfish Head in 1995. Mariah's early roles encompassed marketing, public relations, and social media, eventually focusing on philanthropic initiatives through the Beer & Benevolence program. She has served on various boards, including The Nature Conservancy and the University of Delaware, (and oh yeah, the Delaware Community Foundation). Mariah and Sam have two adult children and continue to contribute actively to both their business and local community.

In this episode, Stuart Comstock-Gay speaks with Congresswoman Sarah McBride on why we shouldn't just accept that some people are outsiders, or worse, our enemies.

Sarah McBride is the U.S. Representative for Delaware’s at-large congressional district. Before winning her seat in 2024, she served as a Delaware State Senator, where she championed LGBTQ+ rights, healthcare access, and paid family leave. McBride first gained national recognition in 2016 as the first openly transgender person to speak at a major party convention. She previously worked as the National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, advocating for non-discrimination protections nationwide. Born and raised in Wilmington, she earned a degree in political science from American University in Washington, D.C.

Erin Gruwell, author of the New York Times Bestseller The Freedom Writers' Diary, sits down with host Stuart Comstock-Gay to talk about how she learned to create a community of writers as a fresh-faced English teacher in Room 203. Gruwell discusses how she got her students to better their lives through reading and writing, with her students coining themselves the “Freedom Writers” after the “Freedom Riders” group as a way to show they were standing up to the violence and oppression in their lives. Now, over 20 years later, Gruwell continues to teach others how to create communities through storytelling, writing, listening to one another and giving light in dark places. The two also discuss her latest book, Dear Freedom Writer. Find out more information on the Freedom Writers by visiting the Freedom Writers Foundation.

Season 5 of Building Opportunity is coming next week! This season, host Stuart Comstock-Gay sits down with community leaders in education, tech, health and the arts to discuss communities, leadership, mentorship and passing the mic to the next generation. The season starts Nov. 1 with episodes available every Wednesday.

We’ve talked a lot about polarization this season – but what can we do about it? We welcome back all of our guests to each share one actionable thing anyone can do to reduce polarization – in our communities, in our daily lives, and in our interactions with others.

Media is often blamed for polarization – but nonprofit and local news models could offer a solution. Today, we sit down with Allison Taylor Levine, the VP of Marketing and Communications at the DCF, and the founder of the Local Journalism Initiative Delaware. We discuss how local news builds empathy, trust, and understanding, and how solutions-based journalism can move readers from fear and frustration to empowerment and action.

Dr. David Tam became the CEO of Beebe Healthcare at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he’s made it his mission to build trust inside the communities Beebe serves, even as polarization has had dramatic consequences to public health. Dr. Tam shares his insights about how healthcare needs to evolve – and how conversations between patients and providers could be a key to bridging the divide.

Dr. Muqtedar Khan is a professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations and in the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware. Today, he shares insights on American polarization – its economic, political, and social roots, what’s causing it to accelerate, and what we can do to overcome it. Dr. Khan also shares his perspective on the declining freedom of speech within academic institutions – and how identity politics, virtue signaling, and personal moral hierarchies can blind us to our own intolerance and judgment.

Molly Giordano has spent years building a community-oriented space at the Delaware Art Museum, where open dialogues about art flourish. Molly weighs in on how polarization has impacted arts institutions, and pushes back against claims that art and art institutions have become too political.

Don Ward has deep roots in rural Sussex County – and he’s seen how polarization has affected communities like his. Don joins us this week here to talk to us about the dangers of judging others solely on their political views, how polarization creates divisions within religious communities, and what happens when development brings new faces into small towns.

Angela Davis. Herschel Walker. Dolly Parton. Dennis Rodman. All have come to the Wilmington Library at the invitation of Library Director Jamar Rahming. He believes libraries can teach us how to listen to opposing viewpoints, distinguish authoritative sources of information, and contextualize the news and stories we hear – helping to light a pathway to intellectual freedom.

Can we take the polarization out of … politics? Delaware State Senator Sarah McBride (a Democrat) and Representative Bryan Shupe (a Republican) say their philosophical differences don’t stop them from working together on effective public policies that strengthen our communities. We’ll talk about the role of both social media and legacy media in encouraging partisan divides, and the dangers of thinking too selectively when it comes to justice and social change.

In the first season of How to (Not) Kill Your Community from the Delaware Community Foundation, President and CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay seeks answers from experts on how to build and maintain thriving communities for the long-haul. 

Author and journalist Mónica Guzmán joins us to talk about the power of curiosity, and the conversations with her conservative parents which led her to write her book “I Never Thought of it That Way.” We’ll talk about the do’s and don’ts for respectful, productive conversations with people we know we disagree with, and learn about Braver Angels, the nation's largest grassroots organization working to depolarize America.

Cynthia Primo Martin retired from her role as the founder and executive director of Trustees of Color in 2019, but she didn’t retire from the work. Now, she’s back with a book, the “Handbook for Nonprofit Leadership: Recruiting, Training and Engaging Trustees of Color.”

DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay sits down with his friend Cynthia this week to talk about her work, her book, and how true equity in the nonprofit sector begins in the boardroom.

“Handbook for Nonprofit Leadership: Recruiting, Training and Engaging Trustees of Color” is published by Cedar Tree Books and available for purchase online.

Faye Blake, the founder and executive director of Pathways to Success, joins the podcast this week to talk about how her nonprofit works to build equity in Sussex County by “filling in the gaps” that students can fall through on their way to a high school diploma.

DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay hosts this conversation about how building trust is an essential first step toward building opportunity, and how Pathways to Success kept clearing the path during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pathways to Success is a Georgetown-based nonprofit with a mission to prepare youth, adults, and their families for successful lives, utilizing innovative and creative approaches in mentoring and education.

Lossie Freeman is the director of corporate partnerships for Zip Code Wilmington, an organization founded to promote equity in Wilmington by building opportunities for people in marginalized communities to enter the workforce as software developers and data engineers.

DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay is our host for a discussion that details how Zip Code Wilmington has trained almost 500 software developers in the past six years and placed them into jobs in the Wilmington area.    

Zip Code Wilmington is a nationally recognized coding school in Wilmington that was one of the first nonprofit coding schools in the country, with a motto that reminds us that talent is evenly distributed across the community, but opportunity is not.

Chaz Rzewnicki, the president and CEO of Dover Federal Credit Union, joins us for this episode of DCF’s Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast to talk about the role credit unions play in advancing equity, inclusion, and diversity in the community.

DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay once again hosts a wide-ranging discussion, diving into the subject of unconscious bias and how financial institutions can train their employees to recognize it and take steps to rectify it. They also talk about what lending organizations can do to make it easier for BIPOC communities to open small businesses and buy a home.

Dr. Annie Norman, Director of the Delaware Division of Libraries, joins us to discuss how libraries build equity by improving access to social services and opening doors of opportunity through education.

The built-in infrastructure of libraries across the state makes them the perfect candidate to deliver a multitude of services — education and workforce training, technology and wifi access, youth programs, health services, and yes, of course, books!

Dr. Norman shares how libraries pivoted during the pandemic to help communities in need, how partnerships with other organizations have increased access to vital services, and what the future looks like for Delaware Libraries.

Arreon Harley-Emerson, Director of Music and Operations at the Choir School of Delaware, joins DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay for a conversation about how nonprofits and arts organizations can build equity - and opportunity - in the communities they serve.

Listen and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast.

Season 3 of our "Building Opportunity in Delaware" podcast is almost here! This season, we're meeting nonprofit leaders who are working for equity throughout the state, and talking about what it takes to make things right for everyone. Season 3 starts on October 25. Subscribe now, and don't miss a single conversation!

Development Director Debbie Strengari and Sister Cecilia join us from Little Sisters of the Poor in Newark to discuss providing community-centric, residential care for the elderly poor. 

Little Sisters of the Poor received a $40,000 grant from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to help fund the PPE, cleaning equipment, and staff needed to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus and care for residents of the Newark facility. The Little Sisters were the first nursing home in the state to experience deaths from the virus. Since those difficult early weeks of the outbreak, they’ve received support through a partnership with Christiana Care, and have been able to establish new protective measures, including frequent testing, to keep their residents healthy. Now faced with the reality of life in lockdown, the Little Sisters and their residents are using new technology, as well as socially-distanced activities, to stay connected with one another and their families outside the facility.  

We also talk with Sheila Bravo, president & CEO of the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA), and one of the DCF’s key partners in establishing the Strategic Response Fund. 

All six episodes in this second season of Building Opportunity will feature stories about how the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund has helped nonprofits meet the needs of our community during this crisis. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay is our host. 

You can listen and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast. 

Markevis Gideon uses the word "intentionality" to describe the work he does at NERDiT NOW. The organization is intentional about giving back and working to bridge the digital and wealth divides in the community. Gideon also discusses how his "life changed because of one computer" and the necessity of computers in today's modern times. Learn more about NERDiT NOW.

Susan Kent, executive director of Love INC of Mid-Delmarva, joins us to talk about providing housing and support for the homeless, while building a comprehensive social-service delivery system with a network of churches and nonprofits in Sussex county.  

Love INC of Mid-Delmarva received a $50,000 grant from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to provide shelter for the homeless in Sussex County. The organization strives to build strong, holistic relationships with clients in order to provide compassionate, comprehensive aid. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they’ve partnered with hotels to provide shelter for the most vulnerable members of the homeless community. 

We also talk with Cynthia Pritchard, president & CEO of Philanthropy Delaware, and one of the DCF’s key partners in establishing the Strategic Response Fund. 

All six episodes in this second season of Building Opportunity will feature stories about how the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund has helped nonprofits meet the needs of our community during this crisis. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay is our host. 

You can listen and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast. 

Carolyn Fredricks, president and CEO of Modern Maturity, discusses how the largest nonprofit senior center in the state has adapted quickly to provide essential services to seniors across Kent County.  

Modern Maturity has received a total of $100,000 in grants from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to deliver meals and provide grocery shopping services for seniors in Kent County who are among the most vulnerable to the virus. As the Meals on Wheels provider for the county, they’ve expanded operations significantly. At a peak moment during the pandemic, volunteers were cooking 2,500 meals per day and performing 3,000 wellness checks per month. They’ve also started teaching remote exercise classes on Facebook and YouTube, and hosted a socially-distanced tailgating party at their center in Dover.  

We also talk with Sheila Bravo, president & CEO of the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA), and one of the DCF’s key partners in establishing the Strategic Response Fund. 

All six episodes in this second season of Building Opportunity will feature stories about how the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund has helped nonprofits meet the needs of our community during this crisis. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay is our host. 

You can listen and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast. 

Father-and-son team Retired Major Kevin Conley and US Army Specialist Dylan Conley join us this week to discuss Warriors Helping Warriors, a grassroots organization in Middletown that connects veterans to employment opportunities, health care and housing.

Warriors Helping Warriors received a $10,000 in grant from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to continue providing case-management for veterans. Kevin Conley cofounded the organization in 2010 when he returned from Afghanistan and faced his own difficulties navigating the healthcare system. During the pandemic, they have pivoted quickly to provide a safe environment for residents to shelter-in-place and self-quarantine in the event of testing positive for COVID-19.

We also talk with Cynthia Pritchard, president & CEO of Philanthropy Delaware, and one of the DCF’s key partners in establishing the Strategic Response Fund.

All six episodes in this second season of Building Opportunity will feature stories about how the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund has helped nonprofits meet the needs of our community during this crisis. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay is our host.

You can listen and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast.

Margaret Guy, executive director of Stop the Violence Prayer Chain Foundation, talks about providing educational and social services to children and families who live at or below the poverty level, and who are often impacted by domestic and gun violence.

Stop the Violence Prayer Chain Foundation received $2,500 in grants from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to continue providing essential supplies for children in Wilmington during the crisis. In the past, the organization has offered after-school tutoring, educational trips, life-skills classes and apprenticeships, and has even partnered with Comcast to produce a children’s show. Now they’re finding new ways to connect with a community affected by the social and economic impacts of the pandemic.

We also talk with Sheila Bravo, president & CEO of the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA) and one of the DCF's key partners in establishing the Strategic Response Fund.

All six episodes in this second season of Building Opportunity will feature stories about how the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund has helped nonprofits meet the needs of our community during this crisis. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay is our host.

You can listen and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast.

In the Season 2 premiere of our Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast, Rob McCreary and Kathleen Seipel from the Family Counseling Center of St. Paul's join us to talk about providing emotional and behavioral health services to uninsured families in low-income communities in Delaware.

The Family Counseling Center of St. Paul's received $43,000 in grants from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to continue providing mental health and family counseling services statewide during the pandemic. Rob and Kathleen serve many of our most essential workers — custodians, caregivers, supermarket clerks — who are members of Delaware's Spanish-speaking community and find themselves in new and stressful conditions both at work and at home.

All six episodes in this second season of Building Opportunity will feature stories about how the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund has helped nonprofits meet the needs of our community during this crisis. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay is our host.

You can listen and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast.

Bear Library specialist Adriana Camacho-Church talks about the role of libraries in building opportunity. The Bear Library's ESL programs for Spanish and Chinese speakers help people learn how to read, write, find job opportunities and integrate into their communities, benefiting the community as a whole. Camacho-Church also writes a monthly series in Delaware's Out & About Magazine called "Worth Recognizing: Community Members Who Go Above and Beyond."

Our nine-episode Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast series focuses on how can we build opportunity and strengthen community for all. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Delawareans who are building opportunity through the arts, faith communities, libraries and everything in between.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify. and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast.

Rev. Edwin Estevez, senior pastor of Grace Church UMC and the Riverfront Church in Wilmington, talks about the role of the faith community in building opportunity. The son of Guatemalan immigrants, Estevez grew up in North Jersey and is now a proud Delawarean. With his leadership, Grace Church is launching a kitchen incubator to empower people struggling with poverty to learn culinary and restaurant skills, transforming the church campus into a green, energy-efficient example of "creation care," and opening Grace Cafe, a welcoming "third space" for conversation and reflection over a cup of coffee.

Our nine-episode Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast series focuses on how can we build opportunity and strengthen community for all. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Delawareans who are building opportunity through the arts, faith communities, libraries and everything in between.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify. and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast

Diane Laird, executive director of the Downtown Dover Partnership, talks about building opportunity through collaboration and economic development. The DDP drives improved quality of life for the diverse residents, downtown workers, students, tourists, shoppers, kids, families and seniors who spend time in downtown Dover.

Our nine-episode Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast series focuses on how can we build opportunity and strengthen community for all. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Delawareans who are building opportunity through the arts, faith communities, libraries and everything in between.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify. and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast.

Micheal Crumble, director of the H. Fletcher Brown Boys & Girls Club in Wilmington, talks about building opportunity for underserved youth. Following a 20-year career in the military, Crumble found a second vocation creating opportunities for kids to learn and grow. Under his direction, the H. Fletcher Brown Boys & Girls Club recently opened a digital arts lab, funded in part by the DCF.

Our nine-episode Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast series focuses on how can we build opportunity and strengthen community for all. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Delawareans who are building opportunity through the arts, faith communities, libraries and everything in between.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify. and Google Podcasts.

Ashley Christopher was working in the Wilmington mayor's office when she was tasked with developing an idea to engage Wilmington's underserved communities. She thought education was the path forward and the idea for HBCU Week came forth. Now the CEO of HBCU Week Foundation, Christopher and the organization have offered thousands of scholarships totaling millions of dollars to students looking to continue their education. She also touches on what it means to be in the HBCU community (as a two-time HBCU alum) and how the institutions can impact young people.

“STEM Queen” Jacqueline Means, 17-year-old founder of the Wilmington Urban STEM Initiative, talks about building opportunity for girls through STEM education. Jacqueline grew up in the high-poverty Southbridge neighborhood of Wilmington and is currently a senior at the Delaware Military Academy. She has been featured on The Today Show, Access Hollywood, The Q, and TedX for her work engaging girls in science, technology, engineering and math.

Our nine-episode Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast series focuses on how can we build opportunity and strengthen community for all. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Delawareans who are building opportunity through the arts, faith communities, libraries and everything in between.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify. and Google Podcasts.

In our third episode, David Stradley, producing artistic director of Delaware Shakespeare, talks about building opportunity and increasing community through the arts.

Our nine-episode Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast series focuses on how can we build opportunity and strengthen community for all. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Delawareans who are building opportunity through the arts, faith communities, libraries and everything in between.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify. and Google Podcasts.

In our second episode, Bryant Garcia, immigration program coordinator at La Esperanza in Georgetown, talks about building opportunity for Latino communities.

Our nine-episode Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast series focuses on how can we build opportunity and strengthen community for all. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Delawareans who are building opportunity through the arts, faith communities, libraries and everything in between.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify. and Google Podcasts.

We’re excited to welcome you to our Building Opportunity in Delaware podcast!

How can we build opportunity and strengthen community for all? Over the next eight weeks, DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Delawareans who are building opportunity through the arts, faith communities, libraries and everything in between.

Our first episode features James & Deborah Fallows, authors of Our Towns: A 100, 000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America. The Fallows joined us in November as the guest speakers for the DCF’s 2019 Building Opportunity Keynote, when they also had a chance to visit Wilmington revitalization projects downtown, on the West Side, and in Riverside. They later featured the Our Lens Challenge, a photo contest for Delaware high school students hosted by the DCF and community partners, in an article for The Atlantic.

You can listen and subscribe on Apple, Spotify. and Google Podcasts.

Dr. Rama Peri moved around the medical field when she first arrived in Delaware with her family, working at a local hospital, in private practice and even at a school. However, she wanted to balance her family life with her professional life while also working in the community, so she started The Rosa Health Center in 2015. In this episode, host Stuart Comstock-Gay talks with Dr. Peri about her past, how she got into medicine and also about the future of medicine and how she sees community doctors evolving. The two also briefly talk about the expansion project happening at The Rosa Health Center. 

The influences in one's life can be either positive or negative... For Adam Kramer, he had a lot of negative influences growing up, which led to a life of drug dealing and jail time. After getting out, and getting on the straight path, Kramer, a former felon, teamed up with a former FBI agent to try to bring some positive influences into the lives of young kids in Delaware through the Green Beret Project. He sits down with host Stuart Comstock-Gay to go through it all: his upbringing, his jail time and his path back to being a positive influence in kids' lives. 

India Colon-Diaz is the vice president of Nuestras Raices Delaware (NR Delaware), an organization dedicated to cultural inclusion, building positive connections, distributing resources, and encouraging social growth. She sits down with host Stuart Comstock-Gay to discuss her upbringing in Wilmington and the changes she's seen in the Hispanic community. They also take a deep dive into NR Delaware and the work they're doing to bring new leaders to the table in Delaware. Learn more about Nuestras Raices Delaware. 

Darryl Chambers, also known as "Wolfie" and "The Mayor of Wilmington," has been fighting the inequities in Wilmington to try and make the city better for all of its citizens. In this episode, Wolfie talks about why he started the Center for Structural Equity, the inequities that he sees, such as education, healthcare and employment in Wilmington and across Delaware, and what communities and their people have to do to combat such inequities. Learn more about the Center for Structural Equity. 

There are many ways to bring joy to a community, but Michelle Freeman has found that the arts are the best way for her community to experience joy. Freeman, the CEO of the Carl M. Freeman Companies, the president and chairperson of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation and the founder and CEO of the Joshua M. Freeman Foundation, sat down with host Stuart Comstock-Gay to discuss how the foundations she runs bring joy to the Delmarva area. They also discuss her ascension to these roles, after the passing of her father-in-law and husband, as well as other hardships she's faced in her life and how she's overcome them. Learn more about the Carl M. Freeman Foundation.