Work. Shouldnt. Suck. – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In this episode, host Tim Cynova dives back into the world of shared and distributed leadership with three leaders of Bridge Live Arts, a Bay Area-based nonprofit dedicated to equity-driven live art. He's joined by Cherie Hill, Hope Mohr, and Rebecca Fitton as they unpack the unique journey of implementing a distributed leadership model at BLA as it transitioned from Hope Mohr Dance.

The team shares the origins of the distributed leadership model, how their particular model works, how engaging with community informs and evolves the model, some of their “ahas” and lessons learned along the way, and where to from here.

Episode Highlights

• 03:50 Understanding Bridge Live Arts
• 05:27 The Journey to Shared Leadership
• 08:20 Implementing Distributed Leadership
• 14:45 Challenges and Assumptions in Shared Leadership
• 19:47 Exploring Dancing Distributed Leadership
• 20:35 Initial Phases and Learnings
• 22:47 Improvisation in Shared Leadership
• 24:26 Future Directions
• 26:47 Challenges and Reflections
• 30:36 Advice for Implementing Shared Leadership

Related Resources 

• The Dancing Distributed Leadership program
• Shifting Cultural Power: Case Studies and Questions in Performance by Hope Mohr
• Check out the new book Artists On Creative Administration: A Workbook from the National Center for Choreography featuring an in-depth case study of Bridge Live Arts.

GUEST BIOS

Cherie Hill (she/her) is a curator, co-director, and the Director of Arts Leadership at Bridge Live Arts (B.L.A.). She has co-curated Power Shift: Improvisation, Activism, & Community; Anti-Racism in Dance; Money in the Arts; and Transforming the Arts: Shared Leadership in Action series. In 2023, she curated Liberating Bodies: dialogue and movement workshops with Black Diaspora dance artists. She co-presents on distributed leadership, advocates for equity and inclusion, and is a choreographer, dance educator, and Assistant Professor in Dance Studies at CSU San Marcos. Cherie collaborated with B.L.A. former co-directors Hope Mohr and Karla Quintero to lead HMD/the Bridge Project, an organization with a hierarchical model to Bridge Live Arts, a model based on Distributed Leadership. Cherie is a researcher and has published articles in Gender Forum, the Sacred Dance Guild Journal, Dance Education in Practice, Stance On Dance, In Dance, and most recently co-authored "Embodying Equity-Driven Change: A Journey from Hierarchy to Shared Leadership" for Artists on Creative Administration: A Workbook from the National Center for Choreography. Cherie presents at national and international conferences and has held multiple residencies, including choreographic residencies with Footloose Productions, Milk Bar Richmond, the David Brower Center, and CounterPulse’s Performing Diaspora. She holds a BA degree in Dance and Performance Studies and African American Studies and an MFA in Dance, Performance, and Choreography with graduate certificates in Women and Gender Studies and Somatics. Cherie is a mother of two incredible sons and lives in Luiseño-speaking Payomkawichum homeland/Temecula Valley, CA, with her life-long partner.

Hope Mohr (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and arts advocate. She has woven art and activism for decades as a choreographer, curator, and writer. After a...

Season 6 of the WSS podcast here!

In our inaugural episode of the season, host Tim Cynova is joined by Katy Dammers, Indira Goodwine-Josias, and Christy Bolingbroke as they explore reimagining of value-centered workplaces through Creative Administration. In organizations dedicated to creative expression and innovation, why is it that so many have workplace practices and policies that are dusty?

The spirited discussion dives into the challenges and opportunities within the creative sector to rethink “traditional” approaches, asking when it might be better to reinvent the wheel or even asking if a wheel is what’s needed. The conversation underscores the critical balance between stability and creative experimentation, reflecting on how new approaches can support long-term change and longevity in the arts.

Episode Highlights

• 02:15 Meet the Guests
• 05:44 Diving into Creative Administration
• 09:20 Balancing Structure and Improvisation
• 17:26 Challenging Conventional Wisdom
• 20:46 Navigating Institutional Change
• 24:26 Reevaluating Policy: Balancing Ethics and Values
• 25:09 Navigating Crisis with Established Policies
• 25:51 Incremental Change in Nonprofit Organizations
• 26:37 Creativity and Experimentation During COVID
• 26:58 The Snapback to Pre-COVID Norms
• 27:38 Fear of Change and Embracing New Solutions
• 28:44 Creative Administration and Sustainability
• 29:49 The Role of Artists in Institutional Change
• 34:11 Balancing Administrative and Artistic Growth

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:

• Check out the new book Artists On Creative Administration: A Workbook from the National Center for Choreography.
• Christy Bolingbroke’s Masters Thesis, Designing a 21st Century Dance Ecology: Questioning Current Practices and Embracing Curatorial Interventions

GUEST BIOS

Christy Bolingbroke is the Founding Executive/Artistic Director for the National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron (NCCAkron). She is responsible for setting the curatorial vision and sustainable business model to foster research and development in dance. Previously, she served as the Deputy Director for Advancement at ODC in San Francisco, overseeing curation and performance programming as well as marketing and development organization-wide. A key aspect of her position included managing a unique three-year artist-in-residence program for dance artists, guiding and advising them in all aspects of creative development and administration. Prior to ODC, she was the Director of Marketing at the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn, NY. She earned a B.A. in Dance from the University of California, Los Angeles; an M.A. in Performance Curation from Wesleyan University; and is a graduate of the Arts Management Fellowship program at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She currently serves on the Akron Civic Commons Core Team; as a consulting advisor for the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts Innovation Management initiative; and on the New England Foundation for the Arts National Dance Project Advisory Panel. In 2017, DANCE Magazine named Bolingbroke among the national list of most influential people in dance today.

Indira Goodwine-Josias was born and raised in Queens, NY, and believes in the power of art to educate, inspire, and advance change. With a dual background in dance and arts administration, she is currently the Senior Program Director for Dance at the New England Foundation for the Arts

In this episode, podcast co-hosts Tim Cynova and Lauren Ruffin discuss recent pay transparency law changes that require companies to disclose pay ranges, as well as the laws’ potential to shift power and information sharing in workplaces. They explore the importance of clearly defining job requirements and the benefits of fixed-tier compensation to ensure equal – if not entirely *equitable* – pay. Lauren addresses the issues of location-based pay adjustments and speculates that increased transparency may lead to more organizations unionizing. Tim highlights the ongoing reevaluation of work's value and the need for businesses to adapt to Long COVID by creating more inclusive and equitable environments. They end the episode with a cliffhanger and agree to revisit this topic as the laws’ effects become clearer.

Lauren Ruffin (she/her) is a thinker, designer, & leader interested in building strong, sustainable, anti-racist systems & organizations. She's into exploring how we can leverage new technologies to combat racial and economic injustice. She frequently participates in conversations on circular economies, social impact financing, solidarity movements, and innovative, non-extractive financing mechanisms. Lauren is an Associate Professor of Worldbuilding and Visualizing Futures at Arizona State University and a co-founder of CRUX, an immersive storytelling cooperative that collaborates with Black artists as they create content in virtual reality and augmented reality (XR). Lauren was co-CEO of Fractured Atlas, the largest association of independent artists in the United States. In 2017, she started Artist Campaign School, a new educational program that has trained 74 artists to run for political office to date. Lauren has served on the governing boards of Black Innovation Alliance, Black Girls Code, and Main Street Phoenix Cooperative, and on the advisory boards of ArtUp and Black Girl Ventures. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Political Science and obtained a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law. Learn more on LinkedIn.

Tim Cynova (he/him) is the Principal of Work Shouldn’t Suck, an HR and org design consultancy helping to reimagine workplaces where everyone can thrive. He is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a trained mediator, and has served on the faculty of Minneapolis College of Art & Design, the Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity (Banff, Canada) and The New School (New York City) teaching courses in People-Centric Organizational Design, and Strategic HR. In 2021, he concluded a 12-year tenure leading Fractured Atlas, a $30M, entirely virtual non-profit technology company and the largest association of independent artists in the U.S., where he served in both the Chief Operating Officer and Co-CEO roles (part of a four-person, shared, non-hierarchical leadership team), and was deeply involved in its work to become an anti-racist,...

Whether you refer to it as "sunsetting" or "supernova’ing," what’s true is that there are few resources to guide those wanting to intentionally shutdown an organization’s operations. While a multitude of resources exist dedicated to starting and scaling ventures, the same can’t be said when one finds themself on the other end of the organizational life cycle.

In this episode, host Tim Cynova connects with guests who were tasked with leading companies through this final phase. We’ll hear how they came to the decision, how they approached the work, and what resonates for them as they reflect on it all.

This episode include two conversations. The first is with Michelle Preston and Megan Carter who helped lead the transition at SITI Company. The second is with Jamie Bennett who helped lead the transition at ArtPlace America. In all of this, we consider how centering values when closing a company can help us even when we’re not.

MEGAN E. CARTER is a creative producer, strategy consultant, and dramaturg with a track record of sustained success in theatre, interdisciplinary performing arts and live events. Most recently, she led SITI Company, an award-winning theater ensemble, through a comprehensive legacy plan, archive process, and finale season. She is currently a creative consultant with A TODO DAR Productions on rasgos asiaticos, a performance installation by Virginia Grise and Tanya Orellana exploring migration, borders, and family. Megan has developed and produced new and classic works Off-Broadway, as well as internationally at theatres, venues, and festivals like The Fisher Center at Bard, BAM, City Theatre in Pittsburgh, Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA), REDCAT (LA), Teatr Studio (Warsaw), Wuzhen Theatre Festival (Wuzhen, China), Under the Radar Festival, the Huntington Gardens (LA, site-specific), International Divine Comedy Theatre Festival at Małopolska Garden of Arts in (Krakow), the Walt Disney Modular Theater (LA), Classic Stage Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, WP Theater, the World Financial Center (site-specific). At WP Theater, she led the Lab for Directors, Playwrights, and Producers and managed new play development and commissions. Megan served as dramaturg on the American Premiere of Jackie by Elfriede Jelinek and has edited the English translations of a number of Jelinek’s plays, including Rechnitz and The Charges (The Supplicants). She has also edited the SITI Company anthology – SITI COMPANY: THIS IS NOT A HANDBOOK, coming out in 2023. Megan has been on faculty at the Brooklyn College, SITI Company Conservatory and California Institute of the Arts. She is currently on faculty at Primary Stages’ Einhorn School for the Performing Arts (ESPA). Education: MFA in Dramaturgy, Brooklyn College/CUNY; BA in Theatre, Centenary College of Louisiana.

MICHELLE PRESTON began her career in arts administration at the Columbus Symphony Orchestra before coming to New York City where she has worked with Urban Bush Women, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and the School of American Ballet. She began at SITI Company in 2012 as the Deputy Director and served as Executive Director from 2014-2022.  While at SITI, Michelle produced 9 world premieres, 17 domestic and international tours, and 5 New York City seasons. She also led the multi-year strategic planning process that resulted in the SITI Legacy Plan, a comprehensive set of activities meant to celebrate the accomplishments and preserve the legacy of the ensemble before the organized and intentional sunset at the end of 2022.  She is currently the Executive Director of the José Limón Dance Foundation.

She holds an M.F.A. in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College and a B.F.A. in...

In this episode, we’re exploring uncertainty, transitions, and moving forward in ambiguity – something most of us probably feel like we’re getting pretty used to having lived the past several years amid a global pandemic.

We’ll be exploring how these things show up in organizations, and in one organization in particular – San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. And we’ll discuss how they’re approaching this in their evolving work.

To learn more about their Head of External Relations search, visit: https://www.workshouldntsuck.co/ybca-er.

SARA FENSKE BAHAT is a connector, most at-home when bridging the creative arts, economics, and equitable design to shape our social and political landscape. As Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) CEO, Sara works collaboratively with the YBCA team to advance the organization as a dynamic home for artists, arts and culture, and social justice movement building. Prior to becoming CEO, Sara served as YBCA’s Board Chair. Under her leadership, YBCA navigated COVID-19 pandemic challenges (which resulted in the longest mass closure of cultural venues since World War II), received support from leading innovators for groundbreaking work at the intersection of arts and movement building, and launched the nation’s first dedicated guaranteed income program for artists.

Most recently, Sara served as chair of the California College of the Arts (CCA) MBA in Design Strategy, a groundbreaking, multidisciplinary degree rooted in systems theory, foresight, and innovation.

Sara has a community finance and economic development background. Before becoming an educator, she worked for New York City’s economic development agency and in banking, where she championed local government support for community banks, improved banking and savings products for immigrant households, and multi-state consumer protection settlements.

Raised in a Milwaukee family steeped in advocacy for human, civil, and LGBTQ+ rights, Sara quickly developed a commitment to activism and social justice. A dedicated political fundraiser and mobilizer, she is passionate about driving civic engagement and hosted the Democratic National Committee’s first-ever Zoom fundraiser at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sara is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the London School of Economics. She is a 2022 Presidential Leadership Scholar, exploring the meaning of culture and cohesion in a country increasingly divided across wealth, ideology, and acknowledgment of historic and present inequity.

Sara lives in San Francisco and loves a good dance party.

RENUKA KHER has supported entrepreneurial efforts in under-resourced communities for her entire career. She has spent 16 years in various roles in philanthropy and managed and directed over $150M. Her professional experience spans the public, private, philanthropic and non-profit sectors. She has served on the board of and as an advisor to many of the nation’s leading social change organizations including, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Beyond 12, Year Up, Global Citizen Year and Revolution Foods.

Most recently, she served on the executive team of Tipping Point Community a nonprofit grant-making organization that fights poverty in the Bay Area. During her six year tenure at Tipping Point she helped lead the growth of the organization as its Chief Operating Officer and also founded T Lab, Tipping Point's R+D engine.

Before joining Tipping Point, Renuka served as a Principal at NewSchools Venture Fund whose work is focused on education and prior to that she was a Senior Program Officer at the Robin Hood Foundation where her work included developing and implementing a strategy for a $65 million relief fund, one of the nation's largest, created to respond to the terrorist attacks of September 11th.

Her work has been featured in The San Francisco...

In this special bonus episode of "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim talks with Noah Becker, Kevin Eppler, Colin Lacey, and Shannon Mudd, four members of a peer support circle that's part of the larger racial affinity group White Men for Racial Justice (WMRJ). This group of guys meet regularly to support, challenge, and hold each other accountable as they seek to live into their values and desire to help co-create an anti-racist, equitable, and just world.

After nearly two years of meeting weekly on Zoom, they finally had the opportunity to meet in 3D in Richmond, Virginia for a weekend of immersive learning and community building with 40 other members of WMRJ. This discussion occurs the week after that gathering.

This series was created to be a resource for white men who might be wrestling with questions like, “What’s my role in anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and justice work as a white man with power and privilege?” and “How might my personal commitment to do this work manifest itself in the organization I help lead?”

Are you new to the series? Check out episode 54 where podcast co-hosts Lauren Ruffin and Tim Cynova introduce and frame the conversations. Download the accompanying study guide. And explore the other episodes in this series with guests:

• Raphael Bemporad (Founding Partner) & Bryan Miller (Chief Financial Officer), BBMG
• Ted Castle (Founder & President) & Rooney Castle (Vice President), Rhino Foods
• Ron Carucci, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Navalent
• David Devan, General Director & President, Opera Philadelphia
• Jared Fishman, Founding Executive Director, Justice Innovation Lab
• Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-Founder, B Lab; CEO, Imperative21
• Kit Hughes, Co-Founder and CEO of Look Listen
• Marc Mannella, Independent Consultant, Former CEO KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools
• John Orr, Executive Director, Art-Reach
• David Reuter, Partner, LLR
• Sydney Skybetter, Founder, CRCI; Associate Chair & Senior Lecturer, Theatre Arts & Performance Studies Department, Brown University

• "Sassy Mouths, Unfettered Spirits, and the Neo-Lynching of Korryn Gaines and Sandra Bland: Conceptualizing Post Traumatic Slave Master Syndrome and the Familiar “Policing” of Black Women’s Resistance in Twenty-First-Century America" by Dr. Zoe Spencer and Olivia N. Perlow
• Hidden in Plain Site is a VR exploration of distinct, but easy to overlook sites around Richmond, VA - including the Richmond Slave Trail mentioned during this episode - that tells the story of the Black experience throughout history. Featuring actual examples from various angles and ages, these sites will be brought to impactful life through current appearance augmented with historical imagery.

In episode twelve of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews Jared Fishman, a civil right lawyer and Founding Executive Director of Justice Innovation Lab, a company building data-driven solutions for a more equitable, effective & fair justice system.

This series was created to be a resource for white men who might be wrestling with questions like, “What’s my role in anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and justice work as a white man with power and privilege?” and “How might my personal commitment to do this work manifest itself in the organization I help lead?”

Are you new to the series? Check out episode 54 where podcast co-hosts Lauren Ruffin and Tim Cynova introduce and frame the conversations. Download the accompanying study guide. And explore the other episodes in this series with guests:

• Raphael Bemporad (Founding Partner) & Bryan Miller (Chief Financial Officer), BBMG
• Ted Castle (Founder & President) & Rooney Castle (Vice President), Rhino Foods
• Ron Carucci, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Navalent
• David Devan, General Director & President, Opera Philadelphia
• Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-Founder, B Lab; CEO, Imperative21
• Kit Hughes, Co-Founder and CEO of Look Listen
• Marc Mannella, Independent Consultant, Former CEO KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools
• John Orr, Executive Director, Art-Reach
• David Reuter, Partner, LLR
• Sydney Skybetter, Founder, CRCI; Associate Chair & Senior Lecturer, Theatre Arts & Performance Studies Department, Brown University

• [Race and the Criminal Justice System] New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• [Race and the Criminal Justice System] 13th, A Documentary
• [Race and the Criminal Justice System] Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas Blackmon
• [Race and the Criminal Justice System] Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America by Khalil Jibran Muhammad
• [Race and the Criminal Justice System] Punishment without Crime: How Our Massive Misdemeanor System Traps the Innocent and Makes America More Unequal by Alexandra Natapoff (on the impact of low level charges)
• [Race and the Criminal Justice System] Locked In: The True Causes of Mass Incarceration and...

In episode eleven of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews Ted Castle (Founder & President) and Rooney Castle (Vice President) of Rhino Foods, the birthplace of the iconic cookie dough that goes into Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

This series was created to be a resource for white men who might be wrestling with questions like, “What’s my role in anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and justice work as a white man with power and privilege?” and “How might my personal commitment to do this work manifest itself in the organization I help lead?”

Are you new to the series? Check out episode 54 where podcast co-hosts Lauren Ruffin and Tim Cynova introduce and frame the conversations. Download the accompanying study guide. And explore the other episodes in this series with guests:

• Raphael Bemporad (Founding Partner) & Bryan Miller (Chief Financial Officer), BBMG
• Ron Carucci, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Navalent
• David Devan, General Director & President, Opera Philadelphia
• Jared Fishman, Founding Executive Director, Justice Innovation Lab
• Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-Founder, B Lab; CEO, Imperative21
• Kit Hughes, Co-Founder and CEO of Look Listen
• Marc Mannella, Independent Consultant, Former CEO KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools
• John Orr, Executive Director, Art-Reach
• David Reuter, Partner, LLR
• Sydney Skybetter, Founder, CRCI; Associate Chair & Senior Lecturer, Theatre Arts & Performance Studies Department, Brown University

Want to explore related resources primarily *not* by white guys? Check out our compilation of 30 books, podcasts, and films.

TED CASTLE is the owner and President of Rhino Foods, a certified B Corporation located in Burlington VT. Rhino employs 250+ employees and manufactures bakery style inclusions for ice cream manufacturers, and a variety of frozen desserts and snacks that are distributed in North America and Europe. Rhino Food’s Purpose is to “Impact the Manner in Which Business is Done” through its Financial, Customer and Supplier, Employee, and Community Principles. Rhino Foods and Ted have been recognized for their efforts with the Hal Taussig B the Change Award from B Lab, Beta Gamma Sigma Entrepreneurial Award. Vermont Small Businessperson of the Year, by the SBA, the Terry Ahrich Award for Socially Responsible Business by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility, Forbes Magazine’s List of Small Giants. Optimas award for vision in the workplace (past winners include UPS, Coors and 3M), Inc Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Special Recognition Award from the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program. In 2018 the Rhino Foods Foundation was formed with the mission to "Spread Innovative Workplace Practices that Champion Employee Financial Stability and Make Good Business Sense" with an initial focus is to spread the Income Advance Program Rhino nationwide. Ted lives in Charlotte,...

In episode ten of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews Kit Hughes, Co-Founder and CEO of Look Listen, a consulting company working at the intersection of creativity, data, and technology.

This series was created to be a resource for white men who might be wrestling with questions like, “What’s my role in anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and justice work as a white man with power and privilege?” and “How might my personal commitment to do this work manifest itself in the organization I help lead?”

Are you new to the series? Check out episode 54 where podcast co-hosts Lauren Ruffin and Tim Cynova introduce and frame the conversations. Download the accompanying study guide. And explore the other episodes in this series with guests:

• Raphael Bemporad (Founding Partner) & Bryan Miller (Chief Financial Officer), BBMG
• Ted Castle (Founder & President) & Rooney Castle (Vice President), Rhino Foods
• Ron Carucci, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Navalent
• David Devan, General Director & President, Opera Philadelphia
• Jared Fishman, Founding Executive Director, Justice Innovation Lab
• Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-Founder, B Lab; CEO, Imperative21
• Marc Mannella, Independent Consultant, Former CEO KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools
• John Orr, Executive Director, Art-Reach
• David Reuter, Partner, LLR
• Sydney Skybetter, Founder, CRCI; Associate Chair & Senior Lecturer, Theatre Arts & Performance Studies Department, Brown University

Want to explore related resources primarily *not* by white guys? Check out our compilation of 30 books, podcasts, and films.

KIT HUGHES is a typical technology entrepreneur. He dropped out of college to start a company (it failed), spent a period of time homeless (by choice), and became an overnight success (slowly). Eventually, Kit returned to school as a two-time research fellow at the University of Georgia leading experimental technology research projects exploring mobile computing and connected devices. He credits his business smarts to his studies in strategy and innovation at MIT Sloan. Kit co-founded Look Listen in 2007 as a mash-up of a digital studio and a consulting company working at the intersection of creativity, data, and technology. Look Listen grew to have offices in Atlanta, Denver, and Portland with three centers of excellence: Brand Experience, Performance Media, and Marketing Automation. He has worked with a variety of B2B and B2C brands across multiple touchpoints: Anheuser-Busch, Arrow, BP, Char-Broil, Coca-Cola, Flextronics, GE, NCR, Philips, and Steve Harvey. Under Kit’s leadership as CEO, Look Listen was recognized as one of the fastest growing privately held companies in the US by hitting #408 on the Inc 500 in 2015—staying on the list three years in a row—and has been in the top 100 fastest growing companies in Atlanta three years in a row, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle Pacesetter Awards. Find out more about Kit

In episode nine of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews David Reuter, Partner at LLR, a private equity firm based in Philadelphia investing in technology and healthcare businesses.

This series was created to be a resource for white men who might be wrestling with questions like, “What’s my role in anti-racism, equity, inclusion, and justice work as a white man with power and privilege?” and “How might my personal commitment to do this work manifest itself in the organization I help lead?”

Are you new to the series? Check out episode 54 where podcast co-hosts Lauren Ruffin and Tim Cynova introduce and frame the conversations. Download the accompanying study guide. And explore the other episodes in this series with guests:

• Raphael Bemporad (Founding Partner) & Bryan Miller (Chief Financial Officer), BBMG
• Ted Castle (Founder & President) & Rooney Castle (Vice President), Rhino Foods
• Ron Carucci, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Navalent
• David Devan, General Director & President, Opera Philadelphia
• Jared Fishman, Founding Executive Director, Justice Innovation Lab
• Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-Founder, B Lab; CEO, Imperative21
• Kit Hughes, Co-Founder & CEO, Look Listen
• Marc Mannella, Independent Consultant, Former CEO KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools
• John Orr, Executive Director, Art-Reach
• Sydney Skybetter, Founder, CRCI; Associate Chair & Senior Lecturer, Theatre Arts & Performance Studies Department, Brown University

Want to explore related resources primarily *not* by white guys? Check out our compilation of 30 books, podcasts, and films.

DAVID REUTER is a senior private equity investment professional combining strong financial and strategic analysis skills, extensive transaction experience, and proven leadership and business development capabilities. He possesses an analytical mind that quickly adapts to new environments and situations, and is self-motivated and dynamic with natural business decision skills. David is a Partner with LLR Partners, a lower middle market private equity firm investing in technology and healthcare businesses. LLR collaborates with its portfolio companies to define high-impact growth initiatives, turn them into action and create long-term value. Founded in 1999 and with more than $5 billion raised, LLR is a flexible provider of equity capital for growth, recapitalizations and buyouts. Find out more about David here.

TIM CYNOVA (he/him) is the Principal of Work. Shouldn’t. Suck., an HR and org design consultancy helping to reimagine workplaces where everyone can thrive. He is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a trained mediator, and has served on the faculty of Minneapolis...