Welcome back to The Round Table! This week, our hosts Daniella and Sauda speak with Corinne Lerma, a Youth250 Bureau member. She is one of 100 young adult fellows who not only advise, but also collaborate with nonprofit organizations. But, Corinne’s commitment to helping young learners doesn’t just stop there. In addition to this, she is also a preschool educator, a Cincinnati Museum Center instructor, an artist, and a writer. Together, Corinne and the hosts dive into her passions, her journey, and how she manages to balance so many roles at once.

Starting with the roots of Corinne’s interests in history, the arts, civic engagement, and education, the hosts explore how her rural upbringing shaped her perspective, her thoughts on the future of art, and her personal creative process. Corinne shares how she realized college wasn’t the right path for her, how working with 4-5 year olds helped her define her core values, and why civic education at an early age matters. She also reflects on the challenges she’s faced and the achievements she’s proud of despite them.

The conversation wraps up with a look at Corinne’s role in the Youth250 Bureau and how that opportunity came to be, before she turns the tables and asks the hosts to share their own favorite ways to stay civically engaged.

Tune in to hear what Corinne and the hosts strive to make time for and why it’s essential to nurturing civic minded communities.

Welcome back to The Round Table! This week, our hosts Kassandra, Daniel, and Zarina sit down with Alice Sheehan, CFO of AllSides Technologies. Alice is passionate about promoting media literacy and works closely with teachers and students across all 50 states to encourage understanding of opposing viewpoints on important civic issues. She believes strongly in teaching young people “how to think,” not “what to think.”

During the episode, Alice shares her journey into civic engagement and explains how her early involvement in local issues shaped her passion today. She talks about the value of focusing efforts where they can have the biggest impact, starting within one’s own community. Alice also reflects on the challenges young people face when trying to prioritize so many civic and political issues at once.

The conversation highlights growing concerns around civil discourse and the decline of respectful dialogue between opposing sides. Alice discusses the role of social media in deepening political divides, pointing out how platforms are often separated into “liberal” and “conservative” spaces. This separation, she explains, makes it harder for individuals to truly understand different perspectives.

Throughout the episode, Alice offers thoughtful insights on media literacy, political discourse, and active civic engagement. Her experiences show why developing critical thinking skills and engaging thoughtfully with others is more important than ever.

Thanks for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Heba, Inyoo, Kassandra, and Preena unpack the results of the 2024 elections. They analyze the surprising performance of Donald Trump and the strong showing of down-ballot Republicans, exploring the factors that contributed to these outcomes. The hosts also dissect the strategies employed by various campaigns, with a particular focus on where Kamala Harris may have fallen short in reaching key voter groups.

The conversation shifts to the ongoing impact of race and gender in American politics, examining how these issues continue to shape election outcomes and influence public perception. The hosts then explore the economic concerns that dominated the election, such as inflation, the rising cost of living, and immigration. They evaluate how candidates communicated their positions on these issues and consider the effects of these messages on voter behavior. The hosts also discuss how voters’ economic struggles may have influenced their choices at the polls.

They go on to reflect on the media’s role in shaping public opinion during the election cycle. The hosts assess how misinformation and a lack of media literacy may have impacted voters’ decisions, highlighting the need for a more informed electorate that can navigate political narratives with greater discernment. 

Throughout the episode, the hosts emphasize the importance of media literacy, civic engagement, and cross-partisan dialogue. They encourage listeners to focus on understanding diverse viewpoints instead of dismissing those who disagree. 

Thanks for listening.

At this week's Round Table, Collin, Erina, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Dr. Steven Becton, Chief Officer of Equity, Inclusion and Belonging at Facing History and Ourselves. Dr Becton has spent his career working deeply in and with schools to create whole school culture and transformational educational experiences that equip educators, while also empowering students, to overcome the systemic issues that have placed them at risk. We talked about the structures that uphold racism; the impact of structural racism on communities and schools; the importance of disrupting narratives, and confirmation biases, about what people can and can’t do, whether Black, new immigrants, non cis gendered, or anything outside dominant identities; and the power to teaching difficult history to students along with teaching them to be critical thinkers and giving them space to come to their own conclusions–which is far afield from the purported “indoctrination” that worries people in relation to race. We talked about how America was born in a paradox (not a contradiction), with two competing ideas sitting as truths for people–that is, that all men are created equal at the same time that the founders were enslaving people–and how we still live with paradoxes and the consequences of them. We talked about how as activists, we too often fail to connect change to policy, yet most of what happens in our country is influenced by policy as much as by culture and changing hearts and minds. Dr Becton underscored that the anti-racism movement doesn’t need allies; it needs co-conspirators. He reminded us of the danger of thinking it’s THOSE people who have the problem when we often have to think about OURSELVES–what price are WE willing to pay for equity? History has taught us that it costs upstanders something. Are we willing to give up power? Positionality? Income? Good schools? We encourage you to join us in this self-interrogation–and in taking action based upon it.  Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Paul Gabbey, a fantastic teacher of AP Government & Politics/MacroEconomics at Penfield High School in Rochester, NY for the last 28 years–a school that he himself graduated from. Mr Gabbey is the kind of teacher you wish everyone could have–creative, kind, and inspiring, registering thousands of students to vote; supporting many former students in getting involved in local, state, and federal politics; and hosting the biggest political party in Monroe County every four years to make Election Night memorable. We talked about how to teach politics in a productive way at the nexus of history and current events; the challenges of teaching in a time of hyper polarization AND of preparing students for the AP test WHILE making content relevant and relatable; and the power of an interdisciplinary approach in doing so. Mr Gabbey’s key emphasis is on involvement- you can't sit on the sidelines and expect things to get done.  He wants to help students to see that politics and government–and teaching!-- can be a noble profession and that making a difference is key. It’s very evident how much of a difference Mr Gabbey has made on the lives of his students–and now on you. Thank you for listening!

At this week's podcast, Kenisha and Madeline celebrated Thanksgiving by speaking with Eunice Lin Nichols, CEO of Co-Generate and one of Co-Generate’s newest Innovation Fellows, Natilee McGruder, co-chair of Alabama Leads.  CoGenerate is working to bridge generational divides to co-create the future–a mission near and dear to our hearts.  We talked about the power of intergenerational conversations and relationships–and also the tensions, judgments, and misperceptions that can arise. All of this can come to a head at Thanksgiving, especially for those of us who many not have engaged with extended family over for a few years due to the pandemic and may now be feeling a bit tentative about having conversations across generational lines. We shared stories about formative cross-generational experiences in our own lives and talked about opportunities for bonding, Modern Elders and Old Souls, the challenges of growing up in a pandemic and the generational implications, and the power of digging into shared problems (you know, like climate change…) together. We also talked about the importance of youth entering spaces with a sense of “I’ve arrived and have something to offer” ALONGSIDE respect; young people speaking their truth does and should arouse elders since the most powerful movements have ALWAYS had youth at the forefront. We emerged with heightened respect for just how powerful co-generating can be. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Maya, Skyla, and Jack spoke with Dr Seema Yasmin, Emmy Award-winning journalist, Pulitzer finalist, and a CNN medical analyst who advocates for media literacy and slowing the spread of false news. In her newest book, “What the Fact? Finding the Truth in All the Noise,” Dr Yasmin offers teens a how-to guide to build the discernment necessary to tell fact from fiction. We discussed and lamented how little media literacy is taught in schools–and how this omission contributes to the drift away from citizenship and towards polarization, fueling a vicious cycle. This is not accidental, and contributes to things like the weaponization of Critical Race Theory, leading to the banning of books and conversations that would expose young people to key information. We must ask ourselves, whose agenda does it serve to have young people lacking the skills to be critical consumers of information? This is a core challenge of our time and it can seem overwhelming BUT Dr Yasmin underscored that it’s fixable. We have evidence based strategies for how to disagree with each other, how to build bridges, and how to debunk myths. A starting place is to TEACH critical thinking to all generations and emphasize that beliefs aren’t binary. It’s important to leave your mind open to new evidence and work to develop “cognitive immunity” to create antibodies that help you resist falling for false information and propaganda.  Dr Yasmin’s book WTF is meant to be a self-armoring tool to arm us to challenge systems, help us curate our media diets, and guide us in having productive arguments without challenging people’s core identity/culture/ideology. Be sure to check it out and thanks for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Collin, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Stewart Fletcher, Social Media Coordinator for Living Room Conversations. Living Room Conversations works to heal society by connecting people across divides - politics, age, gender, race, nationality, and more – through guided conversations proven to build understanding and transform communities. Stewart is a political science major at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah who has always been passionate about bringing people together: as the middle of ten kids, he has had lots of experience being a mediator. Living Room Conversations is part of a larger bridging movement working to bring people who think they disagree with one another together to see where they DO agree through guided conversations, resources, and events. Stewart believes people are more similar than we tend to think—that is, under the right circumstances that enable people to tap into their humanity and commonality. He feels Living Room Conversations’ guides help do just this, creating simple, accessible, scalable scaffolds around dozens and dozens of topics that can help the common person do what they might not otherwise do. We talked about the importance of Community Agreements (Next Gen Politics’ and Living Room Conversations’ have a lot in common); how clouded people can be by our own biases; and what a successful conversation looks like and what emerges from them.  We hope that YOU will be inspired to engage in your living room conversations. Thanks for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Alexa Whaley, Media Coordinator, for the Millennial Action Project (MAP) The Millennial Action Project has an audacious mission: activate young leaders to bridge the partisan divide and transform American politics. Its vision is of a diverse democracy where the political culture is grounded in empathy and leaders pursue innovative policy solutions. The Millennial Action Project works directly with our nation’s leading young policymakers on both a national and state level to bridge the partisan divide and lead a new era of collaborative governance. Through her role, Alexa helps MAP amplify its message, perspective, and membership through digital media and press outlets. She passionately believes we all can and must come together around generational issues like climate change, housing, and criminal justice–and MAP is committed to serving as a conduit for doing so. Growing up in a Conservative Christian background and attending an evangelical college majoring in political science led Alexa to want to work in politics without forgetting roots or leaving communities she cares about behind. This made MAP a perfect match, enabling Alexa to use all parts of her tool kit and ideological background in working with lots of bridge builders who are passionate about not  silencing the other side. We spoke about the ‘secret sauce’ of how MAP works with young elected officials across divides; the role of the media and social media in creating divisiveness—and how MAP is trying to become a go-to resource for young people on how to navigate politics; why ours is the largest generation registering Independent; and the power of bringing one’s full self to politics without having to hold to a party orthodoxy.  Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Jack, Kenisha, Kris, and Madeline spoke with Michaela Latimer, Winston Churchill Fellow and Community Manager at Genesis, helping move New Zealand to a sustainable, low-carbon future, powered by renewable energy. Michaela was visiting us as part of her international Churchill Fellowship to learn about community and philanthropic organizations involved in positive youth development in the U.S. and U.K. to inform positive youth development frameworks in New Zealand. We had a great conversation about global philanthropy and its strengths and limitations. Michaela is very cognizant of critiques about philanthropy–and also feels that targeting really big things like poverty and hunger can’t be done piecemeal. She feels philanthropy should be about generosity and making things happen, and is focusing on helping corporations work in the service of creating authentic systemic change. Nonprofits have so many constraints around funding that constrains scale, which she feels has to change given the urgency of issues of our times. She is inspired by a Māori cultural tradition oriented around being a thriving people in a thousand years time–and now we are too. When you think in terms of a thousand years, you make very different decisions, which we as a society need to do. We emerged from our conversation recognizing that while we tend to THINK things are local, there’s a lot more that’s global and there are a ton of common issues across our work and our world. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Erina, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with the leaders of our Next Gen Politics’ Rancho Bernardo Chapter: Khushi Patel and Chelsea Reilly.  Their community is VERY divided along partisan lines, which carries over into school unfortunately. At a time when many issues are deeply polarized–from vaccines to politics–they had no platform to discuss things with their peers as their teachers avoided such things during the school day. Things had become very divided and divisive with no arena for meaningful conversation to bridge the gaps. People were pushed to extremes of left and right without middle ground for mature conversations–and to have fun through them. And so a year ago, Khushi and Chelsea decided to take this on by building a Next Gen Politics chapter to talk about hot topics in non polarized ways. And it’s been going gangbusters! We talked about what civic engagement– and lack thereof– looks like in high school, how to make politics less intimidating and more engaging, how to bring participants together across broad ideological differences, the power of youth networks, and how more empathy can transform the nation. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Ava, Jack, Kenisha, Madeline, Maya, and Skyla had a really special conversation: with each other. That’s right, no guests which gave us the opportunity to REALLY dig in with one another. We discussed a lot of things: Systemic racism and how it plays out; what we learned through Black@ accounts; whether we are unified between our home self and school self–and where does our true identity lie; how to teach beyond issues that are ingrained in society, and in us; How schools are part of larger systemic issues; if and how it’s possible to create integrated education given segregated neighborhoods; and what we can do to ensure more equitable education that provides youth with a strong foundation to build on beyond that.  We had a great time recording this and hope you’ll have an equally great time listening!

At this week's Round Table, Maya and Kris spoke with Charity Freeman, Associate Director for Teacher Training and Community Education for the Discovery Partners Institute at Pritzker Tech Talent Labs. Charity is passionate about building capacity in computer and data science/analytics at the high school and community college levels–which we 100% endorse (Maya is considering majoring in Computer Science when she gets to college.) Charity comes to this work after many years of teaching at various different kinds and sizes of high schools and she is now co-chair of a commission focused on how to scale k-12 computer science. While Charity doesn’t think computer science is necessarily for EVERYONE, she feels it’s important for everyone to have exposure so they can know what they are saying no to. There are lots of myths and misconceptions about computer science–and, of course, huge disparities in access– and Charity wants to be sure that youth, especially black and brown young people, simply aren’t afraid of it, leading them to opt out of CS as a default.  For Charity, relationships are at the core and her #1 goal is helping students find their path–not just what they want to do or what career they want to pursue. Further, one’s goal shouldn’t be to be “productive” --it should be to be fruitful. Charity's calling in computer science has now led her to help other educators find and use their voice to support minoritized students–a term she uses consciously for how systems and structures render students. She underscores that equity doesn’t mean lowering standards, it means extending resources to students who haven’t historically received them. Ultimately, getting amazing results is how you change the world and THAT is what Charity is focusing on. Thanks so much for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Inyoo, Kassandra, and Preena were joined by Ken W. Good, a legal expert and member of the Board of Directors for the Professional Bondsmen of Texas, to explore the complex and often contentious world of bail reform. With a law degree from Texas Tech and years of experience arguing cases before the Supreme Court of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ken brings a wealth of knowledge to the discussion.

Throughout the episode, we delve into the critical role the bail industry plays within the criminal justice system, discussing the real-world implications of zero-bail policies and their impact on public safety and recidivism. Ken offers a balanced perspective on the conflicting studies surrounding bail reform—some of which show alarming re-offense rates among those released on zero-bail, while others, such as those from New Jersey, suggest that eliminating cash bail does not necessarily lead to an increase in violent crime.

We also explore the methodology behind these studies, questioning the validity of their conclusions and what they mean for future policymaking. With the continued rise of bail reform across the U.S., understanding the full scope of its impact has become crucial for lawmakers, law enforcement, and the public alike. Ken provides important insights into how these studies shape the conversation, and what is at stake for communities across the nation.

As bail reform continues to be a hotly debated topic, Ken offers valuable insights into potential alternatives and compromises that might bridge the divide between differing viewpoints. His thoughts on how to ensure both public safety and fairness within the justice system provide a fresh perspective on how these issues could be addressed in the future. Tune in for an engaging conversation with Ken W. Good as we tackle the complexities of bail reform and its impact on our society. Thanks for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Ava, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Eric Forteza Romero and Michelle Mairena, two of the many co-founders of Rhizome. Rhizome empowers student-led communities, places college students on paths to lifelong leadership, and shapes a healthier future for local communities and for the country. Eric and Michelle are inspiring ambassadors for the organization–and for civic work more broadly. Both are immigrants now excelling at Ivy League colleges (Harvard and Stanford respectively) and embody the best of what it means to be an American, regardless of citizenship status. Rhizome is truly a collective enterprise–there are 90 cofounders from all across the country, who came together through social media in the summer of 2021 in their shared desire to create a youth led space to give young people agency and to drive social change. 80% of Rhizome participants are low income youth of color–a manifestation of the organizers’ commitment to finding and engaging students who haven’t had time or space to get involved in community organizing. Being TRULY youth-led enables Rhizome to flourish because the organization understands what it takes to foster youth participation and investment, and to get to the grassroots of what people care about. If you give students a platform, they KNOW what they need and what issues they want to focus on. While Eric and Michelle believe that schools SHOULD take responsibility for providing civic education, and that civic knowledge should be incorporated into what we consider essential knowledge, they’re not holding their breath waiting for that to happen; they’re taking action in under-resourced communities all around the country. Eric and Michelle underscored the importance of communicating that democracy is alive and evolving and that youth can participate in it. We firmly agree and we encourage any college students who are listening and interested to apply for the PAID Rhizome Organizing Fellowship.  Applications are open through the end of Oct–check out Rhizome’s website to apply. And if you admire Rhizome’s mission and vision as we do, you can donate here. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Ava, Kenisha, Madeline, and Skyla spoke with one of our beloved podcast editors, Vanessa Chen, as well as her collaborators Kimmy Jeon and Matthew Huang, who are working on a documentary about gerrymandering. Yes, gerrymandering. A topic that doesn’t get enough attention by young people yet has a fundamental impact on voting and electoral politics, making our political system inherently already less just and less democratic before people even get to the ballot box. As such, Vanessa and her partners are investigating what young people know and care about in relation to gerrymandering and its impact on voting disparities based on race and social class. Given how political our team is, we were VERY interested in this topic, which most of us knew little about since it’s really not addressed in high school, yet we’ve recognized its impact on our communities. We discussed why voting is important to each of us, how voting can better reflect minority opinions in the decision making process, and the challenges of an orientation that isn’t on uniting the masses but rather firing up parties’ existing bases–and often the most extreme parts of it–thereby further fueling polarization. We all agreed that we HAVE to work to counteract the vision cycle of disempowerment and lack of representation. We also agreed that students across the country SHOULD be taught more about gerrymandering–and the importance of local elections– and how it affects us, not just historically but today. Thank you for listening!

a                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      t this week's Round Table, Kris,Ava, Madeline, Kenisha, and I spoke with Joy Malonza, founder of The Down Ballot. The Down Ballot seeks to help voters more easily, seamlessly, and intimately engage with the electoral processes that determine their state representatives. Joy’s political values were forged when she moved to the U.S. at age 9. There was lots of talk about politics in her family and lots of frustrations about the broken systems they experienced. She initially planned to work in economic development but became disillusioned—and a socialist :) George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent protests were the catalysts that sparked her recognition of the need for something like The Down Ballot to provide information for activists to become engaged voters. Protests aren’t going to bring us universal health care; it’s only ultimately going to happen in the legislative chambers. Joy recognized how much language around voting is opaque and off-putting which, combined with broad based voter suppression efforts, keeps communities she cares about disenfranchised. She went through tons of data on who votes and doesn’t vote. Spoiler alert: older white people vote, and landlords raising rents always vote. Voting at the local level is POWER. Others are showing up so if you don’t, you cede power. Meanwhile, a lot of people don’t know why midterms matter–so The Down Ballot needs to educate them. Joy has been experimenting with several different depths and displays of content, landing on providing brief interviews with candidates, calling out sneaky language, and more. She’s now going super hard with outreach to try to double their 40,000 followers because the midterms are sooo important. A lot of seats are being vacated and could lead to a change in party power. Joy emphasizes that there are many ways to be an activist; she chooses to focus on the legislative and hopes you will too. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Kris, Madeline, and Vanessa spoke with one of our fantastic YVote alums, Meril Mousoom, now a sophomore at Macalester College. Meril has been involved in activism since they were 13 years in ever evolving ways, coalescing in their investment in youth lobbying. While lobbying doesn’t tend to be centered by youth activists, Meril shared how satisfying it is to work on something with small deliverables that contribute to larger movements. The most exciting initiative Meril is working on lobbying for is a Senate bill sponsored by Elizabeth Warren to create a Commission investigating the atrocities of Indian Board School. We also discussed how to deal with discouragements in activism and as a lobbyist, and the importance of focusing on community care, making sure methods to promote outcomes aren’t exploitative. Meril underscored that part of being an activist is coming to terms with tradeoffs, and navigating tensions and contradictions–for example, in Meril’s current work for a Quaker organization despite being an atheist and despite their antipathy for things churches have done and despite their concerns about shortcomings of white liberalism that plays out within it. The key is finding the right role for oneself within activism–and knowing that it can and should evolve.  As Meril notes, the best thing about activism is that there’s always people trying to find solutions.  Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Kris, Madeline, and Skyla spoke with Cindy Trinh, creator of @activistnyc, a documentary photo project about activism and social justice movements in New York City. Cindy is a photographer, visual journalist and activist who is passionate about social justice and human rights. Their photography comes from a place of wanting to connect with people and places through the art of visual storytelling. Cindy’s work has been published and featured extensively by popular media, and they have exhibited at numerous museums, galleries and art spaces throughout New York City.

We spoke about growing up feeling and being different; the challenges of choosing creative careers in first gen immigrant families; the life of a lapsed lawyer—and how radicalizing law school can be!; the toxic illusion of the American Dream; and the restorative power of taking pictures and working at the intersection of photography, activism, and social change. Oh, and we also talked about how badly society is failing young people and the lost art of just having fun. We were INCREDIBLY inspired by Cindy and know you will be too. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Ava, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Tim Fish, Chief Innovation Officer of National Association of Independent Schools, which works with 2000 private schools nationally. Prior to this, Tim was a headmaster, which informs his lens on leadership and student learning—as does his experience as the father of four kids! Despite 32 years of experience now, Tim’s work is still fueled by his experience as a brand new teacher who didn’t know anything and found himself staring at an empty file cabinet and trying to figure out how to fill it. He initially thought his job as an educator was to talk as much as possible but learned over time that it is to listen and to create conditions within which learning can be constructed. Tim describes his pedagogical philosophy as “structured agency,” within which teachers give back the power and provide students with voice and choice in order to promote self-determination and self-direction. He shared a core conundrum of caring educators wanting to help—and hating seeing students struggle—but recognizing that the learning comes in the struggle. We talked about differences (and similarities) between independent and public schools—and whether the absence of standardized testing promotes more creativity; what innovation looks like within the seemingly traditional and entitled culture of independent schools; what’s working in innovation–and the preconditions for it; and how well high schools are–or aren’t–providing youth for college. We think you’ll get a lot out of this episode. Thanks for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Kris, Madeline, and Maya spoke with Bill Fulton of The Civic Canopy. Bill’s vision for the Civic Canopy was sparked by his experience watching the Berlin Wall come down while he was in college and being inspired by the possibilities for civic transformation across divides. He defines his work to connect civic life and improve communities through the Canopy over the last 25 years as a manifestation of never outgrowing college and the generative possibility of ‘what if.’ The Canopy’s work is rooted in investment in what it takes for diverse groups of people to come together and work productively. Bill describes this approach as a Community Learning Model, getting the right people at the table (or under the canopy…) and having them dream together of a shared outcome. He is a strong proponent that diversity doesn’t need to tear us apart; it can make us stronger under the right conditions.  While very real divides exist, he feels the media exacerbates them, and that when relationships are forged that enable us to see one another’s common humanity, true common ground can be forged. While we are hardwired to be afraid of difference, we ALSO have a competitive advantage to be collaborative, underscoring the value of creating ways to manage the tensions. We talked about the pros and cons of social media, the danger of echo chambers, and what it takes to pull towards the center, where it can be hard to stand. The Round Table is trying to create a container within which to do this and we appreciate you joining us in the journey. Thanks for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Kris, Collin, Kenisha, and Skyla spoke with Claire Thomas, attorney, consultant, professor and clinical director practicing immigration law and researching global migration, statelessness, human rights, and empowerment for women and girls facing poverty and gender-based violence. Claire recently returned from a Fulbright in Mexico, during which she interviewed asylum-seekers, government officials, and immigration experts to learn about and share cross-cultural best practices in asylum and refugee law. We talked about the challenges of immigration policy which, in Claire’s words, is “a big jumbled mess” and which Claire’s work focuses on the humanitarian side of. Much of today’s immigration policy stems from treaties signed after the horrors of WWII and is predicated in very outdated language and concepts—many other countries are more modern and inclusive. A toxic blend of Misinformation, racism, and outdated laws interferes with progress. We have a true humanitarian crisis because the Mexican border has been closed to asylum seekers since March 2020, making it impossible for anyone to come through and forced those in peril to wait in dangerous Mexican border cities for years. We talked about the dangers of the “close the door behind you” mentality, gender based violence and the deadly absence of gender-based grounds for asylum in the US, what to do about ICE, the hugely disparate treatment of black and brown refugees, what and how the Biden administration is doing on immigration, and what can teens our age do to actually facilitate change in the short and long term. Most importantly, we spoke about how we can open the eyes of those l who have a misconstrued view of what the immigration process is and who immigrants are. We hope this podcast can be part of that process. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline and Maya spoke with two alums of Next Generation Politics: Frank Yang, now a rising junior at Georgetown University, and Isaiah Taylor, a rising sophomore at Baruch College. Frank and Isaiah both identify as Conservative–and as a minority in their respective communities both in high school and in college. In our time of hyper-partisanship, we were excited to speak with both of them about how they came to forge their political beliefs, what it’s been like to hold and express “less popular” views (at least among our generation), the state of political discourse on campuses and in classrooms, what drives young people AWAY from the Republican Party (and what, if anything, can reverse that), and the benefits of heterodoxy. At a time when the governors of liberal states like Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont are Republicans and governors of conservative states like Kansas, Kentucky, and Louisiana are Democrats, it’s clear that nothing is entirely fixed. Thank you for listening!

It's a GREAT time to catch up on some of our podcasters' favorite episodes, like

• Restorative Justice Is a Creative Act
• Revolutionizing the Learning Space Is My Love Language
• We Need to Learn To Live in the Gray
• Transformative Presidencies: Never Let a Good National Crisis Go To Waste
• The Sum of Our Parts
• This Is How We Get Out of Never
• Power Of, By, and For the People
• The Opposite of Hopelessness is Power

Enjoy and look forward to sharing our newest episode with you on Thurs, July 28!

Welcome back to another episode of The Round Table!

This week, Daniella, Hannah, Heba, Inyoo and Preena come together for an all-host discussion on the role of the media in political campaigning. With the 2024 Presidential Election fast approaching and weighing heavily on everyone’s minds, understanding how media shapes voting behavior, staying informed, and remaining civically engaged has never been more crucial.

In this episode, the hosts explore how misinformation and disinformation impact candidates' campaigns and influence voting outcomes, diving into the ways media shapes political conversations, especially in such a polarized climate. They also discuss the role of peer influence on voting decisions and the effect of our inherent biases on the news we choose to consume.

The conversation extends to the pros and cons of America’s two-party system, Gen Z’s perspectives on critical issues, and the tough question of how much one vote really matters—especially when faced with candidates who both may support causes you find deeply troubling.

The hosts share practical strategies to strengthen your media literacy and tips on effectively cross-checking information. 

Thanks for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Kenisha, Madeline and Skyla spoke with Rich Tafel, Managing Director of Raffa Social Capital Advisors and Director of the American Project, a new effort to bring together leading thinkers to imagine new solutions to America’s broken political system. Tafel is also pastor of Church of the Holy City in Washington DC, where he is launching a spiritual entrepreneur hub. Prior to this, he created the Log Cabin Republicans and authored "Party Crasher: A Gay Republican Challenges Politics as Usual," (Simon & Schuster); directed the adolescent health programs of Massachusetts; and served as Assistant to the Minister at Harvard University’s chapel. Rich is a transformative leader at the intersection of faith, politics and social impact and his experiences and insights wowed us. We talked about Rich’s eclectic background (he’s  never had a job that existed before he had it…), how political campaigns around gay rights and AIDs have informed his sense of strategy, the complexity of cultural translation work, his desire to provide a language middle America can understand politically (if you want to make change, you need to bring middle America along…), how his faith and principles of inclusion guide his practice, and so much more. W Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Kenisha and Madeline--and new podcasters Ava and Skyla-- spoke with Dr Zackory Kirk, an educational leader, thought-fanatic, and determined voice in innovative media. Dr Kirk knew he wanted to be an educator since he was a child, heeding what he refers to as “a special call to be a resource for the generation that comes after us.” His educational approach is grounded in helping people think more deeply about, and question, what THEY believe– he feels the real goal of education is to always have a choice filled life. His philosophy is grounded in “other care” more than self care: he knows he’ll be ok but others may not be–and his servant-centered heart is focused on trying to make sure they are. Dr Kirk fears that too often people can be too focused on what’s easiest and best for them rather than for our country, our democracy, and our civilization, which is what drives him–and, frankly, most of us podcasters. Growing up in rural poverty and a subpar education, Dr Kirk Doesn’t believe education is the great equalizer but believes it’s a step TOWARDS equalization, which he doesn’t believe will happen in his lifetime but hopes it will in ours. His faith grounds him: he notes that we are living during a time in which it’s hard to do good all the time and often easier to go low but he continuously remember that his job is to do good and empower, particularly through what he calls “micro-influence.” Dr Kirk’s perspective on our times really inspired us: he noted that there are moments in history where we step back, like now, but our society will ultimately move forward in the direction of progress such that our generation will be better than that of any adult alive today. Here’s to it.  Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Inica and Madeline spoke with Jade Zaroff, founder of Entertainment for Change. Jade was raised as a performer and from an early age recognized that being an artist is being an observer of life. She’s long asked herself questions like “why don’t we care about the planet? Why do we treat people differently? How can we use art intentionally to tell stories using the 17 Sustainable Development Goals to help people work for change?”  This led Jade to found Entertainment for Change, blending the arts, business, and entrepreneurship, and to trademark the term “Impact Artist,” which she was shocked to discover didn’t exist. Last year Jade launched the Impact Artist curriculum for 100 youth ages 9-17 at French Woods summer camp to great acclaim and she’s continuing to grow it. We loved hearing about the innovative programming she’s created and talking about change and success more broadly. Change is very personal for Inica these days. This week’s podcast was her last, after three great years being with you weekly as a podcast host. As she heads off to Barnard College this fall, she look forward to joining you as a fellow listener of The Round Table. Thank you for joining us!

At this week’s Round Table, Inica and Madeline spoke with inspiring rising high school freshman Lyla Petroske about her work in electoral college reform. Lyla recently founded The Electoral College Reform Movement (ECRM) as part of her mission to fundamentally reform the Electoral College in a way that will destroy its faithfulness to the majority and give a voice to the United States' minorities. She is a fierce advocate for a fractional proportional system that would be a compromise between the Electoral College and the popular vote, and what would provide what she perceives as the best of both worlds. When Lyla first started investigating the Electoral College–back in fifth grade…–she initially thought it should be abolished and that it was standing in the way of democracy, truth, justice and the American Way. Upon deeper investigation, she came to feel that the Electoral College serves a significant role in the United States and should NOT be outright abolished. She came to feel that something more than the popular vote is necessary to incorporate different priorities in different places with integrity, reminding us that the United States is more than just a country: it’s a collection of states. We talked about Lyla’s “click moment”--what activated her around this complex topic at such a young age; the youth enthusiasm gap; and what ECRM is and how you can get involved. Oh and we also celebrated INICA’S FIRST VOTE. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Kenisha, andMadeline spoke with the energizing Ave Mateo, Executive Director of 18byVote. Ava believes deeply in the power of youth and works to spread opportunity for meaningful engagement among teens and young adults. In addition to her work leading 18by, Ava recently completed a Sociology and Education Masters degree at Columbia University, Teachers College, where her research  focused on the influence of youth-led organizations  and youth-led educational programs on young people’s sociopolitical identity development. Needless to say, we were THRILLED to speak with her and to learn more about what she’s done and what she’s cooking up with 18byVote. We talked extensively about what it takes to get young people ready, excited, and prepared to vote–especially those who haven’t historically been politically engaged.  We explored what Ava thinks are the most impactful things young people can do BEYOND voting, the power of nonpartisan approaches, how to channel disagreement into productive discourse, and the core values that draw us to and ground us in this work. We also talked about where work like this should be rooted: Ava shared her belief that public schools should be stimulants for democracy, providing access and education to create informed engaged citizens, BUT schools have instead strayed to be more focused on workforce development. She encouraged as, as young people, to advocate for more civics in and out of the classroom to be active participants in democracy. We will, Ava, we will–and we hope you will too. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Erina, Jack, and Madeline spoke with Geanne Belton, Director of Baruch College’s High School Journalism Program which hosts the annual Newsies for high school journalists from across New York City and helps prepare teacher advisors to start new school newspapers. As all of us podcasters are involved in journalism, we were particularly eager to learn from Geanne’s perspective as a former journalist who has been teaching for 20 years at Baruch College, where she’s blended her interests in, law, media, and ethics (which can be murky in journalism!)  We talked about some of the core tensions in journalism today: ensuring privacy of sources WHILE doing one’s job to inform the public; protecting against plagiarism; promoting news literacy and ethics; and mitigating risks of various kinds. We talked about the challenges and opportunities of the lines between producers and consumers being blurred in ways they didn’t used to be. And we talked about the powerful role student journalists—and journalists across the board!--can play in asking hard questions, bringing issues to the forefront, building community, informing community, and holding community accountable. We emerged from the conversation feeling more committed than ever to our journalistic endeavors.  Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Jack, Jedd, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with Eli Dvorkin, Editorial & Policy Director of the Center for an Urban Future (CUF). CUF is an independent nonprofit research and policy organization focused on building a stronger and more equitable economy in New York City. It’s pretty unique in being deeply place based and focused on driving IMPACT with research by giving policymakers specific and concrete ideas. Eli oversees the development of all publications and advances CUF's research and recommendations on the critical policy challenges facing the city and state, splitting his time between DOING the research and getting it out there.  A journalist by trade and passion, Eli loves getting to talk to smart, interesting people and to ask them questions from fresh angles. He also loves working to ensure that what CUF produces is clear, concise, and accessible and has actionable implications on important issues like helping city policymakers unlock the full potential of CUNY and creating a more equitable economy. We talked at length about the challenges of taking on big goals like this given the pull of underlying issues like systemic racism and misogyny that operate outside of public policy and economics. How can journalism be a tool in making systemic change? Eli underscored that while many things conspire to make us feel systemic change is impossible, making incremental progress–for ex, on things like building better and stronger career pathways into adulthood–can still be really satisfying. Rather than just focusing on the bad and negative, he and CUF work to engage with important ideas and create tangible change even if they can’t resolve all of the deepest challenges. We agree and hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!

At this week’s Round Table, Erina, Inica, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Mika Rao, Communication Partner at Transcend Education and a proud South Asian American, professional, and woman about the role her identity has played in her life and work over the past 25 years. Mika shared how, growing up in a majority white neighborhood in the 1980s, she was curiously “unraced” and didn’t really come to consciousness about her heritage until she reached college, and she’s been making up for lost time ever since.  Inspired by Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we talked about how a person’s identity intersects with their experiences in education (three of us are AAPI women) and how seemingly little things–like having one’s name pronounced correctly in roll call–can affect students’ world view and sense of well being, separating you from the community and make you feel like an outsider over the years. We suspect at least 80% of students of color have had their name stumbled over, in a micro aggression that many have come to accept. This is one of the reasons Mika is so passionate about her work at Transcend, which works to foster leaps towards equitable learning that focus more on belonging and identity than most traditional school reform models do because research shows that students do better when that’s the case. We talked at length about the problems with the model minority myth and Mika shared how what used to irritate her a little bit now outrages her, because minority communities shouldn’t be made to feel we have to compete instead of to work together. She is committed to being a good ally and to recognizing how, although we ALL experience racism and micro-aggressions, the history of African Americans in this country requires all of us to work together for change around anti-Blackness WHILE working to lift up and celebrate our AAPI identities. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Jack, Jedd, and Madeline spoke with Jennifer Brandel, Co-founder & CEO of Hearken, a company that helps organizations around the world develop and operationalize participatory processes. Jennifer was "an intensely curious kid," and that curiosity has been her guiding principle all her life and what brought her into journalism. Jennifer envisions a shift from a model of readers as consumers to readers as partners, and from a model of journalism as autocracy to journalism as democracy. She is deeply concerned about what makes “a good story.” Currently, the perception is that conflict —two sides opposing each other—is what sells, which is damaging to democracy unto itself. In today’s newsrooms, things are optimized for speed and efficiency and the reader is only involved after something is published. Jennifer’s Hearken aims to involve the public in news coverage at all four stages—pitching, assigning, reporting, and editing.  Journalists should see themselves more as stewards for the public: what does the reader want and need to know? This leads to dramatically different stories because the public asks questions that are far more expansive, like what will this city look like 50 years from now? Or What would it be like if our statues were reflective of women and the full population?  We talked a lot about the pros and cons of technology in journalism. Jennifer reminded us that tech is like fire: it can be applied in ways that are positive and productive or damaging and destructive. The question she and the Hearken team ask themselves is how can we avoid extractive engagement, in which media is selling your attention and data to third parties and instead use tech to create a reinforcing feedback loop. Jennifer underscored that the introduction of tech into journalism provided great potential to get feedback from readers but was instead designed sub-optimally around comments and opinions, not authentic input into production. As she put it, “When you invite people to ask what they don’t know rather than share their opinions, you open up a new model.”  The irony is, it’s not as if the public’s ideas aren’t good and won’t help you meet metrics—quite the opposite! WHEN newsrooms listen to the public, consumption metrics are much higher but it is relatively rare. What gets in the way is capitalism: it is hard to finance investments in tech in a way that doesn’t create negative repercussions down the line. We are particularly excited by Jennifer’s work on The Citizens Agenda– a people-powered approach to journalism applied to elections that focuses on what do people voting need to know in order to be informed at the ballot box? The public actually has FAR more detailed and interesting questions than politicians tend to think and there is deep value in bringing the public into the process of elections, a cornerstone of democracy. Thank you for listening!

Jennifer recommends the books The View From Somewhere: Undoing the Myth of Journalistic Objectivity –and wonders whether objectivity is either possible OR desirable!

At this week’s Round Table, Kenisha, Jedd, and Neil spoke with Dr Frederick (Rick) Hess, senior fellow and the director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, founder and chairman of AEI’s Conservative Education Reform Network, editor of Education Week’s Straight Up column, and a prolific author, educator, and political scientist. Rick has been studying education reform–and its failures–for decades, and shared his astute analysis of why. At root, schools weren’t built for what we’re asking them to do. Public schools were founded back in 1635 by Protestant New Englanders to promote virtue. Only 1 in 20 citizens WENT to high schools way back then. Today, we have VERY different expectations and demands yet our schools are predicated upon the same model. Meanwhile, most Fortune 500 companies don’t last more than 50 years because they were built on models that have become antiquated or obsolete. Such businesses didn’t reform; they went out of business. Schools don’t have the option of doing so. We’re asking them to do something that’s incredibly hard to do and, unsurprisingly, they fall far short. Rick notes that today, we need schools that are much more comfortable with individualization and personalization–and we need to build systems that are comfortable embracing that, which is a really big lift after centuries of doing things a different way. We talked about intellectual curiosity and equity, whether teachers have a responsibility to meet the needs of every student, the pros and cons of technology in schooling, how schools can balance passion and standardized testing–and what standardized tests are and aren’t good for. Thank you for listening!

Welcome to another episode of The Round Table!

This week, our hosts Heba, Kassandra, and Daniella welcome Taina B. Wagnac, Senior Manager of State and Local Policy at the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC). Taina shares her inspiring journey from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to becoming a powerful advocate for immigrant rights in New York State. With her extensive experience in legislative strategy and policy analysis, Taina has been at the forefront of initiatives that enhance language access, expand civic participation, and ensure equitable protections for immigrant communities.

During our conversation, we dive deep into critical topics such as the influence of pop culture on political views, the importance of youth voter mobilization, and the role of immigrant voices in politics. Taina provides insightful perspectives on the Trump-Haiti dynamic and discusses the significance of breaking down language barriers in elections, particularly for Black immigrants.

We also explore the vibrant intersection of Caribbean culture and New York identity, highlighting what it truly means to be a "true New Yorker." Tune in as we unpack the complexities of politics through the lens of current TV shows and movies, and discuss how they shape the beliefs and activism of younger generations.

Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Kenisha and Madeline spoke with Dr. Adeyemi Stembridge, author of “Culturally Responsive Education in the Classroom: An Equity Framework for Pedagogy” and a gifted educational consultant and thought partner specializing in equity-focused school improvement. We talked about Yemi’s lifelong love affair with teaching– and with equity– sparked by his own experiences in high school at City-As-School, which forged his vision of what education can and should be. As Yemi put it, “There are few situations in which he feels more alive than investigating a worthy idea from multiple perspectives.”  We feel the same! Yemi shared his feelings about teaching being the most profoundly human activity there is, doing some of the most important work there is. He wants to help as many teachers as possible be able to teach better and Culturally Responsive Education–along with thinking about who we are being culturally responsive to– is a key way to do so. Cultural identity is the composite of our cultural selves. Well beyond food and fashion and holidays, culture is information that lives in your brain and affects your deepest values. A culturally responsive learning environment is one where students get to build an understanding around a worthy idea by drawing down from their cultural background. In fact, Yemi asserts that learning can’t be truly rigorous unless students pull from the full range of their background to show what they’re coming to understand. As he notes “When you draw on fluencies of what it means to be human, the classroom becomes electric.” It sure does. Yemi has honed in on six key CRE themes–cultural identity, relationships, vulnerability, assets, rigor, and engagement–and he works with teachers through week-long residencies focused on how to operationalize these themes in our classrooms. Yemi underscored–wait for it—that the standardized testing regime we have in the US is a bigger challenge to equity than racism. That’s right. Test scores do not measure the effects of good teaching and the biggest influence on how students perform on tests is zip code so what’s the point? He’s not opposed to testing; he’s opposed to the models we have now and thinks that canceling the tests in 2020 and 2021 was an implicit admission of guilt. If the tests were deemed “not good for kids” in a pandemic, why would they be good for kids at any other time?

Yemi is working on a new book coming out this fall focused on his key insight: teaching that’s effective for closing the equity gap is much more artful than it is algorithmic. You won’t want to miss it. Thank you for listening!

at this week’s Round Table, Inica, Madeline and Jack spoke with Raj Vinnakota, President of the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. Raj has dedicated his career to educating, empowering, and supporting America’s youth, particularly those from disadvantaged communities. Did you know that the United States spends on average just 5 cents per student on civics vs an average of $50 per student in STEM?? Compound that over four years and you can better understand the civic catastrophe we’ve been living through. A few years back, fueled by concerns about the state of our country, Raj led a national study focused on rethinking civic education, supported by funders across the ideological spectrum. A core conclusion of the report is that developing citizens is much broader than anything that can be taught within the typical senior elective. Schools can’t do it all; this is a societal responsibility and to equip youth for the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century, we must tap into ALL the places citizenship in ALL the places it can be developed. This informs the Institute of Citizens and Scholars’ mission to ensure that a majority of young people become effective citizens who are well-informed about civic issues, productively engaged for the common good, and hopeful about the future of democracy. We couldn’t endorse this mission more and hope you feel the same.  Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack & Kenisha spoke with Lina Sergie Attar, Founder and CEO of the Karam Foundation, about the refugee crisis, which is on many of our minds given what’s happening in Ukraine. Karam means generosity in Syrian and the Karam Foundation, founded in 2017, invests in young Syrian refugees to help shape a new generation of kind, courageous future leaders. Lina’s path to, and vision for, refugee education was unconventional from that of many others in the humanitarian field, which provides her with a different perspective on refugee work. With a background in architecture, creativity is at the forefront of what she does.  Coming to the work with fresh perspective, and listening DEEPLY to people, she has learned a LOT about what refugees need versus what is actually offered to them. Her work is steeped in notions of radical generosity, which is necessary to help those who have been displaced recover from what they’ve lost and to prepare for lives and livelihoods beyond. The Karam Foundation approaches this work as investment rather than aid. It’s not about providing “just enough” or basic skills–it’s about helping people hone in on their potential and work towards their dreams. Karam is committed to giving refugees’ agency and enabling  them to be co authors in forging solutions rather than subjecting them to top down solutions we know don’t work. Through this, Karam creates a ripple effect, instilling the people they serve with commitment to creating positive change wherever they are and whatever they are doing. She–and we–feel it’s not enough just having your life protected; it’s about having your humanity protected. It’s about thriving, not just surviving. Refugees want no less—and need much more. We were incredibly inspired by Lina’s transformative mindset. Refugees are not a monolith and there are no forever solutions, which is why we need people like Lina and the Karam Foundation blazing the trail. If you'd like to support the Karam Foundation's vital work, you can do so here. Thank you for listening!!

At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha, and Madeline spoke with youth civic scholars from the Center for Constitutional Studies at Utah Valley University and the Quill Project, which works to research the history and enhance understanding of some of the world's foundational legal texts. A core goal of the Quill Project, founded in 2016, is making the discussions that led to the creation of great legal documents of our time more accessible to students, and underscoring that what unites these documents is the way that they are written not by a single person but by a collective.

We had a fascinating and far ranging conversation about what a constitution is and means—for real.  It’s more important to know,  understand, and ground ourselves in the Constitution, at both the federal and state level, than many realize. While in general The U.S. Constitution isn’t seen as a tangible thing that people can relate to, because it feels too removed from people’s lives and too immovable, constitutions are actually much more living documents than we acknowledge. Guest Grace Mallon, incoming Kinder Junior Research Fellow at the Rothermere American Institute of the University of Oxford, grew up in England and was captivated by the US Constitution when she read about it in her history class–so much so that she continued on to do doctoral work about internal inconsistencies between the Constitution and history. Utah Valley Students Joseph Stanley and Antony Jackson have focused their academic work on state constitutions and now we understand why. While many of us didn’t even realize that states HAD constitutions, we came to see how states can provide rights for their constituents beyond what the federal constitution does in some very exciting ways, which underscores the importance of local and state government as we always talk about. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha and Madeline spoke with Michael Mauser and Helen Hankin, two authentic intergenerational allies. Michael is the Co-Chair for the Braver Angels Nevada Statewide Alliance, and both Michael and Helen have both been active in both the Toastmasters International and the Rotary Youth exchange for decades, hosting 11 students from other countries over the years. Michael is motivated by the quotes “it’s not enough to know, you also have to do things” and “When you can work with people, you get along better,” both of which clearly inform his thoughts and actions. Michael first got involved with Braver Angels at a time when he was depressed by the Presidential Debates, which were so different from the debates of his youth, which he felt had been more about seeking understanding. He watched a Braver Angel debate on YouTube between a pro Trumper and a liberal that was very civil and was heartened by what he experienced and how this illustrated his belief that we grow most by engaging with people who have totally different ideas than ourselves. Helen’s ethos is informed by the question of “What does the community need and what will help them the most?” and she enjoys pursuing sustainable projects that can achieve both initial goals and long term objectives. We discussed the importance of seeking connection, not consensus, in conversations across difference; honing in on shared moral foundations; and seeing each other as people rather than parties. At root, though there are very real differences in priorities and values, we’re all motivated to solve key problems of our times, which can be either a very powerful uniter or divider. Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Inica and Kenisha spoke with John McNally, a Graduate Student at Teachers College who is studying the evolution and implementation of the Seal of Civic Readiness initiative in New York State as a lever for fostering high quality civic learning in schools. John is very passionate about civics, having served in the U.S. Army for 8 years before going to West Point, teaching social studies for many years, and raising three kids attending public schools in New York. We talked about how to foster civic identity–an issue we too are passionate about; how innovative districts are trying to reach kids where they are; and how to change the social structures around civic education to put it more at the forefront. John is a proponent of bringing civics to life through action civics, which involves students learning how to engage with issues relevant to us and the things that are affecting us, and our future, everyday. We talked about the importance of getting beyond the perception that politics isn’t meant for young people, especially for low income communities of color who we most need to hear from. We explored how we can change the narrative by broadening the image of what civic engagement looks like and working to empower students to tackle local issues— for ex, things in their schools that aren’t working– and to build up from there.  We also talked about what civics in school would look like if WE were designing it.  Thank you for listening!

At this week’s Round Table, Jack, Jedd, and Kenisha spoke with Sara Wolk and Ruben Montejano of the Equal Vote Coalition – driving forces behind the exciting STAR Voting system from Oregon that is now starting to spread nationwide. Given our interest in systems of voting that help voices be heard to the greatest extent possible, ensuring elected officials represent us most effectively, and how WE as rising voters can use our power to best effect, we were eager to learn about the STAR voting model— a model that changes the way people think about how they should vote. As Sara noted, voting is the issue that affects all other issues, and the sign of a healthy democracy–or lack thereof. The Equal Vote Coalition researched the history of how we came to vote as we vote and realized that systems that don’t count rankings of candidates aren’t legitimately counting all votes and all voices. Electability has become paramount, which makes split voting and the spoiler effect so problematic and makes voters run a pragmatic calculus that is suboptimal. However, other voting methods like STAR can make electability less salient and put more emphasis on having voters look more closely at candidates and their policy positions. Electoral reform is a puzzle with a lot of pieces that all need to fit together. There are several pieces to make sure voters aren’t at a mathematical disadvantage and to ensure that every voter's vote is equally powerful: strategies that counteract split voting like proportional voting; gerrymandering and electoral college reforms; and eliminating barriers and promoting access to the vote. Sara & Ruben are particularly enthusiastic about STAR Voting, which is a hybrid evolution that is the next generation of voting, akin to a five star rating system in which you can show preferences and level of support for different candidates .This encourages voters to look at all the candidates who might support them, provides for a broader range of expression, AND can ultimately eliminate primary elections which disadvantages voters. Furthermore, implementing it doesn’t require a Constitutional amendment, so we’re not taking on catastrophically difficult things like campaign finance reform. We were excited to learn about it and think you will be too. Thank you for joining us!

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Jedd and Kenisha spoke with Chaitra Nagaraja, associate professor of strategy and statistics at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. Chaitra loves statistics and how they can be applied to a variety of social issues to illuminate who we are and how we live in democracy together. She quoted James Madison’s point that if we don’t know about our population, how can we govern? Statistics can help tell us who we are and how we need to improve. They can also help us replicate models that can be used productively in creating policy. That said, Chaitra reminded us that every statistic has politics behind it and, unfortunately, policies based on statistics often aren’t updated and thus don’t reflect the evolution of society. We grappled with a quintessential challenge of statistics– their inability to take into account nuance and human variables. Chaitra feels this is best countered by reminding ourselves that nothing is objective and being cognizant of the decisions behind how to measure something. Understanding statistical principles, such as that correlation doesn’t imply causation, are key to understanding various phenomena in our world. We agreed that melding data analysis and trend analysis with personal stories can be particularly powerful and illuminating.  Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Jedd, and Kenisha discussed an issue on many of our minds: the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  As we were doing so, we were keenly aware of how each day brings new developments, some hopeful and many devastating.  As high school students born well after the Cold War, we study the historical catastrophes of World War I and II, and had hoped that we were past them. We now find ourselves recognizing the strength of imperialism and trying to figure out the implications. We oscillated between talking intellectually and emotionally, reflecting upon the devastation being wreaked on so many innocent civilians as well as the larger economic implications at a time when so many have already been negatively impacted by Covid. We are all grappling with how to situate ourselves in a global conflict of this magnitude–we can’t divorce ourselves from it as we watch the war unfold and impact people’s humanity in live time.  In an article last week, Thomas Friedman noted that one of the most hackneyed phrases in journalism is “the world will never be the same” and yet it may be appropriate to apply to the connected conflict we’re living through. If countries don’t respond in a serious and significant way, we will see more authoritarian land grabs and more groups at risk, so the stakes are very very high. We are living in very challenging times, making us all the more grateful to be in conversation with each other and with you. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Erina, Inica, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Allison Lichter Joseph, Assistant Professor and Chair of Journalism + Design at The New School. She is the co-author of the Matriarchy Report, a newsletter that investigates solutions for families and care workers from an intersectional feminist perspective. All of us podcasters have a real passion for the intersection of politics AND journalism so this conversation was particularly interesting for us. We loved hearing Allison’s vision of community-rooted journalism rather than parachute journalism, which has done a lot of damage to different communities. We were riveted to learn more about solutions journalism as a counterbalance to so much negativity and pessimism in the press. Allison underscored that for every problem, there are solutions and journalism should be responsible for shining a light on them because solutions exist, at many levels.  It’s incredibly important for journalists to engage in asset framing, especially when reporting on communities of color, seeing communities not for their problems but how people are helping each other out. We dug into the model of “Communities of Care” that imagines social systems that truly take care of us so we can take care of each other and expand our belief about what’s possible. We were inspired by Allison’s conception of a journalist as being a facilitator as much as a mouthpiece–listening, convening, brokering resources and knowledge sharing. What will it take for journalism to achieve these ideals? For one thing, people probably have to pay for news– we need to move beyond a model that depends on advertising. Further, young people need to become sophisticated consumers,  managing our attention, filtering fact from fiction, navigating the information ecosystem, and driving the news of the future. By listening to this podcast, you’re indicating that you are part of this new wave. We thank you and we hope you enjoy this episode!

Welcome to another episode of The Round Table!

This week, our hosts Daniel, Daniella, Kassandra and Preena engage in a thoughtful conversation with Shadae McDaniel, Senior Vice President of the Program of Strategic Initiatives at the All Stars Project, a nonprofit organization focused on empowering youth through the arts. Shadae shares how her experiences growing up—whether in dance classes or influenced by her mother’s work as a nurse shaped her belief in the importance of performing, building connections, and supporting underserved communities. Inspired by these values, Shadae has dedicated over 20 years to working in the nonprofit sector, channeling her passion for helping others rather than pursuing a career in the for-profit world.

In this episode, Shadae discusses her work with the All Stars Project, an organization founded in 1981 in New York City to give young people the opportunity to explore their talents and passions. The program has since expanded to six other cities across the U.S. Shadae shares insights into her dedication to empowering others and offers valuable advice, such as the importance of channeling effort into work that makes a meaningful difference in the community.

As a vocal advocate for after-school programs, Shadae emphasizes their significance, stating that they provide crucial opportunities for students to explore their interests, often offering more value than classroom learning alone. She also underscores the need for government funding and nonprofit support to sustain these vital programs. Throughout the episode, Shadae offers inspiring advice for young people passionate about advocacy, community empowerment, and pursuing careers in service.

At this week’s Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha and Madeline spoke with Ross Dakin of the New Jersey Office of Innovation. Ross is a technologist whose background spans Silicon Valley startups, corporate enterprise, federal/state/local government, national non-profits, and academia. This made him a perfect match to work for New Jersey’s first Chief Innovation Officer, a role created as part of Gov Murphy’s commitment to making the state cutting edge and to showing how government can be more innovative in how it provides services. Ross currently focuses on alleviating unemployment and facilitating small business growth, with a special emphasis on Covid recovery, and loves the opportunity to translate work he did as a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow from the federal to the state level. Ross helped us understand how ubiquitous and important tech is–and as such, the enormous equity questions it creates. We talked about the tensions of being cutting edge vs being built to last, the importance of trust–and the dangers of the current widespread distrust of government; and the challenges of scale–the government can’t (or shouldn’t…) choose its customers.. We shared eye-opening insights about what, and who, the government is. Ross underscored that the United States is a 250 year old experiment whereas China is a 2000 year empire. As such, we can’t rest on our laurels and we NEED technology to help us address the many threats of our time. Ross encouraged us–and our listeners–to go into public service, emphasizing that if you have ability and enough passion, there’s no way you won’t change the world. You’re sure to be inspired by this episode. Thank you for listening!

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, Kenisha and Vanessa spoke with Halley Potter, Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation, where she researches public policy solutions for addressing educational inequality with special focus on school integration. We talked about issues our education system is facing and what we can do with them, what equality in education would look like, and how we can reconcile what we currently see in schools and classrooms with what we want to see. Halley underscored that we value diversity… as a concept; it’s far harder to achieve in practice.  She underscored that school segregation didn’t happen by accident or by individual choices. Decades of policy have created the systems and structural barriers that lead to segregation as the default. Charter schools have potential to be sites of integration as a result of combining choice and enrollment features and diversity controls IF diversity goals are front and center, which they generally aren’t. These things can’t just be left to the free market; as things stand, charter schools are not very integrated as a whole.  The challenging reality is that you can’t tell if a school is integrated by looking at demographics along–you really need to analyze who is attending, who is teaching and in what configurations (for example, gifted programs within schools are often highly segregated), is the curriculum reflective of all students’ experiences, and more. One thing we agreed could help us as we strive to build a better path is to step back and question assumptions about what the best learning environments are. Just because a school may have the best test scores does not make it the best school and unfortunately many of the most screened schools are segregated pressure cookers that don’t benefit youth. Overall, Halley emphasized that choice isn’t bad or good, it’s a tool.  We hope that listening to this episode will help you use that tool for good. Thank you for joining us!

At this week's Round Table, Inica, Jack, and Kenisha spoke with Ian Rowe who, with apologies to Dos Equis, may be the most interesting man in the world. Ian is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on education and upward mobility, family formation, and adoption. Family, Ian underscores, is the first Institution every child is exposed to and the stability or instability of it influences everything else. Ian’s academic and professional trajectory are the stuff that  dreams are made of, and ultimately led to him heading the Public Prep network of charter schools for 10 years. School choice is not a theoretical construct, especially in places like the South Bronx where only 2% (!) of students graduate on time and at college-ready level. This informs his newest and most exciting endeavor launching a virtues based International Baccalaureate High School called Vertex Academies in the South Bronx in Fall  2022. Ian explained that schools are ALWAYS helping forge the character of students by the practices they put in place. They are ALWAYS sending messages about “what is the way we want you to operate in the world” so why not be explicit and intentional about it? Vertex will be oriented around four cardinal virtues–courage, wisdom, justice, and temperance–with an emphasis on how to live these virtues in action and across all curriculum for both the diploma and career pathways. One of the most important things students can learn is how to gain insights to make decisions that are right for you, which Vertex Academies aims to do. Ian noted that young people today are caught between two narratives: blame the system or blame the victim, both of which are very disempowering. He aims to counter this with his FREE framework– Family, Religion, Education, and Entrepreneurship–underscoring that young people who live by a moral code tend to do better. You’ll be riveted by this episode. Thank you for joining us!