Work. Shouldnt. Suck. (Tim Cynova)

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Edgar Villanueva. [Live show recorded: April 28, 2020.]

EDGAR VILLANUEVA is a globally-recognized expert on social justice philanthropy. Edgar serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Native Americans in Philanthropy, NDN Collective, and is a Board Member of the Andrus Family Fund, a national foundation that works to improve outcomes for vulnerable youth.

Edgar currently serves as Senior Vice President at the Schott Foundation for Public Education where he oversees grant investment and capacity building supports for education justice campaigns across the United States.

Edgar is the award-winning author of Decolonizing Wealth, a bestselling book offering hopeful and compelling alternatives to the dynamics of colonization in the philanthropic and social finance sectors.

In addition to working in philanthropy for many years, he has consulted with numerous nonprofit organizations and national and global philanthropies on advancing racial equity inside of their institutions and through their investment strategies.

Edgar holds two degrees from the Gillings Global School of Public Health at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Edgar is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guests Oscar Abello & Vanessa Roanhorse. [Live show recorded: June 5, 2020.]

OSCAR PERRY ABELLO is Next City's senior economics correspondent. He previously served as Next City’s editor from 2018-2019, and was a Next City Equitable Cities Fellow from 2015-2016. Since 2011, Oscar has covered community development finance, community banking, impact investing, economic development, housing and more for media outlets such as Shelterforce, B Magazine, Impact Alpha, and Fast Company.

VANESSA ROANHORSE is an inclusive solutions-driven problem solver committed to liberating all peoples and delivering impactful mechanisms for social, environmental and economic change. She launched Roanhorse Consulting (RCLLC) in 2016, an indigenous women-led think tank. RCLLC works with unheralded communities, businesses, organizations, and individuals to achieve and aspire their self-determination through forging communities of practice, strengthening indigenous evaluation methods, creating equity through entrepreneurship, and encouraging economic empowerment from within. RCLLC co-designs wealth and power building efforts that directly invest in our leaders, support meaningful data collection informed by indigenous research approaches, and helps build thoughtful community-led projects that enforce values that put people at the center. Vanessa is a 2020 Conscious Company Media’s World Changing Women in Sustainable Business awardee and is a 2020 Boston Impact Initiative Fund-Building Cohort fellow. She is a retired member of the ABQ Living Cities leadership table and is a Startup Champions Network member. She sits on the boards of Native Community Capital, Zebras Unite and the New Mexico Association of Grantmakers. Vanessa is one of 8 co-founders of Native Women Lead, an organization dedicated to growing Native women into positions of leadership and business. She is a mom of one, living with her family in Albuquerque, NM. Vanessa is a citizen of the Navajo Nation.

In this episode, host Tim Cynova interviews Ann Le and Meg Buzzi, authors of the book "The In-Between: A Companion for Uncertain Times." The discussion brings in many of the challenges of work in the current chaotic and uncertain landscape, and offers insights on how individuals, teams, and organizations can stay engaged and motivated. At the heart of the discussion, Ann and Meg invite listeners to rethink their relationship with work and explore new possibilities.

Episode Highlights:

• 03:18 The Genesis of The In-Between: A Book for Uncertain Times
• 05:06 Unpacking Work Culture: Insights from The In-Between
• 08:00 Navigating Work and Life in a Post-Pandemic World
• 08:43 Redefining Work: From Transactional to Transformational
• 15:52 The Future of Work: Adapting to Change and Embracing Uncertainty
• 16:29 Bridging Old Systems and New Realities
• 19:09 Practical Advice for Organizations in Transition
• 24:32 Evolving Ideas and Unexplored Themes

Explore the authors’ website. Buy their book.

Ann Le is thinker, leader, and finance/operations pro, working on building strong, sustainable, anti-racist systems and organizations. She's leaning into how we can leverage new technologies, finance and community to combat racial and economic injustice. Ann spent a decade as a VP in investment banking, then spent 5 years at a major film studio. After her MBA, Ann has worked and held leadership roles with over 50+ organizations from large corporations to start-ups, non-profit, government, and has served on numerous boards. She's also written a great, but not best-selling cookbook, and produced an award-winning Sundance independent film. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Economics, with a focus on history and labor, and has an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Business. Ann will ask you if any of this matters as we move out of the In-Between, and we enter a new paradigm of work and community: there's a new way to see and value ourselves. Ann has been described as a great teammate, a caring, intuitive human with a strong Slack game who also writes the "opposite of boring" emails. 

Meg Buzzi is a change artist helping to build imaginative solutions to systemic challenges, especially at work. She is a PCC-certified coach, writer, and co-founder of the Present of Work (presentofwork.com) consulting group and the Starter Cultures (startercultures.us) change community. She helps teams and leaders level-up and reconnect to what truly matters to them. A former Chief Information Officer, Meg has led multi-million-dollar change efforts in K-12, higher education, government, and tech. But her most valuable learning is about building community and practicing trust when we are faced with complexity and challenge. Meg is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, an Art of Hosting facilitator and a contributor to the books Fieldworking (Bedford St. Martin's), The Rhetoric of Inquiry (Macmillan), and Narrative Generation. Send her a note at meg@presentofwork.com.

How do we support leaders in the cultural sector?

In this episode, host Tim Cynova has a fun and fascinating conversation with Gail Crider (President & CEO) and Kristina Newman-Scott (Board Chair) of National Arts Strategies (NAS), an organization dedicated to building and supporting a community of arts and culture leaders who drive inspiring change for the future. We dive into the transformative work they've been doing to create more inclusive and innovative spaces and approaches within the sector through their programs and offerings.

Episode Highlights:

• Introduction to our guests from National Arts Strategies and their roles within and outside of NAS.
• The history and mission of NAS, and how they are working to strengthen the arts and culture sector.
• The importance of embracing change and adapting to the ever-evolving landscape of the arts industry.
• The role of technology in creating new opportunities and challenges for arts organizations.
• NAS's commitment to its values, and how they're working to create more inclusive spaces within the arts sector.
• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the arts industry and how NAS has adapted its programs to support leaders during these challenging times.
• The future of NAS and their vision for the arts and culture sector and what exciting things are in store.

GAIL CRIDER is the granddaughter of Bob and Carrie, farmers who figured things out as they went and nurtured both plants and neighbors; she is the daughter of Carolyn, an educator who built spaces for people of all ages to understand and learn tools to turn learning disabilities into different abilities; she is the sister of Catherine, a psychiatrist who is as dedicated to truth finding as she is to planet nurturing; she is mother to Alex, a recent graduate who plans to run for public office, dismantle harmful and oppressive systems, and link arms with others to heal the world.

Gail is part of a collaborative management team of creative and resourceful individuals at NAS who sit inside a larger and greatly gifted staff and board of agitators and change agents. She facilitates strategy, program design and partnerships, and values alignment. Gail was instrumental in the organization’s transition from the National Arts Stabilization Fund to National Arts Strategies and providing the range of services offered today that support a diverse community of leaders driving inspiring change for the future.

Over the course of her career, Gail has been an entrepreneur, worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations and spent a decade in public and private philanthropy. Prior to NAS, she was as a program officer for a foundation where she worked on inner-city redevelopment and community building in Washington, D.C. Gail has also worked for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Key Bank. She co-chaired the Community Development Support Collaborative in Washington, D.C., and has served as a senior fellow for the Center for  High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania, on the audit committee for the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and on grant panels for the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps), the National Endowment for the Arts and the Department of Treasury, CDFI Fund. She holds a B.S. in theater from Lewis and Clark College and continues to learn formally and informally through her work at NAS, including continuing education at Stanford University, Harvard Business School, and University of Michigan – Ross School of Business. She is an ICF trained leadership coach.

KRISTINA NEWMAN-SCOTT is an award-winning, purpose-driven leader with over 20 years of experience in contemporary visual and

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guests Ashara Ekundayo, Esteban Kelly & Syrus Marcus Ware. [Live show recorded: June 8, 2020.]

ASHARA EKUNDAYO is a Detroit-born independent curator, creative industries entrepreneur, cultural strategist, and founder working across arts, community, government, and social innovation spaces. Through her consulting company AECreative Consulting Partners, LLC she designs and manages multidimensional international projects and fosters collaborative relationships through the use of mindfulness and permaculture principles to bring vision to life and create opportunities “in the deep end,” often with unlikely allies. Her creative arts practice epistemology requires an embodied commitment to recognizing joy in the midst of struggle. // In 2012 Ashara co-founded Impact Hub Oakland and Omi Arts and served as the Co-Director, Curator, and the Chief Creative Officer who designed and bottom-lined the brand messaging and creative practice programming of the entire company. In December 2017, she launched Ashara Ekundayo Gallery as a pilot-project social practice platform centering and exclusively exhibiting the artwork of Black womxn and women of the African Diaspora to investigate and inspire social and spiritual inquiry at the nexus of fact, the Black feminist imaginary, and Afrofuturism through visual and performance installation. // She currently holds Advisory Board positions with VSCO.co, Black Girls Code and the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music, and has served as a Fellow with the U.S. Dept. of State Bureau of Educational & Cultural Affairs, Green For All, Emerging Arts Professionals, Schools Without Borders, and Institute For The Future. Ashara is also a Certified Permaculture Designer, Certified Foresight Practitioner, and a Graduate of Thousand Currents Leadership Academy and Rockwood Leadership – LeadNOW: California. Additionally, she holds an “Embodied Justice” Residency at Auburn Seminary in NYC, and an M.A. in Gender & Social Change from the Korbel School of International Affairs at the University of Denver. // Ashara’s commitment to social transformation is informed by an intersectional framework that aims to expand the influence and impact of arts and culture on racial equity, gender + justice, and environmental literacy. She is a womanist, a meditator, a mentor, and the mother of two sons and three granddaughters. T/IG @blublakwomyn

ESTEBAN KELLY is a visionary leader and compassionate strategist who inspires organizers by drawing on science fiction, social theory, and collective liberation. Uniting close friends and long-time co-organizers, Esteban was inspired to co-create AORTA culling together his creative energy and organizational skills for expanding food sovereignty, solidarity economy & cooperative business, gender justice & queer liberation, and movements for racial justice. // Esteban’s work is vast. In addition to working for AORTA, he is the Co-Executive Director for the US Federation of Worker Co-ops (USFWC), and a co-founder and current board President of the cross-sector Philadelphia Area Cooperative Alliance (PACA). // Internationally, Esteban has advocated for workplace democracy through the ICA (International Cooperative Alliance) and CICOPA (the international worker co-op federation), and for land reform and other social movements from Canada to Brazil. // After many years as a PhD student of Marxist Geographers at the CUNY Graduate Center, Esteban has left academia with a Masters in Anthropology. Most recently, Esteban worked as Development Director and then Staff Director for the New Economy Coalition. From 2009-2011, Esteban served as Vice President of the USFWC, and a board member of the Democracy At Work Institute (DAWI) and the US Solidarity Economy Network. He is also a previous Director of Education & Training and Board President of NASCO (North...

This conversation was recorded as part of Work Shouldn't Suck's Ethical Re-Opening Summit that took place on April 27, 2021.

This unprecedented time has become a time of learning (and relearning) for many. But what is the process for turning knowledge into action in and out of our organizations? Thinking about organizational anti-racism work begins with a clear understanding of what “the work” is. Task forces, caucuses, book clubs, consultants? So many options. Our guests discuss different approaches to doing "the work" in our organizations.

Resources mentioned during episode:

• Change.org’s Reflect & Reset
• “What Does It Mean When We Say Doing ‘The Work’?” by Nina Berman
• “Working Apart So We Can Work Together” by Courtney Harge & Tiffany Wilhelm
• “Resources for White People to Learn and Talk About Race and Racism” by Nina Berman & Nicola Carpenter
• The Nap Ministry on Instagram
• artEquity & Carmen Morgan
• Fractured Atlas’s negative interactions document

ANSA EDIM (she/her) is the Vice President and Chair of the Staff Board at Change.org and sits on Change.org's C-team. With over a decade of experience in brand, marketing, and communications, Ansa is a proud member of Change.org’s Black community resource group, Change.Noire. Before joining Change.org, Ansa spent several years working in tech, government consulting, non-profit, and education industries and most recently ran her own brand consulting firm, working specifically with elderly-, women-, and minority-owned businesses. Ansa lives in Washington, D.C. with her two boxers, Big Mac and Kiss, and spends her time enjoying the city, traveling, and lifting heavy things.

COURTNEY HARGE (she/her) is a producer, director, and professional arts administrator originally from Saginaw, MI. She is the CEO of Of/By/For All, and is the Founder and Artistic Director of Colloquy Collective, a theater company based out of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. She has worked for the Elaine Kaufman Cultural Center, Theater for the New City, The Public Theater, Gibney Dance, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and, most recently, Fractured Atlas where she led the design and implementation of anti-racist practices, like race-based caucusing and an equity-informed customer service strategy. She holds a Masters of Professional Studies, with Distinction, in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute and a Bachelors of Fine Arts with Honors from the University of Michigan in Theater Performance. Her credo (#HustlingKeepsYouSexy) is not merely a hashtag; it’s a way of life.

TIFFANY WILHELM (she/they) is a Program Officer at the

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Live with F. Javier Torres-Campos, Director, Thriving Cultures, Surdna Foundation. [Live show recorded: April 7. 2020.]

Javier Torres serves as Program Director of the Thriving Cultures program overseeing a $9 million grantmaking portfolio seeking to advance the Foundation’s social justice mission. His career has been committed to building just and sustainable communities in partnership with artists and culture/tradition bearers.

Prior to joining Surdna, Javier served as the Director of National Grantmaking at ArtPlace America. In his role, he was responsible for building a comprehensive set of demonstration projects that illustrated the many ways in which arts and culture can strengthen the processes and outcomes of the planning and development field across the United States. Under his leadership, the National Creative Placemaking Fund at ArtPlace supported 279 creative placemaking projects totaling $86.4 million across 46 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Prior to ArtPlace, Javier was Senior Program Officer for Arts and Culture at the Boston Foundation where he led an exploration of the role of culture as a tool for transformation, sustainability, and as central to the development of vibrant communities. Javier also spent six years as the Director of Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, a program of IBA, a community based multi-disciplinary arts complex that operates as a regional presenter and local programmer for Latino arts.

Javier was a board member for Grantmakers in the Arts and an advisory board member for the Design Studio for Social Intervention. He has previously served as a board member for the National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures, MASSCreative, was a member of the MA Governor’s Creative Economy Council and Chair for the Boston Cultural Council.

This conversation was recorded as part of Work Shouldn't Suck's Ethical Re-Opening Summit that took place on April 27, 2021.

How do you create and maintain equitable policies and practices when your team works across differing onsite and remote arrangements?

Resources mentioned during session:

• Results-Only Work Environment
• The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond (PISAB)
• Team Dynamics’s Behave podcast

ADDAM GARRETT serves as Operations Manager for the National Performance Network. Addam joined NPN in the summer of 2016 and has over 15 years of experience in education, program planning, and communications. He manages day-to-day organizational activities, which includes assisting all departments to meet the needs of our constituents. He holds a B.A. in Public Relations and Art History from the University of Alabama. Addam is a big tennis fan and sports enthusiasts and brings that passion to work everyday. “There is nothing a smile, humor and kind words can’t accomplish!” Can I get a big Roll Tide?!

MICHELLE RAMOS Dr. Michelle Ramos brings a deep and incredibly robust diversity of experience to role as Executive Director of Alternate Roots. Her background includes most recently working in criminal justice reform as Project Director of the Vera Institute of Justice, philanthropic work as a Program Officer at Women’s Foundation of California, and service organization leadership as Board Chair of Dance/USA, Dancing Grounds and Junebug Productions. In addition to being a licensed attorney, and holding a PhD in Cultural Psychology, she has significant organizing experience and has committed her career to serving communities and individuals adversely impacted by issues of race, gender, disability, class, socio-economics, inequitable laws and systemic oppression. Ramos, a retired professional ballet dancer has worked as an executive director for multiple non-profit arts organizations in many cities across the US. She has consulted for over 20 years nationally and internationally. She is the proud mother Broadway choreographer, Ellenore Scott, and since retiring from her own dance career, Ramos has continued teach dance, has competed as an Ironman triathlete and now enjoys her southern New Orleans lifestyle.

LAURA ZABEL is the Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts, which operates Creative Exchange, a platform for sharing free toolkits, resources, and profiles to help artists and citizens collaborate on replicating successful and engaging community projects. An economic and community development agency run by and for artists, Springboard provides programs that help artists make a living and a life, and programs that help communities connect to the creative power of artists. Based in Minnesota, Springboard’s projects include: Community Supported Art (CSA), which is...

This conversation was recorded as part of Work Shouldn't Suck's Ethical Re-Opening Summit that took place on April 27, 2021.

There are a multitude of ways to share power, decision making, and leadership in organizations. In this episode, Aja Couchois Duncan, Hop Hopkins, Lauren Ruffin, and Jason Wiener explore several, as well as discuss what companies should keep in mind as they consider different ways of participatory leadership.

Resources mentioned during session:

• “Racism Is Killing the Planet” by Hop Hopkins
• Solidarity Not Charity - Grantmaking in the Solidarity Economy
• Sustainable Economies Law Center’s Nonprofit Democracy Network
• United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives
• Anti-Oppression Resource & Training Alliance (AORTA)

AJA COUCHOIS DUNCAN is a leadership coach, team engagement and strategic planning graphic facilitator and organizational development consultant of Ojibwe, French and Scottish descent. A Senior Consultant with Change Elemental, Aja has worked for almost 20 years in the areas of education, leadership and equity. Working with a broad range of clients from public and private universities, nonprofit organizations, national policy advocates, statewide arts organizations, to small businesses—she provides organizational capacity building expertise through needs assessments, program and/or strategy design and delivery, group facilitation, strategic communications and ROI/impact analysis. Aja has a strong background in diversity and social justice work, having provided diversity education, disparate impact analysis, diversity program evaluation and macro-level recommendations to improve equity and thus workplace climate and organizational performance. For nearly a decade, Aja was an active member of the Native American Health Alliance, an organization composed of University of California, San Francisco students, staff and faculty of Native descent working together to promote cultural understanding and an awareness of the health disparities affecting Native American/Alaskan Native peoples. With a small group of Native University of California staff, she created a development program designed to increase skills and promotional opportunities for employees of Native descent across the university system. She has led workshops for Native adults and youth to promote cultural values and identity through artistic expression. Previous professional roles have included leading creative writing workshops for under-served youth, working in the electrical and construction trades, serving as a meeting/conference planner, and leading nature programs in a state park. Aja is a certified co-active coach (CPCC) and holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in creative writing from San Francisco State University and a Master of Arts (MA) in policy, organization and leadership studies from Stanford University, where she is a member of the Stanford Native American Alumni Association. A writer and sometimes visual artist, Aja is interested in connecting the often disparate realities of spirit and mater, flora and fauna. When not at Change Elemental, you can find Aja writing or drawing. She also enjoys running in the hills with her dog, yoga and a daily meditation practice which begins with an expression of gratitude to her ancestors and...

In episode two of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews David B. Devan, General Director & President of Opera Philadelphia.

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. Explore the other episodes in this series with guests:

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

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

DAVID B. DEVAN (he/him) joined Opera Philadelphia in January 2006 and was appointed General Director of the company in 2011. Since his arrival, David has worked closely with board and administration on strategic planning initiatives and building partnerships within the community and the opera world.

David guided the company through a transformative period of innovation that led Opera News to describe it as “one of the leading instigators of new work in the country” and the New York Times to describe Opera Philadelphia as "a hotbed of operatic innovation." Under his leadership and artistic vision, Opera Philadelphia has grown to become a company of international stature and a favorite co-producing partner with companies all over the globe, developing fresh productions of classic works as well as premieres written by today’s leading composers. The company has engaged and energized both established and emerging artists, providing opportunities for important role debuts for singers like Lawrence Brownlee, Eric Owens, Nathan Gunn, Stephanie Blythe, Christine Goerke, Leah Crocetto, and Lisette Oropesa. As The Daily Beast recently commented, “Opera Philadelphia has been at the forefront of commissioning new operas with contemporary subject matter and an innovative, genre-blending sensibility to snare a younger audience and revitalize opera for the 21st century.”

Key achievements include the establishment of the Aurora Series for Chamber Opera at the Perelman Theater, an extremely popular and highly-subscribed opera series at the Kimmel Center's intimate 550-seat...

It's the end of a decade, and Lauren and I totally missed that's what everyone has been posting items about. In this episode, we sat down for a virtual fireside chat to record reflections on the past decade. Soft launch your new decade with a look back at ours...

2010: Lauren (01:37); Tim (02:41)

2011: Lauren (04:01); Tim (05:41)

2012: Lauren (06:42); Tim (10:25)

2013: Lauren (10:56); Tim (11:25)

2014: Lauren (13:23); Tim (16:29)

2015: Lauren (18:10); Tim (19:38)

2016: Lauren (22:52); Tim (23:36)

2017: Lauren (26:29); Tim (27:41)

2018: Lauren (30:45); Tim (33:17)

2019: Lauren (34.51); Tim (35:54)

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Danny Harris. [Live show recorded: May 6, 2020.]

DANNY HARRIS, a passionate advocate for livable, walkable and bike-friendly cities, has been named the new executive director of Transportation Alternatives by the non-profit organization’s board of directors. He will officially assume this role on Sept. 3, 2019.

Harris spent four years as program director with the Knight Foundation in San Jose, California, where he oversaw grantmaking related to placemaking, transportation, and affordable housing. He most recently served as senior vice president of Civic Entertainment Group in New York City, where he led teams responsible for high-profile product launches and events.

“Danny Harris is a proven leader and a practiced storyteller who understands the urgency of reclaiming our streets as public space for all New Yorkers,” said Steve Hindy, chair of Transportation Alternatives’ Board of Directors. “Danny is a broad thinker on cities, people, and the connections that drive us. I am confident that he will lead the organization to a new level of effectiveness.”

Harris is an innovator as well as an educator. He has taught at San Jose State University, was named a Vanguard Fellow by Next City, and received a citation from the American Institute of Architects. Harris, a graduate of Connecticut College and Princeton University, is a native New Yorker and currently resides in Manhattan with his family.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Jamie Bennett, executive director of ArtPlace America. [Live show recorded: March 30, 2020.]

Lauren and Tim are hosting daily livestreamed chats in April 2020 to connect with leaders in “real time” — about their lives, their organizations, their sector, and the world — during this unprecedented time in our lives. We come together as humans, as community, to talk about the concerns, the hopes, the hurdles, and the promise this particular moment in history offers us. Find the complete list guests, previous videos, and transcripts at WorkShouldntSuck.co.

Jamie Bennett is the executive director of ArtPlace America, a ten-year fund that supports artists working as allies in equitable community development.

ArtPlace has invested over $100 million to support projects in rural, suburban, tribal, and urban communities of all sizes across the United States, as well as in sharing knowledge from that work in ways that are both useful and actually used by practitioners. ArtPlace convenes and connects people who are committed to this work in order to help build a strong and ongoing field of practice.

Previously, Jamie was Chief of Staff and Director of Public Affairs at the National Endowment for the Arts, where he worked on the national rollouts of the "Our Town" grant program and of partnerships with the US Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, and Housing and Urban Development.

Before the NEA, Jamie was Chief of Staff at the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, where he worked on partnerships with the NYC Departments for the Aging, of Education, and of Youth and Community Development.

Jamie has also provided strategic counsel at the Agnes Gund Foundation, served as chief of staff to the President of Columbia University, and worked in fundraising at The Museum of Modern Art, the New York Philharmonic, and Columbia College.

He currently lives, works, worships, and plays in Brooklyn, NY, and has been sober since 2009.

Lauren Olivia Ruffin currently serves as Fractured Atlas’s Chief External Relations Officer where she is responsible for the organization’s marketing, communications, community engagement, and fundraising. Prior to joining the team at Fractured Atlas, Lauren served as Director of Development for DC-based organizations Martha’s Table and the National Center for Children and Families. She was also fortunate to serve in various roles at and various positions at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Children’s Defense Fund, New Leaders, and AAUW. Before entering the nonprofit sector, Lauren held the position of Assistant Director of Government Affairs for Gray Global Advisors, a bipartisan government relations firm. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Political Science and obtained a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law. Previously, she served on the Board of Directors of Black Girls Code. And in her spare time, she can be found mountain biking or gesturing wildly at the teevee in support of Duke University’s men’s basketball team.

Tim Cynova spends his time assisting teams and organizations with the things they need to create workplaces where people thrive. He is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), a trained mediator, on faculty at Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity and New York's The New School teaching courses in People-Centric Organizational Design and Leadership & Team Building. He is a certified trainer of the Crucial Conversations and 

In this episode, Tim Cynova is in conversation with Tammy Dowley-Blackman, an entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in leadership and organizational development. A differentiator for Tammy in this work comes in that she’s sat in many of the proverbial seats at the table: serving as a CEO and key decision-maker, a board member, a sought-after consultant, a leadership development content creator, and a key partner to corporations, government entities, nonprofits, and philanthropic institutions.

Episode Highlights:

• The needs and expectations of Gen Z in the workplace,
• The impact of the pandemic on work and how organizations can adapt to the changing landscape,
• The importance of rethinking and reimagining performance evaluations and strategic planning,
• Developing futurist mindsets,
• And, the need for organizations to invest in professional development and create equitable and inclusive work environments.

Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on executive coaches who center equity and inclusion in their practice, and the authors of "The In-Between: A Companion Book For Uncertain Times.” Plus, catch season two of "White Men and the Journey Towards Anti-Racism" as well as an episode on values-based collective bargaining processes.

TAMMY DOWLEY-BLACKMAN (she/her) collaborates with the corporate, government, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors to build an intergenerational pipeline of leaders equipped to deliver solutions for today’s complex global workplace. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and Harvard University is an author, entrepreneur, leadership expert, nonprofit executive, philanthropic leader and professor.

She is the CEO of Tammy Dowley-Blackman Group, LLC, a certified National Supplier Development Council Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Small Business Administration (SBA) Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), and Women’s Business Enterprise Network Council (WBENC) woman-owned company, as well as a graduate of the C200 Champion Program and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program. The company is comprised of a suite of brands, including TDB Group Strategic Advisory, a management consulting firm specializing in organizational and leadership development for the corporate, government, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors; Looking Forward Lab, a media content company focused on Gen Z, which partners with corporations and higher education systems to offer a full-service learning engagement model that delivers workforce development solutions; and Cooper + Lowe, a company that serves as an incubator offering full back-office management support for women interested in transitioning to entrepreneurship and thought leadership. Each of the companies has a long legacy of embedding diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging (DEIAB) in its values, collaborations, and outcomes.

In addition, Tammy recently completed her six-year term as the president of the TSNE Board of Directors, where she helped lead the $64 million-dollar organization through unprecedented leadership and business model strategic alignment and planning. She also provides leadership as a Board Director for the Proteus Fund and as an Advisory Board member for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the University of North Carolina School of Law Director Diversity Initiative. Find Tammy online at tammydb.com.

TIM CYNOVA, SPHR (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...

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Nina Simon, Spacemaker & CEO of OF/BY/FOR ALL. [Live show recorded: April 3, 2020.]

NINA SIMON spend her days working on OF/BY/FOR ALL, a nonprofit she founded to make civic and cultural organizations of, by, and for everyone.

If you like to read, check out her best-selling books "The Participatory Museum" and "The Art of Relevance." Both are available for free online or you can buy them for your very own. You can also read hundreds of posts on the Museum 2.0 blog, which she authored from 2006-2019, and her recent essays on Medium.

If you are more of an audio-visual person, the two TEDx talks she gave on opening up museums and deepening relevance are linked from her website, NinaKSimon.com. as well as a short video from when she was named Santa Cruz County Woman of the Year.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guests Diane Ragsdale & Andrew Taylor. [Live show recorded: May 1, 2020.]

E. ANDREW TAYLOR, Associate Professor and Department Chair of the Performing Arts Department at American University thinks (a bit too much) about organizational structure, strategy, and management practice in the nonprofit arts. An Associate Professor of Arts Management at American University, he also consults for cultural, educational, and support organizations throughout North America. He recently completed a five-year sponsored research project for the William Penn Foundation on “Capitalizing Change in the Performing Arts.” Andrew is past president of the Association of Arts Administration Educators, board member for Fractured Atlas, and consulting editor for The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, and for Artivate, a journal on arts entrepreneurship. Since July 2003, he has written a popular weblog on the business of arts and culture, "The Artful Manager," hosted by ArtsJournal.com (www.artfulmanager.com ).

DIANE RAGSDALE is faculty co-lead of the Cultural Leadership Program at Banff Center for Arts & Creativity; and an assistant professor and program director for the Masters in Arts Management & Entrepreneurship MA at the New School in NYC, where she also designed and launched a graduate minor in Creative Community Development. She additionally teaches a workshop on aesthetic values in a changed cultural context for Yale University's Theater Management MA. Ragsdale is a frequent speaker, blogger, writer, and advisor on a range of arts and culture topics. She previously worked as a program officer for theater and dance at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, ran a contemporary performing arts center and a music festival, held a variety of administrative posts, and began her arts career as a theater practitioner (she has an MFA in acting & directing). She is presently a doctoral candidate at Erasmus University in the Netherlands, where she lectured in the cultural economics program from 2011-2015. Her dissertation examines the evolving relationship between the nonprofit and commercial theater in the US over an 80-year period. She is on the board of Anne Bogart's SITI Company; on the editorial board for Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts; and on the Advisory Council for the online theater platform and journal, HowlRound. Among others, she wrote an essay ("To What End Permanence?") for the 2019 book, A Moment on the Clock of the World, published by Haymarket Press. She has dual-citizenship and divides her time between the US and the Netherlands.

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...

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Darren Walker. [Live show recorded: May 11, 2020.]

Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, an international social justice philanthropy with a $13 billion endowment and $600 million in annual grant making. He chaired the philanthropy committee that brought a resolution to the city of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy and is co-founder and chair of the US Impact Investing Alliance.

Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programs including the Rebuild New Orleans initiative after Hurricane Katrina. In the 1990s, as COO of the Abyssinian Development Corporation—Harlem’s largest community development organization—he oversaw a comprehensive revitalization strategy, including building over 1,000 units of affordable housing and the first major commercial development in Harlem since the 1960s. Earlier, he had a decade-long career in international law and finance at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and UBS.

Darren co-chairs New York City’s Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers, and serves on the Commission on the Future of Rikers Island Correctional Institution and the UN International Labor Organization Commission on the Future of Work. He also serves on the boards of Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Gallery of Art, Art Bridges, the High Line, VOW to End Child Marriage, the HOW Institute for Society, the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, and the Committee to Protect Journalists. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is the recipient of 13 honorary degrees and university awards, including the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University.

Educated exclusively in public schools, Darren was a member of the first class of Head Start in 1965 and graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, which in 2009 recognized him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award—its highest alumni honor. He has been included on numerous annual media lists, including Time’s annual list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, Rolling Stone’s 25 People Shaping the Future, Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative People, and Out magazine’s Power 50.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Caroline Woolard. [Live show recorded: April 22, 2020.]

CAROLINE WOOLARD employs sculpture, immersive installation, and online networks to imagine and enact systems of collaboration and mutual aid. Her work has been commissioned by and exhibited in major national and international museums, including MoMA, the Whitney Museum, and Creative Time. Recent scholarly writing on her work has been published in The Brooklyn Rail (2018); Artforum (2016); Art in America (2016); The New York Times (2016); and South Atlantic Quarterly (2015). Woolard’s work has been featured twice on New York Close Up (2014, 2016), a digital film series produced by Art21 and broadcast on PBS. She is the 2018–20 inaugural Walentas Fellow at Moore College of Art and Design and the inaugural 2019–20 Artist in Residence for INDEX, a new initiative at the Rose Museum.

Woolard co-founded barter networks OurGoods.org and TradeSchool.coop (2008-2015), the Study Center for Group Work (since 2016), BFAMFAPhD.com (since 2014), and the NYC Real Estate Investment Cooperative (since 2016). Recent commissions include The Meeting, with a rolling premiere at The New School, Brandeis University, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, PA (2019); WOUND, Cooper Union, New York, NY (2016); and Capitoline Wolves, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (2016), and Exchange Café, MoMA, New York, NY (2014). She is the recipient of a number of awards and fellowships including at Moore College of Art and Design (2019), Pilchuck (2018), the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (2016), the Queens Museum (2014), Eyebeam (2013), Rockefeller Cultural Innovation Fund (2010), Watermill (2011), and the MacDowell Colony (2009). Caroline Woolard is Assistant Professor at the University of Hartford, and the Nomad/9 Interdisciplinary MFA program. Making and Being, her book about interdisciplinary collaboration, co-authored with Susan Jahoda, was published in the fall of 2019. 

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Elizabeth Streb. [Live show recorded: May 12, 2020.]

MacArthur “Genius” Award-winner, Elizabeth Streb has dived through glass, allowed a ton of dirt to fall on her head, walked down (the outside of) London’s City Hall, and set herself on fire, among other feats of extreme action. Her popular book, STREB: How to Become an Extreme Action Hero, was made into a hit documentary, Born to Fly directed by Catherine Gund (Aubin Pictures), which premiered at SXSW and received an extended run at The Film Forum in New York City in 2014. Streb founded the STREB Extreme Action Company in 1979. In 2003, she established SLAM, the STREB Lab for Action Mechanics, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. SLAM’s garage doors are always open: anyone and everyone can come in, watch rehearsals, take classes, and learn to fly.

Elizabeth Streb was invited to present a TED Talk (‘My Quest To Defy Gravity and Fly’) at TED 2018: THE AGE OF AMAZEMENT. She has been a featured speaker presenting her keynote lectures at such places as the Rubin Museum of Art (in conversation with Dr. John W. Krakauer), TEDxMET, the Institute for Technology and Education (ISTE), POPTECH, the Institute of Contemporary Art (in conversation with physicist, Brain Greene), The Brooklyn Museum of Art (in conversation with author A.M. Homes), the National Performing Arts Convention, the Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP), the Penny Stamps Speaker Series at the University of Michigan, Chorus America, the University of Utah, and as a Caroline Werner Gannett Project speaker in Rochester NY, among others.

"Rough and Tumble," Alec Wilkinson’s profile of Elizabeth Streb, appeared in The New Yorker magazine in June, 2015.

Streb received the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation ‘Genius’ Award in 1997. She holds a Master of Arts in Humanities and Social Thought from New York University, a Bachelor of Science in Modern Dance from SUNY Brockport, and honorary doctorates from SUNY Brockport, Rhode Island College and Otis College of Art and Design. Streb has received numerous other awards and fellowships including the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1987; a Brandeis Creative Arts Award in 1991; two New York Dance and Performance Awards (Bessie Awards), in 1988 and 1999 for her “sustained investigation of movement;” a Doris Duke Artist Award in 2013; and over 30 years of on-going support from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). In 2009, Streb was the Danspace Project Honoree. She served on Mayor Bloomberg’s Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission and is a member of the board of the Jerome Foundation.

Major commissions for choreography include: Lincoln Center Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, MOCA, LA Temporary Contemporary, the Whitney Museum of Art, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, the Park Avenue Armory, London 2012, the Cultural Olympiad for the Summer Games, CityLab Paris 2018, the opening of Bloomberg’s new headquarters in London, Musée D’Orsay, the re-opening of the Théâtre du Châtelet, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Born to Fly aired on PBS on May 11, 2014 and is currently available on iTunes. OXD, directed by Craig Lowy, which follows STREB at the 2012 London Olympics, premiered at the IFC theater in New York City on February 2, 2016. Streb and her company have also been featured in PopAction by Michael Blackwood, on PBS’s In The Life and Great Performances, The David Letterman Show, BBC World News, CBS Sunday Morning, CBS This Morning, Business Insider, CNN’s Weekend Today, MTV, on the National Public Radio shows Studio 360 and Science Friday, and on Larry King Live.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Mara Walker, Chief Operating Officer, Americans for the Arts. [Live show recorded: April 10, 2020.]

MARA WALKER is the chief operating officer for Americans for the Arts and is responsible for the overall performance of the organization, working to ensure its resources are used effectively to accomplish the organization’s complex strategic plan. Prior to that role, Mara developed targeted programming to meet the needs of a growing constituency of organizations and individuals committed to using the arts to impact communities and lives. She was instrumental in the merger of the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies and American Council for the Arts that led to the formation of Americans for the Arts and has played an active role in other partnerships and mergers that have grown the organization’s reach. When she first came to the organization there were 5 staff members and a budget of $300,000. Today there are 65 people in multiple offices and a budget of over $19 million.

Mara, a native New Yorker, has worked in arts administration for more than 25 years at a variety of theater companies and arts organizations nationwide. She is currently Vice Chair of theatreWashington and serves on the International Advisory Board of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. She holds a B.A. in theatre from George Washington University and an MFA in theatre management from the University of Maryland.

This conversation was recorded as part of Work Shouldn't Suck's Ethical Re-Opening Summit that took place on April 27, 2021.

Coming off a year that has echoed sentiments of feeling out of control, leaders from across sectors and industries have questions about employment law, safety, and other areas impacting how we earn a living in the wake of COVID. Those in smaller organizations or independent contractors also struggle with keeping up to date with worker-related rights and legislation. Panelist Andrea Milano, special counsel at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, brings attention to the importance of knowing the different standards and stringent guidelines which vary state-to-state, city-to-city. Progress begins with awareness. And once we independently see where we need help, and actually ask for it, the necessary resources can be found to guide businesses, small and large, on how to pivot.

ANDREA MILANO focuses her practice on all aspects of employment litigation, counseling and traditional labor matters. She manages a diverse caseload of class, collective and representative actions, single plaintiff litigation, and traditional labor matters. She has significant experience drafting and arguing substantive motions, conducting discovery, and preparing for trial. Andrea regularly provides direct advice and counsel on a broad spectrum of labor and employment law matters, including conducting positive employee relations and sexual harassment avoidance trainings; investigating payroll and wage and hour audits; developing, drafting and revising handbooks and employment policies; and managing performance issues, terminations and reductions in force. While she has handled litigation and employment matters across many industries, her focus has been on technology, hospitality and health care.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Laura Zabel, Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts. [Live show recorded: April 1, 2020.]

Lauren and Tim are hosting daily livestreamed chats in April 2020 to connect with leaders in “real time” — about their lives, their organizations, their sector, and the world — during this unprecedented time in our lives. We come together as humans, as community, to talk about the concerns, the hopes, the hurdles, and the promise this particular moment in history offers us. Find the complete list guests, previous videos, and transcripts at WorkShouldntSuck.co.

LAURA ZABEL is the Executive Director of Springboard for the Arts, an economic and community development agency run by and for artists. Springboard provides programs that help artists make a living and a life, and programs that help communities connect to the creative power of artists. Springboard is a nationally recognized leader in artist-led community development, creative placemaking and cross-sector collaboration. Springboard’s work has been featured by the New York Times, PBS, Wall Street Journal, Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Guardian and directly impacts over 25,000 artists each year in their home state of Minnesota. Through their free toolkits, training and resources Springboard’s programs have been replicated in over 80 communities across the U.S. and internationally.

As Springboard’s executive director, Laura Zabel has been honored with numerous awards, including the YBCA 100, Gard Foundation Award of Excellence and the Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship for her work with Springboard. Zabel is currently a Common Future Fellow and a creative placemaking policy fellow at Arizona State University.

We're exploring different perspectives and approaches to personal and professional development and growth in our "Investing in Self" mini-series. We'll be sprinkling these episodes into the mix with our other upcoming episodes over the next several weeks.

To start us off, in late January 2020, Lauren and I had the privilege to sit down with entrepreneurial strategist, consultant, multiple business owner, dancer, choreographer, law school graduate, and so much more awesomeness: Lisa Yancey.

We covered a lot of ground in our conversation, including why self care isn’t selfish, discipline and mastery; approaching our life as the dash between two dates; what exactly *were* Lisa and Lauren were doing in Mexico, and why Choice Hotels will likely never sponsor our podcast. 

LISA YANCEY is the President of Yancey Consulting, LLC, advising a spectrum of practitioners, nonprofit organizations, philanthropists, and philanthropic institutions committed to dismantling inequities, enriching disinvested communities, building leadership, and amplifying diverse perspectives. She has worked with, facilitated, and provided pro bono services to over 100 organization or grantmaking institutions in the past 18 years. A lifelong entrepreneur, Lisa’s concurrent ventures include co-founding The We’s Match and SorsaMED, a biologics company dedicated to developing therapeutic solutions for chronic pain management using medicinal cannabinoids.

In this Part 2 of our exploration into shared leadership models, we sit down with a team that lead the transition from a single founder/CEO model to a four-person, shared, non-hierarchical co-CEO leadership team.

To catch up with the story already in progress... in Part 1, Mike Courville, Kelly Kienzle, Holly Sidford, and Russell Willis Taylor took us on an action-packed adventure of shared, or distributed, leadership models, what are they, what aren’t they, how they work, how you might evaluate different models, and might they be right for you and your organization.

For Part 2, Lauren and Tim are joined by their other co-CEO colleagues at Fractured Atlas: Shawn Anderson and Pallavi Sharma. The team discusses their thoughts and perspective on the promise and potential perils of this kind of model.

Shawn Anderson currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Fractured Atlas where he oversees the organization's software development operations. In that role, he serves as one of the four members of the organization's non-hierarchical leadership team. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas Shawn was a founding partner at Gemini SBS, where he managed the development of web applications for a number of U.S. Department of Education funded projects including the Federal Resource Center, the Regional Resource Center Program, the Family Center on Technology and Disability, and the Technical Assistance Coordination Center. He Holds a B.A. in user interface design from Hampshire College.

Pallavi Sharma currently serves as the Chief Program Officer of Fractured Atlas where she oversees the team responsible for program strategy and growth, product development, customer service, and R&D. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas, Pallavi was a full-time consultant helping nonprofit organizations and women entrepreneurs develop strategies, streamline operations, improve team effectiveness, and market themselves successfully. Her previous roles were varied and global, including working at large organizations like 1800Flowers.com and Everyday Health Inc., to startups funded by Goldman Sachs, as well as an early stint in the luxury retail industry in India. After her 16+ years in the corporate sector, Pallavi is excited to transition her skills and experience to follow her passion for the nonprofit space. Pallavi is a voracious reader, an aspiring writer and a lover of all things in nature – plants, animals, even bugs. Pallavi completed her MBA from IIM, Bangalore India and holds a Bachelor’s degree with triple majors in Psychology, English Literature and Journalism.

Lauren Olivia Ruffin currently serves as Fractured Atlas’s Chief External Relations Officer where she is responsible for the organization’s marketing, communications, community engagement, and fundraising. Prior to joining the team at Fractured Atlas, Lauren served as Director of Development for DC-based organizations Martha’s Table and the National Center for Children and Families. She was also fortunate to serve in various roles at and various positions at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Children’s Defense Fund, New Leaders, and AAUW. Before entering the nonprofit sector, Lauren held the position of Assistant Director of Government Affairs for Gray Global Advisors, a bipartisan government relations firm. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Political Science and obtained a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law. Previously, she served on the Board of Directors of Black Girls Code. And in her spare time, she can be found mountain biking or gesturing wildly at the teevee in support of Duke University’s men’s basketball team.

Tim Cynova spends his time assisting teams and organizations with the things they need to create...

Fractured Atlas is a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting artists, creatives, and makers with the things they need to succeed and thrive. About five years ago, the organization committed itself to a journey of becoming an anti-racist, anti-oppressive organization. In this episode, we chat with Courtney Harge and Nicola Carpenter, two people who have been deeply involved in that work. We’ll explore some frequently asked questions they receive about the work and journey. We'll also discuss how unlimited vacation days, shared leadership, and fully virtual organizations can further this work, while at the same time creating new and different challenges.

Lauren and Tim then reflect on how the ARAO work intersects with their three years together working as part of the organization's four-person, shared, non-hierarchical leadership team and the personal journey of their coworkers. Then, in a seemingly random yet related tangent, Lauren discusses why Celine Dion is the only brand to back.

01:07 Courtney Harge & Nicola Carpenter

47:34 Lauren Ruffin

COURTNEY HARGE is an arts administrator, director, and writer originally from Saginaw, MI who has been working in the service of artists for the last fifteen years. She is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of Colloquy Collective, an emerging theater company in Brooklyn, NY. Courtney is also a proud member of Women of Color in the Arts, and a 2016 alum of both APAP’s Emerging Leaders Institute and artEquity’s Facilitator Training. She holds a Masters of Professional Studies, with Distinction, in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute. You can find more information about her at www.courtneyharge.com and find her on Instagram and Twitter at @Arts_Courtney. Her credo (#HustlingKeepsYouSexy) is not merely a hashtag; it’s a way of life.

NICOLA CARPENTER works on the People team at Fractured Atlas, where she finds ways for tools and processes to better align with the organization’s purpose. She believes in tools so much that she sets personal OKRs every quarter. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas, Nicola worked for a variety of arts organizations including MoMA PS1, Walker Art Center, and Heidelberger Kunstverein, and she still has a particular love for museums. Originally from Minneapolis, she received a BFA in Art from the University of Minnesota and continues to stay creative through knitting and sewing clothes. She is currently in too many book clubs, but still somehow finds time to read books about organizational culture for fun. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at @colacarp.

Interested in exploring the topic further? Check out Nicola’s collection of Resources for White People to Learn and Talk about Race and Racism.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Aaron Dworkin, Social Entrepreneur, Artist, Philanthropist, & Professor of Arts Leadership & Entrepreneurship. [Live show recorded: April 6, 2020.]

AARON DWORKIN Named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, President Obama’s first appointment to the National Council on the Arts and Governor Snyder’s appointment to the Michigan Council for Arts & Cultural Affairs, Aaron P. Dworkin served as dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD), which is ranked among the top performing arts schools in the nation. He is currently a tenured full professor of arts leadership and entrepreneurship at SMTD as well as serving as a Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. In addition, Aaron is a successful social entrepreneur having founded The Sphinx Organization, the leading arts organization with the mission of transforming lives through the power of diversity in the arts. He is also co-founder of SonoGrub.com, a weekly blog pairing great food and music. As a best-selling writer, Aaron has authored The Entrepreneurial Artist: Lessons from Highly Successful Creatives published by Rowman & Littlefield, a science-fiction novel, Ethos: Rise of Malcolm published by MorganJames, as well as his memoir titled Uncommon Rhythm: A Black, White, Jewish, Jehovah's Witness, Irish Catholic Adoptee's Journey to Leadership released through Aquarius Press, a poetry collection, They Said I Wasn’t Really Black, and a children’s book The 1st Adventure of Chilli Pepperz.

A lifelong musician, Aaron is a prominent spoken-word performing artist represented by Cadenza Artists. He has collaborated with a breadth of artists including Yo-Yo Ma, Damien Sneed, Anna Deveare Smith, Damian Woetzel, Lil Buck and others. His visual digital art project, Fractured History, has been exhibited at multiple galleries and museums to rave reviews. He recorded and produced two CDs, entitled Ebony Rhythm and Bar-Talk, in addition to writing, producing, and directing the independent film Deliberation.

A multi-media performing artist, author, social entrepreneur, artist-citizen, and educator, Aaron continually receives extensive national recognition for his leadership and service to communities. He has been featured in numerous media outlets, and was named one of Newsweek’s “15 People Who Make America Great.” He is the recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Society Honorary Membership, Harvard University’s Vosgerchian Teaching Award, National Governors Association 2005 Distinguished Service to State Government Award, Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, Detroit News’s 2003 Michiganian of the Year Award, Crain’s 40 Under 40 and Who’s Who Awards, BET’s History Makers in the Making Award, AT&T Excellence in Education Award, and National Black MBA’s Entrepreneur of The Year.

As an artist curator, he has served as a juror for some of the most prestigious international competitions including the Menuhin Competition, London Music Masters Competition, Stulberg International Violin Competition and the Sphinx Competition. A sought-after global thought leader and a passionate advocate for excellence in arts education, entrepreneurship and leadership, as well as inclusion in the performing arts, Aaron is a frequent keynote speaker and lecturer at numerous national and global arts, creativity and technology conferences. He served as commencement speaker at the Curtis Institute of Music, University of Michigan, Longy Conservatory and twice for Bowling Green State University. In May of 2013, the renowned Curtis Institute of Music awarded Honorary Doctorates to Aaron and Sir Simon Rattle, longtime maestro of the Berlin Philharmonic. Aaron also holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in violin performance from the University of...

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...

This conversation was recorded as part of Work Shouldn't Suck's Ethical Re-Opening Summit that took place on April 27, 2021.

Co-host Lauren Ruffin facilitates a discussion with Vanessa Roanhorse and Syrus Marcus Ware on how organizations can center those most vulnerable to craft workplaces where everyone can thrive. Their discussion explores recently announced changes at Basecamp, and also the workplace re-opening survey conducted by Work Shouldn't Suck in Spring 2021.

Resources mentioned during this episode:

• Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement, Ejeris Dixon (Editor); Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (Editor)
• “Changes at Basecamp” by Jason Fried
• “Basecamp's new etiquette regarding societal politics at work” by David Heinemeier Hansson

VANESSA ROANHORSE got her management chops working for 7 years at a Chicago-based nonprofit, the Delta Institute, focused throughout the Great Lakes region to build a resilient environment and economy through creative, sustainable, market-driven solutions. Vanessa oversaw many of Delta’s on-the-ground energy efficiency, green infrastructure, community engagement programs, and workforce development training. Vanessa is a 2019 Village Capital Money Matters Advisory Board Member, 2019 SXSW Pitch Advisor, sits on the local Living Cities leadership table, is a Startup Champions Network member, is an Advisor for emerging Navajo incubator, Change Labs, Advisor for Native Entrepreneurship in Residence Program, and is a board member for Native Community Capital, a native-led CDFI. She is a co-founder of Native Women Lead, an organization dedicated to growing native women into positions of leadership and business. Her academic education is in film from the University of Arizona but her professional education is from hands-on experience leading local, regional and national initiatives. Vanessa is Navajo living in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

SYRUS MARCUS WARE uses painting, installation and performance to explore social justice frameworks and black activist culture. His work has been shown widely, including in a solo show at Grunt Gallery, Vancouver (2068:Touch Change) and new work commissioned for the 2019 Toronto Biennial of Art and the Ryerson Image Centre (Antarctica and Ancestors, Do You Read Us? (Dispatches from the Future)) and in group shows at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Art Gallery of York University, the Art Gallery of Windsor and as part of the curated content at Nuit Blanche 2017 (The Stolen People; Wont Back Down). His performance works have been part of festivals across Canada, including at Cripping The Stage (Harbourfront Centre, 2016, 2019), Complex Social Change (University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, 2015) and Decolonizing and Decriminalizing Trans Genres (University of Winnipeg, 2015). // He is part of the PDA (Performance Disability Art) Collective and co-programmed Crip Your World: An Intergalactic Queer/POC Sick and Disabled Extravaganza as part of Mayworks 2014. Syrus' recent curatorial projects include That’s So Gay (Gladstone Hotel, 2016-2019), Re:Purpose (Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 2014) and The Church Street Mural Project (Church-Wellesley Village, 2013). Syrus is also co-curator of The Cycle, a two-year disability arts performance initiative of the National Arts Centre. // Syrus is a core-team...

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Deana Haggag. [Live show recorded: April 30, 2020.]

DEANA HAGGAG is the President & CEO of United States Artists, a national arts funding organization based in Chicago, IL. Before joining USA in February 2017, she was the Executive Director of The Contemporary, a nomadic and non-collecting art museum in Baltimore, MD, for four years. In addition to her leadership roles, Deana lectures extensively, consults on various art initiatives, contributes to cultural publications, and has taught at institutions such as Johns Hopkins University and Towson University. She is on the Board of Trustees of the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Artistic Director's Council of Prospect.5, and the Advisory Council of Recess. She received her MFA in Curatorial Practice from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a BA from Rutgers University in Art History and Philosophy.

She is proudly a first-generation Egyptian-American Muslim disabled woman of Afro-Arab descent. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois and New York, New York.

In episode seven of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews Raphael Bemporad (Founding Partner) and Bryan Miller (Chief Financial Officer) of BBMG, a branding and social impact consultancy.

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:

• 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
• 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. Read Rha Goddess's "An Open Letter To My Beloved White Male Allies," mentioned in this episode.

Bios

RAPHAEL BEMPORAD As Founding Partner of BBMG, Raphael unites branding, sustainability and innovation to help organizations create sustainable growth and positive impact in the world. An expert in brand strategy, public affairs and social innovation, Raphael is a passionate champion for a new approach to branding that’s driven by empathy, collaboration, shared values and mutual relationships.

“I’m a passionate champion for a new approach to branding that places our humanity at the center. At BBMG, we help clients unlock the human truths in their brands and unleash the humanity in their businesses so they win hand in hand with the people they serve,” Bemporad says. “We believe the imperative of our generation is to unite the power of business with the meaning and influence of brands to shape our aspirations, behaviors and relationships for a more just and sustainable future.” 

He has directed recent branding and marketing programs for clients such as Adidas, CLIF Bar, Disney, Earthbound Farm, Eileen Fisher, Estée Lauder, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oréal Paris, NBC Universal, Nespresso, Target, The North Face and Walmart. He has also worked with many leading nonprofits including ASPCA, Giffords,...

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Alexis Frasz. [Live show recorded: May 7, 2020.]

ALEXIS FRASZ sees culture as both a context for and a driver of social change. She is a researcher, strategist and advisor to partners in culture, philanthropy, and the environmental sector, helping design and implement strategies to drive transformative change. Her perspective on systems change draws on her background in cultural anthropology, Chinese Medicine, permaculture design, Buddhism, and martial arts. She is passionate about bringing arts and culture into greater solidarity with broader movements working for social, ecological, and economic justice.

Alexis speaks, teaches, and mentors leaders in the U.S. and Canada on integrating creative and civic leadership, and is faculty in the cultural leadership program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and the Creative Climate Leadership program run by Julie’s Bicycle. Her research (with Holly Sidford) on socially engaged artistic practice has informed artist training curriculums and philanthropic programs worldwide. She is actively engaged in Helicon’s ongoing work to confront structural inequities in the cultural sector.

Alexis graduated Summa cum Laude from Princeton University with a degree in Cultural Anthropology and has pursued Master’s level study in Chinese Medicine. She is an advisor of the NorCal Resilience Network, the Headlands Center for the Arts, and The Artist’s Literacy’s Institute. She lives in Oakland, where she spends time in her garden and studies with integrated spiritual/psychological teacher, Jennifer Welwood.

Hear more about Alexis's thoughts on Basic Income.

The process of grieving in the workplace often goes undiscussed. This episode connects with people who have experienced the death of loved ones while working, and explores how we might improve this journey that most of us will confront during our careers.

02:32 Sophia Park

22:25 Melissa Haber 

38:33 Jim Rosenberg 

59:15 Lauren Ruffin

SOPHIA PARK is part of the External Relations team at Fractured Atlas. She studied neuroscience at Oberlin College, and conducted research in neurotoxicology and neurodegenerative disorders before pivoting into the arts. Before joining Fractured Atlas, she worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. She loves the arts, and runs a small exhibition project called Jip Gallery based in New York City. She is also a writer - you can find her writing in StrataMag and Womanly. In her spare time, she likes to run longer than normal distances, find a good spot to go salsa dancing, or sit in front of art work she enjoys.

MELISSA HABER is the Assistant Director of Volunteer & Student Services at Montefiore Medical Center. Previously, she was a Project Manager for Community Workforce Programs at Montefiore. Melissa was born and raised in southern Brazil and moved to the United States as a teenager. She has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Boston University, and master’s degrees from Sarah Lawrence College (Health Advocacy) and New York University (Arts Administration). She is passionate about increasing equity in the health care workforce, eliminating disparities in outcomes, and improving patient experience. In her previous career in Development, Melissa raised funds, wrote grants and planned events for organizations such as the Joyce Theater, Parsons Dance, and the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center. Melissa lives in Westchester with her husband, daughters (ages 10 and 13) and dog. She enjoys reading, writing, taking pictures and yoga.

JIM ROSENBERG is Lecturer and Director, Corporate Engagement, Healthcare Division at the Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee where he works with healthcare leaders who are transforming access, affordability, equity, and excellence in healthcare. Jim designs and delivers degree and non-degree executive education programs, and supports leaders through personalized consulting, teaching, facilitation, and coaching. Jim also works with a diverse mix of mission-driven leaders on strategy, innovation, and growth projects through Workbench, his consulting business. His background includes experience in both nonprofit and commercial organizations, including venture-backed startups, mission-driven nonprofits, and Fortune 500 corporations. Jim holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. You can learn more about Jim's work at www.workbenchdc.com and his career at www.linkedin.com/in/jimrosenberg. 

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guests Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Lisa Yancey. [Live show recorded: May 8, 2020.]

LISA YANCEY is a strategist, social impact entrepreneur, community builder, and visionary who believes that people build legacies in a lifetime. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Lisa Yancey is the president Yancey Consulting (YC) and co-founder of SorsaMED and The We’s Match. With 18 years of practice, YC has served over 100 nonprofit organizations, grantmakers, and individuals. Advising across arts and culture, public space, and justice-based sectors, YC specializes in strategic organizational development, economic modeling, evaluation and assessments, board development, leadership coaching, and executive transition support. SorsaMED is a biotechnology company engineering cannabinoids infused with nutrient-enriched microalgae for therapeutic pain management, with a specific concern for sickle cell anemia sufferers, especially youth. The We’s Match is dedicated to the wealth, scale, and wellness of Black women entrepreneurs. We match these entrepreneurs with resources and capital for business growth and success. Lisa’s dedication to supporting equitable outcomes for systemically disenfranchised people is the seamless thread that binds these companies. Three essential philosophies drive Lisa’s work. One, we must disrupt patterns that either sustain or are complicit to inequities that challenge any person’s or group’s ability to be their full selves. Two, we will never accomplish sustainable goals looking solely in the short-term. She touts, “It is imperative to assess and set generational impact goals (20-25 years from now) that connect to present-day efforts.” The third is best captured in Lilla Watson’s declaration, “If you have come here to help me you are wasting your time, but if you are here because your liberation is bound with mine, then let us work together.” Lisa believes, “I am one of WE.” Lisa matriculated from Boston College Law School and Emory University. She is a former dancer and choreographer. She is also a member of the New York State Bar Association. Lisa currently lives in Mount Vernon, New York, and serves on the board of Fractured Atlas.

MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH is a 2017 TED Global Fellow, an inaugural recipient of the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative, and an honoree of the United States Artists Rockefeller Fellowship. He is also the winner of the 2011 Herb Alpert Award in Theatre, and an inaugural recipient of the Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. In pursuit of affirmations of black life in the public realm, he co-founded the Life is Living Festival for Youth Speaks, and created the installation “Black Joy in the Hour of Chaos” for Creative Time. Joseph’s opera libretto, We Shall Not Be Moved, was named one of 2017’s “Best Classical Music Performances” by The New York Times. His evening length work, /peh-LO-tah/, successfully toured across North America for three years, including at BAM’s Harvey Theater as a part of the 2017 Next Wave Festival. His piece, “The Just and the Blind” investigates the crisis of over-sentencing in the prison industrial complex, and premiered at a sold out performance at Carnegie Hall in March 2019. Bamuthi is currently at work on commissions for the Perelman Center, Yale University, and the Washington National Opera as well as a new collaboration with NYC Ballet Artistic Director Wendy Whelan. Formerly the Chief of Program and Pedagogy at YBCA in San Francisco, Bamuthi currently serves as the Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at The Kennedy Center.

In episode five of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews Ron Carucci, an author and Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Navalent, a firm that works with CEOs and executives who are pursuing transformational change for their organizations and industries.

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
• 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
• 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. Read "Reflections From a Token Black Friend," mentioned in this episode.

Bios

RON CARUCCI is co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, working with CEOs and executives pursuing transformational change for their organizations, leaders, and industries. He has a thirty-year track record helping executives tackle challenges of strategy, organization and leadership. From start-ups to Fortune 10’s, non-profits to heads-of-state, turn-arounds to new markets and strategies, overhauling leadership and culture to re-designing for growth. He has helped organizations articulate strategies that lead to accelerated growth, and design organizations that can execute those strategies. He has worked in more than 25 countries on 4 continents. He is the author of 9 books, including the Amazon #1

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guests Jamie Gahlon & Vijay Mathew. [Live show recorded: April 24, 2020.]

JAMIE GAHLON (she/her/hers) is the Director and a co-founder of HowlRound. She is a co-creator of the World Theatre Map and New Play Map, oversees the HowlRound Journal and HowlRound TV, supports the work of the Latinx Theatre Commons, and co-administers The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s National Playwright Residency Program, and regularly produces theatre convenings around urgent field-wide issues. Prior to her work at HowlRound, Jamie helped launched the American Voices New Play Institute and the NEA New Play Development Program at Arena Stage. Jamie has also worked for New York Stage & Film, and the New Victory Theatre. She is a proud member of the Latinx Theatre Commons Steering Committee, the Committee of the Jubilee, and a Think Tank Member for the Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics. Jamie holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service with a focus on Culture & Politics from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She originally hails from Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes, and likes to dabble.

VIJAY MATHEW (he/him/his) is the Cultural Strategist and a co-founder of HowlRound Theatre Commons, based at Emerson College, Boston, USA and is privileged to assist a talented team by leading HowlRound's development of commons-based online knowledge sharing platforms and the organization's notions of cultural innovation. Prior to his current position, he was the Coordinator for the National Endowment for the Arts (USA) New Play Development Program, as well as a Theater Communication Group (USA) New Generations Future Leader grant recipient in new work at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Vijay has a MFA from New School University, New York, a BA from University of Chicago, and an artistic background as an ensemble-based filmmaker and theatremaker. He is a board member of Double Edge Theatre located in rural Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA.

A year ago, many organizations flipped the switch to being entirely virtual workplaces almost overnight. As the world begins to re-open, we can't simply un-flip that switch. We're still living through the uncertainty of a global pandemic.

In this episode, co-hosts Lauren Ruffin and Tim Cynova discuss the upcoming Ethical Re-Opening Summit that they're producing on April 27, 2021. They'll be previewing some of the speakers and sessions, as well as discussing their hopes for the convening.

The summit brings together people who for years have been actively thinking and designing organizations to create inclusive and equitable workplaces. Speakers and panels will be discussion how we craft our workplaces that are unique to each of us, our values, our resources, our communities, and our missions. This time together gives attendees a moment to learn, share, and iterate on our own ideas and practices. 

TIM CYNOVA wears a multitude of hats, all in service of creating anti-racist workplaces where people can thrive. He currently is Co-CEO of the U.S.-based non-profit Fractured Atlas, a 20-year-old organization that in 2013 committed to becoming anti-racist in its work and operations. Relatedly, he is a Principal of the consulting group Work. Shouldn't. Suck. that assists organizations of all sizes and sectors with the “how” of creating anti-racist workplaces. Tim serves on the faculty of Canada’s Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity and New York's The New School teaching courses in People-Centric Organizational Design; he's a trained mediator, and a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR). He also co-hosts a popular podcast under the Work. Shouldn’t. Suck. moniker. Earlier in his career, Tim was the Executive Director of The Parsons Dance Company and of High 5 Tickets to the Arts in New York City, had a memorable stint with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was a one-time classical trombonist, musicologist, and for five years in his youth he delivered newspapers for the Evansville, Indiana Courier-Press. Also, during a particularly slow summer, he bicycled 3,902 miles across the United States.

LAUREN RUFFIN is a thinker, designer, & leader interested in building strong, sustainable, anti-racist systems & organizations. She frequently explores how we can leverage new technologies to combat racial and economic injustice. Lauren is the co-founder of Crux, an international network & for-profit cooperative of Black artists creating stories in XR that hosts an online community & will launch VR distribution platform in 2020. Since 2016, she has served as Co-CEO & Chief External Relations Officer for Fractured Atlas, the nation's largest association of artists & creators. She is also the founder of Artist Campaign School, an educational program that has trained more than 70 artists to run for political office. Lauren graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Political Science & obtained a J.D. from Howard University. She has served on the governing board of Black Girls Code & is on the advisory boards of ArtUp & Black Girl Ventures.

In this episode, we explore unlimited paid time off policies: what they are, what they aren't, and items to consider when implementing this type of approach to PTO.

Katrina Donald takes over hosting duties and turns the interviewee's microphone unusually in Tim Cynova's direction as they discuss Paid Time Off and his experience transitioning an organization to an Unlimited Paid vacation day policy.

Katrina Donald based in Treaty 7 Territory, Katrina (she/her) is the principal consultant at ever-so-curious. She believes that listening and sensemaking practices bring us into community, reveal pathways forward, encourage and embolden us, and allow for greater impact. Her approach is relational and developmental; she works in partnership with people and organizations to co-design inclusive, collaborative and continuously emerging evaluation and HR strategies.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba and a Masters Certificate in Organization Development and Change from the Canadian Organization Development Institute (CODI) and the Schulich Executive and Education Centre (SEEC) at York University. She is a mother, wife, daughter, sister, systems thinker, developmental evaluator, program designer, and a Registered Professional Recruiter (RPR). She’s committed to showing up for her own ongoing learning and to building workplaces that are actively anti-racist, praxis-centered and humble as they work through the prickly bramble of change. Learn more on LinkedIn.

Tim Cynova, SPHR (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, anti-oppressive organization since they made that commitment in 2013. Earlier in his career, Tim was the Executive Director of The Parsons Dance Company and of High 5 Tickets to the Arts in New York City, had a memorable stint with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was a one-time classical trombonist, musicologist, and for five years in his youth he delivered newspapers for the Evansville, Indiana Courier-Press. Learn more on LinkedIn.

This week, the world lost an amazing light of a human: Diane Ragsdale.

This episode is a previously lost and unreleased conversation that host Tim Cynova recorded with Diane at the Banff Centre in February 2020, a few weeks before the world shut down for the global pandemic... and they promptly forgot they even recorded this conversation together.

Originally intended to be titled, "Investing in Personal and Professional Growth," the conversation explores Diane's thoughts on the role of the arts and artists in society, the role arts management and leadership programs can and should play, and how we can craft our own learning and development plan. It also includes a few clips they thought would eventually be left on the cutting room floor.

Sending love and strength to Diane's family and friends, students and colleagues who are located all over the world.

GUEST BIO:

DIANE RAGSDALE is Director of the MA in Creative Leadership, an online master’s program that welcomed its first cohort in summer 2022 and for which she additionally has an appointment as Faculty and Scholar. After 15 years working years working within and leading cultural institutions and another several years working in philanthropy at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in NYC, she made the shift to academia and along the way became a widely read blogger, frequent speaker and panelist, published author, lecturer, scholar, and advisor to a range of nonprofit institutions, government agencies, and foundations on a wide range of arts and culture topics.

Diane joins MCAD from both Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity, where she served as Faculty and Director of the Cultural Leadership Program, and Yale University where she is adjunct faculty and leads an annual four-week workshop on Aesthetic Values in a Changed Cultural Context. She was previously an assistant professor and program director at The New School in New York, where she successfully built an MA in Arts Management and Entrepreneurship in the School of Performing Arts and launched a new graduate minor in Creative Community Development in collaboration with Parsons School of Design and the Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment. Diane is a doctoral candidate at Erasmus University Rotterdam where she was a lecturer in the Cultural Economics MA program from 2011–15. She continues to work on her dissertation as time permits. 

Her essay “Post-Show” was recently published in the Routledge Companion to Audiences and the Performing Arts (2022); and a teaching case that she developed from her doctoral research on the relationship between the commercial and nonprofit theater in America–currently titled “Margo Jones: bridging divides to craft a new hybrid logic for theater in the US”–will be published in the forthcoming Edward Elgar handbook, Case Studies in Arts Entrepreneurship. 

Diane holds an MFA in Acting & Directing from University of Missouri-Kansas City and a BS in Psychology and BFA in Theater from Tulane University. She was part of Stanford University’s inaugural Executive Program for Nonprofit Arts Leaders, produced in partnership with National Arts Strategies. She holds a certificate in Mediation and Creative Conflict Resolution from the Center for Understanding in Conflict.

HOST:

TIM CYNOVA (he/him) is the CEO of Work Shouldn’t Suck, an HR and org design firm helping organizations dust off their People policies, practices, and offerings to co-create workplaces where everyone can thrive. He is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and a trained mediator, and serves on the faculty of Minneapolis College of Art & Design, the Hollyhock Leadership Institute (Cortes Island, Canada), and The New School (New York City) teaching courses in Strategic HR, Co-Creating Inclusive Workplaces, 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.

Guests

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,...

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Syrus Marcus Ware, a Vanier Scholar, visual artist, activist, curator and educator. [Live show recorded: April 13, 2020.]

SYRUS MARCUS WARE uses painting, installation and performance to explore social justice frameworks and black activist culture. His work has been shown widely, including in a solo show at Grunt Gallery, Vancouver (2068:Touch Change) and new work commissioned for the 2019 Toronto Biennial of Art and the Ryerson Image Centre (Antarctica and Ancestors, Do You Read Us? (Dispatches from the Future)) and in group shows at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Art Gallery of York University, the Art Gallery of Windsor and as part of the curated content at Nuit Blanche 2017 (The Stolen People; Wont Back Down). His performance works have been part of festivals across Canada, including at Cripping The Stage (Harbourfront Centre, 2016, 2019), Complex Social Change (University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, 2015) and Decolonizing and Decriminalizing Trans Genres (University of Winnipeg, 2015).

He is part of the PDA (Performance Disability Art) Collective and co-programmed Crip Your World: An Intergalactic Queer/POC Sick and Disabled Extravaganza as part of Mayworks 2014. Syrus' recent curatorial projects include That’s So Gay (Gladstone Hotel, 2016-2019), Re:Purpose (Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 2014) and The Church Street Mural Project (Church-Wellesley Village, 2013). Syrus is also co-curator of The Cycle, a two-year disability arts performance initiative of the National Arts Centre.

Syrus is a core-team member of Black Lives Matter-Toronto. Syrus is a co-curator of Blackness Yes!/Blockorama. Syrus has won several awards, including the TD Diversity Award in 2017. Syrus was voted “Best Queer Activist” by NOW Magazine (2005) and was awarded the Steinert and Ferreiro Award (2012). Syrus is a facilitator/designer at the Banff Centre. Syrus is a PhD candidate at York University in the Faculty of Environmental Studies.

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...

Why and how do you decolonize an organization's bylaws?

In this episode, host Tim Cynova connects with three leaders from the U.S.-based nonprofit Dance/USA about their recent and ongoing work to decolonize their organization. Joining the discussion are Kellee Edusei, Executive Director of Dance/USA, and Holly Bass and Jim Leija, two members of the Board of Directors who co-lead the process to decolonize their organizational bylaws.

We discussed the what, why, and how of the process Dance/USA engaged in over the past couple of years.

Visit Dance/USA online.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

• The importance of decolonizing organizational structures: The conversation highlights the need to critically examine and reimagine organizational structures that are often rooted in racism and oppression. Decolonizing these structures is essential for fostering inclusivity and equity in the workplace.
• The significance of continuous reflection and learning: The leaders of Dance/USA emphasize the importance of an ongoing process of reflection and learning in the journey of decolonization. This includes acknowledging challenges, celebrating successes, and adapting strategies as necessary.
• Core values as guiding principles: Dance/USA operates based on core values – creativity, connectivity, equity, and integrity – that serve as guiding principles for their work in decolonizing their bylaws and developing inclusive practices.
• Collective responsibility in creating change: The conversation underscores the collective responsibility of individuals and organizations in creating an anti-racist, inclusive, and equitable dance field. This necessitates collaboration, sharing of resources, and actively challenging systemic barriers.

GUEST BIOS:

HOLLY BASS is a multidisciplinary performance and visual artist, writer, and director. Her work explores the unspoken and invisible social codes surrounding gender, class, and race. She was a 2020–2022 Live Feed Resident Artist at New York Live Arts and a 2021–22 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow. She is the recipient of Dance/USA's Engaging Dance Audiences grant and part of their inaugural class of Dance/USA Fellowships for Artists. She studied modern dance (under Viola Farber) and creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College before earning her Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Her work has been presented at spaces such as the National Portrait Gallery, the Seattle Art Museum, Art Basel Miami Beach (Project Miami Fair), and the 2022 Venice Biennale as part of Simone Leigh's Loophole of Retreat. Her visual artwork includes photography, installation, video, and performance. A Cave Canem Fellow, she has published poems in numerous journals and anthologies. She is currently the National Director for Turnaround Arts at the Kennedy Center, a program which uses the arts strategically to transform public schools facing severe inequities. 

KELLEE EDUSEI (she/her) is the first BIPOC Executive Director of Dance/USA, a forty-one year old, historically and predominately white led organization. After over a decade of serving in multiple capacities (first as the Office Manager and soon after as the Board Liaison and Director of Member Services), Edusei currently has the privilege of sitting at the helm of Dance/USA during this moment of change. Edusei embodies an ethos of “being in humble service to the dance ecosystem.” Through her leadership, she is committed to cultivating a practice of bringing to life the organization’s stated core values of Creativity, Connectivity, Equity and Integrity. Under her leadership, Edusei is leading Dance/USA in building an environment that...

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Gail Crider, President & CEO, NAS. [Live show recorded: April 14, 2020.]

GAIL CRIDER is President & CEO of NAS. She facilitates strategy, program design and organizational alignment to values. She consults on strategy, leadership, planning and governance. Gail was Vice President and COO for over a decade and was instrumental in our transition from the National Arts Stabilization Fund to National Arts Strategies and providing the range of services offered today.

Over the course of her career, Gail has been an entrepreneur, worked with a variety of nonprofit organizations and spent a decade in philanthropy. Prior to NAS, she was as a program officer for a private foundation where she worked on inner-city redevelopment and community building in Washington, D.C. Gail has also worked for the Arizona Commission on the Arts, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre, the National Endowment for the Arts and Key Bank. She co-chaired the Community Development Support Collaborative in Washington, D.C., and has served as a senior fellow for the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania, on the audit committee for the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and on grant panels for the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps), the National Endowment for the Arts and the Department of Treasury, CDFI Fund. She holds a B.S. in theater from Lewis and Clark College and continues to learn formally and informally through her work at NAS, including continuing education at Stanford University, Harvard Business School and University of Michigan – Ross School of Business.

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,...

This conversation was recorded as part of Work Shouldn't Suck's Ethical Re-Opening Summit that took place on April 27, 2021.

What does it look like to co-create a future where everyone thrives? We explore re-imagining the role of the art center as a canvas and place to play and explore, and how to transform society by transforming organizations and the systems and structures that built and sustain them.

Guest

DEBORAH CULLINAN Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) CEO Deborah Cullinan is one of the nation’s leading thinkers on the pivotal role artists and arts organizations can play in shaping our social and political landscape, and has spent years mobilizing communities through arts and culture. Deborah is committed to revolutionizing the role art centers play in public life and during her tenure at YBCA, she has launched several bold new programs, engagement strategies, and civic coalitions. Prior to joining YBCA in 2013, she was the Executive Director of San Francisco’s Intersection for the Arts. She is a co-founder of CultureBank, co-chair of the San Francisco Arts Alliance, Vice Chair of the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy, and on the boards of the Community Arts Stabilization Trust and HumanMade. She is a Field Leader in Residence at Arizona State University’s National Accelerator for Cultural Innovation and a former Innovator in Residence at the Kauffman Foundation. She currently serves on Governor Gavin Newsom’s Jobs and Business Recovery Task Force.

Co-Hosts

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. As part of this work, she frequently participates in conversations on circular economies, social impact financing, solidarity movements, and innovative, non-extractive financing mechanisms. Lauren is 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 is currently the interim Chief Marketing Officer of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), where she focuses on amplifying the stories and activism of the YBCA community. Prior to joining YBCA, 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. She has served on the governing board of 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.

TIM CYNOVA (he/him) is Principal of Work. Shouldn’t. Suck., a management consulting firm specializing in HR and human-centered organizational design. Whether it's through shared leadership...

In episode eight of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews Marc Mannella formerly CEO of KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools and currently a consultant working with clients that range from professional sports teams, to charter schools, to non-profits.

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
• 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.

Bios

MARC MANNELLA is the President of Mannella Consulting Services, specializing in leadership coaching, and optimizing learning environments in schools, non-profits, and sport. Prior to his work consulting, Mannella had a 20-year career in education; first as a science teacher, then as founder and Principal of KIPP Philadelphia Charter School, a college preparatory middle school in North Philadelphia. After five years at KIPP as principal, he led KIPP Philadelphia’s expansion to a five-school network serving nearly 2000 students in grades K-12, overseeing all aspects of school and network operations as KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools’ CEO. He holds a B.A. in Psychology and Biology from the University of Rochester, and an M.Ed. in Education Leadership from National Louis University. Find out more about Marc 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 College of Art & Design, the Banff Centre for Arts &...

In this episode, co-hosts Tim Cynova and Lauren Ruffin introduce a new 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," where Tim interviews white men in positions of leadership whose companies are engaged in understanding how racism and oppression are at play in their organizations and the work they do.

Download the accompanying series study guide.

Series guests include:

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

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?”

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

Co-Hosts

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, anti-oppressive organization since they made that commitment in 2013. Earlier in his career, Tim was the Executive Director of The Parsons Dance Company and of High 5 Tickets to the Arts in New York City, had a memorable stint with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was a one-time classical trombonist, musicologist, and for five years in his youth he delivered newspapers for the Evansville, Indiana Courier-Press.

LAUREN RUFFIN (she/her) is a thinker, designer, &...

Three members of the Toronto-based company Generator discuss their approach to inclusive hiring practices as recently demonstrated during their call for new organizational leadership.

While the search has concluded with their recent appointment, you can still check out the archived position posting here. Two consultants mentioned during the episode include: Zainab Amadahy and Angela Sun.

SEDINA FIATI is a Toronto based performer, producer, director, creator and activist for stage and screen. Proudly Black and queer, Sedina is deeply invested in artistic work that explores the intersection between art and activism, either in form or structure or ideally both. Sedina is currently Artist-Activist in Residence at Nightwood Theatre and proud founding member of the Black Pledge Collective. Sedina was the co-chair of ACTRA Toronto’s Diversity Committee and 2nd VP of council for Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Sedina has worked with Generator since 2018, focusing on providing mentorship, program development and coordination for the Artist Producer Training Program. Upcoming projects: Switching Queen(s) (devised street performance), Last Dance (a web series).

KRISTINA LEMIEUX (she/her) is an accomplished arts manager with more than 20 years of professional experience. She is also a contemporary dancer. Raised in Treaty 6 territory (rural Alberta), Kristina lived in Edmonton, attending the University of Alberta, for 10 years before heading to Vancouver where her passion for the arts has driven collaboration, creation, and innovation in the Vancouver arts scene for over a decade. After working with Generator in a freelance capacity for several years, Kristina made the move to Toronto in January 2017 to take on the role of Lead Producer of Generator. Kristina has worked with many of Vancouver's leading art organizations: Brief Encounters, Arts Umbrella, New Works, Out On Screen (Queer Film Festival), Vancouver International Bhangra Celebration, PTC Playwrights Theatre Centre, Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists/West Chapter (CADA/West), Tara Cheyenne Performance, Made in BC - Dance on Tour, Theatre Replacement, Progress Lab 1422, The Post at 750 (110 Arts Cooperative), Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF), Up in the Air Theatre (rEvolver Festival), Music on Main, and Vancouver Art Gallery. She co-founded Polymer Dance, a group dedicated to bringing dance experiences to non-professional dancers. Kristina remains tied to Vancouver through her project Scaffold, a coaching and skill development service designed to support performing artists and groups. She is the co-founder and Creative Producer of F-O-R-M (Festival of Recorded Movement) and works frequently with the Dancers of Damelahamid and Coastal Dance Festival. Kristina is passionate about generating dialogue in the arts and, to this end, earned a certificate in Dialogue and Civic Engagement from Simon Fraser University. In all that she does she works to support independent artists across performing disciplines in finding ways to make art outside of the currently prescribed modes.

TED WITZEL (he/him) is a queer theatre-maker and arts leader based in toronto / tkaròn:to. primarily a director, ted is also variously a dramaturg, curator, teacher, writer, translator, designer, and performer. he has worked in theatres in vancouver, montreal, stratford, ottawa, london, berlin, milan, palermo, stuttgart, ingolstadt, baden-baden and bad hersfeld. ted is currently...

What behaviors differentiate a Director from a Senior Director? What traits does a CEO need to demonstrate to be successful in their role that are similar or different from what an Admin Assistant needs?

On this episode we're talking tools, specifically one called The Behavior Dashboard. We chat with Pallavi Sharma and Jillian Wright who lead the creation of The Behavior Dashboard. The Dashboard was developed by the team at Fractured Atlas to help staff articulate the often murky area of behaviors and "soft skills" that differentiate what’s necessary for someone to succeed and thrive at different levels in the organization. The tool can then help identify specific areas for professional development that can "level up" someone's knowledge, skills, and abilities.

Pallavi and Jillian talk about the journey they took with colleagues to lead to the creation of this tool, what is it exactly, how can it be used, and what questions and future hopes they still have for it. 

If you want to follow along at home, you can download a copy of Fractured Atlas's Behavior Dashboard from the Work. Shouldn't. Suck. website.

Pallavi Sharma currently serves as the Chief Program Officer of Fractured Atlas where she oversees the team responsible for program strategy and growth, product development, customer service, and R&D. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas, Pallavi was a full-time consultant helping nonprofit organizations and women entrepreneurs develop strategies, streamline operations, improve team effectiveness, and market themselves successfully. Her previous roles were varied and global, including working at large organizations like 1800Flowers.com and Everyday Health Inc., to startups funded by Goldman Sachs, as well as an early stint in the luxury retail industry in India. After her 16+ years in the corporate sector, Pallavi is excited to transition her skills and experience to follow her passion for the nonprofit space. Pallavi is a voracious reader, an aspiring writer and a lover of all things in nature – plants, animals, even bugs. Pallavi completed her MBA from IIM, Bangalore India and holds a Bachelor’s degree with triple majors in Psychology, English Literature and Journalism.

Jillian Wright is currently the Senior Director, People Operations & Controller at Fractured Atlas, an organization she joined in 2010. As Controller, she manages and oversees all financial procedures and policies for the organization, as well as supervises compliance reporting including the annual organizational audit. As a member of the People Team, Jillian manages the company payroll and benefits, and assists in the organization's strategic HR efforts. Prior to Fractured Atlas, she worked in arts management and accounting for Stephen Petronio Company, Robert Battle’s Battleworks Dance Company, The Center for Kinesthetic Education, and The Diller-Quaile School of Music. In her spare time, Jillian enjoys taking ballet class, gardening, and hiking with her family. Jillian is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR).

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Dave Archuletta, Chief Development Officer, New York Lives Arts. [Live show recorded: April 16, 2020.]

DAVE ARCHULETTA Since 2015, Dave has served as Chief Development Officer at New York Live Arts, where he is responsible for leading the organization’s fundraising efforts including individual giving, special events, institutional funding, and fiscal sponsorship. He is also responsible for the management and development of Live Arts education initiatives such as its partnership with the local James Baldwin High School and work with youthful detainees on Rikers Island.

Prior to joining New York Live Arts, Dave lived in San Francisco where he served as Executive Director of Joe Goode Performance Group (JGPG). While leading JGPG, he oversaw the capital campaign and buildout of the new Joe Goode Annex performance space, its capitalization and its public programs.

Previously he was a consultant and producer in Berlin, Germany, and before that he served as Program Director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company (BTJ/AZC) in NYC. In his role at BTJ/AZC he developed the Company's licensing program, increased touring revenue, and under his leadership the Company entered markets in Singapore and Taiwan for the first time. Dave also oversaw the development of the Company's education and community engagement programs and was instrumental in producing the Company's first talk series, Breaking Ground with Bill T. Jones at Harlem Stage, funded by JP Morgan Chase.

Dave has also held positions in the dance touring division at IMG Artists, and the performing arts curatorial department at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Dave is a UC Berkeley graduate with dual degrees in Art Practice & Rhetoric (film emphasis).

He is also an independent music producer, living in the LES with his wife, abstract artist Megan Olson and their senior cat Dandelion.

In episode four of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews Jay Coen Gilbert, CEO of Imperative21 and Co-Founder of B Lab.

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:

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

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

Bios

Jay Coen Gilbert is CEO of Imperative 21, a business-led network that believes the imperative of the 21st century is to RESET our economic system so that its purpose is to create shared well being on a healthy planet. Network steward organizations include B Lab, The B Team, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP), Common Future, Conscious Capitalism, Inc., Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), JUST Capital, and Participant. Imperative 21 builds on Jay’s experience as cofounder of B Lab, the nonprofit behind the global B Corporation movement. Along with his B Lab cofounders, Jay is the recipient of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship and the McNulty Prize at the Aspen Institute, where he is a Henry Crown Fellow. Since 2016, Jay has been called into antiracism work, prioritizing his own learning and UNlearning journey while co-convening multiracial and white caucus spaces and formats including WMRJ (White Men for Racial Justice) and AWARE (Allies Whites Against Racism for Equity), both designed to help white people come together in peer-led communities of learning and practice to develop racial literacy, stamina, and communication skills, and a commitment to dismantle racism in ourselves, our organizations, our communities, and our country. Prior to co-founding B Lab (and despite having no game), Jay co-founded and sold AND1, a $250M basketball footwear, apparel, and entertainment company. He has also worked for McKinsey & Co, as well as organizations in the public and...

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Christy Bolingbroke, Executive & Artistic Director, National Center for Choreography at The University of Akron. [Live show recorded: April 9, 2020.]

CHRISTY BOLINGBROKE Following a national search, Christy Bolingbroke was named the first Executive & Artistic Director of the National Center for Choreography located at The University of Akron. In this role, she provides both artistic and administrative leadership for NCCAkron, building upon her extensive experience in curatorial programs and external relations.

Christy came to NCCAkron from the San Francisco-based ODC (founded at Oberlin College in Ohio in 1971 as the Oberlin Dance Collective), where she served as the Deputy Director for Advancement. In that position she oversaw curation and performance programming, managed marketing and development campus-wide, directed a unique three-year artist in residence program for dance artists, and mentored emerging arts administrators.

Christy was formerly the Director of Marketing for the Mark Morris Dance Group in Brooklyn where she increased touring ticket sales worldwide and activated Access/MMDG events in major hub cities nationally. The Access/MMDG program uses custom-tailored arts and humanities-based activities to deepen and enhance the audience experience.

Bolingbroke has a B.A. in Dance from the University of California, Los Angeles, is a graduate of the DeVos Institute for Arts Management Fellowships Program (previously at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC), Arts & Business Council of New York’s Arts Leadership Institute, and holds a Master's Degree from the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at Wesleyan University.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Cathy Edwards. [Live show recorded: April 27, 2020.]

CATHY EDWARDS is Executive Director of the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), where she has served since January, 2015. She believes art has a unique role to play in engaging people and communities, and is committed to building opportunity and equity in the creative sector. NEFA invests in artists and communities and fosters equitable access to the arts, enriching the cultural landscape in New England and the nation. The organization administers an array of grant-making programs and professional services, and conducts research into New England’s creative economy. NEFA works in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s Regional Arts Organizations, and New England’s six state arts agencies, in addition to private philanthropy, to accomplish its work, with an annual budget of over $8 million. Cathy previously served as director of programming at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, CT; as the artistic director at both the Time-Based Art Festival at PICA in Portland, OR and Dance Theater Workshop in New York City; and as co-director of Movement Research in New York City. She has served on the board of directors of the Association of Performing Arts Professionals, as chair of the board of directors of Movement Research, and as vice-chair of the board of directors of the National Performance Network. She holds a BA from Yale College. Cathy has two children, both young adults, is married to an activist law professor, and lives in both New Haven, CT and Cambridge, MA.

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Kristina Newman-Scott, President, BRIC. [Live show recorded: April 15, 2020.]

KRISTINA NEWMAN-SCOTT serves as President of BRIC, a leading arts and media institution anchored in Downtown Brooklyn whose work spans a contemporary visual and performing arts, media, and civic action. She is the first immigrant and first woman of color to serve in this position and one of the very few women of color leading a major New York cultural institution.

Under her tenure, BRIC embarked on an ambitious human-centered process in pursuit of clarity of purpose in the form of a new four-year Strategic Plan. That process led to a rearticulated mission, informed by the institution's impact and legacy, and a newly articulated vision statement, guided by aspirational goals. In addition, she led a renewed commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusivity in every aspect of the organization.

Previously, Newman-Scott served as the Director of Culture and State Historic Preservation Officer for the State of Connecticut; Director of Marketing, Events and Cultural Affairs for the City of Hartford; Director of Programs at the Boston Center for the Arts; and Director of Visual Arts at Hartford's Real Art Ways.

Ms. Newman-Scott's awards and recognitions include being a National Arts Strategies Creative Community Fellow, A Hive Global Leadership Selectee, and a Next City Urban Vanguard. In June 2018, Americans for the Arts presented Kristina with the Selina Roberts Ottum Award, which recognizes an individual working in arts management who exemplifies extraordinary leadership qualities.

A TEDx speaker, guest lecturer, visiting curator, Kristina currently serves on the Boards of the New England Foundation for the Arts, National Arts Strategies, and Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. She resides in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, with her husband and two children.

"What’s in a Workplace?" dives into the physical and virtual components and connections that form the structures around how we work. And increasingly, these components are changing what work looks and feels like. We discuss Convention versus Invention, Creating workplaces with commitments to anti-racism and anti-oppression, and why do many creative sector organizations often seem to park their creative instincts when it comes to designing their organizations.

Our guests on this episode: Rachel Casanova, Andrew Taylor, and Ramphis Castro discuss tools to help us in our daily work and then explore the philosophical when we think about what does it mean for social creatures like humans to work entirely distributed from each other. As always, we're joined by podcasting's favorite co-host at the close of the episode to get her thoughts on the topic (spoiler alert: hammock desks).

01:20 Rachel Casanova

35:20 Andrew Taylor

58:20 Ramphis Castro

1:37:00 Lauren Ruffin

Rachel Casanova is currently the Senior Managing Director of Workplace Innovation at Cushman & Wakefield. She has more than 25 years of diverse industry experience advising companies on how to transform their real estate assets to reinforce long-term business strategies, corporate culture, as well as integrated space, technology and performance goals. Prior to Cushman & Wakefield, Rachel founded Balansett, a workplace consulting practice, with clients spanning legal firms, professional services, technology, non-profits and architectural firms. During the course of her career, Rachel has addressed workplace-related advances from multiple vantage points—working within an end-user environment at Nortel Networks, serving as a design consultant at Herman Miller, and leading Workplace Strategy at Mancini Duffy, Perkins + Will and most recently, R/GA. As the Global Co-Leader of Planning + Strategy at Perkins + Will, Rachel supported clients with various workplace initiatives including activity based working, change management, occupancy strategy, and workplace/business alignment. As the Managing Director of the Connected Spaces practice at R/GA, she spearheaded the digital marketing and communications company’s efforts to use digital design to drive the physical experiences in workplaces. Rachel’s other major achievements include developing the Workplace of the Future initiative for KPMG in the US from 2004-2015. This effort included the development of the overarching strategy as well as the transition management approach and implementation for over 20 KPMG offices. Forward-thinking and creative, Rachel is passionate about the convergence of organizational behavior, the human experience, and real estate. She is frequently called upon as a subject matter expert and has contributed regularly to audiences in conferences and education seminars. Rachel has recently spoken at Worktech. RealComm, CoreNet, CRE Tech, Cornell University, NYU, IIDA, and Neocon.

E. Andrew Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Arts Management Program, and Chair of the Department of Performing Arts at American University, exploring the intersection of arts, culture, and business. An author, lecturer, and researcher on a broad range of arts management issues, Andrew has also served as a consultant to arts organizations and cultural initiatives throughout the U.S. and Canada, including the William Penn Foundation, Overture Center for the Arts, American Ballet Theatre, Create Austin, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, among others. Prior to joining the AU faculty, Andrew served as Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration in the Wisconsin School of Business for over a decade. Andrew is past president of the Association of Arts Administration Educators, current board member of the innovative arts support organization Fractured Atlas, and consulting editor both...

We're talking remote work arrangements. Specifically, we’re talking about what teams and organizations can do to introduce, experiment, and iterate on virtual work tools and arrangements, especially in light of things like the spread of COVID-19.

We cover a wealth of topics from VPNs to video meetings; going virtual first to balancing life and work when they both are happening in the same space; setting up a space at home to how people work when no one is watching them. Our guests' advice in a nutshell: It's OK to be wrong, we only learn by trying to new things. Keep iterating and adjusting.

01:05 Nicola Carpenter & Andrew Hanson

47:45 Shawn Anderson & Lauren Ruffin

1:10:30 Lauren Ruffin & Tim Cynova

SHAWN ANDERSON currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Fractured Atlas where he oversees the organization's software development operations. In that role, he serves as one of the four members of the organization's non-hierarchical leadership team. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas Shawn was a founding partner at Gemini SBS, where he managed the development of web applications for a number of U.S. Department of Education funded projects including the Federal Resource Center, the Regional Resource Center Program, the Family Center on Technology and Disability, and the Technical Assistance Coordination Center. He Holds a B.A. in user interface design from Hampshire College.

NICOLA CARPENTER works on the People team at Fractured Atlas, where she finds ways for tools and processes to better align with the organization’s purpose. She believes in tools so much that she sets personal OKRs every quarter. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas, Nicola worked for a variety of arts organizations including MoMA PS1, Walker Art Center, and Heidelberger Kunstverein, and she still has a particular love for museums. Originally from Minneapolis, she received a BFA in Art from the University of Minnesota and continues to stay creative through knitting and sewing clothes. She is currently in too many book clubs, but still somehow finds time to read books about organizational culture for fun. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at @colacarp.

ANDREW HANSON is currently the Senior DevOps Engineer at Fractured Atlas. Prior to that position he has spent the last 12 years at everything from start-ups to Fortune 500s applying his infrastructure design and automation skills. Formally trained as a Research Psychologist, and receiving his M.S. in Social Psychology, he started out applying motivational theory to the world of video games. From there he rediscovered his love of technology and made a career change to the path he is on now. Outside of work Andrew runs the Orlando Linux Users Group, and enjoys being a Disney family with his wife and three boys.

[Note: This episode was recorded in late February and early March 2020 before the global spread of COVID-19, and the subsequent cancellation of the NCAA tournament.]

Basketball, business, and beyond! When you work with two of the BIGGEST college basketball fans, you sit down with them in advance of the NCAA March Madness tournament to talk teams. Basketball not quite your thing? Well, we also talk cycling teams, and business "superstars," and psychology.

We explore the topic of building better work teams through the lens of sport. We'll talk competition and cooperation, rivals and allies, is it really possible to give more than 100%, and a whole host of fascinating things.

Laura Jorgensen currently serves as the Senior Director, Financial Operations and Analysis where she is responsible for driving Fractured Atlas’s strategic financial goals. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas she held roles ranging from the CEO of e-commerce start-up The RunnerBox to varied strategic and financial positions at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. She holds a BSBA in Economics from The University of Miami and in her spare time you can find her pedaling her bike up and down the mountains of Asheville, NC. Prior to her life on two wheels, Laura was a First Team All-State shooting guard, multi-time AAU Basketball state champion, and still remains the only woman to ever win Royal Caribbean’s hotly contested March Madness pool.

In episode three of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews John Orr, Executive Director of the Philadelphia-based Art-Reach.

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:

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

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

Bios

JOHN ORR is the Executive Director at Art-Reach in the city of Philadelphia where he leads an effort to end systemic exclusion for people with disabilities and people experiencing poverty within Philadelphia’s cultural sector. Over his tenure Art-Reach has positioned itself as an innovative leader in accessible arts programming. The past 23 years of Orr’s career has focused on ensuring cultural access to as many people as possible. He has served as President of the Museum Council of Greater Philadelphia and has worked at large museums, small community art centers and international research institutions. Orr connects with the disability community and the cultural sector though his work on the Mayor’s Commission on People with Disabilities, the Board of the PA Humanities and the Board of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund. Orr identifies as neurodiverse and lives in South Philadelphia with his partner Allison, 11-year old daughter Maddie, and two grey cats who hold deep disdain for each other.

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...

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Deborah Cullinan, Chief Executive Officer, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. [Live show recorded: April 8, 2020.]

DEBORAH CULLINAN Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) CEO Deborah Cullinan is one of the nation’s leading thinkers on the pivotal role arts organizations can play in shaping our social and political landscape, and has spent years mobilizing communities through arts and culture. Deborah is committed to revolutionizing the role art centers play in public life and during her tenure at YBCA, she has launched several bold new programs, engagement strategies, and civic coalitions. Prior to joining YBCA in 2013, she was the Executive Director of San Francisco’s Intersection for the Arts. She is a co-founder of CultureBank and ArtsForum SF, co-chair of the San Francisco Arts Alliance and on the board of the Community Arts Stabilization Trust. Her passion for using art and creativity to shift culture has made her a sought- after speaker at events and conferences around the world.

On this episode: "CEO Not *Necessarily* Required." We look at shared or distributed leadership models, what are they, what aren’t they, how they work, how you might evaluate different models, and might they be right for you and your organization.

Mike Courville, Kelly Kienzle, Holly Sidford, and Russell Willis Taylor take us on an action-packed adventure. And, if after this episode you're still hungry for more about shared leadership, our next episode dives into part two of this adventure by chatting with the members of Fractured Atlas's four-person, shared, non-hierarchical leadership team.

01:00 Mike Courville

41:42 Kelly Kienzle

1:11:08 Holly Sidford & Russell Willis Taylor

Michael Courville is Founder and Principal of Open Mind, an independent consulting firm that combines research insights with direct social sector experience, to tackle problems that impact people and spiral out to organizations and into complex systems. Michael has deep experience with organizational capacity building, change management, applied social research, community development, and social sector strategy formation. His current research and client projects focus on workplace democratization and decision-making systems in nonprofits, understanding the role of arts and culture in community change, social policy under neoliberalism, and the political cost of inequality for civil society. Michael holds graduate degrees from the University of California-Berkeley in social welfare and comparative development policy. He is an associate member of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers and an affiliate of the RoadMap consulting network. He currently serves as adjunct faculty in the Department of Sociology at Sonoma State University. (The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation's case studies in Distributed Leadership can be found here.)

Kelly Kienzle, founder of Open Circle Coaching, provides leadership coaching and professional development programs to individuals and teams to improve organizational performance in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. Kelly is a people development specialist with over 25 years of experience and is a certified coach of the International Coach Federation logging over 1,500 hours of coaching leaders. A description of her philosophy and approach to coaching can be found at www.opencirclecoaching.com.

Holly Sidford is an expert systems thinker–seeing connections and making more than the sum of the parts. Her endless curiosity, penetrating intelligence and commitment to excellence underpins all of Helicon’s work. Holly draws on her training as an historian and her experiences as a program developer and funder to inform Helicon’s efforts to elevate the role of artists, recognize the full diversity of creative expression and make the arts and culture a more central part of community life. Holly has a knack for identifying the most important issue facing the field at the time, and her work is often a thought-provoking catalyst for change. Reports such as Bright Spot Leadership in the Pacific Northwest (Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, 2012) and Fusing Art, Culture and Social Change (National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, 2011) have stimulated field-wide discussion....

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guests Mica Scalin & Noah Scalin, Another Limited Rebellion. [Live show recorded: April 21, 2020.]

NOAH SCALIN is an artist, author, and activist. He founded Another Limited Rebellion in 2001 with the idea that he could make a living doing what he enjoyed and effect positive change in the world. Since then, Noah has traveled the world bringing his message of creative practice to everyone from incarcerated teenagers to Fortune 500 executives. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts, Noah started his career as the Art Director for Troma Entertainment and Avirex Clothing. Noah's artwork is collected internationally and has been exhibited in numerous museums and galleries, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Mütter Museum and NYC’s Times Square. He is the author of six books — most recently Creative Sprint which he co-wrote with his sister/business partner Mica. Noah is also one of the co-hosts of the VPM PBS television program The Art Scene. In 2016 Noah was chosen as the first ever artist-in-residence at the Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Business and was named the "The Region's Most Creative Individual" by Richmond magazine in 2017.

MICA SCALIN is an innovator in the use of art and media for community engagement and creative development. She was among the first producers hired by NBC Universal Digital Studios, she launched social media strategy at Showtime Networks and consulted on CBS Interactive marketing. She was VP of Communications for the groundbreaking non-profit JDub and has produced documentary films, art exhibitions and cultural events. From grassroots to broadcast, her passion lies in creating cultural experiences that make meaningful connections between people. She has a BFA from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, DC and studied with Douglas Rushkoff at The New School in NYC. She is the co-author of Creative Sprint: Six 30-day Challenges to Jumpstart Your Creativity. She is also one of the humans behind dOGUMENTA: America’s First Art Show For Dogs.

This conversation was recorded as part of Work Shouldn't Suck's Ethical Re-Opening Summit that took place on April 27, 2021.

How can we and our organizations acknowledge and support the well-being of everyone as we continue to live and work through a global pandemic?

Resources mentioned during session:

• Project Include’s Remote Work Report & Executive Summary
• “What Does It Mean to Be a Manager Today?” by Brian Kropp, Alexia Cambon, and Sara Clark via Harvard Business Review
• “Measuring Loss: The Inequities in Remembrance” by Sophia Park
• “Prioritizing wellbeing in 2020” by Joann Lee Wagner
• “Working While Grieving” Work Shouldn’t Suck podcast EP03
• “My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies” by Resmaa Menakem
• “Remote work since Covid-19 is exacerbating harm: What companies need to know and do” by Project Include
• The Body Keeps The Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk, M.D.
• “The Han Flowing Through My Veins” by Sophia Park via Womanly
• “How to Keep Your Cool in High-Stress Situations” by Robert E. Quinn, David P. Fessell, and Stephen W. Porges via Harvard Business Review

SHANNON LITZENBERGER is an award winning dance artist, embodiment facilitator and experienced cultural leader working at the intersection of art, ideas and transformational change. As a dancer, performance maker and director, her work explores our relationship to land, the politics of belonging, and the forgotten wisdom of the body. She has been an invited resident artist at Soulpepper Theatre, Toronto Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, Atlantic Ballet Theatre, Banff Centre, and the Gros Morne Summer Music Festival. She collaborates frequently with the Dark by Five Inter-arts ensemble and the Wind in the Leaves Collective. As a skilled freelance strategist, programmer, leadership developer, policy thinker and embodiment facilitator, she works with leading organizations in the arts, academia and the corporate sector. She is currently a faculty member at Banff Centre’s Cultural Leadership Program; a Program Associate with the Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO) working on issues of equity, inclusion and pluralism; a guest facilitator of embodied practice at the Ivey Business School; a Trudeau Foundation Mentor; and a Chalmers Fellow, exploring...

In this episode, we dive into re-imagining the hiring process, in particular, how it might be designed if we dusted off executive search to co-create a process that centers our values of equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and anti-oppression.

Find out more about Work Shouldn't Suck's hiring-based offerings here, including full-service executive search, our hiring process consultation, and our brand new values-based hiring course launching this April.

JAMIE GAMBLE (Guest Host) Jamie Gamble is the Principal Consultant of New Brunswick based Imprint Consulting, and since 2002 has served organizations involved in the arts, climate change, environmental protection, economic development, public health, youth leadership, citizen engagement, and sport with consulting in strategy, evaluation, and organizational change. Jamie’s specialization is developmental evaluation, and he has authored several publications on evaluation including A Developmental Evaluation Primer and A Developmental Evaluation Companion.

KATRINA DONALD (she/her): Based in Treaty 7 Territory, Katrina is the Principal Consultant at ever-so-curious, and believes that listening and sensemaking practices bring us into community, reveal pathways forward, encourage and embolden us, and allow for greater impact. Her approach is relational and developmental; she works in partnership with people and organizations to co-design inclusive, collaborative, and continuously emerging evaluation and HR strategies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Manitoba and a Masters Certificate in Organization Development and Change from the Canadian Organization Development Institute (CODI) and the Schulich Executive and Education Centre (SEEC) at York University. She is a mother, wife, daughter, sister, systems thinker, developmental evaluator, program designer, and a Registered Professional Recruiter (RPR). She’s committed to showing up for her own ongoing learning and to building workplaces that are actively anti-racist, praxis-centered, and humble as they work through the prickly bramble of change.

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, anti-oppressive organization since...

In episode six of the 12-part podcast series, "White Men & the Journey Towards Anti-Racism," Tim interviews Sydney Skybetter choreographer and founder of the Center for Research on Choreographic Interfaces that convenes experts in dance, performance, computer science, kinesiology, anthropology, social justice, and design to explore the relationship between bodies, movement, and emerging technologies.

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
• David Reuter, Partner, LLR

Want to explore related resources primarily *not* by white guys? Check out our compilation of 30 books, podcasts, and films. Read "Reflections From a Token Black Friend," mentioned in this episode.

Bios

SYDNEY SKYBETTER is a choreographer. Hailed by the Financial Times as “One of the world’s foremost thinkers on the intersection of dance and emerging technologies,” Sydney’s choreography has been performed at such venues as The Kennedy Center, Jacob’s Pillow and The Joyce Theater. A sought-after speaker, he has lectured at SXSW, Yale, Mozilla, and Stanford, and consulted for The National Ballet of Canada, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Hasbro, New York University and The University of Southern California, among others. He is a Public Humanities Fellow, Senior Lecturer and the Associate Chair of Theatre Arts & Performance Studies at Brown University, and an affiliate of metaLAB at Harvard University and Dark Laboratory at Cornell University. He is a

This conversation was recorded as part of Work Shouldn't Suck's Ethical Re-Opening Summit that took place on April 27, 2021.

This past year saw the environmental impacts of the workplace shift dramatically. For many, travel for work was completely erased, both commuting and related business travel. Conferences that traditionally attracted hundreds or thousands of in-person attendees shifted to online offerings. As we consider how to reopen our workplaces, how can we do that in intentional ways that center our impact on planet and people?

Resources mentioned during session:

• Howlround’s Climate Change resources
• Carbon emissions calculator for streaming media
• “A Producer’s Guide to Measuring, Budgeting, and Lowering the Carbon Emissions of Livestreams and Video Conferences” by Vijay Mathew
• Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save The World by Jason Hickel

KRISTA BRADLEY is Director of Programs and Resources at the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP), the national service organization for the performing arts presenting industry. At APAP she’s responsible for the professional development programming for the annual conference as well as year-round programs, leadership development initiatives, regranting programs and resources that advance the skills, knowledge and capabilities of APAP's membership. Prior to APAP, she was Executive and Artistic Director of BlackRock Center for the Arts, a nonprofit multidisciplinary arts center in Maryland, and Program Officer of Performing Arts for Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. She brings more than twenty years of experience working in the nonprofit, performing arts, and philanthropy sectors as a curator, funder, arts administrator and consultant for organizations such as the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, the Walker Arts Center, Houston Grand Opera and Opera America. Krista is also a practicing musician, a current member of the Thomas Circle Singers, a DC-based choral ensemble, and a former board member of APAP. She holds a B.A. degree in Literature and Society from Brown University.

ALEXIS FRASZ is a researcher, writer, strategic thinker, program designer, and advisor to partners in culture, philanthropy, and the environmental sector working for transformative change and a just transition. She is a co-director of Helicon Collaborative and leads their work at the intersection of culture and the environment. Her perspective on systems change draws on her artistic practices and diverse background in anthropology, Chinese Medicine, permaculture, and Buddhism. She believes in the need to build solidarity between artists and culture and broader movements working for racial, ecological, and economic justice. Alexis also teaches on creative civic leadership for artists and non-artists, and is faculty for the cultural leadership program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Julie’s Bicycle’s Creative Climate Leadership program. Her research on socially engaged artistic practice has informed artist training curriculums and philanthropic programs worldwide. She is actively engaged in Helicon’s ongoing work to address 

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

Want to explore resources related to this episode? Jared suggests:

• [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...

If you don't know where you're going — personally, professionally, as a team, as an organization — you'll have a hard time knowing if and when you ever get there. In this episode, we explore ways to create more transparency, accountability, and alignment in the workplace with tools like Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).

Lauren and Tim then close out the episode with a discussion that includes, among a myriad of other things, creating fan fiction based on Patrick Lencioni's work.

01:25 Erica Seldin & Nicola Carpenter

38:50 Lauren Ruffin

Erica Seldin is an organization designer and coach to leadership teams that seek purposeful growth and change. Erica founded the organization transformation consultancy August to spark movements toward a new way of working and organizing inside the world’s most ambitious companies. From global enterprises including PepsiCo and Colgate Palmolive to civic institutions like Planned Parenthood and NYC’s Department of Education, Erica has guided leaders and teams to design operating models better suited for the 21st century. Her approach is supported by over a decade of experience in organization development, digital transformation, and grassroots organizing. 

NICOLA CARPENTER works on the People team at Fractured Atlas, where she finds ways for tools and processes to better align with the organization’s purpose. She believes in tools so much that she sets personal OKRs every quarter. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas, Nicola worked for a variety of arts organizations including MoMA PS1, Walker Art Center, and Heidelberger Kunstverein, and she still has a particular love for museums. Originally from Minneapolis, she received a BFA in Art from the University of Minnesota and continues to stay creative through knitting and sewing clothes. She is currently in too many book clubs, but still somehow finds time to read books about organizational culture for fun. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at @colacarp.

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

Want to explore resources mentioned in and related to this episode?

• "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.

If you’ve ever wondered about the ins-and-outs of executive coaches – how does it work, how do you find one; I’m not an “executive,” is it still for me? – this is an episode for you!

Host Tim Cynova is in conversation with Farah Bala, a certified executive coach and founder of Farsight, an agency dedicated to leadership and organizational development with a focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-oppression practices. Their conversation covers a lot of ground, from the philosophical to the practice, with some highlights from the discussion below.

Episode Highlights

• 04:15 The Essence and Impact of Coaching
• 08:10 Coaching for Everyone: Breaking Down the Myths
• 12:09 The Intersection of Coaching and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
• 18:28 Navigating Privilege and Responsibility in Coaching and Beyond
• 24:00 The Power of Perspective in Coaching and Creating Change
• 25:10 Choosing the Right Coach: A Personal Journey
• 26:16 The Impact of Identity on Coaching Choices
• 27:26 The Art of Asking the Right Questions
• 29:55 The Evolution of Coaching in Virtual Workplaces
• 33:32 Self-Care: The Coach's Perspective
• 41:02 Leveraging Improv for Coaching Skills
• 42:36 Understanding Coaching Costs and Arrangements
• 46:36 Expanding Access to Coaching

Mentioned on the podcast: Farsight Friday EP26: Coaching for Inclusion

FARAH BALA is a Leadership EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Oppression) Executive Coach, Consultant and Speaker. As Founder & CEO of FARSIGHT, Farah's mission is to support organizations and leaders redefine the concept of leadership by making Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Oppression a core leadership competency. Her clients include executives in the C-suite, creatives and entrepreneurs, and organizations across wide-ranging sectors and industries. She is also a faculty coach at multiple learning and development institutions. Farah believes equity and inclusion are the foundational pillars for effective leadership and communication.

Farah’s speaking engagements include Yale University, Ford Foundation, Voice America, NY Travel Festival, Travel Unity, Adirondack Diversity Initiative, Asian American Arts Alliance, among others. She is a sought after speaker at national conferences, most recently at SHPE and SASE. Farah is also the creator and host of FARSIGHT FRIDAY, a video podcast started in 2020 in response to the heightened racism and divisiveness of marginalized communities. communities. She is a recipient of the Diversity Award by the World Zoroastrian Organization, recognized for her work in raising awareness towards gender, culture, racial equity and inclusion globally.

Farah holds an MFA in Theater from Sarah Lawrence College, and is a graduate of the Institute of Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) Program. She is a Professional Certified Executive Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation, and is certified in the Energy Leadership Index (ELI), EQ-i 2.0 and EQ 360 assessments, and Character Strengths Intervention. She is featured in Umbrage Edition’s national award-winning book Green Card Stories as one of 50 profiles of recent immigrants from around the world.

Having worked as a performing artist and producer for over two decades, Farah has used the tools of the theater in arts education developing social-emotional learning in NYC public schools and...

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.

Bios

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...

In this episode, Tim Cynova and Katrina Donald delve into the complex world of wage transparency and equitable compensation, and explore how organizations can navigate these challenges to create fair and inclusive workplaces.

They explore the need for organizations to list salaries for roles, both internally and externally, as well as the implications wage transparency laws are having across the U.S. The conversation delves into the challenges faced by organizations in creating consistency and fairness in their compensation approaches, particularly when considering factors like internal versus external experience and equity. Tim and Katrina also emphasize the significance of engaging in open and honest conversations about compensation within organizations and the benefits of adopting a holistic approach to compensation.

Episode Highlights:

• The growing urgency for organizations to have transparent salary information
• The impact of new and expanding wage transparency laws
• The challenges organizations face in creating consistency and equity in compensation
• The importance of having open and honest conversations about compensation
• How to consider compensation in a more holistic way, beyond just base compensation
• The benefits of adopting a strict, fixed tier compensation model

Stay tuned for upcoming episodes on executive coaches who center equity and inclusion in their practice, the authors of "The In-Between: A Companion Book For Uncertain Times," and Gen Z in the workplace. Plus, catch season two of "White Men and the Journey Towards Anti-Racism" as well as an episode on values-based collective bargaining processes.

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

Work. Shouldn't. Suck. LIVE: The Morning(ish) Show with special guest Christine Bader, co-founder of The Life I Want. [Live show recorded: March 31, 2020.]

Lauren and Tim are hosting daily livestreamed chats in April 2020 to connect with leaders in “real time” — about their lives, their organizations, their sector, and the world — during this unprecedented time in our lives. We come together as humans, as community, to talk about the concerns, the hopes, the hurdles, and the promise this particular moment in history offers us. Find the complete list guests, previous videos, and transcripts at WorkShouldntSuck.co.

Christine Bader is co-founder of The Life I Want, a storytelling project with Eva Dienel reimagining a future of work that works for all. She is a coach, facilitator, writer, consultant, and speaker whose sweet spot is the messy intersection of business and society.

Christine is the author of The Evolution of a Corporate Idealist: When Girl Meets Oil (2014). From 2015-17 she was Director of Social Responsibility at Amazon, where she built a global team working to ensure respect for the rights of workers in Amazon supply chains and operations. From 2011-15 her posts included advisor to BSR and visiting scholar at Columbia University, where she co-taught human rights and business.

Christine's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, and numerous other publications. She has given talks to conferences, companies, and universities around the world, including a TED talk in July 2014.

After earning her MBA from Yale in 2000, Christine joined BP and proceeded to work in Indonesia, China, and the U.K., managing the social impacts of some of the company’s largest projects in the developing world. In 2006 she created a part-time pro bono role as advisor to the U.N. Secretary-General’s Special Representative for business and human rights, a role she took up full-time in 2008 until the U.N. mandate ended in 2011.

Christine has also served as a corps member with City Year, a special assistant to the New York City Mayor’s Chief of Staff and Deputy Mayor, and a teaching fellow in community service at Phillips Academy Andover. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Christine was named to the 2012-13 class of the Donaldson Fellows Program, which recognizes Yale School of Management graduates “whose personal and professional accomplishments embody the school’s mission to educate leaders for business and society.”

Christine played squash and rugby at Amherst College and competed in the 2002 World Ultimate Frisbee Club Championships, but now finds her athletic glory running after her young twins. For 2018-19, she lived in Bali with her family as part of the Green School community. She now lives in McMinnville, Oregon, in the heart of wine country, continuing to search for community and a way of life that is sustainable in every dimension.

Lauren Olivia Ruffin currently serves as Fractured Atlas’s Chief External Relations Officer where she is responsible for the organization’s marketing, communications, community engagement, and fundraising. Prior to joining the team at Fractured Atlas, Lauren served as Director of Development for DC-based organizations Martha’s Table and the National Center for Children and Families. She was also fortunate to serve in various roles at and various positions at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Children’s Defense Fund, New Leaders, and AAUW. Before entering the nonprofit sector, Lauren held the position of Assistant Director of Government Affairs for Gray Global Advisors, a bipartisan government relations firm. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Political Science and obtained a J.D. from the Howard...

In the journey towards becoming an anti-racist organization, the team at Fractured Atlas talk a lot about doing the work. But what exactly do they mean by "the work?" Is reading part of the work? Are workshops in diversity, equity, and inclusion part of the work?

In this episode we sit down with three members of the team who are deeply engaged in the work personally and professional to discuss this question. We're joined by Nina Berman, Courtney Harge, and everyone's favorite podcasting co-host, Lauren Ruffin. Read more about Fractured Atlas's journey towards anti-racism at www.workshouldntsuck.co/antiracism.

NINA BERMAN lives in New York City and holds an MA in English from Loyola University Chicago. Before joining Fractured Atlas, she covered the publishing industry for an audience of publishers at NetGalley Insights. When she's not interviewing artists or sharing tips for navigating the art world on the Fractured Atlas blog, Nina makes ceramics at Center Point Ceramics Studio, hosts Planet Clambake on Newtown Radio, and is a member of the New Sanctuary Coalition pro-se legal clinic. Find her on Instagram @nnbrmn.

COURTNEY HARGE is an arts administrator, director, and writer originally from Saginaw, MI who has been working in the service of artists for the last fifteen years. She is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of Colloquy Collective, an emerging theater company in Brooklyn, NY. Courtney is also a proud member of Women of Color in the Arts, and a 2016 alum of both APAP’s Emerging Leaders Institute and artEquity’s Facilitator Training. She holds a Masters of Professional Studies, with Distinction, in Arts and Cultural Management from Pratt Institute. You can find more information about her at www.courtneyharge.com and find her on Instagram and Twitter at @Arts_Courtney. Her credo (#HustlingKeepsYouSexy) is not merely a hashtag; it’s a way of life.

LAUREN RUFFIN is a thinker, designer, & leader interested in building strong, sustainable, anti-racist systems & organizations. She frequently explores how we can leverage new technologies to combat racial and economic injustice. Lauren is the co-founder of Crux, an international network & for-profit cooperative of Black artists creating stories in XR that hosts an online community & will launch VR distribution platform in 2020. Since 2016, she has served as Co-CEO & Chief External Relations Officer for Fractured Atlas, the nation's largest association of artists & creators. She is also the founder of Artist Campaign School, an educational program that has trained more than 70 artists to run for political office. Lauren graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Political Science & obtained a J.D. from Howard University. She has served on the governing board of Black Girls Code & is on the advisory boards of ArtUp & Black Girl Ventures.

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.

Bios

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

Courtney Harge (CEO, OF/BY/FOR ALL) and Nicola Carpenter (Director of People Operations, Fractured Atlas) sit down with Tim Cynova to answer the 30 questions they most frequently receive when speaking with individuals and organizations about race-based caucusing in the workplace.

Want to learn more? Join them for their brand new course "Race-Based Caucusing in the Workplace: The Why & How" taking place in October 2021. To find out more visit: https://www.workshouldntsuck.co/courses2/caucusing

1. What is anti-racism, anti-oppression work, and in particular, anti-racism, anti-oppression work in the workplace?
2. What does accountability look like for anti-racism, anti-oppression work in the workplace?
3. What is race-based caucusing?
4. Is a caucus, an affinity group, and an Employee Resource Group the same thing?
5. Why should companies provide space for caucusing in the workplace?
6. Who should be caucusing?
7. Why would someone be a part of a caucus?
8. What do companies need to do before they introduce race-based caucusing in the workplace?
9. What do employees need to do before they start caucusing?
10. How do people determine which caucus to attend?
11. How do you get people to attend race-based caucusing if it’s not mandatory?
12. How often do caucuses meet?
13. Is there an ideal number of people to be in a caucus
14. What happens DURING the caucus? How are they structured?
15. What happens AFTER a caucus meeting?
16. Who is responsible for managing the caucus process?
17. Do you need a facilitator to get caucusing started? Or to keep caucusing going?
18. Can’t we just all be in the same room to talk about this? How is this supposed to help address racism and oppression if it’s just white people talking in a room together?
19. Won’t caucusing lead to further division or segregation? Doesn’t this just amplify racism?
20. If caucusing is working separately, when do we all come together to talk?
21. What are the people of color saying about us white people when they caucus? It doesn’t seem fair that they don’t also have to report to the white people about what they talk about?
22. Can we also caucus by gender identity, sexual orientation, and class?
23. What does it mean to have these conversations in the workplace?
24. What if [the organization’s leadership, board of directors, etc.] doesn’t want to caucus, either themselves or for the organization to offer it?
25. How is the purpose of a caucus different for privileged and oppressor identities versus marginalized and oppressed identities?
26. What are common reasons people of color may be reluctant to join affinity spaces?
27. What are common reasons white people may be reluctant to join affinity spaces?
28. How long do you need to caucus? When are you done?

NICOLA CARPENTER works on the People team at Fractured Atlas, where she finds ways for tools and processes to better align with the organization’s purpose. She believes in tools so much that she sets personal OKRs every quarter. Prior to joining Fractured Atlas, Nicola worked for a variety of arts organizations including MoMA PS1, Walker Art Center, and Heidelberger Kunstverein, and she still has a particular love for museums. Originally from Minneapolis, she received a BFA in Art from the University of Minnesota and continues to stay creative through knitting and sewing clothes. She is currently in too many book clubs, but still somehow finds time to read books about organizational culture for fun. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter at @colacarp.

COURTNEY HARGE is an arts administrator, director, and writer originally from Saginaw, MI who has been working in the service of artists for the last fifteen years. She is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of Colloquy...

Pilot episode of the new Work. Shouldn't. Suck. podcast. What’s in store for this adventure? Listen to find out.

In this episode, Tim chats with Lauren Ruffin about the launch of a new AR/VR co-op, Black capitalism, Work as the new religion, Vocations & Callings, Figuring out physical mail distribution for an entirely virtual workplace, and at what point you might own too many bicycles.

LAUREN RUFFIN has over 15 years experience in policy, marketing, non-profit management, business development, fundraising, and strategic planning in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She is the Co-Founder of Crux and has served as Chief External Relations Officer for Fractured Atlas, the nation's largest association of artists and creators, since 2016. At Fractured Atlas, she is responsible for the organization’s marketing, communications, community engagement, and fundraising. She also leads Artist Campaign School, a new educational program that trains artists to run for political office.

Prior to joining the team at Fractured Atlas, Lauren served as Director of Development for DC-based organizations Martha’s Table and the National Center for Children and Families. She was also fortunate to serve in various roles at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Children’s Defense Fund, New Leaders, and AAUW. Prior to transitioning to the nonprofit sector, Lauren was Assistant Director of Government Affairs for a boutique firm in Washington, DC where she represented a broad array of clients, including Comcast, SiriusXM, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, and the City of Philadelphia.

In her spare time, she can be found mountain biking with her dog or gesturing wildly at the teevee in support of Duke University’s men’s basketball team. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a degree in Political Science and obtained a J.D. from the Howard University School of Law. Lauren serves on the governing board of Black Girls Code and on the advisory boards of ArtUp and Black Girl Ventures.