ChangeMakers
92 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsThe ChangeMakers Podcast presented by cityCURRENT shares personal stories and insights from those who are giving back and making a difference so we can learn and do the same. We cover life lessons, business advice, passion, and purpose. Share the ways you're making a difference using #changemakers.
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Episodes
ChangeMakers: Chef Logan Guleff - the life of a teenage culinary prodigy
May 02, 2019 15:00 - 52 minutes - 47.7 MBChef Logan Guleff has been named one of the Most Influential Teens by Time Magazine and a James Beard Blended Burger Winner. Since becoming the 2014 MasterChef Junior champion he has become a rising star in the culinary world. He was named Southern Living‘s Best New Southern Cook and earned a spot on Fortune Magazine’s 18 Under 18 list; he’s also the youngest certified judge for the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis, Tennessee, and the youngest chef to cook at the histor...
ChangeMakers: Meg Clarke - searching passion, purpose, and SEO
April 04, 2019 14:08 - 46 minutes - 42.7 MBMeg Clarke is an SEO expert and the owner + founder of Clapping Dog Media. After studying marketing and graphic design in college, Meg found herself working in boutique ad agencies where she developed her interest in attracting the ideal customer for her clientele. Meg left this position when she traveled to Uganda to adopt her eldest sons but found upon her return that she missed the job. She turned then to freelance web design and before long, Clapping Dog Media was born. At Clapping Dog...
ChangeMakers: Victor Boutros - persevering against powerful systems of injustice
March 05, 2019 19:01 - 53 minutes - 49 MBVictor Boutros is the CEO and Founding Director of the Human Trafficking Institute and co-author with Gary Haugen of The Locust Effect: Why the End of Poverty Requires the End of Violence, a book published by Oxford University Press in 2014. Drawing on real-world cases and extensive scholarship, The Locust Effect paints a vivid portrait of the way fractured criminal justice systems in developing countries have spawned a hidden epidemic of modern-day slavery and everyday violence that is und...
ChangeMakers: Seth Mattison - future forces and insights from the new world of work
February 06, 2019 17:56 - 50 minutes - 46.7 MBWe are entering the greatest period of global transformation the world has ever known. These tectonic changes are enabled by rapidly evolving technology and destabilizing demographic changes. This constant state of disruption mandates a new level of professional courage and influence in order to effectively impact our organizations and those around us. Seth Mattison challenges conventional leadership thinking while introducing the super trends shaping the Future of Work. Supported with cut...
ChangeMakers: David French, Memphis Brand Initiative - crafting brand stories to spark civic pride
January 03, 2019 15:20 - 57 minutes - 52.4 MBDavid French is the President and Chief Marketing Officer of the newly formed nonprofit The Memphis Brand Initiative. The organization has been launched to lead Memphis brand stakeholders in well-coordinated, best-in-class brand, marketing and communications practices, which spark civic pride and attract talent, tourists and business investment to Memphis. Prior to this role, Mr. French was Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communications and Corporate Partnerships at the National Park Foun...
ChangeMakers: Steve Hinkley - exploring the wonders of science and technology
December 03, 2018 16:01 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBSteve Hinkley is the President and CEO of Adventure Science Center (ASC) in Nashville, Tennessee. Alongside board members, staff and community leaders and volunteers, ASC is implementing a multi-year transformation to become a premiere hands-on science and innovation center. Prior to moving to Nashville, Hinkley served as the President and CEO of MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation in Santa Barbara, California, where he completed a $27 million dollar startup capital campaign a...
ChangeMakers: Grace Askew - the creative process and having the soul of a tumbleweed
November 21, 2018 13:00 - 45 minutes - 41.3 MBGrace Askew is an incessant songwriter. Each and every day of 2018 she has written a new song and performed it live for her fans on Facebook and Instagram. She maintains this practice while touring, collaborating on projects with Wrangler and Stetson in New Mexico, developing new sounds, and recording. Her mantra “creativity is a muscle; dare to suck” epitomizes her endeavor, as she explores the limits of her muse. Grace was a contestant on Season 4 of NBC’s The Voice (team Blake). She has ...
ChangeMakers: Carol Coletta - reimagining the civic commons through civic assets as community connectors
October 30, 2018 12:00 - 49 minutes - 45.3 MBCarol Coletta is Senior Fellow, American Cities Practice, at The Kresge Foundation. In addition to leading the foundation's initiative, Reimagining the Civic Commons, she is on loan as president and CEO of the Memphis River Parks Partnership. She previously served as vice president of Community and National Initiatives for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a national foundation with deep local roots in 26 cities across the U.S. At Knight she managed a portfolio of more than $50 mi...
ChangeMakers: Kurt Heinecke - fostering messages through music
September 25, 2018 19:13 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBKurt Heinecke is probably best known as the Music Director for Big Idea Entertainment and their ground-breaking video series' “VeggieTales" and "3-2-1 Penguins”. For over 20 years, Kurt co-wrote, produced, arranged, and scored hits like “The Hairbrush Song” and “His Cheeseburger”, along with two major motion pictures, selling over 70 million audio and video units and garnering 7 Dove Awards. Kurt has also been a touring musician, music teacher, band director, church music director, and fre...
ChangeMakers: Cameron Brown - how to thrive in an ever changing world
August 08, 2018 15:04 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBCameron Brown speaks to audiences around the world on how to thrive in an ever changing world. He delivers multi-sensory experiences on stage, blending education with storytelling videos and live music on a grand piano. Our world is changing faster than ever. To deal with this, companies need a workforce that is fully engaged, high performing and adaptable to change. But 67% of employees in North America are still not engaged or actively disengaged at work, with actively disengaged employ...
ChangeMakers: Joann Massey - Championing Equity and Diversity
July 12, 2018 14:01 - 50 minutes - 46.1 MBJoann Massey is an experienced economic development and business consulting professional, leading equity and diversity efforts for the City of Memphis. The mission of the City of Memphis Business Diversity & Compliance is to increase the number of M/W/SBEs certified with the City of Memphis and assist with strengthening the capacity of these companies so that they might better compete for opportunities in City of Memphis government contracting. Follow Joann Massey & City of Memphis BDC: h...
ChangeMakers: Julie-Karel (JK) Elkin
June 20, 2018 16:02 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBJK has landed coverage in Nashville Medical News, Paradigm Magazine, ALDA IoT for CLE, MGMA Mips and Macra, Tech Talks HIPAA, and is a frequent speaker at the Southeast Business Forum. She talks and trains frequently on Compliance, GDPR, Cybersecurity, Hostile Work Environment and more. JK earned her J.D. degree from the Nashville School of Law in 1995, where she graduated with honors and was a member of the Law Honor Council. She has been a Tennessee Rule 31 Listed Mediator and received HI...
ChangeMakers: Dr. John Feather
May 30, 2018 18:31 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBJohn Feather, PhD, is Chief Executive Officer of Grantmakers In Aging, the national society of grantmaking foundations and other organizations that work to improve the lives of older people. Prior to beginning that position on October 1, 2011, Dr. Feather was Executive Director and CEO of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, the national membership organization of pharmacists who specialize in care of older persons. Until 2002, he was Director of the AARP Andrus Foundation, the re...
ChangeMakers: Jason Duncan
April 25, 2018 12:43 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBAfter founding Energy Lighting Services in 2010 in Nashville, CEO Jason Duncan and his team have completed four of the world's largest LED retrofits. The commercial lighting company has saved companies like Saint Thomas Hospitals, Gap stores and Adventure Science Center up to 33 percent on their electric bills, and up to a 75 percent reduction in their energy consumption. Jason lives in Gallatin, Tennessee with his wife and two children. Jason enjoys playing guitar, boating, riding his Harl...
ChangeMakers: Josh McManus
April 02, 2018 20:32 - 49 minutes - 45.3 MBJosh McManus is a problem-solver working in post-industrial cities with entrepreneurs, corporations, and foundations to help people positively transform the places that they love. Josh’s experience spans 20 years as a serial social and business entrepreneur. An innovator in entrepreneurial ecosystems, creative economic development and combatting population loss, Josh is obsessed with place-based change. An autodidactic learner on subjects ranging from invention laboratories to neuroscience t...
ChangeMakers: Rob Hughes
March 14, 2018 21:23 - 47 minutes - 43.6 MBAs Porter-Leath’s vice president of development, Rob Hughes has many responsibilities, ranging from planning the annual Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival to driving Toy Truck donations and assisting in a capital campaign for the organization’s Early Childhood Academy. A native Memphian, Hughes always knew he wanted to make an impact in children’s lives and envisioned a future career in law. After earning both his bachelor’s degree and MBA from Christian Brothers University, he realized a career...
ChangeMakers: Linda C. Hartley and Vivien Hoexter
February 12, 2018 14:00 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBH2Growth Strategies LLC, founded by Linda C. Hartley and Vivien Hoexter, advises executive staff and board members to improve performance, build leadership, and increase revenues for sustainable growth and impact. Working with mission-driven clients, H2Growth leverages its expertise and talents to create a more enlightened world. Services include strategic and succession planning, board development, leadership and CSR training, executive coaching, fundraising and advocacy. Their recent book...
ChangeMakers: Michelle Gielan
January 08, 2018 14:00 - 49 minutes - 45.4 MBMichelle Gielan, national CBS News anchor turned positive psychology researcher, is the best-selling author of Broadcasting Happiness. Michelle is the Founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research and holds a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. She is an Executive Producer of “The Happiness Advantage” Special on PBS and a featured professor in Oprah’s Happiness course. Her research and advice have received attention from The New York Times, Wa...
ChangeMakers: Carla Javits
December 08, 2017 16:30 - 43 minutes - 40 MBCarla Javits is President and CEO of REDF (The Roberts Enterprise Development Fund), a pioneering venture philanthropy galvanizing a national movement of social enterprises—purpose-driven, revenue-generating businesses that help people striving to overcome employment barriers get good jobs, keep those jobs, and build better lives. Through her stewardship, REDF has invested in more than 100 social enterprises in 21 states. These businesses have generated $327 million in revenue and employed 2...
ChangeMakers: Sgt. Len Edwards
November 15, 2017 14:23 - 51 minutes - 47.1 MBThere is more than one way for a child to come up missing, at least in the eyes of Ret. Memphis Police Sgt. Len Edwards. As executive director of Memphis-based Commission on Missing and Exploited Children (COMEC), he works not only with parents to find children who go missing physically, but also children who might be sitting with the family every evening but somehow are missing mentally or emotionally. Learn more about COMEC here: http://www.comec.org/ The ChangeMakers Podcast is produced...
ChangeMakers: Moira Forbes
October 26, 2017 12:00 - 44 minutes - 40.6 MBMoira Forbes is the President and Publisher of ForbesWoman, a multi-media platform dedicated to successful women in business and leadership. She is also the Executive Vice President of Forbes Media where she is responsible for programming and branding Forbes events worldwide and driving new business initiatives across the company’s diverse media platforms. She is currently the host of Success with Moira Forbes, a video series on the Forbes Video Network featuring candid, one-on-one intervie...
ChangeMakers: Nick & Giles English of Bremont
September 26, 2017 19:31 - 50 minutes - 46 MBLife for Nick & Giles English changed significantly one clear day in March 1995. Nick was practicing for an air display with their father Euan. But the 1942 WWII Harvard aircraft they were flying was involved in an accident. Giles, waiting to take off for the next sortie was told that his father had been killed. His brother had broken over 30 bones and probably wouldn't make it. Six months later, however, Nick was back in the air and being flown by Giles. But things would never be the same ...
ChangeMakers: Jason Little
September 14, 2017 13:00 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MBIn June 2014, Jason Little became only the fifth person since 1912 to serve as Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation's president and CEO. Since joining Baptist in 2002, Little has held a number of leadership positions, including administrator and CEO of three Baptist Memorial hospitals, vice president and head of metro-Memphis operations and executive vice president and chief operating officer. Little received his bachelor's degree in health administration from the University of Tennesse...
ChangeMakers: Dorothy Gunther Pugh
August 07, 2017 12:00 - 49 minutes - 45.5 MBDorothy Gunther Pugh is the CEO and Founding Artistic Director of Ballet Memphis, which she founded in 1986 with two dancers and a budget of $75,000. Today, the Company has 25 dancers, a budget of more than $4.4 million, and is opening a new multi-million dollar administrative and studio space in the heart of Memphis’ arts and theatre district in August of this year. Under Dorothy’s direction, Ballet Memphis has been lauded by the Ford Foundation, the Hearst Foundations, and the Mellon Found...
ChangeMakers: Ephie Ballard-Johnson
July 10, 2017 12:40 - 56 minutes - 52.2 MBEphie Ballard-Johnson was born in Memphis, TN. After graduating from Treadwell High School, she attended the University of Memphis where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a concentration in technical writing. She then worked as an educator in the Memphis City School System for a number of years before serving as the Administrative Director of Neighborhood Christian Centers, Inc., a nonprofit Christian organization that employs over 60 staff members and provides many pro...
ChangeMakers: Dr. Justin Lawhead
June 13, 2017 13:00 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBDr. Justin Lawhead is the Dean of Students at The University of Memphis. A Pittsburgh native, Dr. Lawhead's twenty year higher education experience is across five institutions across the nation and is on a mission to create an integrity based class of young professionals who support innovate change in Memphis or their community of choice. Dr. Lawhead is also Director and visionary behind the expansion of the Leadership Education and Development Program (LEAD) program at University of Memphis...
ChangeMakers: Sally Heinz
May 17, 2017 14:06 - 55 minutes - 51 MBSally Jones Heinz came to MIFA in 2007 as Vice President of Development. In February of 2011, she became executive director, only the sixth person to hold that position in MIFA’s 43-year history. In 2016, her title was changed to President & CEO. Sally’s roots are in Memphis—she grew up in Midtown, went to Evergreen Presbyterian Church, attended Snowden School, Central High, and Rhodes College (’81), and settled down with her husband Brad a few blocks from her childhood home. And service is...
ChangeMakers: Mauricio Calvo
April 19, 2017 21:33 - 54 minutes - 50 MBMauricio Calvo serves as the Executive Director of Latino Memphis but his story begins in the bustling Mexico City, Mexico where he grew up among the 25 million residents who also call Mexico City home. Mauricio came to America as an exchange student and destiny led him to Memphis at Christian Brothers University where he also met his wife and now has four children. Mauricio is working to provide more resources and opportunities for Latino families across the Mid-South. Learn more about L...
ChangeMakers: Kayla Rodriguez Graff and Isaac Rodriguez
April 03, 2017 21:46 - 1 hour - 56.3 MBDr. Isaac Rodriguez is the SweetBio CEO and Chief Science Officer responsible for the overall vision of the company as well as the lab and clinical research, publication, regulatory and product development segments of the business. Kayla Rodriguez Graff earned her MBA in 2014 from Hult International in San Francisco, CA and New York City, NY. Her forward thinking business mindset is unique and her overall knowledge of business development, marketing, operations, organizational effectiveness...
ChangeMakers: Ned Canty
March 10, 2017 16:23 - 53 minutes - 48.9 MBNed Canty is the General Director at Opera Memphis and has over 20 years of experience as an opera stage director. As a freelance artist for 20 years, Canty directed operas at dozens of companies in the US, Italy, Israel, China and Canada. The New York Times described his work as having "a startling combination of sensitivity and panache.” Follow him on Twitter here→ @poilaparola The ChangeMakers Podcast is produced by cityCURRENT and powered by Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services...
ChangeMakers: Cynthia Daniels
February 07, 2017 22:31 - 43 minutes - 39.5 MBThere are few people who can match the drive and enthusiasm for social and community organizing that Cynthia Daniels has. A native of Atlanta, GA, Cynthia moved to Memphis in 2009 and embraced everything the city had to offer. As a community advocate in 2013, she created Memphis Black Restaurant Week to bring awareness around 8 minority owned eateries in the city. The week grossed $85,000 in sales and from that Cynthia decided it was time to launch her Event Planning & Consulting business, C...
ChangeMakers: Dr. John Smarrelli Jr.
January 19, 2017 17:08 - 38 minutes - 35.7 MBDr. John Smarrelli Jr. is the 22nd President of Christian Brothers University and its first permanent lay president. Over the past 25 years, he has served in senior administrative positions at Loyola University in Chicago, IL and Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY. A biochemist by training, Dr. Smarrelli has retained his faculty status in his discipline while holding administrative positions. He earned his doctorate and master's degrees from the State University of New York College of Environ...
ChangeMakers: Johnny Pitts
December 09, 2016 20:47 - 50 minutes - 46.4 MBJohnny Pitts was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 1973, graduated high school from Memphis University School in 1976 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1980 with an insurance major from the University of Tennessee, where he also ran track and cross-country. Johnny was employed with Safeco Insurance Company and CIGNA Insurance Company before moving to Lipscomb & Pitts in 1981. He worked as a commercial insurance producer as he focus...
ChangeMakers: Dr. Manny Ohonme
October 21, 2016 18:47 - 40 minutes - 37.2 MBOver 30 years ago, on a hot summer afternoon in Lagos, Nigeria, a missionary from Wisconsin approached a young African boy and invited him to enter a contest where the prize was a pair of shoes. For this young boy, like so many others in Africa, the chance to own just one pair of shoes was beyond his wildest dreams that day. That boy’s name was Emmanuel Ohonme. Emmanuel “Manny” Ohonme won the contest on that hot summer day and earned his first ever pair of shoes. But, even more important th...
ChangeMakers: Reggie Davis
September 08, 2016 21:46 - 52 minutes - 48.3 MBReggie graduated from Hughes High School (1993), and then received his B.S. degree in Finance in 1997 from Arkansas State University. After graduation, Reggie took a position with First Tennessee Bank as Senior Client Representative from 1998 until 2004. Since that time, Reggie has been greatly involved in outreach ministry, which is how he first learned about STREETS. Prior to coming on staff with STREETS, Reggie worked for Young Life for six years where he most recently served as an Area D...
ChangeMakers: Jenny Koltnow
July 21, 2016 20:14 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MBJenny Koltnow is the Director of Communications and Community Relations and Customer Satisfaction for AutoZone, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. She manages everything from internal stakeholder engagement, to government relations, to corporate social responsibility. An avid runner and midwest girl, her passion for doing good and making a difference is why we're happy to interview her on this episode of ChangeMakers. Follow Jenny here→ @jennykoltnow The ChangeMakers Podcast is produced b...
ChangeMakers: Bill Courtney
June 21, 2016 15:00 - 53 minutes - 48.7 MBWilliam B. Courtney (Bill), a native Memphian, founded Classic American Hardwoods, Inc. in 2001. Today, it employs 120 people with a 45 acre manufacturing facility and domestic sales offices in Memphis, TN and international sales offices in Shanghai, China and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In 2007, Classic American Hardwoods, Inc. won the Memphis Business Journal’s Small Business of the Year Award based on its growth and commitment to community service. In 2003, Bill began volunteering at Memp...
ChangeMakers: Dr. Sarah Petschonek
June 02, 2016 19:32 - 44 minutes - 41.2 MBDr. Sarah Petschonek is founder and CEO of Volunteer Odyssey. She founded Volunteer Odyssey based on two landmark projects. In 2012, Sarah began Mission Memphis: 30 consecutive days volunteering with 30 non-profits, chronicled on her blog, Confessions of a Volunteer. Afterwards, she launched Volunteer Bound – a cross-country volunteer tour researching volunteerism in 9 US cities spanning from Portland, Oregon to Jacksonville, Florida. Volunteer Odyssey has grown to include 40+ non-profit par...
ChangeMakers: Stacy McCall
May 23, 2016 13:23 - 38 minutes - 35.2 MBBelieving in the importance of the “two Cs” – culture and communication – Stacy has developed a strong internal culture at ServiceMaster by Stratos through open communication channels based on core values like integrity, accountability and respect. She strives to achieve a firm balance between being a headstrong CEO and a true friend to her employees, and she continues to lead Stratos to new heights, through continued growth and the introduction of technological advancements throughout the o...
ChangeMakers: Daphne Large
April 21, 2016 14:00 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MBDaphne Large is President and CEO of the Memphis based Data Facts, which provides trusted information to make sound hiring, lending and other business decisions. In 1989, at age 27, she founded Data Facts. A native Memphian and Briarcrest grad, Daphne's driven mindset has awarded her CEO of the Year, a member of the Society of Entrepreneurs, and countless other Top Workplaces awards for her company. Daphne is passionate about serving her community and others and as you'll hear in this podca...
ChangeMakers: Marlon Foster
April 05, 2016 14:43 - 46 minutes - 42.3 MBReverend Marlon Foster is the founder and executive director of Knowledge Quest, a Memphis nonprofit that equips youth to maximize their potential through intellectual and character development. Responding to youth gun violence that caused the death of his childhood best friend, Pierre Ramond Henderson, Marlon struggled for three years after obtaining his undergraduate degree in a relentless effort to make his vision a reality, establishing the organization in 1998. As a native South Memp...
ChangeMakers: Michael Drake
February 20, 2016 23:39 - 43 minutes - 39.6 MBMichael Drake is the founder, chairman and CEO of masterIT. As a native Memphian, Michael reflects on his roots, what he learned as a young professional, and his mission of inspiring young professionals, providing opportunity to those who need it most, and shining a light on mental health. The ChangeMakers Podcast is produced by cityCURRENT and powered by Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services. Be inspired by more positive media by following cityCURRENT here: www.cityCURRENT.com