Education leader Jameelah Stuckey has built a career across finance, classroom teaching, school founding, and national education research, and she did it without losing the softness her father told her to protect.In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Jameelah, senior manager at TNTP and education chair of the Greater Tulsa Area African American Affairs Commission, to talk about identity, neurodivergence, advocacy, and what it actually takes to lead without hardening.Jameelah grew up in South Central LA, the ninth of ten siblings, raised between mosque and church by three parents who each taught her something different about how to move through the world. She started in finance, working her way up from a high school teller program at Washington Mutual to Bank of America to a stint at the White House during the Obama administration. That ended when she was sent home for two days for being too passionate about the people the policy was supposed to serve. The redirect pointed straight at education.She taught, became a founding principal of a non-traditional high school in Compton, and eventually landed in Tulsa, a city she describes as small enough to dream and implement in the same week. Now she serves nationally through TNTP while leading community work across Tulsa Young Professionals, the Tulsa Area United Way, and a few other tables in town.Ron and Jameelah get into the difference between assertion and aggression, how neurodivergence shaped the way she works and leads, and why her father's line, the same people you see going up you will see coming down, has carried her across every sector she has worked in.Tune in to hear why becoming who you are meant to be does not have to mean losing your softness along the way.Chapters:📚 01:40 Publish your book at www.leveragepublishinggroup.com🌴 02:30 Meet Jameelah Stuckey: South Central, TNTP, and the Ed homie connection🕌 04:03 Mosque, church, and three parents: an early lesson in inclusion🤝 11:33 The leadership ethic her father taught her: respect, assertion, and never the big I or little U💵 13:39 From Washington Mutual teller to Bank of America: a finance career that started in eighth grade🏛️ 16:38 Sent home from the White House for being too passionate🏫 19:02 How a substitute gig in Compton turned into founding a school✍️ 20:22 Find support for writing your impact-driven book at www.booksthatmatter.org🎓 21:03 Building a non-traditional high school for non-traditional students🌆 24:18 Why Tulsa is the place where dreams actually get implemented🏘️ 27:13 Black Wall Street, social capital, and what makes Tulsa different🌊 33:33 Be like water: the leadership ethic that meets the moment🧠 35:36 Why neurodivergence works better in remote, autonomous environments🤖 43:04 How AI became a real accommodation tool for ADHD leaders🌟 43:56 If you are a leader or a changemaker looking for support, check out www.geniusdiscovery.org😊 47:02 Where Jameelah finds joy: progress, new things, and a purple suede coat🔁 48:43 Think, believe, release, receive: the mantra she lives by🎧 59:52 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out www.podcastsmatter.comLinks:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jameelah-stuckey-mba TNTP: tntp.org African American Leadership Academy: aalatulsa.orgConnect with Jameelah on LinkedIn to learn more about her work in education, leadership, and community impact across Tulsa and beyond.Connect with Ron: www.linkedin.com/in/rapataloCheck Out Ron's Book: www.amazon.com/dp/1613431473 Leverage Publishing Group: www.leveragepublishinggroup.comPublish a Book That Matters: http://booksthatmatter.orgStart a Podcast That Matters: http://podcastsmatter.comGo from Expert to Thought Leader: http://geniusdiscovery.org 

Keisha Gray sits down with Mike Montoya to make the case that cross sector collaboration is not a value statement, it is a muscle communities build out of necessity. And that operational excellence is how missions actually survive. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Keisha Gray, Chief Operations Officer at the Spartanburg Academic Movement. SAM is a cradle to career organization working to create long term opportunity and economic mobility across Spartanburg County, South Carolina. Keisha argues that Spartanburg is the twelfth fastest growing county in the country for a reason, and it is not the one most economic development stories tell. It is a former mill town that learned to collaborate when the economy collapsed underneath it. That muscle, built under pressure, is what a cradle to career strategy actually runs on. She and Mike make a parallel case about careers. Keisha has led HR for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, run philanthropy at the Mary Black Foundation, and spent years inside regional newsrooms. She does not believe any of it was off topic. Nothing goes to waste unless you decide it does. They get into Dr. Jack Shonkoff's new place based research at Harvard and why the environments children grow up in matter as much as the relationships around them. Mike closes with a reminder of his own: relationships are the engine and operational excellence is how you sustain the mission. Tune in to hear why Keisha keeps a photo of a child she has never met on her office wall.  Chapters:🎧 00:56 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out www.podcastsmatter.com 👧 01:26 The photo on Keisha's wall: who this work is really for 🤝 05:48 Why cross sector collaboration is hard 🏭 07:15 Stone soup and a mill town that learned to collaborate 📰 10:14 Growing up in Columbia and getting into HR 🏈 13:40 The Buccaneers, the Mary Black Foundation, and the call home 🧩 18:35 From ten to forty employees ✍️ 28:02 Find support for your impact-driven book at www.booksthatmatter.org 🧠 31:04 Dr. Jack Shonkoff: it matters where a child grows up 🤲 35:46 Raj Chetty, Hope VI, and what a neighborhood does to a life 💬 40:36 The spontaneous moments are where real connection happens 🌟 45:53 If you are a leader or changemaker, check out www.geniusdiscovery.org 🕯️ 49:12 Relationships are the engine 🎙️ 49:35 Find more podcasts that matter at www.podcastsmatter.org Links:Website: https://learnwithsam.org LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keisha-gray-8268514 Spartanburg Academic Movement on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/spartanburg-academic-movement If you want to see what cradle to career work actually looks like on the ground, follow Keisha and the Spartanburg Academic Movement. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmscStronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.comPublish a Book That Matters:  booksthatmatter.orgStart a Podcast That Matters:  podcastsmatter.comGo from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.orgStay strong. 

Dr. Abiodun Durojaye arrived in the United States at nine years old from Nigeria, and by fourth grade she had learned two things: she was Black in America, and the name her father gave her would not fit in the spaces she was trying to enter.In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Dr. Abiodun Durojaye, founder of AsidaLove and former CEO of Urban Alliance, to talk about identity, gratitude, motherhood, and why love belongs in leadership conversations that usually leave it out.Abiodun grew up the daughter of a Nigerian mother raising four children alone in a new country. Every one of those children now holds at least a doctorate. She went on to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, joined Delta Sigma Theta, and after graduation packed her bags for Nigeria to serve in the National Youth Service Corps. That year in camp, fetching water for a bath in front of thousands of strangers, is where she learned the line she still lives by. Authenticity is a privilege. Check yourself at the door. She also met her husband there.Then came the part of her story most people do not see. Two of her three daughters were born micro-preemie, one at 24 weeks and one at 23, each weighing about a pound. Five-month NICU stays. Holidays in the hospital. She finished her dissertation in those rooms because work became the only thing that kept her upright. Ron and Abiodun talk about what that kind of endurance costs, and the day she pulled her oldest out of school at 11 a.m. to go bra shopping because grace matters too.Now Abiodun is building AsidaLove, a movement rooted in the belief that love is a strategy, not a sentiment. She is planning a For Her, By Her convening in Chicago for women of color navigating transition, and writing a memoir about her NICU years and what kept her going.Tune in to hear why empathy is strength, why presence is the real work of leadership, and what it means to check yourself at the door. Chapters:📚 01:44 Publish your book at www.leveragepublishinggroup.com🌍 02:36 Meet Dr. Abiodun Durojaye, first-generation Nigerian🏫 07:22 Fourth grade at Reavis Elementary and the day Abiodun learned she was Black👩🏾 11:13 The women whose shoulders Abiodun stands on🎓 13:38 UIUC, the Deltas, and her line sisters✈️ 15:11 Bags packed for Nigeria at the end of college🏕️ 15:42 A year in the NYSC camp, pay little to nothing💍 16:41 The Nigerian man she swore she would never marry✍️ 19:21 Find support for writing your impact-driven book at www.booksthatmatter.org🚪 22:25 Authenticity is a privilege, so check yourself at the door📖 27:03 Three daughters, two NICU babies, and the book she is writing⏰ 30:34 Twenty-three weeks, one pound, and the decision no mother should make🏥 33:23 A mother's fight when the medicine cracked her daughter's ribs💪 34:39 The dissertation as a distraction from the NICU💗 40:02 AsidaLove: a movement rooted in community and love👩🏾‍🤝‍👩🏾 41:48 For Her, By Her, the Chicago convening Abiodun is dreaming up🌟 43:32 If you are a leader or changemaker looking for support, check out www.geniusdiscovery.org🍲 46:13 Asida, the warm dish that sticks to you🙏 49:23 Her year of yes and being obedient to what is next✨ 53:18 Love as strategy and empathy as strength🎧 01:03:27 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out www.podcastsmatter.comLinks:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/adurojayeInstagram: www.instagram.com/duro_itsabi  Abiodun is someone you want in your corner. Follow her for AsidaLove, the For Her, By Her convening in Chicago, and the memoir that is coming. Connect with Ron: www.linkedin.com/in/rapataloCheck Out Ron's Book: www.amazon.com/dp/1613431473 Leverage Publishing Group: www.leveragepublishinggroup.comPublish a Book That Matters: http://booksthatmatter.orgStart a Podcast That Matters: http://podcastsmatter.comGo from Expert to Thought Leader: http://geniusdiscovery.org 

Vanessa Rodriguez, Executive Vice President of People at the Pahara Institute at Lone Rock, has spent her career building systems that give young people a fair shot, from District 79 in New York City to a national fellowship designed to keep education leaders in the work longer. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Vanessa to talk about what it actually takes to sustain a career in education without burning out. Vanessa grew up in Hartford, Connecticut after her parents moved from Puerto Rico so their kids could have better opportunities. In first grade, her teacher made her stand in the corner and face the wall for answering in Spanish. That experience shaped years of silence before she found her voice and committed her life to expanding opportunity for others. Vanessa spent seven years leading District 79, the citywide network serving over-age, under-credited students across all five boroughs of New York City. She and her team built referral centers that are still in place today, giving young people and families a way to navigate the system and find a path back to education. From there she moved through roles at Citizens of the World Charter Schools, Newark Public Schools, and NYC Outward Bound Schools before joining Pahara. Mike and Vanessa dig into how to hire for values and motivation, what happens when values come into tension with the work, and why the next generation of leaders is not buying the grind culture that defined earlier eras of education reform. Vanessa also shares the five priorities her vitality coach gave her: love, movement, sleep, nutrition, and purpose. Tune in to hear why sustaining in this work requires more than commitment. It requires vitality.   Chapters:🎙️ 00:27 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out www.podcastsmatter.com 🇵🇷 01:37 Vanessa Rodriguez: from Puerto Rico to Hartford to a career in education 🏫 06:16 Seven years leading District 79: serving over-age, under-credited students across NYC 🧭 10:43 What classroom teaching taught her about leading systems change 🤝 14:33 Hiring for values and motivation: the two questions Vanessa asks in every interview 🔥 17:13 What happens when your values come into tension with the work 🏔️ 20:04 Pahara Institute at Lone Rock: a fellowship built to sustain education leaders 📚 24:03 Find support for writing your impact-driven book at www.booksthatmatter.org 📋 29:53 Pahara's application cycle and who should apply 👩‍👦 33:26 Raising a son as a single Latina mom and staying present through basketball🌟 39:38 If you are a leader or changemaker looking for support, check out www.geniusdiscovery.org 🎒 40:36 When your kid asks to leave early: Devin's choice to attend boarding school 🚶‍♀️ 44:34 Walking, water, and winding down: the habits that keep her going 💛 46:17 Love, movement, sleep, nutrition, and purpose: five priorities for vitality 🎧 48:52 Find more podcasts that matter at www.podcaststhatmatter.org Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/vrodriguez7 Pahara Institute: www.pahara.org Learn more about the Pahara fellowship and connect with Vanessa on LinkedIn to follow her work supporting education leaders across the country. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmscStronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.comPublish a Book That Matters:  booksthatmatter.orgStart a Podcast That Matters:  podcastsmatter.comGo from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.orgStay strong. 

From a special education classroom in West Philadelphia to corporate philanthropy at Vanguard, Nicholas Pascale has spent two decades building his career the same way he builds everything: through relationships. In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Nicholas, a former SPED teacher, principal, district leader, and nonprofit consultant who now works on Vanguard's Community Stewardship team. Nicholas grew up in a working class Italian family in New York with a twin brother and parents who both worked at JFK Airport. When he was a year and a half old, his father was diagnosed with terminal leukemia and given six months to live. He fought for ten and a half years. That early confrontation with loss shaped everything. Nicholas knew by first grade he wanted to be a teacher after Mrs. Kennedy knelt beside him on his first day apart from his twin brother and told him it was going to be okay. As a principal, he built school culture around reconciliation, insisting that adults model the same forgiveness they ask of thirteen year olds. When he pivoted to HR at a startup and got laid off, the relationships he had been building for years carried him into consulting with Bellwether, Albuquerque Public Schools, and DCPS. Ron and Nicholas also go deep on what it means to maintain relationships over time, why financial literacy belongs in schools alongside health education, and how a volunteer role at Vanguard led Nicholas back to education through corporate philanthropy. Tune in to hear why the only legacy that lasts is the way you make people feel. Chapters:📚 01:44 Publish your book at www.leveragepublishinggroup.com 🤝 02:34 Meet Nicholas Pascale: relationships as a way of life 🇮🇹 08:20 Growing up in a working class Italian family in Queens 🏥 09:55 Dad diagnosed with leukemia at one and a half: ten years of fighting 👩 14:12 Mom held the load as a single parent after dad passed 💰 16:45 Mentor, financial literacy, and how mom retired at 55 ✍️ 17:44 Find support for writing your impact-driven book at www.booksthatmatter.org 🍎 18:44 Mrs. Kennedy in first grade: deciding to be a teacher at seven years old 🏫 23:36 Building school culture around reconciliation: kids come first 🔄 33:27 From schools to ed consulting: Bellwether, DCPS, and Albuquerque 🌟 35:53 If you are a leader or changemaker looking for support, check out www.geniusdiscovery.org 🏢 42:32 How a volunteer role at Vanguard led back to education through philanthropy 📱 48:25 The simplest relationship strategy: just reach out and tell people you love them 💛 52:55 The Ronderings: life is measured in love and kindness through relationships 🎧 57:17 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out www.podcastsmatter.com Links:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-pascale-ab1701137Connect with Nicholas on LinkedIn to follow his work in corporate philanthropy at Vanguard and his continued commitment to education and community. Connect with Ron: www.linkedin.com/in/rapataloCheck Out Ron's Book: www.amazon.com/dp/1613431473 Leverage Publishing Group: www.leveragepublishinggroup.comPublish a Book That Matters: http://booksthatmatter.orgStart a Podcast That Matters: http://podcastsmatter.comGo from Expert to Thought Leader: http://geniusdiscovery.org For more great podcasts like this one, visit: https://podcaststhatmatter.org