In the Arena with NOW
NOW Vital Village
In the Arena with NOW lifts up the voices of community leaders who are “in the arena” -- in classrooms, playgrounds, Congressional halls, hospitals, and neighborhood streets -- working to make sure that all children and families can live healthy, thriving lives. Each episode will delve into the experiences of local coalitions, residents, and experts who are working to create equitable systems of care and education. We’ll learn about what they are doing and why, challenges and successes faced, and advice for others seeking to build, grow, and sustain momentum for the long haul. Learn more at: https://www.networksofopportunity.org
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Top 10 In the Arena with NOW Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best In the Arena with NOW episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to In the Arena with NOW for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite In the Arena with NOW episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Inclusive Leadership and Healing through Collaborative Action
In the Arena with NOW
08/10/23 • 18 min
How can collaborative action support joy and community healing? And what does this mean for how we define and understand leadership? In our next episode, we speak with Reann Gibson, a community-based researcher, community changemaker, and an advocate for social justice in the fields of health equity, food systems, community development and more. Reann reflects on her decades-long work to support food access, transformation justice and community-based participatory research in the Boston area and shares how collaborative action can shift the narrative of leadership, making space for all different types of leaders. We explore with Reann the power of fostering community-controlled and authentic spaces to support long term healing, and how participatory research efforts, such as the Healthy Neighborhood Study, can offer important lessons for creating these opportunities.
Featured guest:
- Reann Gibson, Community researcher and social justice advocate
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks
Resources from the episode:
- Learn more about the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition at: https://www.mattapanfoodandfit.org/
- Read more about the Edgewater Food Forest in Mattapan at: https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/05/25/edgewater-food-forest-mattapan-boston-food-forest-coalition
- Learn more about The Healthy Neighborhoods Study at: hns.mit.edu
Additional Resource:
- Explore the featured Resource from the NOW Resource Library, A Community Builders Toolkit, here: https://www.networksofopportunity.org/resources/A-Community-Builders'-Toolkit
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings
Know Your Power: Camille Bennett on Coalition Building, Advocacy and Partnership
In the Arena with NOW
12/07/23 • 31 min
In our final episode of the season, we return to Vital Village Networks’ 10th annual National Community Leadership Summit and tune into the dynamic closing keynote conversation with Camille Bennett, Founder and Executive Director of Project Say Something. Connecting the personal and political, Camille speaks to her and her family’s multi-generational work advocating for racial justice in Alabama. She shares the efforts that she and coalitions are leading to dismantle white supremacist culture and fight against anti-Black policies, lifting up how grassroots efforts are seeking to promote education and reproductive justice. She explores what partnership with community looks like in policy and advocacy, and the need to affirm and elevate community power.
Featured guest:
- Camille Bennett, Founder and Executive Director, Project Say Something
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks
Additional Resources:
- Find out more about Project Say Something’s work here: https://www.projectsaysomething.org/
- Explore the featured resource from the NOW Resource Library, Working Principles for Health Justice and Racial Equity, from the Praxis Project here: https://www.thepraxisproject.org/our-principles
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Recorded by: MediaBoss
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings
Writing Our Story: Kiese Laymon on Joy, Justice, and Healing
In the Arena with NOW
11/30/23 • 39 min
In this special episode, we tune in from Vital Village Networks’ 10th annual National Community Leadership Summit, where hundreds of grassroots community leaders gathered in Boston in October. Hear opening remarks from Founding Director, Dr. Renee Boynton-Jarrett, followed by an intimate conversation with best-selling author and educator Kiese Laymon and Ronda Alexander, Vital Village’s Director of Partnerships. Delving into the summit theme, Writing Our Story, Kiese reflects on his personal journey growing up in Jackson, Mississippi with radical honesty and vulnerability, sharing insights on racism, family, dignity, and the power of sitting in grief. He explores what joy, healing, and justice look like and the importance of writing, telling, and owning our own narratives.
Featured guest:
- Kiese Laymon, Bestselling Author, Social Critic, and Essayist
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks
Additional Resources:
- Find out more about Kiese Laymon and his work: https://www.lyceumagency.com/speakers/kiese-laymon/
- Learn more about 2023 Summit takeaways and coalition building reflections in our latest article by Gabby Cockerham: https://www.networksofopportunity.org/post/coalition-building-key-takeaways-from-the-2023-national-community-leadership-summit
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Recorded by: MediaBoss
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings
Please note, this episode does contain some adult language.
Local Leaders Have the Solutions: Shared Power and Lifelong Learning
In the Arena with NOW
10/05/23 • 20 min
We continue our conversation with Inés Palmarin, a long-time Boston community builder, coalition co-founder, and Vital Village National Advisory Board member dedicated to holding and creating space for mothers to connect and create solutions together. Inés unpacks what collaborative and shared leadership looks like, and shares more about her work with community economic development and other collaborative efforts that seek to ensure local resident leaders and young people not only have a voice but meaningful and authentic decision making power. We explore with Inés the importance of embracing lifelong learning and how to honor grace, hope, and dignity for ourselves, each other, and future generations of leaders to come.
Featured guest:
- Inés Palmarin, Co Founder of Boston Mothers Care & Community Weaver /Vital Village Board Member
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks
Register for the 10th National Community Leadership Summit: https://www.vitalvillagesummit.org/register
Learn more about Boston Mothers Care: https://www.bostonmotherscare.org/
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings
Finding Hope in Each Other: Centering Trust and “Heart Work” through Collaborative Action
In the Arena with NOW
09/21/23 • 17 min
How can we practice collaborative relationships differently? For Inés Palmarin, long-time Boston community builder, coalition leader and Vital Village National Advisory Board member, this starts with building trust and creating intentional spaces to connect around our shared “why” and hopes for our communities. Ines reflects on her own personal journey, the creation of the Boston Mothers Care coalition, and the evolution of collaborative practices that seek to center racial equity. We explore with Inés what it looks like to sustain “heart work” within coalitions to create wellbeing and opportunity for children and families to thrive.
Featured guest:
- Inés Palmarin, Co Founder of Boston Mothers Care & Community Weaver /Vital Village Board Member
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks
Register for the 10th National Community Leadership Summit: https://www.vitalvillagesummit.org/register
Learn more about Boston Mothers Care: https://www.bostonmotherscare.org/
Additional Resources:
Explore the featured resource from the NOW Resource Library, Building Diverse Community Based Coalitions, here: https://www.networksofopportunity.org/resources/Building-Diverse-Community-Based-Coalitions
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings
Powerful Pathways Part 2: Collective Imagination to Build a Just Future
In the Arena with NOW
07/27/23 • 18 min
In our second episode of the season, we continue the conversation with Allentza Michel, of Powerful Pathways, who reflects on the evolution of creative placemaking and community-led design work and her hopes for the future. We unpack the challenges faced in advancing systems change and navigating the fear of change in transforming oppressive systems. Allentza discusses the critical role of imagination, and how Powerful Pathways is creating spaces and opportunities to bring people together across differences, to be able to collectively imagine and build a just future together.
Featured guest:
- Allentza Michel, Powerful Pathways
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks
Learn more and stay connected at: https://powerfulpathways.org/
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings
Powerful Pathways through Creative Placemaking and Community-Led Design
In the Arena with NOW
07/13/23 • 21 min
Welcome to Season 2 of In the Arena with NOW! As organizers, advocates, and communities continue to work towards systems transformation, what does it look like to make cities more equitable and sustainable? And, what can we learn from leaders who are centering anti-racism and anti-classism through creative placemaking and equitable community design? In our first episode of the season, we speak with Allentza Michel, of Powerful Pathways, who has long been leading efforts to elevate community leadership at the intersection of community design, urban planning, and arts and culture work. We learn more about the need for social change agents and creative thinkers more broadly, particularly in the realm of public policy and community development planning processes that have historically excluded community voices and leadership. Hear more about Allentza’s journey, hear examples of bright spots in Boston, MA, and unpack what it means to shift away from creating policies “for” community and instead design and make policy decisions “with” community.
Featured guest:
- Allentza Michel, Powerful Pathways
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Network
Learn more and stay connected at: https://powerfulpathways.org/
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings
The LIFE Project: Building on The Strengths Of Immigrant Families To Promote Quality Early Care And Education Access
In the Arena with NOW
05/26/21 • 28 min
Based in New York City, the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), in partnership with Fifth Avenue Committee, LSA Family Health Service, BACDYS (Bangladeshi American Community Development and Youth Services), and Masa, launched the Linking Immigrant Families to Quality Early Care and Education (LIFE) Project to connect quality early education to immigrant families including the city's Pre-K and 3K programs. Their work builds on the passion that immigrant families have for educational opportunities and existing relationships with community programs, identifies unique barriers and challenges faced by immigrant families, and aims to build trusting relationships with the communities served. In our final episode of Season 1, we learn from Rosario, Liza, and Kim, members and leaders of the LIFE Project. Guests reflect on what brought them to this work, the strength of the communities they work with, and the lessons learned as they champion for a more equitable early education system in New York City for immigrant communities.
To learn more about the New York Immigration Coalition and their projects please visit, https://www.nyic.org/.
Guests include:
- Rosario Jimenez, Community Health Worker & Early Care Education Advocate, LSA Family Health Service Inc
- Liza Schwartzwald, Senior Manager of Education Policy, New York Immigration Coalition
- Kim Sykes, Director of Education Policy, New York Immigration Coalition
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Network
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music By: Morgan Breland
Edited by: Resonate Recordings
Austin Neighborhood Network: The Value of Collaboration & Community Driven Vision
In the Arena with NOW
04/23/21 • 26 min
What does it look like to engage with community stakeholders to co-design a community plan for revitalization that authentically centers the needs of the local neighborhood? In our 14th episode we feature Austin Neighborhood Network, located in the largest geographic neighborhood of Chicago, to learn more about their participatory efforts to collectively transform their community. Listen in to learn more from Jose Abonce, Ruth Kimble, and Sandra Diaz, as they share the successes, challenges, and insight about how their coalition works to build up community infrastructure by following four of the highest priorities set by community members as part of their Quality of Life Plan, including 1) access to quality early learning opportunities, 2) living wage careers, 3) safe neighborhoods and, and 4) healthy and affordable housing.
To learn more about the Network and their backbone organization, Austin Coming Together visit their website https://austincomingtogether.org/.
- Jose Abonce, Lead Organizer, Austin Coming Together
- Ruth Kimbel, Community Partner & Owner/ Operator of Austin Childcare Provider’s Network
- Sandra Diaz, HUB Coordinator, Austin Coming Together
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, Vital Village Networks
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music By: Morgan Breland
Edited by: Resonate Recordings
Community Ownership of Change: Supporting Co-Design in Research
In the Arena with NOW
08/24/23 • 19 min
Tune into the next part of our conversation with Reann Gibson, a community-based researcher, community changemaker, and social justice advocate in Boston and beyond. Reann delves further into her experiences with facilitating community-based participatory research and coalition building efforts, asking the critical question, “What does it mean to create spaces with community ownership of change?” particularly in the realm of health and wellbeing research. We explore what it looks like to create spaces where community members have the resources -- and the power -- to co-design research, and other community initiatives, and how collaboration rather than competition can help foster innovation and transformation.
Featured guest:
- Reann Gibson, Community researcher and social justice advocate
- Host: Ronda Alexander, Director of Operations, NOW at Vital Village Networks
Read Reann’s latest article on ownership of change at: https://www.rwjf.org/en/insights/blog/2023/06/researchers-build-community-power-to-influence-health-in-gentrifing-neighborhoods.html?channelid=xsp&cid=1003629
Register for the 10th National Community Leadership Summit at: https://www.vitalvillagesummit.org/register
Additional Resource:
Explore the featured resource from the NOW Resource Library, Beyond Lessons In The Field: Community Engagement in Promise Neighborhoods, here: https://www.networksofopportunity.org/resources/Beyond-Lessons-In-The-Field%3A-Community-Engagement-in-Promise-Neighborhoods
Produced by: Networks of Opportunity for Child Wellbeing
Music: Want U W/ Me (Instrumental Mix), by Akira Sora, From the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0
Edited By: Resonate Recordings
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FAQ
How many episodes does In the Arena with NOW have?
In the Arena with NOW currently has 31 episodes available.
What topics does In the Arena with NOW cover?
The podcast is about Community, Family, Early Childhood, Podcasts, Education, Mediation and Arts.
What is the most popular episode on In the Arena with NOW?
The episode title 'Writing Our Story: Kiese Laymon on Joy, Justice, and Healing' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on In the Arena with NOW?
The average episode length on In the Arena with NOW is 28 minutes.
How often are episodes of In the Arena with NOW released?
Episodes of In the Arena with NOW are typically released every 35 days, 1 hour.
When was the first episode of In the Arena with NOW?
The first episode of In the Arena with NOW was released on Mar 14, 2019.
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