The Public Good

On this episode, PPG's own Senior Community Researcher Colleen Kristich & Charis Humphrey, Youth Engagement Coordinator with ECRJC, discuss a newly released report that calls for Buffalo and Erie County to invest in community responders.  Community responders are a new type of first responder who responds to nonviolent calls without the police. Over 100 American cities now utilize community re...

On this episode of The Public Good, Leighton Jones of Our City Buffalo joins us to overview what is on your ballot in Buffalo ahead of the November 5th, 2024 election. As changes occur on federal, state, county and city level, Buffalo has a large influence on changing our political landscape into 2025. We discuss Proposition 1 a proposed amendment that would "expand that protection based on severa...

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. On this episode of The Public Good, we’re spotlighting the founders of BBRIDGE: Building Black Relationships by Initiating Development, Growth, and Empowerment. Listen in as Regine Ndanga and Caitlin Crowell join students and professors—Jennifer Elliott, Vanity Jones, Ogechi Kalu, and Joyce A. Jekayinoluwa—to dive into their groundbreaking work on dome...

This week on The Public Good, our guest is Keiah Shauku, Director of Community Engagement at the ⁠Buffalo AKG Art Museum. ⁠ Over the last six months, AKG has hosted " ⁠Before and After Again,"⁠ an artwork, pose, and poetry exhibition featuring Buffalo-based artists and cultural producers Julia Bottoms, Jillian Hanesworth, and Tiffany Gaines. In dialogue with the community, their work responds to t...

In this episode, we talk to Richard Steinberg and Sara Schultz of Sierra Club Niagara about their proposal to electrify the City of Buffalo's vehicles. Electrifying our municipal vehicles will save the city money, improve residents' health, and will help reduce the greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change. To learn more about our work, visit our website a ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ppgb...

On this episode , Hagar Hafez from the New York Immigration Coalition and Hy Carrel from Community Canvases discuss The Home Within , a multilingual poetry and arts event at the Buffalo History Museum on Thursday, October 10, 6-9 p.m., to celebrate Buffalo’s rich language tapestry and language justice. The event culminates a series of writing and poetry workshops that brought together immigrant wr...

Samantha Hidalgo from the Buffalo Center for Health Equity and Chantazia "Shay" Bronson from the UB Community Health Equity Research Institute joined us on The Public Good to talk about their upcoming Igniting Hope conference. On September 21, this free annual conference on health equity will focus on Building an Environmentally Just Community, bringing together local residents, advocate...

How are we engaging and creating safe third spaces for youth? What is true youth leadership? Join us on this epsiode where RealTalk discusses their upcoming Teen Block Party Empowerment Fest on September 1st from 3PM-8PM at Johnnie B Wiley Stadium. Learn more about the work RealTalk and thenatural_hustle #TEENSWHOCARE are doing to activate and empower young people in Buffalo. To learn more about o...

On this special episode of The Public Good, we introduce Whitman, Buffalo a celebration of poetry and community. Partnership for the Public Good (PPG) and the Calamus Project worked with filmmaker Steve Rosenthal to film representatives from 20 PPG partner organizations doing three things: describing themselves and their work; talking about PPG’s 20 principles (eight assets and twelve challenges f...

On this episode of The Public Good, we speak to our Summer 2024 PPG interns on "Next Gen Leaders." Every summer and throughout the year PPG welcomes interns from universities, community or grassroots movements to experience public policy, research and advocacy in a new way. We strive to include younger generations into creative approaches for shifting historically flattened and sanitized...

What does it mean to truly hear the voices of our communities? Who gets to shape the narratives in our society, and who is left unheard? In this episode, guests Hagar Hafez and Anna Porter from the New York Immigration Coalition dive into the critical issue of language access in Western New York and across the nation. We explore how the absence of language resources has silenced millions and discu...

How are the creative outlets of theater and the arts a direct pathway to healing and justice for subjugated populations?  On this summer High Road series episode, our guests, Gabriella McKinley and High Road Fellow Daniela Gloster from Ujima Company Inc ., will discuss the salient and creative work Ujima is producing around injustice and carceral systems.  To learn more about our work, visit our w...

With the election looming, maintaining labor rights is a top priority for  WNY Area Labor Federation, AFL-CIO . On this summer High Road series episode, our guests Austin Morgan and High Road Fellow Matthew Dye from the WNY Labor Federation discuss the current state of labor unions and the work to maintain over a century’s worth of organizing and wins on behalf of the working class.  To learn more...

On this summer High Road series episode, Chris Murawski and High Road Fellow Sia Gu from the Clean Air Coalition of WNY to discuss the work of grassroots leadership development and the intersections of environmental justice with racial, economic, and social justice. "The Clean Air Coalition builds power by developing grassroots leaders who organize their communities to run and win environment...

This week, we welcome Felicia Stanley, Luanne Brown, and Program Mom Dora from the B uffalo Prenatal Perinatal Network (BPPN) . We’ll delve into critical discussions about Black Maternal Awareness and health disparities. Did you know that 1 in 5 new mothers faces a maternal mental health condition? The statistics are even more alarming for Black women, with 40% experiencing these symptoms—almost d...

Next week, PPG and the Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab is hosting Uniting on the High Road, a conference bringing together leaders, advocates, researchers, and organizers from broad movements for racial and economic justice and authentic democracy. Free and open to the public, register to take part in interactive workshops, field experiences in Buffalo neighborhoods, art performances, and collective ar...

This Foster Care Awareness Week, we’re thrilled to highlight Dr. Leah Angel Daniel, Founder and Executive Director of Fostering Greatness Inc. and Executive Director of the African American Cultural Center .  As a foster care alumna herself, Dr. Daniel is dedicated to uplifting the foster care community, especially focusing on youth of color. Through her organization, she’s transforming lives from...

Are you interested in learning what Mayor Byron Brown is prioritizing in his proposed budget for 2024-2025? Do you want to know how you can influence the city budget? Check out PPG’s virtual workshop (from May 13, 2024) on the city's proposed $618 million budget.  We discuss where the City gets its revenue, what the City spends its money on, and what's changed since last year.  We also tak...

#2 on PPG’s 2024 Community Agenda is Address Racial and Special Needs Disparities in Buffalo Public School Discipline by Implementing New York State Education Department Recommendations . Tune into this episode of The Public Good where we’re joined by Sam White from Western New York Law Center and Quinn Carroll from New York Civil Liberties Union .  Sam and Quinn share their expertise and experien...

 #7 on PPG’s 2024 Community Agenda is Reform Parole to Reunite Families Across New York State. Tune into this episode of The Public Good for an insightful conversation with Donna Robinson, Buffalo’s Community Organizer with the Release Aging People from Prison Campaign .  Donna shares her personal experiences and advocacy for parole reform, highlighting the need to address the long-term effects of...

 #9 on PPG’s 2024 Community Agenda is Increase Funding for Youth Services in the City of Buffalo Budget. This week’s guest is Alia Williams, the Voices Influencing Building Equity (VIBE) Organizer at VOICE Buffalo and a lead on this agenda item. Alia shares insights with Dejia James about the vital role of community engagement and activism. Explore how Alia’s upbringing and passion for Black liber...

Our guest this week is Evelyn Kessler, a self-described banker by day and social entrepreneur by night. She is the founder and Executive Director of International Child Advancement (ICA), a nonprofit with a mission to empower orphans and underprivileged children to become self-sufficient through education, vocational training, and mentoring.  Listen to Evelyn share her journey as a second-generati...

Welcome to The Public Good’s second episode of a special Black History Month series. This week, Dejia James speaks with two Black men dedicated to uplifting their community: Sherman Webbs-Middlebrooks (Men’s Health Project Manager at the Buffalo Center for Health Equity ) and Jimmy Darby (community organizer, Board President for Voice Buffalo , volunteer with the Buffalo Peacemaker s, and founder...

Welcome to The Public Good’s first episode of a special Black History Month series. On Thursday 2/15 from 9am-11am, Say Yes Buffalo will present the next installment in their Employer Think Tank Series - White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Nation’s Divide . This panel discussion will focus on the organized resistance to Black progress through education and workforce development.  Our guests this...

The Open Buffalo Ecology Center is a holistic solution to tackle the complex and interconnected systemic challenges faced by Buffalo residents, in particular the approximately 93,000 residents of the East Side of Buffalo. In January, The Public Good host Dejia James sat down with Francelle Parker and Max Anderson, Executive and Deputy Directors of Open Buffalo , respectively.  In this episode, Fra...