Be The Good

Jessica Patay is the founder and President of a nonprofit organization called We Are Brave Together. We Are Brave Together is an organization that provides community and mentoring for mothers caring for children of any age with disabilities, special needs, or other medical or mental health challenges. As a mom of a child with special needs herself, Jessica knows first-hand just how necessary and p...

Dr. Sheena C. Howard is a Professor of Communications. She is an award winning author, filmmaker, and scholar. In 2014, Sheena became the first black woman to win an Eisner Award for her first book, “Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation”.  She is also the author of several critically acclaimed books and comic books on a range of different topics. Sheena is a writer and image activist,...

Jillian Morris is a marine biologist, shark conservationist, founder and president of the nonprofit Sharks4Kids, author to 2 children’s books, professional videographer and photographer, mom, wife, and avid diver. She has filmed for numerous television shows and networks, has appeared on Shark Week, and is a PADI Ambassadiver. She was named Scuba Diving Magazine’s July 2016 Sea Hero, awarded the i...

Legend and Amanda Tarver are the founders of 300 Letters, an organization focused on creating and maintaining the bond between recently released parents from incarceration and their children. The organization aims to provide support and resources for families as they recover and work to create stability after incarceration.  Amanda and Legend were incarcerated together during the most challenging...

Sebastian Martin is a social entrepreneur and educator based in NYC. In 2013 he founded Cambio Coffee, an organic social enterprise company that operated in Shanghai for 5 years. Sebastian then moved to NYC in 2018 to run the Social Innovation Program at Avenues: The World School. He has now recently launched Cambio Labs, a non profit venture that creates educational apps and programs that transfo...

Photo Start is a non profit team of photographers, artists and teachers providing opportunities for impoverished youth who might otherwise get left behind. At Photo Start they believe that talent is universal, opportunity is not and they are on a mission to change that.  The Photo Start Program offers problem based, social emotional learning that leverages digital media arts, starting with photogr...

Kevin Shah is on a mission to make empathy a habit for all so that people understand one another. He is the co-founder and CEO of a company called Jaago. Jaago is primarily designed for HR and DEI leaders to enable their employees to build more empathy, but it is also an incredible tool that Kevin encourages us all to utilize as we work to strengthen our own empathy muscles. It is a mobile platfor...

Christa Mantey is a mind, body, spirit wellness coach, she is a conscious parent and partner facilitator and a lactation educator as well. With years of experience in nutrition and wellness Christa added post partum and couples support to her work after walking the path of her own unique experience with childbirth and parenthood and she brings an incredibly inspiring perspective and light to the c...

Evan LaRuffa is a creative problem solver and the founder of an organization called I Paint My Mind. I Paint My Mind is a non profit organization  made up of curators, organizers and advocates for the arts. By working with local artists, partnering with companies that care, and providing arts resources to underserved communities, I Paint My Mind works to make the world a more connected and creativ...

Ray Nell Jones is a female empowerment speaker, activist and the founder of an organization called the Allignment Chapter. Ray Nell has been featured on The Ellen Show, Brawny initiative and the Top 50 smart Biz.  Ray Nell and her organization work to help low income single mothers throughout the United States. Ray Nell and her team work to provide the basic necessities needed to wash their childr...

Maxwell Poth is the founder of an organization called Project Contrast. Project Contrast is a non profit organization created to help share the stories of, and give a voice to, LGBTQ+ youth across the country. In addition to raising awareness and lowering the amount of suicides among LGBTQ+ youth in the U.S., Project Contrast aims to create a platform for these youth to become advocates for each o...

Wendy Shew is the founder of a for-purpose organization, " Building Education ", that serves to alleviate poverty in developing countries by inspiring, educating and empowering. In collaborating with the government, partner organizations and local schools The Building Education Organization aims to transform rural villages into prosperous, dignified communities.  Building Education is a...

Kevin Stickelman is the CEO of the National Ability Center , a non profit organization that is a leader in adaptive recreation, offering outdoor adventures that cater to those with a different ability or disability and programs designed with inclusion as a first priority.  The NAC rallies around the belief that our differences make us stronger and that recreating together can change our world. By...

Alex West is the founder of an organization called One More Wave . The mission at One More Wave is to provide wounded or injured veterans with customized surfboards, wet suits, stand up paddle boards and body surfing hand planes customized to their injuries.  At One More Wave it is their belief that ocean therapy will not only improve the lives of our veterans but also impact the veteran suicide r...

Greg Cohen is one of the most inspiring people I know. I have known Greg for about 2 years now as we have worked together on several projects for my non profit Project Scleroderma. Greg suffers from the autoimmune disease, Scleroderma, which is a disease I lost my own mom to 11 years ago. Scleroderma literally means “hard skin”, it causes a hardening of the connective tissue. Although the skin har...

Laurel Sims is the co-founder and CEO of a non profit called Urban Growers Collective. Rooted in growing food, the Urban Growers Collective works to cultivate nourishing environments which support health, economic development, healing and creativity through urban agriculture. The Urban Growers Collective currently has eight urban farms that operate on 11 acres of land, predominantly located on Chi...

Robert Thornton is the founder of an organization called Cloud Covered Streets . Robert is on a mission to bring hope, compassion, kindness and needed supplies to those experiencing homelessness in the Phoenix, Arizona area.  Robert and his team work to provide new shirts, socks, toiletries and letters of encouragement to those in need. And they recently hit the streets with a brand new mobile tra...

Destini McAlister is an author, wife, and mother of 3. She has a passion for advocating for vulnerable youth and adoptees. One of the ways she has recently accomplished this is by publishing her childhood memoir, “Set Free” , which outlines her turbulent childhood and shows readers what children from trauma need in order to become thriving adults. Born into a family saturated with generational tra...

Prince Brathwaite is the founder and owner of Trooper Fitness , based in Manhattan and currently offering Virtual Group Strength and HIIT Classes. He is not only a highly motivational coach to his clients and team but he’s also a very inspirational and empathetic person who encourages a “Stronger Together” type of mindset. He is someone who has dedicated his life’s work to building others up and u...

Valeria Kechichian is the co-founder and CEO of Longboard Girls Crew , an organization that put female long boarding on the map. In the beginning, Valeria and her crew successfully got some international media attention and started not only gaining recognition for women but achieving a bigger goal: getting thousands of women around the world into the sport and breaking social stereotypes while doi...

Ryan Carroll is a Sayville, New York local and the CEO of Carroll’s Kitchen , a grass roots non profit charity. Ryan lost his job as a chef in NYC due to the closures of restaurants from Covid 19. Instead of staying home, Ryan sprung into action and assembled a team of over 30 of the best hospitality workers to help people across Long Island in a safe and organized manner. Ryan and his team have f...

You may remember Karen (formerly Millsap, now Karen Allen), as she was the very first guest on this podcast! Karen gave us a major dose of inspiration in our first interview and that is exactly why I wanted to bring her back to help us kick off Season 3. Karen is a resilience and mindset expert, motivational speaker, mom and author. As a growth and mindset speaker and coach, Karen is here to teach...

Welcome back to Be The Good Podcast! 

Jim Murray is the Co-Founder of the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. Born in West Philadelphia, he is a 1960 alumni of Villanova University. In 1969, Jim joined the Philadelphia Eagles’ public relations staff.  Five years later, he was named general manager for the Eagles where he served for nine years and took the franchise to the first Super Bowl appearance against the Oakland Raiders in Supe...

Steve Selfridge is a saxophonist, jazz musician, music teacher, and school band director in the Philadelphia area.   Steve is an active performer in various musical ensembles and venues in the greater Philadelphia area. In 2011, he performed at Carnegie Hall in NYC, as a featured soloist on stage with rock legend Steven Van Zandt and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Darlene Love.  In his career...