Catalyze

Humanitarian Edward Ndopu joined Catalyze co-hosts Sarah O’Carroll and Elias Guedira ’26 during his visit to the Morehead-Cain Foundation this spring. Ndopu represents accessibility and inclusion as one of the 17 official UN Advocates for the Sustainable Development Goals. Ndopu shares about his experiences becoming the first disabled Black man to receive a master’s degree from Oxford University,...

Today’s episode is a recording of a SEVEN Talk from the 2022 Alumni Forum. This talk, given by Emily Vasquez ’06, is entitled, “The Social Life.” Emily is a Bridge to the Faculty Fellow in Sociology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The alumna is also an ethnographer of science, medicine, and public health. You can watch all of the SEVEN Talks on our YouTube channel .  Emily is also a prev...

Steven Aldrich ’91, a seasoned entrepreneur and executive with a wealth of experience in growing successful companies, joined Catalyze during a visit to UNC–Chapel Hill this spring.  Steven shares with scholar co-hosts Elias Guedira ’26 and Stella Smolowitz ’26 about his experiences starting GoDaddy’s California offices and taking the company public as chief product officer; selling an online insu...

Today’s episode is a recording of a SEVEN Talk from the 2022 Alumni Forum. This talk, given by Antonio McBroom ’08, is entitled, “Pardon My Passion.” Antonio is a franchise developer at Ben & Jerry’s. You can watch all of the SEVEN Talks on our YouTube channel .  More about Antonio Antonio McBroom ’08 is the franchise developer of Ben & Jerry’s with multi-unit double-digit retail and business loca...

Former congressman David Price ’61 joined Catalyze with scholar co-hosts Benny Klein ’24 and Elias Guedira ’26 in December 2022 during the politician’s final month in office. Price, who retired this January, represented North Carolina’s fourth district, including Orange County, Chapel Hill. The alumnus visited the Foundation to share about his lifetime career of public service and his over three d...

Today’s episode is a recording of a SEVEN Talk from the 2022 Alumni Forum. This talk, given by Debbie Weston Harden ’79, is entitled, “Can I Do It All?”  You can watch all of the SEVEN Talks on our YouTube channel .  Debbie is a partner at Womble Bond Dickinson. The alumna was a member of the first class of women scholars. More about Debbie Debbie Weston Harden ’79 is a member of the first class o...

Morehead-Cain president, Chris Bradford, joined Catalyze with scholar host, Elias Guedira ’26, to share about the state of the Program after his first year and a half in the role. The president talks about the progress the Morehead-Cain community made in 2022 and what opportunities he sees for the Program in 2023 and beyond. You can learn more about the Program by viewing the online 2021–2022 Year...

A night under the stars in the Himalayas. A lion hunt from a safari van in Africa. A dune climb in Morocco. Aayas Joshi ’26 (the first Morehead-Cain Scholar from Nepal), Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26 share about their global experiences on the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year .  At the end of the episode, we also hear from current gap year scholars Abbey Beebe ’27 about sw...

To hear more from Elias about the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year, catch his Catalyze podcast to be released on Tuesday, November 13, 2022, on all podcast apps.  A night under the stars in the Himalayas. A lion hunt from a safari van in Africa. A sand dune climb in Morocco. Aayas Joshi ’26, Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26 will share about their global experiences on the Mor...

To hear more from Aayas about the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year, catch his Catalyze podcast to be released on Tuesday, November 13, 2022, on all podcast apps. A night under the stars in the Himalayas. A lion hunt from a safari van in Africa. A sand dune climb in Morocco. Aayas Joshi ’26, Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26 will share about their global experiences on the More...

To hear more from Olu about the Morehead-Cain International Gap Year, catch his Catalyze podcast to be released on Tuesday, November 13, 2022, on all podcast apps. A night under the stars in the Himalayas. A lion hunt from a safari van in Africa. A sand dune climb in Morocco. Aayas Joshi ’26, Olu Kopano ’26, and scholar host Elias Guedira ’26 will share about their global experiences on the Morehe...

Today’s episode is a recording of a SEVEN Talk from the 2022 Alumni Forum. This talk, given by Harvey Kennedy ’74, is entitled, “Carolina Memories and Inspiration.” Harvey is a partner at Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy & Kennedy LLP. The alumnus was the second Black Morehead-Cain Scholar. You can watch all of the SEVEN Talks on our YouTube channel .  More about Harvey Harvey Kennedy ’74 has spent the las...

Emily Vasquez ’06 joined Catalyze on the Saturday afternoon of the 2022 Morehead-Cain Alumni Forum in Chapel Hill this past October. Earlier that morning, she delivered a SEVEN Talk entitled, “ The Social Life ,” to over 500 Forum attendees.  During this episode, recorded on campus in the Pit, Emily shares with scholar host Elias Guedira ’25 about her ethnography research in Mexico and its paralle...

Laura Saavedra Forero ’25 and Eleanor Bolton ’25 joined Catalyze with scholar co-host Elias Guedira ’26 from the Scholar Media Team to talk about their call to activism for disability rights on the campus of UNC–Chapel Hill. The two also share about how Morehead-Cain Alumni can support disabled college students at Carolina through their advocacy, expertise, and other resources.  Laura and Megan Mu...

The year of 2022 has been a remarkable one for Janora McDuffie-Ryan ’99, an actress, voiceover artist, and host. The alumna catches up with Catalyze about the past eight months, which have included movie deals, hosting Kia’s launch event in Phoenix for their first-ever electric vehicle, attending Pride Celebrations at the White House and Vice President Harris’s residence, announcing the Institute...

Trial lawyer Jerry Blackwell ’84 sat down with Catalyze hosts Sarah O’Carroll and Benny Klein ’24 to share his story of joining the prosecution team, some of the strategies behind the case, and what it was like to deliver the closing remarks of the trial. Jerry has been nominated by President Biden to become a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. The al...

Brad Rathgeber ’01 is the head of school and CEO of One Schoolhouse , a “partner to independent schools that envisions and embodies what’s next in education, online learning, and professional development.”  The alumnus talks with host Benny Klein ’24 of the Scholar Media Team about working with three other Morehead-Cains as a rising second-year college student for a nonprofit scholarship program i...

Nick Andersen ’12 is a podcast producer for GBH Boston, the primary PBS member station in Boston.  Nick shares with host Benny Klein ’24 of the Scholar Media Team about his work on the PBS MASTERPIECE series. Before joining GBH, the producer worked for WBUR, Boston’s NPR news station, and NPR’s On Point show. The alumnus is also the senior producer for Ministry of Ideas, a “small show about big id...

Jamie DeMent Holcomb ’01 stopped by the Foundation in March 2022 to speak with host Benny Klein ’24 of the Scholar Media Team during her campaign for North Carolina Senate (District 23).  Jamie shares about growing up in Franklin County, North Carolina; watching the Duke vs. UNC game during her final selection weekend; spotting Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino on the Universal Studios set, and her...

Tucker Stillman ’25 from the Morehead-Cain Scholar Media Team shares about the latest stories from the team.  First up, a series on self-starters by Sarah Chocron ’25 and Ria Patel ’25 features Morehead-Cains who took the initiative to fill gaps within their communities.  The first edition highlights Isabella Grandic ’25 and her startup Boob Blurb , a card-game-turned-social-movement inspired by w...

Bradley Opere ’17 is the co-founder of FarmMoja , an agriculture social enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya.  Bradley joined Catalyz e to share about what got him interested in the agriculture industry, how FarmMoja is working to rehabilitate land and support smallholder farmers, and why it was important for the alumnus to return to Africa after graduating as a Morehead-Cain Scholar.  For his day job, Br...

Ying Hua ’10 is a portfolio manager at Balyasny Asset Management, a hedge fund with $15 billion of assets under management. On this episode, Ying breaks down the two approaches to investing (fundamental and quantitative) and gives personal finance advice for college students. She also shares how to embrace volatility and risk in your career.  Prior to joining Balyasny in 2020, Ying was an analyst...

Our next Catalyze guest is Ying Hua ’10, a portfolio manager at Balyasny Asset Management in San Francisco. Ahead of releasing her full episode, we’re sharing 60 seconds of her advice for college students interested in pursuing a career in finance. Listen before your next interview, or if you just need a pep talk.  Music credits: “Outside the Box,” by Patrick Patrikios. 

Catalyze is honored to have Dr. Brandi Brimmer on the series to talk about her first year so far at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, her background in African American social and political history, and her current and upcoming research projects. Dr. Brimmer, an associate professor in the Department of African, African American, and Diaspora Studies (AAAD), is one of three Morehead-...

For MLK Day, scholar host Benny Klein ’24 interviews Wendell McCain ’92, the son of activist Franklin McCain of the Greensboro Four . Wendell shares about what it was like to grow up around one of the leaders of the civil rights movement and the lessons he learned from his father about pursuing justice. He also talks about his journey through the financial world and how he’s found ways to support...