Resilient Voices & Beyond

Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast  Season 3, Episode 57 Title: Power With Purpose, Leadership With Heart This episode does not center leadership as a title. It centers leadership as a transformation. It asks a harder question. What happens when someone who was once navigating survival steps into spaces of influence and refuses to forget where they came from. In this deeply grounded and forward...

This episode confronts a truth that systems continue to avoid naming with clarity. Aging out of foster care does not mark a successful transition into adulthood. It exposes whether the relationships built around a young person were ever real, sustainable, or rooted in accountability. In this deeply intentional and unflinching conversation, I sit with Aiden Abruzzino, a foster care connected advoca...

This episode stands as a living testament to what it means to survive, to rebuild, and to reclaim identity beyond what systems, statistics, and suffering attempted to define. In this deeply reflective and unfiltered conversation, I sit with Jennifer Tai, MSW, ASW, PPSC, whose life embodies both the weight of trauma and the discipline of healing. Jennifer does not offer a polished narrative. She of...

Resilient Voices and Beyond Podcast, Season Three, Episode 54. Healing while curating dreams and breaking generational trauma. Guest, Julissa Grozozski Torres, YPA, NYCPS, CRPA, Founder and CEO of Triumph OVA Struggles Advocacy and Consulting LLC. This episode holds space for healing centered conversations and storytelling inside my Foster Healing Fellowship capstone work, and it honors the truth...

🎙️ Episode 53 — “It Can Be Done” Guest: Hery “Eddie” Acosta | Author, Speaker, Youth Advocate Podcast: Resilient Voices & Beyond – A Healing-Centered Conversation Foster Healing Fellowship Capstone Series Episode Description: In this gripping and hope-filled episode titled “It Can Be Done,” host Michael D. Davis-Thomas sits down with author, speaker, and youth advocate Hery “Eddie” Acosta, who...

🎙️ Episode 52 — “She Believed She Could, So She Did” Guest: Faith M. Keen | DHHS Intern • FSM Contractor • LEx Policy Advocate • TLE Member • BSW  Candidate • Future MSW Podcast: Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast — Season 3 Host: Michael D. Davis-Thomas Episode Description: In this powerful and soul-baring conversation, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas is joined by rising advocate, policy shaper,...

🎙️ Episode 51 — “Still Waters Run Deep” Guest: Sylvia Monica Parrott | National Foster Care Advocate, Public Speaker, Lived Experience Leader Podcast: Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast — Season 3 Episode Description: Still waters don’t mean still souls. In this soul-stirring episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas sits down with the quiet force that is Sylvia Mon...

🎙️ Episode 50 — “Your Story Is the Message. Your Story Is Your Legacy” Featuring: Tamara L. Dillard | Author, Clinical Social Worker, Therapist, Foster Care Advocate, Foster Alumni Podcast: Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast — Season 3  Host: Michael D. Davis-Thomas In this milestone 50th episode and the Season 3 of the Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas sits do...

🎙️ Episode 49 – Season 3 Title: "Broken Systems, Funded Silence: Deconstructing the Nonprofit-Gov Pipeline” (Part 2) Guests: Bobbi Taylor (Founder & CEO, Proximate Solution) & Tamara Dillard, MSW, CSW (Clinical Social Worker, Advocate, Foster Care Alumni) Host: Michael D. Davis-Thomas | Founder & CEO, MDDTSpeaks 💥 Episode Description:  In Part 2 of our ground-shifting series "Broken S...

Season 3, Episode 48 🎙️ Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast Title: “Broken Systems, Funded Silence: Deconstructing the Nonprofit-Gov Pipeline” – Part 1 In this explosive Part 1 of a two-part special, Resilient Voices & Beyond dives into one of the most underexamined yet critical realities in system reform: the nonprofit-to-government pipeline. Host Michael D. Davis-Thomas, nationally recogni...

Season 3, Episode 47 Title: “Your direction is more important than your speed.” Subtitle: From Surviving to Serving: Reclaiming Purpose Through Pain  In this deeply moving episode of the Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas (MDDTSpeaks) sits down with Andrea Atkins—a single mother of four, foster care alumni, and child welfare specialist—for an unfiltered, soul-stirr...

Season 3, Episode 46 Title: “Life is not what happens to you, but how you respond to it.” Subtitle: Stepping Into the Call: From Surviving to Surrendering In this transformative episode of the Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas (MDDTSpeaks) reconnects with long-time friend and fellow advocate Ashley Watkins—and what unfolds is nothing short of sacred. Together, the...

Season 3, Episode 45 Title: “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” – Colossians 3:23 (NLT) In this deeply moving episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas is joined by author, advocate, mother, and lived experience leader Kayann Foster—a woman whose life and work exemplify faith, resilience, and radi...

Episode Title: "Your Story Is Your Superpower—Own It, Share It, and Let It Open Doors for You." Season 3, Episode 44 In this transformative episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas sits down with powerhouse speaker, author, trauma expert, and former foster youth Dr. Danisha Keating for a deeply authentic conversation about healing, identity, and turning pain i...

Episode Title: "Live life to the fullest, excel despite challenges, and never let those who wish you harm dictate your path." Season 3, Episode 43 In this raw and transformative episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas is joined by Maegan “Mae” Mason, a resilient advocate, mentor, and lived experience expert who shares her powerful story of survival, self-disc...

Episode Title: "Love is the Work.” Season 3, Episode 42 In this deeply enriching episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas welcomes the dynamic State Representative Stephanie A. Young, a legislator, community leader, ordained minister, and fierce advocate for children and families. With over two decades of service in both public and private sectors, Rep. Young...

Episode Title: "It Only Takes One Adult to Make a Difference." Season 3, Episode 41 In this powerful episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas welcomes Jacob Holley, a Certified Trauma-Informed Trainer, Lived Experience Leader, and passionate foster care advocate. With firsthand experience navigating 27 different placements within Arizona’s foster care system,...

Episode Title: "Hurt People Hurt People" Season 3, Episode 40 In this moving episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas is joined by the inspiring Victoria “V” DeHart, a 24-year-old adoptee, advocate, motivational speaker, and social work student, to discuss her incredible story of resilience and healing. Born in a prison in Kaliningrad, Russia, and adopted as a...

>Episode Title: "Life Is 10% What Happens to You and 90% How You Respond to It" Season 3, Episode 39 In this powerful episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas sits down with Tristian W. Smith, MSEM, a retired Army officer, published author, and advocate for foster youth. Tristian shares his extraordinary journey of resilience, from overcoming the challenges...

Episode Title: "Don't Let Your Past Struggles Define Your Future" Season 3, Episode 38 In this emotionally moving episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas sits down with the resilient and inspiring Tashala Webster, a foster care alumna, adoptee, advocate, and nursing student, to discuss her journey of overcoming adversity, trauma, and obstacles to create a bri...

Episode Title: "You Only Live Once, But If You Do It Right, Once Is Enough" Season 3, Episode 37 In this inspiring episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas sits down with the multifaceted Chianté Lymon-Hamilton, a trailblazer and advocate for justice and equity. As the Executive Director of the Society for History and Racial Equity (SHARE), Chianté shares her...

🎙️ Episode 36: Practice Makes Progress, Not Perfect 🌟 Featuring Guest: Stephanie M.V. Popper 🔗 Guest Professional Titles: Farm Social Worker | MSW Student | Foster Youth Advocate In this inspiring episode of the Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast, Michael D. Davis-Thomas sits down with the dynamic and compassionate Stephanie M.V. Popper to explore the profound resilience required to turn life...

🎙️ Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast: Season 3, Episode 35 Title: "More Stories = More Connection, and More Connection = More Healing" In this profound and heartfelt episode, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas dives into the transformative power of storytelling and resilience with the remarkable Dr. Liz DeBetta. Together, they explore the pivotal moments that have shaped their journeys of healing an...

In this enlightening episode of the "Resilient Voices & Beyond" podcast, host Michael D. Davis-Thomas engages with Commissioner Rebecca Jones Gaston, the visionary leader of the Administration for Children, Youth, and Families (ACYF). Commissioner Gaston shares her compelling journey from her brief experience in foster care to spearheading significant reforms in the U.S. child welfare system....

Resilient Voices & Beyond Podcast Season 3, Episode 33  🎙️ Title: “All Things Work Together”  In this episode of Resilient Voices & Beyond, we are honored to feature Aytia Tarpley—a remarkable Lived Experience Expert, Survivor Leader, Consultant, Keynote Speaker, and Peer Support Specialist. Aytia’s story of resilience is nothing short of incredible, as she has transformed her experiences...