The Gap Minders

In yet another stellar episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Todd Tibbits, the President and CEO of the YMCA of San Diego County. With 31 years of service to the YMCA, Todd became the CEO in 2021, joining what he referred to as the "jackpot" of YMCAs. We learn a great deal from Todd, from the formation of the YMCA in 1844 in London, England, to the evolution of the YMCA here in San D...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Ed Hidalgo, the Chief Innovation and Engagement Officer at the Cajon Valley Union School District. As a part of his position, Ed's main responsibility is to help other districts integrate career development frameworks similar to the one pioneered by the Cajon Valley Union School District (CVUSD). CVUSD created its framework base...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Nora Briggs, the Executive Director of the Dollywood Foundation. The Dollywood Foundation is a non-profit organization that was created by Dolly Parton. One of the programs that the foundation runs is called the imagination library which aims to spread the love of reading to kids under the age of five. Inspired by her father who...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Reem Zubaidi, the co-facilitator of the San Diego Refugee Communities Coalition. Made up of 12 member organizations serving a variety of refugee communities, the San Diego Refugee Communities Coalition aims to address gaps for refugees and new immigrants. Hear Reem talk about some of the biggest gaps in refugee communities like...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Sitara Sethi, the CEO of the Foundation for Developmental Disabilities. Starting in 1986, the Foundation for Developmental Disabilities has always worked towards helping those with developmental disabilities. In the past 10 years, they have shifted more towards a nonprofit model to help grow services for those with developmental...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Monica Emery, the Executive Director at the Center for World Music. The Center for World Music is an organization that aims to bring musicians to audiences, reaching as many people of all backgrounds as possible. They recognize that there are many musicians in the community who are masters of their craft and who can share their...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by James Halliday, the Executive Director of A Reason To Survive (ARTS). This organization aims to use a connection to the arts to foster creativity, resilience, and trust to strengthen the community and the individuals within it. Through ARTS, James has realized the importance of meeting the needs of young people and respecting th...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Dr. Emily Schindler, the Director of Education at the Comic-Con Museum. Opening in the summer of 2021, the Comic-Con Museum aims to bring the magic of Comic-Con to the San Diego community throughout the year. How exactly did Emily get involved with Comic-Con? From being a volunteer teacher in Ecuador to working in the Education...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Matt D'Arrigo, the Director of Creative Youth Development at the Clare Rose Foundation. The Clare Rose Foundation is a small family foundation that focuses on building up leaders and other non-profits in the community. Hear Matt talk about the importance of the arts and creative youth development. While traditional arts educatio...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Charles Parisi, the CEO of Cloudcast Media. Charles is an entrepreneur and change-maker who is constantly working to close the gaps in our community. Hear him talk about the "power of yes" and the importance that it has as a catalyst for innovation. Through their poducation series, Cloudcast Media has been working to help integr...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Don Wells, the CEO of Just in Time For Foster Youth. Don is a remarkable person who has had remarkable careers in many fields from teaching to marketing to journalism and now non-profits. But, what has stayed true for him and driven him is his life purpose of making a positive impact in the lives of others. Just in Time For Fost...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Dr. Teresa Smith, the CEO and Founder of Dreams for Change. Since her childhood, Teresa has always been interested in human behavior. She knew she was not interested in becoming a counselor or therapist so naturally, she began working in nonprofits. Dreams For Change is a local nonprofit that works to fill gaps in the community...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Teresa Siles, the President and Partner at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker. Teresa has worked at Nuffer, Smith, Tucker since the beginning of her career, rising through the ranks to become president. Through her experience, she has learned a lot about how to help steer a firm through drastic changes and blazing new paths forward. Nuffer,...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Rachael Orose, the Executive Director of Words Alive. From a young age, Rachael has always been surrounded by books. Through her work with numerous nonprofits aimed at book distribution, she noticed a gap between families, time to read, and access to books. This is where Words Alive comes in. Through book clubs, read-alouds, con...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Monica Ball, the Board President of Uplift San Diego. As a community member, Monica is extremely passionate about creating change and improving the lives of those around her by filling gaps. Through UPLIFT San Diego (which stands for Urban People Living in Faith and Trust), Monica has been able to help countless families. Why yo...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in the studio by Cindy Dunlevy, the Coordinator of the Everyone Can Read at the San Diego County Office of Education. Beginning as a kindergarten teacher, Cindy has been working with young children for years. She has brought her passion for reading to thousands of children through her program Everyone Can Read. How does this program help kids? S...

In this very special episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Katie Ruiz, an incredible artist and author who finds that creation is healing. Whether it is her work in painting or fiber sculpture, she finds solace and comfort. She is most well known for her blanket series in which she portrays couples standing or lying under colorful Mexican blankets. Geometric patterns and bright colors ar...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Khea and Cynthia Pollard, the mother-daughter owner duo of Cafe X: By Any Beans Necessary. Both Khea and Cynthia live their lives with an emphasis on the importance of giving back to the community. Their passion is driven by their pride in their identity as black women and the legacy of changemakers in their community who came befor...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Neville Billimoria, the Senior Vice President of Membership & Community Relations at Mission Federal Credit Union. Since moving to the United States from India at the age of 14, Neville has had to juggle his eastern and western identities. This idea that different parts of someones lived experience contribute to their whole iden...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Elizabeth Schott, the CEO of Accessity, a 30 year old organization which provides much needed capital to both start-up and established businesses. The CEO for nine years, Elizabeth leads a team with an incredible mission to open doors of financial opportunity to those historically with less access to capital and business support - e...

In this outstanding episode, the first of 2023, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Sidd Vivek, the President & CEO of Junior Achievement of San Diego County, a position he has held since January 2019. Sidd, a Boston native, leads an organization which works in very innovative ways to prepare our youth for economic independence and an entrepreneurial mindset. Sidd and the team he leads, alo...

In this multi-faceted episode discussing leadership, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Janine Mason, the Founder of Fieldstone Leadership Network San Diego. With respect to leadership development in the non-profit space, Fieldstone is a bellwether in providing a continuum of programs and services to strengthen the nonprofit community by developing executive leadership, increasing agency capac...

In this excellent episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Greg Anglea, the CEO of Interfaith Community Services, which started in 1979 to empower people in need to stabilize and improve their lives through comprehensive programs, in partnership with diverse faith communities and people of compassion. Greg, who joined Interfaith in 2006 and became CEO in 2014, leads this unique organization...

In this absolutely eye-opening episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Daphne Russell, a 28 year former teacher and author of the 2018 book "Read or Die" as well as the Founder and Director of Book Save Lives. Having failed at retirement, Daphne is completely focused on building a model to take any student to a promising future by way of reading! Her view is that it is easy to turn any stu...

In this episode, a broad ranging discussion takes place between our two hosts - two friends, two colleagues and two impactful leaders on literacy - Nancy Sasaki, the CEO of the United Way of San Diego County, and Jose Cruz, the CEO of the San Diego Council On Literacy. Nancy and Jose, who are so very instrumental in helping lead the charge for a more literate San Diego, speak about everything from...