Thousand Stories

Navigating the Renaissance: The AI Maturity Model in Health and Human Services. Episode Overview: In this episode of the Thousand Stories podcast, the Renaissance Series , host Justin Brown and co-host Luke Williams are joined by Krystal Van der Brink of Global True North to discuss the transformative potential and inherent risks of artificial intelligence (AI) within the public sector. As health...

Welcome to the Renaissance Series of the Thousand Stories Podcast. Host Justin Brown, former Secretary of Human Services for Oklahoma, introduces a new era of innovation and transformation, moving beyond negative headlines to explore how leaders are building connected, human-centered systems. In this episode, Justin and co-host Luke Williams are joined by a panel of "battle-tested leaders&quo...

Welcome to the Thousand Stories podcast, the Renaissance Series . Hosted by Justin Brown, former Secretary of Human Services in the state of Oklahoma, and Luke Williams, this series marks a true rebirth for Health and Human Services. While the original podcast shared incredible untold stories happening in Health and Human Services beyond the negative headlines, the Renaissance Series is now steppi...

Hosted by Justin Brown, former Secretary of Human Services in Oklahoma and Founder of Global True North and Luke Williams, President of Tandem Research. In this episode of the Renaissance Series , we explore how human services is entering a new era—one defined by innovation, connection, and purpose. These conversations go beyond systems and policies to highlight the stories of people and partnersh...

Welcome to the Thousand Stories podcast, the Renaissance Series. Join host Justin Brown, former Secretary of Human Services for the state of Oklahoma, and his new co-host, Luke Williams, President of Tandem Research, as they explore a true rebirth for human services. The Renaissance Series is dedicated to illuminating the stories and ideas that define this new era of innovation and transformation....

The "Thousand Stories Podcast" episode from April 18, 2024, provides a comprehensive view of the Center for Public Sector AI (CPSAI), a transformative force in integrating Artificial Intelligence into public sector operations, particularly within health and human services. The episode delves into the multifaceted strategies and initiatives undertaken by the CPSAI to ensure that AI techno...

The Health & Human Services system is 'in a moment' right now, led by a handful of dynamic state and local Directors, Secretaries and Commissioners that are focused on developing a contemporary culture and shepherding systems into a new era of service. Having been battle tested over the last few years, they emerge stronger and more resolved to implement a vision for transformation focu...

Hope is much more than wishful thinking. Science tells us that it is the most predictive indicator of well-being in a person’s life. Hope is measurable. It is malleable. And it changes lives. In Hope Rising, Casey Gwinn and Chan Hellman reveal the latest science of hope using nearly 2,000 published studies, including their own research. Based on their findings, they make an impassioned call for ho...

Season 2, Episode 3 of the Thousand Stories Podcast is a terrific discussion between Secretary Brown and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Jim Clark. The podcast recorded at the 'Game Changers Conference' in Atlanta, GA, and intends to provide listeners with a modern understanding of what the Boys & Girls Clubs do, the reach of their approximately 5,000 clubs across the nation, how they re...

Fathers play an incredibly important role in the lives of their children.  Episode 2.2 of the Thousand Stories podcast discusses the impact of two 'Fatherhood' programs on their communities by providing new fathers with the skills they need, and may have never been modeled to them, to be that critical support to their families.

Oklahoma has incarcerated more women per capita than anywhere else in the world for nearly three decades. In 2010, the Inasmuch Foundation and the United Way of Central Oklahoma convened a group of 25 community leaders to address the rate at which Oklahoma incarcerates women and the trauma that occurs within a family when a mother goes to prison. This group identified an approach that would remove...

The purpose of Fields & Futures is to ignite hope and confidence throughout Oklahoma City Public Schools by showing kids they are capable of rising above their circumstances. We believe that when students find a team, they find the classroom. And when they commit to the classroom, they put themselves on a better path to graduation and life beyond high school. Can a quality, maintained athletic...

Building Law Enforcement Alternatives through Partnership – Episode 11 All too often, law enforcement officers are the first and only call to make for community citizens who are reporting any issue in the neighborhoods. Regardless of the issue being reported, the system has been built around the police officer being the only person there to call.  Whether the issue is one of public safety or...

Episode 1.10 - Human Centered Design Trending globally in the private sector is the concept of building new products and technology primarily informed by the people to whom these products are being sold. In small forward thinking government circles, human centered design is gaining a small foothold in the rebuilding of systems and processes to better serve the community. The concept of redesigning...

Among the countless short-term and structural social impacts of the economic fallout of the COVID 19 pandemic includes an increase in housing insecurity. A variety of interventions, including eviction moratoriums, have delayed some of the quantitative evidence of increased housing insecurity.  Some of the most successful interventions have included financial support for both the tenant and th...

Episode 8 – Defining Success in Education Oklahoma Secretary of Education, Ryan Walters Achieving successful system outcomes carries a deep and complex set of requirements. There are a variety of examples of successes built by leaders with a certain level of risk tolerance that allows for real innovation, as is the case for Cottonwood Schools, a very small rural district in Eastern Oklahoma. Cotto...

During the deepest moments of the COVI-19 pandemic, our nation was riveted by the heroism of healthcare workers and first responders. Images and narratives of doctors and nurses putting their own lives and families at risk to care for incredibly high-risk patients waiting in the hallways of hospitals across the country resulted in rallying cries of ‘heroes work here’ on the sides of hospitals and...

‘@thebigpygmy’ Turns the Tables Justin Wren (aka ‘The Big Pygmy’) has committed his life to defeating hate with love. As an MMA heavy weight champion with UFC and Belator and a two time national wrestling champion, Justin fought in the ring against people, but his heart was calling him to fight for people. As a victim of bullying as a child, Justin uses his platform as a fighter and humanitarian t...

Justin Wren (aka ‘The Big Pygmy’) has committed his life to defeating hate with love. As an MMA heavy weight champion with UFC and Belator and a two time national wrestling champion, Justin fought in the ring against people, but his heart was calling him to fight for people. As a victim of bullying as a child, Justin uses his platform as a fighter and humanitarian to fight for the Pygmy’s in the C...

The Stronger Together movement centers around four core beliefs: DIGNITY - To respect the inherent worth of all people by seeking what is best for everyone regardless of ethnicity or wealth status. IDENTITY - To identify with those who are outside of our familiar worlds but share our values and with those who lack advocates, and who are not flourishing. PURPOSE - To give ourselves to efforts that...

Food insecurity faces millions of families across the United States, impacting rural and urban communities alike. Hunger, as a symptom of the disease of poverty, has extreme impacts on health outcomes, educational achievement and a family’s ability to achieve upward economic mobility. In the northeast quadrant of Oklahoma City, the only grocery store closed in the summer of 2019. Prior to this clo...

'Someone should do something about that!'  There are people all across the country 'doing something about that,' and Lynn Johnson, former Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children & Families in Washington DC joins the podcast to celebrate stories of incredible servants across the country, serving in ways that the public should know about.  

'Housing First' is a nationally recognized model for addressing homelessness.  'Hotel to Housing' was launched during unprecedented cold weather in Tulsa, OK and represents some of the world's best thinking on how to best eliminate homelessness through connecting people to services and building plans for them to lift themselves out of poverty.   Becky Gligo and Juliana Kitten are nationa...