What’s Next?

Today’s Producer’s Pick episode of What’s Next? features Jay Moran in conversation with the Near East and West Side Task Force executive director Francesca Mesiah and member Dior Lindsey. The three discuss the history and future of the task force, which began in 2006 to promote the well-being and self-sufficiency of racial and ethnic communities in Buffalo. And Angelea Preston joins Kissena Frazie...

Today’s What’s Next? Producer’s Pick episode revisits two conversations from past episodes. First, Jay Moran is joined by the CEO of Better Living Interest LLC, Paul Perez, and the co-founder and local board president of the Erie Niagara Board of REALTIST, Andrew Scott, who is known within the Buffalo real estate world as the “House Plug.” Then, Thomas O’Neil-White sits down with Wil Green, the di...

Today on What’s Next?, our guest is Andre Stokes, the senior director of specialty substance use disorder services at Best Self Behavioral Health. Stokes has spent years working as a substance abuse and mental health counselor, and his efforts focus on the families of those in recovery because, as he says, the effects of one member’s addiction can ripple throughout the entire household, and beyond...

Today on What’s Next?, Jay Moran has two conversations around one central topic: the Erie County Language Access Act. The bill passed by the county legislature in late 2023 aims to make vital government documents available in the top six languages used by community members in Erie County. The hope is to broaden interpretation and translation services especially as it pertains to emergency announce...

This episode of What’s Next? finds Jay Moran joined by Dr. Henry Louis Taylor, Jr., the director of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University at Buffalo. Dr. Taylor was the lead author of a new report released in late 2023 titled, “How We Change the Black East Side,” which acts as a neighborhood planning and development framework for Buffalo’s East Side communities. The repor...

On today’s What’s Next?, we’re joined by Mark Talley, author and community advocate, whose book 5:14: The Day the Devil Came to Buffalo, recounts the racist shooting attack at a Tops store on May 14, 2022 in which his mother Geraldine Talley was a victim. Prosecutors told Talley and other families of victims last week that the United States Department of Justice will seek the death penalty if the...

On today’s special episode of What’s Next?, Thomas O’Neil-White joins two community leaders ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on January 15. Faustenia Morrow is the founder of Monarch of Infinite Possibilities LLC consulting firm, and Reverend Michael D. Bell is the pastor at Durham Memorial AME Zion Church. Both discuss their efforts advancing this year’s day of service programs, whe...

On this episode of What’s Next?, we have two conversations with different takes on the opioid epidemic. Alex Simone speaks to Erie County District Attorney John Flynn about the county’s efforts to combat addiction-impacted crime trends with alternate methods like the Opioid Intervention Court, and what’s still needed in the fight. Then, Jay Moran and public health expert Dean Seneca discuss how un...

Today on What’s Next?, we bring you two conversations. First, Thomas O’Neil-White sits down with Dontaya Davis and Alia Williams, community organizers for Voice Buffalo. The two are working locally to boost the Ebony Alert system, a new initiative to prioritize missing and exploited Black youth, who are disproportionately represented in missing children reports. And Jay Moran speaks with New York...

Today’s What’s Next? features a conversation with Wayne Brown, a mental health therapist at Willow Grove Counseling, about self-care in the new year and how that relates to his approach with his clients. Brown has years of experience working with those in recovery, and he discusses with Jay Moran how he prioritizes building trust as the first step in an often long process.

Today, our guest is Buffalo’s first poet laureate, Jillian Hanesworth, who reflects on the end of her term in the role she helped establish in 2021. Hanesworth sits with Jay Moran to talk about the origin of the role and share some of her work, as well as to offer a look ahead at what her own next chapter might be.

On today’s What’s Next?, Jodi Gerhard, the senior program director at Horizon Health Services, joins Jay Moran for a conversation about her efforts in the field of mental health and addiction services and how that work can take a toll on the counselors who provide it. Gerhard has seen the challenges of the job evolve due to the opioid epidemic and other stressors. But she says being present and ap...

Today, we feature two conversations with community leaders and advocates. First, Thomas O’Neil-White sits down with Daniel Robertson, Director of the Boys and Men of Color Initiative at Say Yes, Buffalo, to discuss Daniel’s plans for his new role and the positive examples of leadership that helped him step up. And Jay Moran talks with public health expert and CEO of Seneca Scientific Solutions Dea...

Today we speak with the founder and CEO of Western New York Mobile Overdose Prevention Services, Rashone Scott Williams. The initiative is centered around harm reduction as well as reproductive health outreach, and its goal is to make the overdose reversal drug Narcan available in every neighborhood across the region. Rashone sits with Jay Moran to discuss the mission of Mobile OPS, striving to co...

Today we speak with Dina Thompson, Executive Director of the Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition; and Janelle Finn, Cheektowaga-Sloan District Assistant Superintendent. Restorative justice has yielded restorative practices, and new concepts for building healthy communities – in education, this looks like daily check-ins, peer-to-peer responses, and an overall atmosphere of equity. Both Thomp...

On today’s Producer’s Picks, we revisit two conversations. First, we hear from David Rust, Chief Executive Officer of Say Yes, Buffalo. And then we close out with artist and Buffalo native Valentino Dixon.

Today we speak with the President and CEO of the Northland Workforce Training Center Stephen Tucker. As New York State’s signature workforce initiative under the Buffalo Billion initiative, the training center focuses on closing the skills gap of the local labor pool and creating economic on-ramps to training, co-ops, internships, apprenticeships, and permanent employment for Western New Yorkers....

Today our two guests are affiliated with the Buffalo Urban League. Darnell Haywood Jr. is president of the Young Professionals and Thomas Beauford Jr. is the President and CEO of the Buffalo Urban League. Each year, the National Urban League produces its "State of Black America," a look at trends that are impacting people of color, including the assaults on Democracy; book-banning; the erosion of...

Today we speak with Buffalo native director, writer, and producer TaNisha Fordham; her play “12 Mo’ Angry Men” is playing now at Ujima Theater until December 17. Inspired by Reginald Rose classic play and film “12 Angry Men” the work adds a twist to the original. TaNisha sits with Jay Moran to discuss the work, her upbringing, the importance of this play, and what has been the response from local...

On today’s What’s Next, we focus on mental health with two partners who have formed “Walking Through Solutions”. A relatively new practice, La Shawn Davis and Deja Middlebrook speak with Jay Moran about their practice, their approach, and the growing need to address mental health issues in the community.

On this week’s Producer’s Picks, we revisit two stand-out conversations from previous episodes. We hear from LaGarrett King and Dawnavyn James with Thomas O’Neil White. We end the show with Jay Moran’s conversation with Buffalo Black Achievers Honoree and Chief Operating Officer of the Buffalo Urban League Melissa Archer.

On today's episode, our guest is Najja Bouldin, founder of Phoenix Innovation Group, LLC. A company that assists individuals and organizations in unlocking their imagination, enhancing creativity, overall resilience, and igniting fiery grit fit for achieving goals. Thomas O’Neil White speaks with the founder about the many services that the group provides to individuals and organizations including...

On today's episode of "What's Next," WBFO Holly Kirkpatrick who recently released her story “Driving While Black in Buffalo” shares more of her findings and we'll hear from several people who provided context for her reporting, including a city resident who has been stopped more than once by Buffalo police, a local activist calling for change in how city police conduct their work and a national at...

On today’s Producer’s Picks, we are highlighting the “State of Black Journalism” episode with Thomas O’Neil-White and Angelea Preston interviewing I’Jaz Ja’ciel President of the National Association of Black Journalists. The three have an in-depth conversation about the state of black journalism in WNY, Buffalo Media, and the obstacles black journalists face in WNY and beyond. Following the interv...

On today's episode, Kissena Frazier founded Akcess Granted, a college access coaching company that helps underrepresented and marginalized communities through the college enrollment process. As a first-generation college student and graduate, Fraizer speaks on her experience as a young mother navigating college. Last year, Mayor Byron Brown made November 8 "First Generation Day", in honor of Frazi...