All the Difference

This special episode was recorded live at the Dartmouth Social Impact Summit, where Maya Wiley '86 served as the keynote speaker. In the interview and conversation that follows, Maya unpacks the struggles she faced while a student at Dartmouth, and her path to law and politics from there, where civil rights became the lodestar of her career. Wiley is president and CEO of both the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and its Education Fund. A nationally respected civil‑rights attorney, she has served as a litigator, program architect, and policy advocate across philanthropy, nonprofits, government, and higher education. Wiley made history as the first Black woman counsel to New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, and later ran for mayor of New York City. Her distinguished legal career includes work with the ACLU, NAACP, and other leading organizations, as well as international human‑rights projects. A frequent commentator on NBC and MSNBC, Wiley is also the author of the memoir Remember, You Are a Wiley.

In this "founder's story" episode, Tommy Clark '92 MED'01 reflects on his path to creating and running the now internationally renowned global nonprofit - Grassroots Soccer, which catalyzes community health initiatives through soccer and youth empowerment. A key influence on him was seeing former Dartmouth President John Sloan Dickey's call to action "The world's troubles are your troubles..." inscribed on campus.Tommy Clark is the Founder and CEO of Grassroots Soccer, a pediatrician, and a former professional soccer player. Tommy moved to Zimbabwe at age 14 and conceived of Grassroot Soccer as an adult to respond to the global AIDs crisis and other health issues he witnessed when growing up in Zimbabwe. Following graduation from Dartmouth, Tommy returned to Zimbabwe to teach English and play professional soccer. He then attended Dartmouth Medical School and completed residency in pediatrics. He has worked as a research fellow at the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California at San Francisco.

From his community centered upbringing, to the turmoil of political organizing in some of our nation's most consequential campaigns, Matt Wilson '83 has been on the frontlines of the practical work needed to drive true social change. His articulate and thoughtful perspective on what it means to engage with social service, especially today, is equal parts profound and relevant. Matt Wilson ’83 has spent his career as an organizer and nonprofit executive leading campaigns to build just, healthy, and vibrant communities. He was the Executive Director of Discovering Justice, which provides civic education programs for Massachusetts students in Grades K-12. He was the founding Executive Director of MASSCreative, the statewide advocacy voice for Massachusetts’ arts, cultural, and creative community, which helped double arts funding in the Commonwealth and also founded Community Action Works (now Slingshot), a New England-wide resource for hundreds of neighborhoods working to protect themselves from pollution threats. He earned his MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School.

In this episode, Henry sits down with longtime international development professional Joshua Muskin '79 to discuss how he got his start in the field, and where it has taken him since. A clear throughline is the connection between his globally focused education at Dartmouth, and the global education work he's dedicated most of his professional life to. Joshua Muskin ‘79 serves as Managing Director of Geneva Global, a leading international humanitarian and development organization. With more than thirty five years of experience in the development sector, he has collaborated with bilateral agencies, non governmental organizations, multilateral institutions and national governments across roughly fifty countries, concentrating primarily on basic education and training initiatives. Prior to his tenure at Geneva Global, Dr. Muskin was a non resident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, senior education officer for the Aga Khan Foundation, and senior manager and technical advisor on a broad portfolio of development projects conducted both in the United States and abroad.

In this special episode, "All the Difference" producer Charlotte Albright interviews Geeta Anand '89. Journalist to journalist they discuss how the industry has changed, and journalism careers with it. One aspect that hasn't it? The potential for good (community-based) journalism to drive transformative social change. Geeta Anand '89 is editor-in-chief of VTDigger and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. She previously reported internationally for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Before assuming her leadership role at VTDigger, she served as dean of the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Join Henry and Corey for a conversation around how to leverage a legal career to balance the scales of justice and potentially balance your personal and professional life too.Corey Hirokawa '95 is the Assistant Director of Emory Law’s Center for Public Service, where she directs student pro bono opportunities and serves as the staff advisor to the Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC). At Emory she is also an adjunct professor for the Judicial Externship Course.After graduating from Emory Law in 2000, Hirokawa developed a civil litigation practice, where her areas of focus included public interest and civil rights litigation, class actions, and appeals. She was an active member of the Atlanta Bar, serving on the Board of Directors of the Associates Campaign for Legal Services and as a board member of the Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers.

In this special episode, DCSI Board Member Warren Valdmanis '95 interviews renowned columnist and social commentator David Brooks about the current state of higher education.Picking up on Brooks's recent article in the Atlantic titled "How the Ivy League Broke America", where he critiques higher education (especially of the elite, ivy clad variety), we'll hear from Brooks about where he thinks the systems went wrong, and what a better version of education more broadly might look like.David Brooks is a longtime New York Times columnist and a commentator on PBS NewsHour, where he provides political and cultural analysis. He is the bestselling author of The Road to Character, The Second Mountain, and How to Know a Person. Through his journalism and books, he explores morality, community, and the pursuit of a meaningful life.

Throughout her career Jan Malcom has sought to reform policies, practices and systems to improve the health of all populations. She’s served as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health under three governors, most recently under Governor Tim Walz. In addition to her Dartmouth undergraduate degree, she’s received her Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of MN School of Public Health and her Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Saint Catherine University.

In this thought-provoking conversation about the complexities of homelessness and the journey towards creating a more compassionate and inclusive society, Dr. David Woody, III, '77 shares his expertise on addressing this systemic issue. Touching on the intersections of poverty, policy, and community engagement, he offers insights into what it takes to create lasting change. He also reflects on his time at Dartmouth, and how his experience on campus, along with his family upbringing, pushed him towards a career of service. Dr. David Woody, III is the President and CEO of The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center in Dallas where he is a committed advocate for citizens and social planners crafting strategies to reduce the experience of poverty in the greater Dallas community and implementing models for treating others with dignity and respect. In addition to his bachelor's degree in Sociology from Dartmouth, he’s earned an M.S.W. degree from New York University School of Social Work, and a Ph.D. in Social Work and Social Policy from Virginia Commonwealth University.

John M. Brett serves as Faithful & Fabulous Minister & Community Programs Director for the San Francisco Night Ministry where he has ministered in evolving capacities since 2014. He was previously the Program Director of The Gubbio Project, which provides sanctuary for unhoused people during the day. He has also directed a regional legal aid program in Washington State. At Dartmouth, John studied Spanish and Performance Studies, co-founded the Diversity Peer Advisors Program, and was a Dartmouth Rainbow Alliance Co-Chair. He's a current candidate for ordination within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

How do we advocate for real, systemic change, especially in a divided society? Janos Marton talks us through his journey as a political activist and justice reformer, which touched key political moments in America, such as Hurricane Katrina and the effort to close the Rikers Island prison complex. Throughout his career, Janos has found ways to build bridges across political divides and unite communities to advocate for a more dignified, freer, and more just civil society. Janos Marton has spent the last 23 years as an organizer, lawyer, and campaign director working on social justice issues across the country. He was named the first Advocacy Director for JustLeadershipUSA, where he managed the historic #CLOSErikers campaign which was ultimately successful. Janos then oversaw state criminal justice programs for the ACLU before running for Manhattan District Attorney on bold de-carceration policies that became the gold standard in that race. As Chief Advocacy Officer at Dream.Org, his current role, Janos oversees policy and political programs that advance criminal justice in tandem with climate goals. In addition to his degree from Dartmouth he earned his JD at Fordham Law.

In this episode, we chat with Laura Gillespie, class of 1986, about how she ended up returning to the Upper Valley community after graduating from Dartmouth and what a career in nonprofit development has meant for her. Laura Gillespie '86 has been the Director of Development & Communications at the Upper Valley Haven since 2016.  Prior to joining the Haven, Laura spent ten years in various roles including development and alumni relations at The Aloha Foundation in Fairlee, VT. Laura is a graduate of Dartmouth College with an MS in Nonprofit Management from Marlboro College. She is President of the Lifecare Board of Alice Peck Day Hospital, sits on the APD Board, and served on the board of Jag Productions. Laura also coaches adult and junior community rowing programs with the Upper Valley Rowing Foundation.

Join us for a conversation with Zak Kaufman '08 where we dive into different ways technology is being leveraged for good, especially in terms of how it is enabling better impact measurement and saving social sector organizations time, energy, and resources. Dr. Zak Kaufman has worked for over 10 years at the intersection of the social sector and technology. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Vera Solutions, a Certified B Corporation using cloud and mobile technology to help hundreds of leading social sector organizations track impact and streamline operations. Prior to Vera, Zak oversaw Research and M&E for Grassroot Soccer (an NGO using sport to advance adolescent health). Zak holds a PhD and MSc in Epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He has been recognized as a Marshall Scholar, Truman Scholar, Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneur, Global Good Fund Fellow, and Bluhm/Helfand Social Innovation Fellow.

Dr. John Lawrence, Dartmouth College class of ’76 and Geisel School of Medicine class of ’80 has been a practicing pediatric surgeon for over 20 years and owing in part to a longstanding interest in global health, has also completed ten surgical missions with Doctors without Borders since 2009 serving as a surgeon in the Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Haiti, Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia. He has served as president and vice president of the board for Doctors without Borders USA. In this conversation, we chat about his motivation for pursuing a career in medicine and his perspective on the current publich health issues we're facing - which are not so different than the issues he witnessed as a young physician 20+ years ago.

In this episode with Marc Sépama, class of 2017, Marc tells me about why supporting global health initiatives became his calling and how he's currently going about pursuing that work. Marc currently oversees a portfolio of global health organizations at Emerson Collective, a philanthropic investing organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs. Before landing at the Emerson Collective, Marc worked at Helen Keller International, where he collaborated with Ministries of Health in West Africa to implement national health programs.

Sue AnderBois '05 has built a career centered on climate change policy, clean energy expansion, and supporting local food systems. She is currently the Director of Climate and Government Relations for The Nature Conservancy (RI Chapter), and also sits on TNC's North America Policy and Government Relations Cabinet. In her "spare" time Sue is also a member of the Providence City Council where she chairs the Council's Special Committee on the Environment and Resiliency, is a member of the Finance Committee, the Special Commission on Taxation and Revenue, and is a Parks Commissioner. She majored in Environmental Studies while at Dartmouth and also earned an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

In this episode we interview Oliver Edelson ‘18. Oliver currently serves as Legislative Director for Congressman Chris Pappas, first district of New Hampshire (NH-01), where he develops and leads the Congressman’s policy agenda. He also manages Rep. Pappas’s service on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Oliver has held several legislative positions on the Hill and most recently spent two years in the office of Congressman Mike Levin (CA-49). He has also worked on several campaigns, including serving as Policy Director for the Chris Pappas for Congress campaign during the 2020 election cycle. While at Dartmouth, Oliver led Plate of the Union, a food policy reform campaign during the 2016 election cycle. At Dartmouth, he majored in Environmental Studies; conducted aquaculture research; served as Student Director of Growing Change, a farm-to-school education program at DCSI; and participated in the College’s Food Sustainability Working Group. He also worked in the office of the President of the College and was the Captain of the Dartmouth Club Baseball team.

The renewable energy transition is here but it looks a lot different in each state across the U.S. Sean Garren '07 touches on what trends he's observing as Chief Program Officer for Vote Solar, a non-profit advocacy group working across the United States to use solar as a tool for climate progress and energy, environmental, and economic justice. Sean also dives into how he crafted a career at the intersection of sustainability and politics. Prior to Vote Solar, Sean was the Legislative Director at Fair Share, an economic justice non-profit, where he was lead lobbyist and set policy strategy for the organization. Previously, he ran the federal clean energy program as Clean Energy Advocate at Environment America, a national network of state-based, grassroots environmental groups.

Warren Valdmanis '95 makes the case for a better version of finance that prioritizes workers in the assessment of organizational value. In our conversation, Warren defines a "good job", explains why there seem to be so few of them these days, and what investors can do to create more of them. Warren is a Partner at Two Sigma Impact, a private equity firm focused on creating value at companies by investing in people and creating "good jobs". He is also the author of Accountable: The Rise of Citizen Capitalism, a book about how socially oriented investors are working to build a more just and sustainable version of capitalism. Prior to Two Sigma Impact, Warren was on the founding team of Bain Capital Double Impact, Bain Capital's first dedicated social impact investment fund. He graduated from Dartmouth cum laude and later earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Alex Bernadotte '92 walks us through how many efforts to bridge the college education gap miss the mark on supporting first generation and low income students during the undergraduate experience and beyond. Drawing on her own experience as a first generation college student, she emphasizes the importance of reducing the college drop out rate, both for society and for the lives of individual students. Alex is the founder and CEO of Beyond 12, a technology-enabled nonprofit that integrates personalized coaching with mobile technology to increase the number of traditionally underserved students who graduate from college and translate their degrees into meaningful employment and choice-filled lives. She has more than 18 years of executive management and strategic development experience in the nonprofit and private sectors including serving as executive director of The Princeton Review's Silicon Valley office; executive director of Foundation for a College Education; co-founder and vice president of marketing at educational travel company Explorica; director of operations at EF Education; and operations manager at the World Health Organization. Alex received her undergraduate degree from Dartmouth and earned a master's degree with a concentration in policy and organizational leadership from Stanford. She is an Ashoka Fellow, a recipient of the 2011 NewSchools Venture Fund Entrepreneur of the Year award, a Jefferson Award for Public Service winner, a Dartmouth College Social Justice Award and Stanford University Alumni Excellence in Education Award honoree, and a Fellow of the 22nd class of the Pahara – Aspen Education Fellowship. In addition, Beyond 12 was named one of the world's ten most innovative education companies by Fast Company, and the organization’s MyCoach mobile app won a Xammy Award for best social impact app from Xamarin, a Microsoft-owned mobile development platform.

In this episode, we chat with Rose Mutiso '08, Research Director at the Energy for Growth Hub. She walks us through her path to fighting climate change, which is focused on just energy transitions and championing emerging energy technologies in the African context. Rose is also the co-host of the Energy for Growth Hub’s podcast series - High Energy Planet and the co-founder and former CEO of the Mawazo Institute, which supports the next generation of female scholars and thought leaders in East Africa. Previously, Rose was a Senior Fellow in the Office of International Climate and Clean Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), where she led DOE’s engagement on technology and policy dimensions of energy access in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Prior to this, she served as an Energy and Innovation Policy Fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Christopher A. Coons, where she co-authored several pieces of legislation that were signed into law by President Barack Obama. She earned her BA and BE in Engineering Sciences with a concentration in Materials Science from Dartmouth College, and her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.