We were so pleased to welcome to the podcast Ángela Quijada-Banks.
Ms. Quijada-Banks is a NAACP Image Award–nominated, American best-selling author, Founder and C.E.O of Soulful Liberation (a Book publishing company and podcast), and Consciously Melanated Queens, a community to support young women of color to uncover their divine purpose and holistically heal.
Read MoreIn our second Community Table Talks episode, we ask about leadership. This is one of the topics we tend to hear a lot about but can never get enough of. The questions we posed to our guests were pretty straightforward, trying to get at how they continue to grow and learn as a leader, and also to talk about important risks during the course of their careers. But as is often the case with our show, the conversations take a lot of turns and we learn a lot about our guests, about their leadership ideas, and we gain some really good lessons that most of us can relate to.
Read MorePsychologist Karen Mahler introduced me to the positive youth development paradigm when she was brought in to shepherd along a project I was working on for the New York City Office of Child Support Services.
Our team had been tasked with completely reimagining how parents under the age of 25 enter the child support program. But we couldn’t do that in a meaningful, lasting way if we relied on arm-chair generalizing about The Youth and all the time they spend Tik Tok tweeting their SnappyGrams. We needed someone who could keep the lived experiences and developmental realities of young people front and center, while also being able to absorb the Rube Goldberg mechanics of the child support intake process and the legal and financial realities that shape everything in the public sector.
Read MoreDid you know that 7 out of every 10 Americans use social media? Because of this high saturation, which only continues to rise, it stands to reason that digital outreach is a critical communication tool no matter what your message is or where it originates. Digital outreach is not only effective for eCommerce sites or businesses that produce products. The human services field can benefit immensely as well and for a number of fundamental reasons.
Read MoreDo you ever have those days where the more stressed you get, the more everything else falls apart?
One big source of stress for me at work is multitasking, and I feel like the more I do that, the more errors I make. And the more errors I make, the worse my day becomes.
I was having one of those days last Friday. I was driving up to the mountains with my family that night, a million thoughts running through my mind, and I saw this sign for a runaway truck ramp. “Yes!” I thought, “that’s what I need! A runaway ramp to slow me down!”
Read MoreWe are excited to try out a new podcast format called GPS Community Table Talk! The concept is simple, we invite some interesting and fun people to answer the same 2 questions in 5 minutes. It is a fun way to examine a topic in a quick way and get several different viewpoints from different people. The name comes from the idea that we are all part of a larger community and during the last year sometimes it has been easy to forget that. The table reminds us that some of our most favorite conversations take place over sharing a meal or a cup of coffee. So as you listen, imagine we are asking each other questions while we are sipping on a delicious oatmeal latte in a cozy coffee shop. Hopefully we can all do that for real sometime soon.
Read MoreThis past year we faced unimaginable events that have left us reeling and confused about systemic racism. Prior to the pandemic our nation was facing systemic racism that many people chose to ignore but the pandemic only exacerbated racial inequities. During the pandemic people of color are overrepresented as frontline workers making them more susceptible to Covid-19 infections and more likely to die from Covid-19 due to comorbidities, e.g., diabetes, heart problems and obesity. The pandemic has pushed people of color from food insecurities to hunger and homelessness.
Read MoreWhen I decided to go to law school, more than one person told me I was “too nice” to become a lawyer. “Nice” and “sweet” were adjectives I had heard people use to describe me throughout my life. Occasionally I had also been told I was a “people pleaser.” Determined to prove I could be both a nice person and an attorney, I applied for law school anyway.
During law school I discovered a practice called mediation—a process that encourages the empowerment of people in conflict to communicate with the dual goals of seeking to understand/be understood, while also maybe resolving disputes and keeping people out of the courtroom. Mediators assist parties by facilitating the process and modeling effective communication and listening techniques. The moment I learned what mediation was is the moment I knew I wanted to become a mediator.
Read MoreIn the world of online engagement, strategically incorporating Search Engine Optimization (SEO) within your human service's website is one of the underlying keys to success, for you and the families. There is an immeasurable amount of content throughout the internet and, according to Siteefy, 380 new websites are being created every minute. No, they are certainly not all child support or human service related businesses, but this should give you a pretty good idea just how much competition you are up against and why SEO should be a priority.
Read MoreWe were pleased to welcome Mike Smith to the podcast for a number of reasons. First, I was so interested in the creative outlet he has maintained over the years, and I think a lot of us can relate to the need for something aside from work and chores and responsibility to focus on. Of course, given the year we have all had, this need has become even greater. On this episode we get a chance to talk to Mike about how music has been a part of his life, what has influenced him, and we get some specific insights into the latest Ocean Empire release, Summerland. We hope this will provide some inspiration to our audience to find their own outlet.
Read MoreThis concept of self-care is very difficult, especially for a lot of us in the human services and court industries who got into the careers we did to help others. During the beginning of the pandemic, there seemed to be a great sprint of helping others and running on adrenaline. As we all started to learn that this was not just a matter of staying inside for a few weeks, and this more likely going to be a marathon a different set of emotions set in, isolation for some, despair and hopeless for others. The pandemic has caused so many to loose jobs, have lasting health effects, loose loved ones, and many other negative effects. The effects of these can be or look like post-traumatic stress disorder.
How with all that is going on can we take care of ourselves and one another?
Read MoreIt seems as though 2020 has brought us a lot to feel down about, but at the same time 2020 has also brought into focus what we have to be grateful for as well. Now more than ever we are keenly aware of what and who is important. In uncertain times, we cling to what can be stable and reassuring. Showing gratitude and expressing gratitude have been known to decrease depression and increase feelings of hopefulness. I asked my team if anyone had things that they have been grateful over the past year and here are what some of them said.
Read MoreAbout two months a year my brother, the wildlife artist Carl Ramm, manages bears—Alaska Peninsula brown bears, to be exact—at Brooks Camp in Alaska’s Katmai National Park. As part of a team of bear techs, he helps track the bears’ movement and, as much as possible, guides them away from the camp’s many visitors and toward a place that’s safer for bears and humans alike.
Read MoreIn the weeks following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota and the protest that followed, I felt compelled to be part of the conversation. I couldn’t sleep one night and started googling speakers on this topic to be part of the Western Intergovernmental Child Support Engagement Council’s Micro Learning series. I ran across a video clip of Dr. Rita Cameron Wedding and in the clip she says, “talking about racism doesn’t make us racist.” This really resonated with me. Although Grays Peak has done implicit bias training and I have personally attending trainings on implicit bias this felt different. The conversation is now more raw.
Read MoreIn March 2020, as we know everything changed. The world somewhat shut down and people left their offices not knowing when or if they would be back. People were now working and leading from home and isolation and uncertainty set in. Our two Certified Executive Coaches, Liz Bullard and Dr. Puni Kalra met to figure out how to help people struggling. They quickly instituted weekly “Connect-In” sessions where people from around the country could call in for a check-in and a chance to exchange ideas and coaching. Liz and Puni facilitated these groups and put out tools that leaders could use in their own development, and in leading their teams. There was no playbook on how to lead through a pandemic.
Read MoreOn this episode of New from the Peak, we hear from David Ramm about Behavioral Economics, and how it impacts our daily lives. As a compliment to the episode, David has provided us with the following, which includes some great resources to learn more about the topic.
Election season growing up meant going to a lot of chili dinners and hanging out with my parents while they went door-to-door or made calls explaining why my dad was the best guy for the job (Superior Court Judge in Lafayette, Indiana). On election morning it meant getting up before sunrise to get donuts and then head out to put signs in at all the polling places. It was exciting and nerve-wracking. There was a lot of camaraderie down at the courthouse to watch the results come in.
Read Moreremember being on a call with all the producers of News from the Peak talking about launching the podcast, and we were sharing ideas and potential guests, topics we felt would be of interest to our audience, and at the top of our list (and I wish I still had the list to prove it) was an interview with Liz and Puni. Well, it only took us 11 episodes to get to it, but I promise you it’s worth the wait.
Read MoreWe are very pleased to be releasing our 10th Episode, and I can’t think of a better person to have as a guest than Irma J. Neal. I have been fortunate to know Irma and to cross paths with her for most of my professional life. Anyone that knows her understands that she brings something very positive, very productive and very real to the table. And if you don’t know her, this is your chance!
Read MoreBeing part of a consulting company is kind of like being a student in a very competitive classroom. You want to put your hand up and be recognized, but you can only do it when you actually have the answer down pat. And even then, you have to play it cool because all the other students are so smart. They probably know the answer even better than you. It’s important to preserve your dignity.
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