Shows / The Stronger Podcast
The Stronger Podcast
The Stronger Podcast is where the real conversations behind education and nonprofit leadership come alive. Each episode spotlights executives, founders, and purpose-driven leaders who are shaping schools, organizations, and communities across the country. These are the people on the front lines, opening school doors, building new models, and creating opportunities for kids every single day. Leaders share their journeys, the challenges they are navigating right now, and the mission that drives…
Episodes
The Stronger PodcastEverything You Need Is Already Within You: How a Mississippi Delta Teacher Came to Lead Moonshot in Denver (with Kat Ling)
A fourth grade teacher once told the whole class to circle white on a standardized test, then stopped to tell Kat Ling to circle Asian, and today Kat leads a…
The Stronger PodcastFocus on What Is Possible, Not What Is Probable: How OneGoal Georgia Walks Students From a Diploma to a Credential (with Taylor Ramsey)
A social worker once walked Taylor Ramsey's mother from high school dropout to technical degree, and today Taylor leads OneGoal Georgia, which does the same…
The Stronger PodcastLead With Empathy and Assume Best Intent: How a Former Private Banker Builds Teacher Pathways in Greater DC (with Anthony Dorado)
Anthony Dorado's road back to the program that trained him began when a busy CEO made time for him, and now he tries to give fifteen minutes to anyone who…
The Stronger PodcastBelief in Kids Is Only the Start: How Teach For America Indianapolis Turns It Into Results with Dr. Tenika Holden-Flynn
Dr. Tenika Holden-Flynn, Executive Director of Teach For America Indianapolis, says believing in kids is only the start. The work is turning that belief into…
The Stronger PodcastBetter Curriculum Isn't Enough: Mapping the Gap Between Common Core and Student Outcomes with Joy Osborne
Joy Osborne, President and CEO of Student Achievement Partners, says the Common Core era made instructional materials better across the country. Student…
The Stronger PodcastThe Future Is Not Something We Predict: Venture Philanthropy and Systems Change in a Global Realignment with Shruti Sehra
Shruti Sehra leads New Profit, a national venture philanthropy, through what she calls the largest global realignment of our lifetimes, driven by rapid…
The Stronger PodcastEducation Data Misses the Kids in the Middle: From Community Organizing to Getting Servant Leaders on the Ballot with Leticia de la Vara
Leticia de la Vara, Chief Impact and Operating Officer at New Politics, spent their school years in the part of the education data nobody writes reports about…
The Stronger PodcastLatino Professionals in Corporate America Plan Further Ahead: Why Culture Is an Asset and Not a Liability with Dr. Daniel Custódio
Dr. Daniel Custódio's research found that Latino professionals plan further ahead than their peers in corporate America, and that the culture they were told to…
The Stronger PodcastTeacher Attendance Predicts Turnover: The Retention Signal Most School Systems Miss with Dr. Tommy Chang
Teacher attendance is the clearest early warning sign of teacher turnover, and Dr. Tommy Chang, CEO of New Teacher Center, says most school systems are not…
The Stronger PodcastTeacher Retention Is a School Systems Problem: Building the Black and Brown Middle Class in South LA with Jesse Melgares
Jesse Melgares runs a TK-12 charter school network in South Los Angeles, and he argues teacher retention is not a teacher problem. It is a systems problem, and…
The Stronger PodcastParents Are the CEOs of the Household: Why Cash and Coaching Break the Cycle of Poverty with Neils Ribeiro-Yemofio
Economic mobility programs usually arrive with a plan for parents. Neils Ribeiro-Yemofio starts by believing them. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast…
The Stronger PodcastCharter School Boards Should Keep Their Noses In and Fingers Out: Rebuilding a School the Community Co-Owns with Dr. Tara Raines
Dr. Tara Raines chairs the board of a Las Vegas charter school that just separated from its New York management network, and she is rebuilding it around the…
The Stronger PodcastEducation Leaders Don't Last Twenty Years Anymore: Lead Yourself Before You Lead Others with Bill Kurtz
Education leader Bill Kurtz spent twenty years building DSST Public Schools into one of Denver's top performing charter networks, then spent nine months…
The Stronger PodcastWashington Thought It Was Different: What It Takes to Grow Great Charter Schools Anywhere with Julie Kennedy
Charter schools have been legal in Washington for just over a decade, and Excellent Schools Washington founder Julie Kennedy has a blunt read on why the start…
The Stronger PodcastNot Everything That Ends Is a Failure: Career Pivots, Growth Mindset, and Redefining Fulfillment with Tess Vigil
Tess Vigil has had her role reduced or eliminated four times, and she will tell you none of it was failure. It was clarity. From a Los Angeles dress company to…
The Stronger PodcastPeople Already Know What They Need: Behavioral Health Systems, Agency, and the Softening That Leaders Resist with Denise Jensen
Ten percent of Utah's children were using roughly ninety percent of the state's behavioral health funding, and no one system owned them. In this episode of The…
The Stronger PodcastA Turtle Carries Home on Its Back: First-Generation Leadership and Student Success in Higher Ed with Dr. Aidé Acosta
Dr. Aidé Acosta went from a first-generation college student navigating higher education without a map to the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of…
The Stronger PodcastKeep Your Eye on the Ball: 27 Years on a School Board and the Discipline of Not Getting Distracted with Bobby Blount
Bobby Blount has served on the Northside ISD school board for 27 years, and he has spent every one of them refusing to get distracted from the one thing that…
The Stronger PodcastThe Hidden Power of Relational Intelligence in Building High-Performing Teams with Dr. Jennifer Brown
Relational intelligence may be the one advantage humans keep as AI gets smarter, and Dr. Jennifer Brown has spent 25 years proving it builds stronger teams. A…
The Stronger PodcastStop Reimagining School, Start Building Better Ones: Why Intentionally Diverse Schools Are an Antidote with Ashley Heard
Ashley Heard has spent eight years making the case for intentionally diverse charter schools, and she is more convinced than ever that they matter right now…
The Stronger PodcastStop Chasing Innovation in Education: Why Relationships and Retention Are What Actually Work with Erik Greenberg
Education leader Erik Greenberg never planned to work in schools. Now, as CEO of Academies of Math and Science, he argues that the answer to America's…
The Stronger PodcastFrom Classroom to Movement: How Dominique Lee is Reshaping Education
From classroom teacher to founder of a cradle to career movement, Dominique Lee built the BRICK Education Network in Newark to do what schools alone never…
The Stronger PodcastMake the Exception the Rule: Why Strong School Boards Decide Who Gets Opportunity, with Ethan Ashley
Ethan Ashley got handcuffed at a police precinct at age six for stealing a pack of gum. He went on to finish high school at sixteen, earn a law degree from…
The Stronger PodcastProving Schools Can Get Better at Scale: Doubling Teacher Planning Time and Leading on Equity with Catherine Suitor
Catherine Suitor has spent two decades proving that schools can get better at scale, and she has the data to back it up. As Executive Director of the Alliance…
The Stronger PodcastBelonging Is Not a Side Issue: The Charter School Coalition That Can Still Say "Diversity" with Sonia Park
Charter school leader Sonia Park spent her childhood as one of the only kids of color in suburban Philadelphia schools, then watched her own son experience the…
The Stronger PodcastVision Is Not Enough: How a CEO and COO Scale a National Nonprofit Together - with Vincent Marigna and Alex Serna
Scaling a 48-year-old national nonprofit takes more than vision. It takes a CEO and COO who trust each other enough to move fast in ambiguity. In this episode…
The Stronger PodcastSuccession Is A Verb: Why Building Leaders Who Outlast You Is The Real CEO Job - With Marcia Aaron
Marcia Aaron leads Charter School Growth Fund's investments across Texas, Arizona, Idaho, and Utah, and before that, she spent thirteen years building KIPP…
The Stronger PodcastNothing Goes to Waste Unless You Decide It Does: Cradle to Career Work, Coalition Building, and Spartanburg's Long Game with Keisha Gray
Keisha Gray sits down with Mike Montoya to make the case that cross sector collaboration is not a value statement, it is a muscle communities build out of…
The Stronger PodcastStop Grinding and Start Sustaining: What Education Leaders Actually Need to Last with Vanessa Rodriguez
Vanessa Rodriguez, Executive Vice President of People at the Pahara Institute at Lone Rock, has spent her career building systems that give young people a fair…
The Stronger PodcastWe’re Preparing Kids for the Wrong World: Economic Mobility, Coalition Building, and the Long Game in Public Education with Dr. David W. James
Former Akron Public Schools superintendent Dr. David W. James never planned to work in education. He started at NASA, moved into environmental consulting, and…
The Stronger PodcastSchools as Love Letters: Identity, Boldness, and the False Binaries Holding Education Back with Tricia Noyola
Tricia Noyola is a charter school leader, Regional Superintendent at the KIPP Foundation, and former CEO of Rocky Mountain Prep who builds schools as love…
The Stronger PodcastStop Chasing the New: How Consistency Builds Charter Schools That Last with Scott Hindman
Charter school leader Scott Hindman went from minor league baseball to investment banking to building one of New Mexico's most impactful public education…
The Stronger PodcastWhat Curiosity Teaches Us About Leading Schools — with Joanna Belcher
From teaching fourth grade in Compton to founding a KIPP elementary school in Newark, Joanna Belcher has spent her career building schools and supporting…
The Stronger PodcastFinding Opportunity Through Relationships: From Immigrant Roots to Talent Leadership with Ron Rapatalo
What happens when the path your family imagined for you isn’t the one you’re meant to follow? From being the son of Filipino immigrants in Brooklyn to a leader…
The Stronger PodcastFrom Helicopters to Schools: Leadership Lessons from James Willcox
From Army Blackhawk pilot to transformative education leader, James Willcox shares how a life grounded in service and family shaped his path to reshaping K-12…
The Stronger PodcastFrom Immigrant Roots to Leading a Charter Network Through Complexity with Shara Hegde
From Boston to East San Jose, Shara Hegde shares her journey from Ivy League graduate to CEO of Alpha Public Schools and what it takes to lead charter schools…
The Stronger PodcastBreaking the Mobility Trap: Aligning Partners Around Cradle-to-Career Outcomes – with Bill Crim
What if the promise that each generation will do better than the last is slipping away? In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya talks with Bill…
The Stronger PodcastFrom Lifelong Immigrant to Education CEO: Leading With Compassion for Multilingual Learners – with Dr. Daniel Velasco
From lifelong immigrant to education equity leader, Daniel Velasco shares how identity, resilience, and compassion shaped his journey to becoming President and…
The Stronger PodcastMergers Aren’t Failures: Protecting Impact Through Trust and Strategy – with Jessica Sutter
From Bronx roots to shaping the future of public education: Jessica Sutter shares how a life grounded in service, trust, and intellectual rigor led her from…
The Stronger PodcastThe Shiny New Penny Problem: Data-Driven Courage for Lasting School Change – with Kelli Marshall
From sixth-grade math teacher to superintendent to leadership coach — Kelli Marshall shares how data-driven courage, deep relationships, and a clear “why” can…
The Stronger PodcastLeveraging Life Experiences: Behind a Career in Youth Opportunity and Equity
From a childhood shaped by instability to a career dedicated to building pathways of opportunity, The Stronger Podcast host, Mike Montoya, shares how…
The Stronger PodcastThe Power of Stability: Why Retaining School Leaders Will Shape the Future of Education
The Stronger Podcast host, Mike Montoya, looks ahead to the future of school leadership, unpacking why the next hiring cycles will define whether schools…
The Stronger PodcastUnlocking Parent Power: How Families Can Democratize Educational Equity – with Michelle Vilchez
From community organizer to education equity leader, Michelle Vilchez shares her journey of empowering parents and transforming schools, helping families of…
The Stronger PodcastSchools Weren’t Built for Us: Reimagining Education From the Community Up – with Malka Borrego
From reimagining neighborhood schools to coaching leaders through liberation and change, Malka Borrego shares how authenticity, proximity to community, and…
The Stronger PodcastTest Scores Aren’t the Whole Story: Rethinking Accountability and Impact – with Cathy Jones
From educator to nonprofit leader, Cathy shares her journey of transforming education and community engagement, helping Bexar County’s youth access…
The Stronger PodcastPurpose Shouldn’t Mean Poverty: Rethinking Service, Wealth, and Leadership – with Sharhonda Bossier
From Watts to leading a national education movement, Sharhonda Bossier shares her journey of championing educational equity and economic mobility for young…
The Stronger PodcastThe Kindergarten Lie: How We Miss Kids Long Before High School – with Clarisse Mendoza Davis
From first-grade helper to transformative education leader, Clarisse Mendoza Davis shares her journey of serving underserved youth and reshaping early…
The Stronger PodcastEquity Isn’t Optional: Calling Out Broken Systems – with Jessica de Barros
From Seattle classrooms to federal policy halls, Jessica de Barros shares her journey of championing equity in education, showing how a lifelong commitment to…
The Stronger PodcastTransforming Education: Giving Every Student Real Choices and Career Confidence – with Daniel Gray
From charting pathways for thousands of students to reimagining what true opportunity looks like, Daniel Gray shares a blueprint for reshaping how young people…
The Stronger PodcastFinding Home Through Community: Travel, Identity, and Belonging
A fourth grade teacher once told the whole class to circle white on a standardized test, then stopped to tell Kat Ling to circle Asian, and today Kat leads a…
The Stronger PodcastRedefining the Ladder: From Corporate Climb to Classroom Change – with Helen Chan
From corporate consultant to education changemaker, Helen Chan shares her journey of transforming disillusionment into purpose, using her talent expertise to…
The Stronger PodcastFrom Tokyo Classrooms to Oakland Streets: The Future of School – with Rich Harrison
From Osaka to Oakland, Rich Harrison’s journey bridges continents and classrooms, revealing how one educator’s global upbringing shaped his vision for more…