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Bridget Barbara Byrne talks about her More Thank series on Diversity & Inclusion. Bridgette Barbera-Byrne hopes that through telling her story of what she overcame, it becomes someone else’s survival guide. WHEN IT COMES TO THE WORLD OF DIVERSITY, INCLUSION, AND ACCEPTANCE, WE CAN ALWAYS BE DOING MORE THAN WE ARE. This concept is what drives the vision behind the More Than training.  Owner and creator, Bridgette Barbera-Byrne states: “I imagine a world where someone’s dimensions of diversity do not interfere with the successes they achieve in life.  Where it does not dictate the privileges they are fortunate to encounter.  A world where the struggles one encounters are not predetermined by the dimensions of diversity that they were born into.  I imagine a world where people view each other’s differences as an open door to a world of new perspectives.“ More Than trainings focuses on topics in the diversity and inclusion realm.  They will provide participants with tools to assist them in navigating and leading others through these fragile and potentially controversial topics. More Than trainings are customizable to every organization's needs and are suitable training tools for every industry.  Doesn’t every leader want a team that is mindfully inclusive and can do More Than exceed the expectations of their customer?

Dr. Jennifer Campbell is entering her fourth year as Coordinator and an Assistant Professor of Music Education at The College of Saint Rose, where she facilitates the growth of preservice music educators at every level. She is proud to serve as the advisor of the Collegiate NAfME chapter and was proud to support her advisees’ in hosting the 2020 Collegiate-NYSSMA Advocacy and Professional Development Conference in February. She teaches preschool and pre-K music and facilitating preservice music educator observation and field experience at the St. Rose Nursery School. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Baldwin Wallace Conservatory and earned her MM and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Mississippi. Before seeking full-time graduate work, Jennifer was a successful music educator in Hockessin, Delaware. Over her five-year tenure, she taught courses in general and vocal music to students in grades Pre-K through Eighth, directed two choirs, and served as technical and assistant director for many theatrical productions. She continued to actively teach preschool and pre-K music at the Willie-Price laboratory school during her graduate studies at Ole Miss. As an elementary music specialist, she has completed three levels in the Orff-Schulwerk approach and holds a level II certificate in Kodály pedagogy. She was honored to participate and present at the 2019 Southwest Region Collegiate Summit, sponsored by the NAfME. She has presented for Albany City Music Educators in 2018, the Diocese of Albany Catholic Music Educators in 2019, and at the NYSSMA Winter Conference in 2018. She serves as a College Liaison for the Berkshire-Hudson Valley Chapter of the America Orff-Schulwerk Association, hosting professional developments on-campus for in-service and preservice music educators each year. Jennifer has presented her research on female music educators of the nineteenth century at the 2017 Oklahoma Symposium on the History of Music Education and her research on early childhood singing at the 2016 NAfME Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference. She is a member of the National Association for Music Educators, the Organization for Kodaly Educators, and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association.

Daniela Kavoukas’s primary role at Community Child Care, which is the peak .org for not-for-profit children's services in Victoria, Australia is to lead policy, advocacy and membership. It is with a deep passion and belief that children are our most precious assets, we need to nurture the future by providing each and every child with high-quality education and care. My role is crucial in fighting for children's rights, ensuring that my voice is clear and loud in government, ensuring I can support services to provide exceptional education and care. I am also an educational leader and mentor at Flemington Childcare Co-operative, I remain at ground level and engaging with children and families and my team to ensure their voices are an active part of my advocacy. Prior to these roles, I have been a practitioner and teacher for the past 20 years.

Laurie has worked in the not-for-profit sector for over twenty years. She has served in numerous professional and volunteer roles including development director, grassroots fundraiser, executive director, board member, and board chair for a variety of not for profit organizations throughout her career. Laurie currently provides consulting in fundraising, community organizing, board development, executive coaching, and strategic planning. She feels that fundraising and building a Culture of Philanthropy is sacred transformative work. Not only is it meaningful, but it can alter the trajectory of an organization. Laurie started Rainmaker Consulting Group LLC in 2003 because she saw that many organizations were lacking buy-in for fund development. Many had a mindset of scarcity. They didn’t think that they could raise enough money, that they didn’t “know anyone with money”, that their board was disengaged, and many of their top executives were not embracing fund development. There was a substantial gap between what nonprofit organizations needed and what they were achieving to fulfill their missions. What was lacking was a Culture of Philanthropy. In the last 10 years, Herrick has focused her work on helping organizational leaders build a comprehensive, agency-wide, Culture of Philanthropy. Each of these teams of leaders together created implementation plans and built strategies to make positive culture change stick. The lessons and best practices gained through her consulting and teaching has led to her upcoming book, Choose Abundance: An Organizational Guide to Build a Culture of Philanthropy.

Dr. Timothy W. Gordon is currently the Vice President for Student Affairs at Buffalo State College, the urban engaged campus in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. In his role at SUNY Buffalo State he is responsible for providing leadership for the division of student affairs, which includes 12 other units and over 130 employees. Contact Dr. Gordon at https://suny.buffalostate.edu/

Dave Morrone is the Associate Executive Director of the Wang YMCA of Chinatown and has been serving in the YMCA for 21 years. Most of my career has been dedicated to providing services to youth and teens. I've been with the YMCA Northeast Leaders School for 18 years in various roles, the past 4 years of which as the School's Director.   “What we are finding and what we have found for years, I’m sure you guys will agree...as a society has put this hammer down on kids around education, get out of high school, go on to college, do your next thing... What we didn’t put enough emphasis into was kids’ emotional intelligence development.” Dave Morrone To contact Dave reach out to him at the YMCA, www.ymcaboston.org To find out about Northeast Leaders School, www.ymcanortheastleadersclub.org

Bridgette Barbera-Byrne has proudly worked in the field of youth development for over 20 years. She’s worked in private education, coaching soccer and field hockey and the non-profit sector. Her driving force behind youth development is helping future generations understand their own value and self-worth. Her passion for making a difference has taken her to the world of diversity and inclusion which are deeply in grained in her personal core values. She strives to provide staff and youth with the tools to help them navigate through personal and professional struggles. Her goals include continuing to educate on equality and equity and taking the time to talk about our differences to make a positive change in the world. “I think it is so important for youth, especially youth that are in the LGBTQ+ community to have role models they can depend on...” Bridgette Barbera-Byrne For more information on Youth Development Professionals go to our website at Youth Development Pro

Let us hear from Chris Whipple from Whipple Aquatics & Safety, LLC He has been managing aquatic for over 15 years and loves to watch his employees grow with the experiences working around the water. he has managed aquatic venues at Universities, public and private facilities, and summer camps. He is an Instructor Trainer Educator for the American Red Cross and is currently the past president of the Association of Aquatic Professionals. His current endeavor is starting Whipple Aquatics & Safety LLC, to serve as a resource for the aquatic and recreation profession as to think safety while serving their mission. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and two children. “My end goal is to try and figure out how do I get to a spot where there are zero drownings that are out in the department and how do we make the water as safe as possible but then to also get as many people as possible access to the water.” Chris Whipple Reach out to Chris at www.whippleaquatics.com   Association of Aquatics Professionals www.aquaticpros.org

Jenny Leibham from Nature Play Lifestyle is a born naturalist with a true passion for connecting children to nature and supporting their development. Being outdoors gives children the opportunity to grow, play, and develop essential life skills. It is through my passion for supporting young learners to thrive outdoors that I have maintained a desire to support educators in developing high-quality skills to explore nature with young children. To find out more about Nature Play Lifestyle you can visit her website www.natureplaylifestyle.com and don’t forget to find her on YouTube, her blog, and across social media. Look for Nature Play Lifestyle.

In the spring of 2019, Governor Polis of Colorado established a Task Force to overhaul the behavioral health system. A Blueprint was presented to the Governor this past September, and implementation has begun. Summer has been leading those efforts.  “We all need to be checking in on each other. It's okay to not be okay -- especially in the unprecedented era of COVID. The Task Force in Colorado recommended that part of the BH system be set up to meet the distinct needs of children and young adults.” Summer Gathercole Learn more about Colorado’s Plan here http://www.bit.ly/BHreform

In this episode, we will be a recap from two past guests telling us how they have managed over the past 6 months of this pandemic. Matt Henry from Camp Skyline in Michigan (Episode 01:02) For more information and to get ahold of Matt go to www.campskyline.org Kurt Podeszwa from Camp For All in Texas (Episode 01:07) For more information and to get ahold of Kurt go to www.campforall.org

This episode we will be a recap from two past guests telling us how they have managed over the past 6 months of this pandemic. Luis "River" Rivero from Lallanada in Venezuela (Episode 01:03) For information and to get ahold of River go to www.lallanada.com Rabbi Sara Rich from Hillel Buffalo in Buffalo (Episode 01:12) For information and to get ahold of Rabbi Sara go to www.hillelofbuffalo.org

Gina Watts is the Executive Director of Vineyard Community Center and Co-Director of Missions Ministry at Vineyard Columbus. She also serves as the Director of the Youth and Family Division for the John Maxwell Team. Prior to relocating to Columbus, Ohio, Mrs. Watts served for 10 years as a full-time faculty member and administrator at a campus of Penn State University in Pennsylvania. In her various professional and volunteer roles, Gina has primarily focused her time on equipping youth to lead, developing community empowerment programs, and actively fighting social injustice. Gina’s proudest roles are that of wife to Eric Sr. and mother to Christian and Eric Jr. Contact Gina at her website http://www.ginawatts.com Find out more about Youth max https://youthmax.com/

This week’s episode we talk with Michael Garcia (our host) about his successful summer. Camp Centerland is a Summer Day Camp in the Greater Buffalo, NY area. Camp Centerland has provided a quality summer outdoor, group day camping experience in a Jewish setting, as one of the core services of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo. We are committed to providing a safe, fun, and memorable day camp experience through quality hiring, innovative programming and focus on positive values in a Jewish setting.

Fran Thompson has been the Principal at Jonathan Law High School in Milford since 2011. Fran grew up in Waterbury, CT, and attended Sacred Heart High School where his love for teaching was fostered by a nurturing and supportive faculty. Years later, Fran returned to his Alma Mater as an English teacher and later Vice-Principal. Fran has built a culture that embraces all students while setting high expectations for learning. Fran employs a distributed leadership model in his school. This empowers teachers and students to lead the work inside their classrooms and has a powerful voice at the school. He has fostered a collaborative approach to learning and leading. Fran works tirelessly with the students and staff in order to showcase the many exciting and wonderful opportunities Jonathan Law provides to our community. Fran is humbled and grateful to serve the students and families of Jonathan Law and is grateful for the support and commitment of Milford to their community school. Fran is a member of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), and a proponent of the Charter of Compassion initiative undertaken by The City of Milford. He is an anti-vaping advocate and has appeared on local, state, and national news programs informing the public about the dangers of this national teen epidemic. He was also in an episode of the Netflix documentary-series, Broken. Fran was given the 2014 Milford’s Promise ‘Be A Hero’ and the Milford Chamber of Commerce’s 2014-15 Public Sector Award.

This week’s episode Michael and Al tell some stories about there combined 50+ years of youth development. Learn the trial and challenges of the younger versions and how it shapes their lives. Some inspiration with a dash of reflection will shape how you see the Youth Development Professionals Guidebook Podcast moves forward. If you are interested in being on the podcast email us at michael@youthdevelopmentpro.com

Jasmine Castleberry has spent over 17 years in youth development and out-of-school time programming. From front-line program work with the YMCA, to program accountability and design at the revered Harlem Children’s Zone in New York City Jasmine has acquired a broad-based knowledge of how to make OST programs work. Through her work leading multiple continuous quality improvement efforts, she has developed performance-based, goal-oriented solutions through effective staff management and solid relationships with new and existing partners, resulting in enhanced business practices and increased productivity. Her ability to connect with any audience and specialty in workshop design and facilitation allowed her to serve as a presenter at statewide and national afterschool conferences. Ultimately, Jasmine’s performance-driven passion for out-of-school time comes from the thousands of students she has seen this work serve–and the many more who could be impacted by the highest quality programming. Find Jasmine at http://www.theafterschoolprofessional.com Link to Jasmine’s YouTube series https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_p0ZyoF5U5KrDTfq-2V_Gw?

Beth Steinberg is the co-founder and director of Shutaf Inclusion Programs in Jerusalem, offering year-round, inclusive informal-education programs for children and young people with disabilities. At Shutaf day camps and afterschool programs, children and young people of all abilities and all cultural backgrounds, are welcomed and included. Beth teaches and writes about disability issues and the parenting experience and is also the artistic director of Theater in the Rough, creating new kinds of theatrical experiences in Jerusalem. Learn more at http://theaterintherough.co.il

Julia Gabor and kid-grit are committed to a holistic developmental approach promoting the nourishment of a child’s intellect, emotion, and intuition, along with the conditioning of his/her body through delicious nutrient-dense food, movement, breathing, and other self-regulation tools. In this way, we can holistically impact the whole child. Reach out to get more information at http://www.kid-grit.com

Weston Outlaw is the Director of Special and Summer Programs (SSP) for Cranbrook Schools within the Cranbrook Educational Community. SSP offers after-school programs, enrichments, private music lessons, summer camps, and campus rentals for Cranbrook students and the public. Cranbrook is one of the world’s leading centers of education, science, and art. Comprising a graduate Academy of Art, Contemporary Art Museum, House & Gardens, natural history, and science museum, and Pre-K-12 independent college preparatory day and boarding schools, Cranbrook welcomes thousands of visitors, students, and campers to its campus each year. Find Weston at http://cranbrook.edu/