Small & Gutsy Laura S. Wittcoff

About a year ago, we had a fabulous Small & Gutsy episode that featured Jazz Hands For Autism, a nonprofit organization that provides wrap-around artist education, development, promotion, and placement for learners and aspiring artists on the autism spectrum enabling them to explore and express their talent. Services offered include The Jazz Hands Concert Series: a semi-annual concert series and performance platform for neurodivergent artists, The Jazz Hands Musicians Academy: an individualized post-secondary music education and vocational program that prepares aspiring musicians on the autism spectrum for careers in music and The Jazz Hands Junior Academy: in-home and virtual music lessons taught by RBT  (Registered Behavior Technician), meaning trained musicians and graduates of the Jazz Hands Musicians Academy. Check out their Triumphant Celebration and get your tickets here: JHConcert21.eventbrite.com
Website: www.jazzhandsforautism.org
 

Reading skills unlock the world for us and unleash not just our curiosity, but grant us and gift us the power to often choose our paths.
My two guests today know this all too well as their passion for helping kids learn to read began as a young married couple when they joined a USC alumni program reading with students every week at the USC “School of Five” inner-city elementary schools. They quickly became aware of the alarming number of students who were reading below grade level. It was then that the seeds of the positive impact on literacy were planted. Initially focusing on child development, J3 Foundation was born, eventually after the birth of their daughter, Jess, and iterated into a robust reading program in 2018 called J3s Cozy Reading Club, which focuses on the most vulnerable 4th graders in Los Angeles. This program has been so successful that it has expanded from a single pilot program to 16 schools and serves students during the school day and as part of their after-school reading program.
J3 Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to give kids the foundation they need for a lifetime of reading success. 
They strive to equip 4th graders in communities with fewer resources with the tools they need to help them reach grade level literacy and foster a multitude of things: positive self-image, self confidence, a supportive community, a new love of reading, and so importantly acquiring an identity of a reader.
For children in communities that lack resources, their free reading programs build good study habits, reading skills, and self-confidence, and I’d like to personally add opening up whole new worlds for each child.
Their free reading program brings together individualized evidence-based lessons with measurable outcomes, a low staff-to-student ratio, culturally relevant books, and community involvement to support reading progress in school and beyond. And it sounds FUN!
For more information, please visit their website: www.j3foundation.org
 
 

Journalists and those who represent news platforms are generally trained to report on factual information; in a recent visit to the Shorenstein Institute, I was exposed to the incredible work they do to ensure that journalists have tools to accurately interpret the information that is coming at them so quickly - most journalists, I believe, care deeply about interpreting the facts correctly, however, some platforms purposely misconstrue or actually reconfigure facts to support their financial backer’s agenda - thus, creating a conflict of personal and professsional values. There is hope, however, in that some organizations will not settle for this and fight to recalibrate information and resources;  one such organization does this and much more - MLK50 was created for the benefit of those who have historically had less access, in essence, to revitalize Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream.
MLK50 has since its inception, created an award-winning nonprofit digital news site - BRAVO!
Having launched in 2017 as a 1-year project to reconcile the lack of commitment to Dr. Martin Luther King’s sacrifice and legacy by reporting on the intersection of poverty, power and policy, and to bear witness to movement-making and lived experiences. Their vision echoes Dr. King’s dream of having a nation where all residents have the resources to thrive and where public and private policy supports their success. Memphis is one lucky city, and I hope MLK50 becomes a model for other cities and their local news - MLK50 doesn’t just represent acknowledgment, but truth; Justice through Journalism gives residents the information by examining the systems that make it hard for workers to make ends meet and by interrogating those who profit from the status quo.
To learn more, visit www.mlk50.com
 

Check out Part 1 of this amazing Social Enterprise and learn more about them at
www.mountainhazelnuts.com
 

Episode #80, Parts I & I
When you think of sustainability what comes to mind? Is it protecting the environment, proactively and effectively managing the climate for future generations to enjoy vs. using up what we have and finding other planets in which to inhabit? - The old throw away concept and let someone else deal with it - those someone elses are our children and grandchildren.  Maybe it’s sustainability through community health efforts or education so we leave the world a better place as more people have greater needs.
Have you ever had the experience of seeing, observing something that doesn’t seem to be going well, it seems too complex to solve, but that something just keeps gnawing at you - making you wonder if there were a way to address multiple issues at the same time;  It could be in the sciences, the arts, the environment, agriculture, healthcare, your community - those I interview for Small & Gutsy have made huge contributions to these areas and have in fact changed the world - maybe, in their part of the world, but they are making a difference. 
One couple, two of my 3 guests today, are folks who saw a global market need and a sustainability opportunity within an existing complex system, agriculture, that could address multiple issues with a single solution that would build community while yielding greater economic sustainability. In this case, we call that a social enterprise and I imagine that depth, breadth of research and community relationship building including trust was the foundation of Mountain Hazelnuts.
Check out their website: www.mountainhazelnuts.com

Getting the news I have breast cancer was one of the most devastating messages I have ever received, not only for me but for my family - we are all affected by this disease in ways that many people don’t realize. I remember thinking, I am almost the same age as my grandmother when she died of breast cancer and I desperately wanted to have a different outcome - with all the progress made over the last 50 + years, will I have a different outcome? How long will I survive? What will my life be like forever after? Life will surely be different, a new normal. There certainly was also the overwhelming feeling of trying to navigate the best interventions that will yield the best outcomes, staying abreast, no pun intended, of new medical treatments, medications, and options that may just be becoming available; the choices within those areas, as each of us, even with the same diagnosis, can have entirely different treatment plans and outcomes - it is frankly incredibly scary and we don’t want to second guess ourselves. 
How can a disease be both individualized and shared at the same time? Today’s podcast features one woman, who took her mother’s stoic approach to her own cancer and built a legacy that has been life-changing and life-saving for so many others. Olivia Achtmeyer Boger is to be commended for her bravery in honoring her mother, Cande’s legacy, in being a support to others facing similar circumstances. Runway for Recovery has various events & programs to support their efforts. 
Runway for Recovery is a nonprofit organization aimed at redefining the breast cancer experience for families. They accomplish this through events and programs that strive to provide normalcy amidst the unimaginable. Their goal is to support those who survive and those who live on as legacies because they know that breast cancer never just impacts one.
For more information, check out their website www.runwayforrecovery.org