Todd Tibbits, the President & CEO of the YMCA of San Diego County — the nation’s largest YMCA Association — discusses the Y’s Strategic Plan; its re-branding campaign; and positive youth development.

Renato Paiva, Executive Director of Access Youth Academy, discusses the Academy’s prowess on the squash court — the Access Girls team finished second at a recent National tournament — and in the classroom, as Access students have achieved a 100% high school graduation rate, as well as a 100% college acceptance rate since it’s founding 17 years ago.

Dennis DuBard, President of Sports San Diego, talks about the organization’s success in boosting the local economy by producing events such as the iconic Holiday Bowl and inaugural Rady’s Children’s Invitational to our region.

Melinda Cooper, Program Director for Words Alive, is joined by Jim McIlhon, one of the more than 1,000 Words Alive volunteers, to discuss the organization’s mission; it’s programs; and book distributions.

Megan Waddell, Event Director of Curebound’s annual Padres Pedal the Cause, chats about her organization’s unique approach to support collaborative cancer research that has lead to the funding of 80+ innovative research projects and six clinical trials. Waddell talks about the nuts and bolts of the Sunday, April 7 Padres Pedal the Cause event.

Joe Sigurdson, Chief Success Officer of the Boys to Men Mentoring Network, is joined by facilitator and therapist, Moses Farrow, to discuss the Network’s impact on empowering young men to become the best versions of themselves. Sigurdson talks about the Network’s work with 40 schools in the San Diego County that represent 10 school districts.

Dr. Ruthann Heinrich, Board Chair for National University, discusses the university’s reputation as a trailblazer in the providing teaching credentials; serving massive numbers of active-duty military, veterans and dependents in its undergraduate programs; offering nationally recognized cybersecurity instruction; meeting the needs of its diverse student population.

Jose Cruz, CEO of the San Diego Council on Literacy, chats about the state of literacy in San Diego County; methods of teaching reading; creating a culture of reading in our communities; and the Imagination Library Program

Cheryl Goddard, Executive Director of the San Diego River Valley Conservancy, is joined by her colleagues, Kim Yingst, Community Engagement Manager, and Joseph Rivera, Conservation Manager, to chat about the Conservancy’s mission, along with upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

Linda Lattimore, Founder of the Solutionaires Academy, talks about her second book,
Great-itude: Overcoming Loneliness in a Disconnected World. Lattimore discusses the “loneliness pandemic that is affecting workers and society in a big way.