There is a part of Washington DC that the nation doesn't know exists
Release Date: 01/20/2025
We see the lives of LGBTQ individuals and youth at risk
Power Station
In 1984, at the height of the AIDS crisis, the LGBTQ community was pushing back hard against prejudice, transphobia and the failure of the public health system to meet dire medical needs. When queer youth, some of whom identified as trans, were hospitalized at the then-notorious St. Eliabeth’s hospital in Washington DC, a group of community members and health professionals founded SMYAL, a nonprofit that provides housing, mental health support and safe spaces for LGBTQ youth. As SMYAL’s executive director Erin Whalen explains on this episode of Power Station, our president wants to...
info_outline
We often say that artificial intelligence and technology represent the new civil rights and human rights frontier
Power Station
The true story of America is currently being rewritten in real time by the White House. The president’s rejection of incontrovertible truths, from racism to domestic violence to the marginalization of people with disabilities is laid bare in the banning of words on government websites that reference those who have been most wronged in our society. It also explains his freezing of federal funding for nonprofits that work each day to tackle discrimination as codified in the National Fair Housing Act of 1968. This landmark civil rights legislation, hard-won after years of advocacy, was enacted...
info_outline
The arts reminds us of our soul and our shared humanity
Power Station
For Andrew Lee, performing at Carnegie Hall, bringing violin instruction to underfunded DC public schools, working in coalitions designed to increase funding for the arts and STEM during students’ out-of-school time, launching new orchestras, and partnering international musicians with young, emerging artists is all part of building a musical eco-system that reflects and is accessible to all. As Andrew shares on this episode of Power Station, leading the Washington Conservatory of Music, which for 40 years has been a center of learning for young people and adults, is an opportunity to build...
info_outline
We are not your enemy
Power Station
It was 1973 when the National LGBTQ Task Force, the nation’s first LGBTQ rights organization, was founded. Homophobia was being codified into legislation; the AIDs epidemic was a devastating and deadly epidemic, and gay people were subject to discrimination and violence. A brave group of activists, scientists and doctors stepped up to create a nonprofit from which they advocated for the right to exist, be heard and win legal protections. Co-founder Bruce Voeller, a biologist who coined the term AIDS, and died from complications of it in 1994 was instrumental in organizing the first ever...
info_outline
This need to say it doesn't have to be this way was very deep in me
Power Station
It is a singular privilege to interview an author when their work is as powerful, instructive and intimate as What Might Be, Confronting Racism to Transform Our Institutions. In this episode of Power Station, I speak with Susan Sturm, Professor of Law and Social Responsibility at Columbia School of Law about her book, which explores her experience in tackling racism in American institutions and invites those who feel stuck on the sidelines to join in. Susan reflects on the “loving struggle” she has engaged in as a white woman working in multiracial collaborations, a practice supported by...
info_outline
Capacity + Capital = Power
Power Station
How do you stay hopeful and motivated when entire communities, immigrants, LGBTQ and people with disabilities among many others, are being demonized and targeted for punitive action by our nation’s leaders? For Lucy Arellano Baglieri it is by keeping her eyes on the long game, building in the most difficult of times for a more just future. As Lucy shares on this episode of Power Station, this administration’s freezing of federal grants to nonprofits and efforts to revoke their tax exempt status is a defensive reaction to decades of progress in advancing civil rights and economic justice....
info_outline
One of the stories I heard was I just really want to take my child to a theme park
Power Station
We are living in a moment of turmoil. Many communities feel targeted, and nonprofits are under pressure to quiet their voices. LIFT, a Washington DC based national nonprofit with offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles is undaunted in its support for and belief in Black and Brown parents seeking to break cycles of poverty and achieve economic mobility. In this episode of Power Station, Neils Ribeiro-Yemofio, the incomparable executive director of LIFT DC shares how just listening to parents about their aspirations for their families can be transformative. At LIFT DC, financial...
info_outline
They are coming for people experiencing homelessness but we are not backing down
Power Station
Do we believe in forcing people experiencing homelessness into detention camps? The president of the United States does, and it is happening now, including in New Orleans where 100 people were removed from an encampment and placed in a detention camp in the lead up to the Super Bowl. As Jesse Rabinowitz, Director of Campaign and Communications at the National Homelessness Law Center shares on this episode of Power Station, America remains locked into a narrative shaped by President Ronald Reagan who asserted that poverty and homelessness is a choice. Jesse is working toward a new narrative...
info_outline
Young people are internalizing the messages they hear about themselves
Power Station
It is not news, but it remains unacceptable, that young people in America experience life distinctly differently based on their race, class and geography. In Washington DC, children from low-income families attend schools that are deeply under-resourced, a stark contrast to their peers in more affluent and white communities. Academics and think tanks have long documented these disparities and elected leaders sometimes advance policies to lessen inequities. But the voices we seldom seek out for their views are young people themselves. In this episode of Power Station, the ebullient Nicole...
info_outline
Something that disabled people in the South have is power, it just isn't recognized
Power Station
An organization’s origin story reveals so much about its founders’ principles and vision for generating transformational change. In the case of New Disabled South, co-founders Dom Kelly and Kehsi Iman Wilson knew that they were creating a space that didn’t exist, a movement for disability justice in the American South. They focused first on their internal infrastructure, developing human resources and operational policies that support the sustainability of staff, all of whom are disabled, as is the board of directors, as they conduct research, build coalitions and advocate for policy...
info_outlineInnovation, disruption and problem-solving, these are words often used to describe how technology impacts society. But the sector does not center those powers on equity, ensuring that all people can access housing, livable wages, healthcare and education. That work is the business of the nonprofit sector, which is particularly potent in local nonprofits with deep community roots. Too often these groups are underfunded and uncredited for policy win and community building. In this episode of Power Station, the remarkable Marla Dean, Senior Director of the Greater Washington Community Foundation’s Health Equity Fund, introduces us to its $26m Demonstration Project. It is a powerhouse set of initiatives designed to redress historical wrongs against communities of color by overcoming economic and social disparities in what she calls, “the Washington DC the nation doesn’t know exists.” The Greater Washington Community Foundation is investing in the highly effective community-based nnprofits who conceived of these solutions and, with the Foundation’s support, are bringing them to life. It starts with recognizing that overcoming health disparities requires economic mobility and that removing barriers to career aspirations, family reconnection and participating in building a green economy is a public service.