March 21, 2025 • 30 mins
Kendra Davenport is a passionate collaborator and places tremendous emphasis on transparency and trust as she works to support Easterseals’ national network of Affiliates, elevate the brand, and raise transformative funding and awareness of Easterseals’ mission—to raise transformative funding and awareness of Easterseals’ services and advocacy which empower people with disabilities, older adults, and veterans to live independent, full lives.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
M and T Bank presents CEOs.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You should know power advite I hardly.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Let's speak Kendra Davenport. She is the president and CEO
for Easter Seals, a nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities,
veterans and their families live independently. Before we talk more
about Kendra and all that she and her incredible team
are accomplishing every day, I first asked her to talk
a little bit about herself, where she's from, and her
origin story.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I am a Navy brat, I'm a military wife. I
grew up all over the place, is the short answer.
I went to a girls I say girls and my
daughter's Gonettes, but a women's Catholic college in Philadelphia and
got a terrific education. And my dad jokes because I'm
on the board of my college now. And when I
(00:47):
told my dad that was about that was only like
a year ago. I said, you know, they asked me
to serve on the board. And he said, wow, the
nuns don't hold a grudge. So I am not a student,
but I had a great time in colleg I didn't
know what I wanted to do. You know, I didn't
really know what I wanted to do. I actually honestly
thought I wanted to be on TV. I thought that
was the height of sophistication to be, you know, a
(01:10):
news announcer. So I went to school, got an English
and communications degree, and then quickly veered into nonprofits. And
I've been a nonprofit my entire career without cessation. And
at the time, I think when I when I first started,
I was working for Please Touch Museum, which is one
of the nation's first children's museums in Philadelphia, and I
(01:31):
met the founder at a luncheon and she said, well,
you should come apply for a job in development. So
I was very excited called my parents, you know, I
was a senior in college, and said I'm going to
interview for this job at this museum. And my dad
again said well what is it. What would you be doing?
And I said, I have no idea, no idea. It's development.
And he said, well what is that? And I said,
(01:52):
I don't know, Dad, I'll find out. So here we
are thirty seven years later, in development, fundraising, marketing, communications,
and then later in my career management has really served
me well. And I've just loved working in a nonprofit spector.
I've marked in a lot of international as well as
national and now here at Easter Seals for the past
(02:15):
three years.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well, thanks for sharing all that, and not to embarrass you,
but I also, for context do a public affairs show
here in Washington, d C. And I talked to nonprofits
for that program all the time and getting to know
people like you. Over the last four years of doing
the show, I realized how extra difficult it is to
run nonprofits. There's a lot of fulfillment from it, but
it's just hard. And that doesn't mean that anybody's job
(02:37):
that's noted but that's for profit is hard, but specifically
to my conversations, I realized how hard it is. So
more gratitude towards you that you've been in this for
so long, over three decades. And I did want to
talk about you joining Easter Seals because you do have
this very diverse nonprofit background with some very cool jobs.
So what that said, I can see why Easter Seals
(02:59):
was interested in you. Kindri, Well, why were you interested
in joining them three years ago?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
You know, it's a good question, and thank you. I
think you get to a point. Many people get to
a point in their career where they think, you know,
I could do more if honestly I was unimpeded. I'd
really like to move into a leadership role and to
be perfectly honest, get out from under misogyny, you know.
I mean, I know that might not be what everybody
(03:25):
wants to hear, but as a woman, I felt I
was constantly answering and explaining to men in senior roles,
and after you know, more than thirty years, I felt
I really need to need and want to be in
a leadership role where my mistakes are mine and I
can own them, but also I can exercise you know,
control and creativity and do some things that I've always
(03:48):
wanted to do. You know, nonprofits differ in mission, but
the basic premise is the same, and I think you
hit it on the head. Is not easy to run
a nonprofit because you're running it on altruism. You're not
selling anything other than a really good feeling to your donors,
and every dollar you spend is one you have to
(04:09):
raise and you're gonna have to raise another. And I
think it's it's challenging. But if you're working for the
right cause, and I really believe this is critical, that
you can be passionate about that passion comes through and
you bring people along with you. And I had an
enthusiasm for Easter Seals because of all the things they do.
(04:30):
And I think, you know, maybe thirty years ago, most
people would have known what Easter Seals does. They would
have known what the Easter Seals name stood for and meant.
And today when you ask people, they might know the
name if they're of a certain age, they're over fifty five,
and they might say, oh, yeah, I remember Easter Seals.
(04:51):
I remember getting the stamps and sealing them on the
back of envelopes from Easter Seals for a donation. What
do they do? And I think that is that's part
and parcel with being around as long as Easter Sales
has been around. So the organization's one hundred and six
hundred and seven years old, and that's wonderful. It's a
testament to what we do. And in a nutshell, what
we do is we support people with disabilities, people of
(05:15):
all ages with all disabilities. We also support older Americans,
and we support veterans. We help veterans transition from active
duty into private sector jobs, and we help seniors go
back to work. Frankly, so I love that we work
with everyone on the spectrum in terms of disability, all disabilities,
(05:37):
all ages, from really birth to death, and I wanted
to be a part of that. I felt, and I
still feel, my entire career led me to this, and
I didn't know it at the time. I didn't know
it when I was doing marketing or communications or all
the development. You know, when you're head down. I think
in what they used to call the hungry years, the
(05:59):
years where you are really struggling and trying to make
the most of your career, you don't think that's going
to always add up to, you know, a job that
you're going to really be able to sink your teeth into.
But that's actually what happened. And when Easter Seals came along,
I was thrilled. I didn't honestly think they'd hire me.
(06:19):
I didn't have enough experience in my mind with disability,
with disability programming, and I thought, wow, there's probably many
more people much more qualified than I am that could
do that. And when I got into the interview process,
I felt I was really fortunate even to get that far.
The board of directors people interviewing me said well, that's
(06:42):
not actually what we want. We want to make Easter
Seals sustainable for another one hundred years, and we really
we value the development, the fundraising experience you bring to
the table. So I just lucked out. It was a struggle.
Luck I was in the right place at the right time.
And now that I'm three years into this, I can
honestly say it is. If it's not my favorite job,
(07:03):
it's probably in the top two. You know, it has
been incredibly rewarding, and that's that's due largely to who
I work with. So Easter Shields is national. We have
seventy affiliate offices across the country and they are all
independently operated by CEOs and teams, and they have varying programs.
(07:24):
They all differ. Some deal only with early childhood, others
support adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Others do both
of those things and support seniors. So every day is different,
every affiliate is different. Every time I go out into
the field to visit an affiliate, it's really really compelling
and fulfilling and fueling. You know, it's empowering. I love it. Well.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I really appreciate you sharing all that, and I do
want to circle back to the programs capabilities and get
into the weeds a little bit of what you do,
because I think our listeners could use a good education
because it is I mean, it's so layered of the
many things you offer up, which is absolutely incredible that
we'll talk about it in a few moments. But if
I could go back a little bit, if you could
talk about mission, mission and vision, what would they be
(08:09):
for you? Your team and Easer Seals.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Thank you. Our mission is to empower people with disabilities
to live their fullest life, to live life to their
fullest capability, and that really entails us creating accessibility to jobs,
to education, to healthcare. We create supportive environments where people
with disabilities can thrive. We work with partner organizations and
(08:34):
corporations to give them job skills in many cases, to
introduce them to new things. And we work with their
families frankly, because when you're caring for someone with the disability,
it takes a lot out of you. It's draining. So
we do a lot to empower families to live their
best lives and provide respite care for caregivers. We often
(08:56):
say that identifying a child's needs, whether they're intellectual or
physical or both early on really places that child in
a better spot to learn. It enables them to learn
and thrive in school as they grow. So the earlier
we do intervention, the better. That's why head start and
(09:16):
early intervention programs easter Seals runs are critically important. Similarly,
and people offen ask me, well, what's your favorite thing
when you go to visit affiliates. What's your favorite program?
Is it the small children? Is it the integrated daycare?
Is it head Starts? And I say, I love that.
I love to see our children. I don't know anybody
who doesn't, who isn't empowered and find that, you know,
(09:40):
joy inducing. But my favorite is adult daycare. It's adult
day programs for individuals with intellectual and maybe some physical disabilities.
I find what easter Seals does to be so enriching.
And many of our programs you'll go into and then
just the your joy when you're greeted by participants in
(10:03):
the programs, it has really oh it's almost overwhelming at times.
They're so happy to be there. And then you meet
you know, I often have the opportunity to meet the
people that work with them every day, and it is
not uncommon Dennis for them to say to me, you know,
I've been here for fourteen years, fifteen years, thirty two years,
thirty eight years, and that is that really gives me
(10:27):
pause because I think that speaks volumes about Easter Seals
and what kind of mission we have. What is my vision?
My vision? Well, let me go back just one more thing,
because I want to talk a little bit more about
the seniors and the veterans and the programs we have
for both of them. I love our senior program because
I feel that in the United States we tend to
(10:52):
relegate people when they get to a certain age, We
sort of shove them aside. We don't pay as close
attention to them as we once did, you know. And
I think I think many older adults have so much
more still to give, so much more in the tank
and the work Easter Sales does to ensure that their
(11:12):
final years are spent doing something that helps them thrive
and makes them happy, I think is terrific. And if
we can put them into a work situation and retrain
them or train them to go back into the working world,
that not only helps them financially just make ends meet.
As life gets more and more expensive and eggs are
(11:33):
you know, ten dollars a dozen. But many of the
people that participate in those programs that I've met with,
will say, well, I started out in the in the
work program, the c SET work Program, and c SET
stands for Senior Community Service Employment Program. It's not our acronymic.
It's a Department of Labor program that we operate. And
(11:53):
they'll say, I started out just to make ends meet,
but then I just found my community and I'm so
happy here, and I think that's really important. And then lastly,
I'll just wrap up and say the work we do
with veterans is so so near and dear to my heart.
I am a Navy brat. My dad was in the
Navy for twenty years. My husband was in the Coast
Guard for thirty six years, and both of them retired
(12:13):
as officers. They had stellar careers, they had terrific support systems,
and both of them struggled to get a job in
the private sector for more than a year when they
separated from the military. Imagine, Dennis, you know, you've been
in the military three to five years, which is average,
and now you try to get out and get a job.
It's very difficult to parlay that experience, which doesn't necessarily
(12:37):
resonate with private sector employers. So Easter Seal steps in
and tries to help them do that. We identify ways
of making their resume and their interviewing skills, you know,
to help them improve those, and then we put them
in touch with potential employers and really work with them.
If a veteran has a disability, that's even more complex,
(12:57):
and Easter Seals also addresses them those needs, provides those therapies,
whether they're physical or mental or both, and works with
families military families, and I can tell you the average
military family when everything's going well, is under a lot
of stress. When the military members separates, that students is compounded.
(13:19):
So I love that we help military families and caregivers.
So let me come up for airantee.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
No, it's great stuff, and I know that you're only
hitting the tip of the iceberg or the things that
you offer, but I did want to ask because I
think we've got people's attention about some of the things
that you do, and we'll get into a few more
of them, and I know you're proud of all of them,
and we can't hit all the different touch points of
all the different programs capabilities, but I'll let you go
back and we can spotlight several that are most important
or that people are using the most. But when it
(13:46):
comes to criteria, is there any criteria to reaching out
your Easter Seals in who you accept in programs? How
does it all work?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
No, you know, And that's one of the things I
love about Easter Seals. We try to help everyone, and
that's on is a double edged sword because it really
makes the pool and of work we do very deep
and very wide. And Easter Seals isn't everywhere. But if
someone were, for example, to go to our website, type
(14:14):
in the zip code they're looking for, if we don't
have an affiliate there, we'll help them. Easter Seals will
help them find the resources they need. But if we
can help them and there is an affiliate in their area,
then we absolutely do. And that's that's something we've offered
for a very long time. And as I said, there
are seventy affiliates. Most of our affiliates have multiple locations.
(14:35):
Most of them operate you know, varied programs and again
work with children and early intervention and headstart. Many of
them operate daycares or there's adult daycare, we run foster care, transition,
we run you know, other therapies for again seniors and veterans.
So the programs are varied. And one of the things
(14:57):
I love that is universal if the pro aren't universal.
And one thing I can say that is absolutely universal
of all of our affiliates is the desire to help
the positivity. And again, it's all about empowering people with disabilities,
helping meet those needs so that they can thrive. Maybe
(15:18):
it's helping them get transportation, maybe it's helping them make
their car more accessible if they've sustained an injury. And
you know, that's something I think people don't really take
into consideration. Any one of us can become disabled at
any given time in our life, and by the time
we hit sixty five, most of us have experienced something
(15:39):
physical that would classify us as being a disabled person.
There's twenty five I'm sorry, twenty five percent of Americans
identify as having a disability. That's seventy million Americans. That
makes people with disabilities the largest minority in our country.
And yet I feel it's a minority that's very quiet,
(16:03):
and that's always, you know, motivated me to vocalize what
Easter Sales needs and try to explain to people what
we do and who we are, and that we are
the largest provider of services, supports, and programs in the
country for people with disabilities of all ages. You know,
when I took this job, I remember telling my three daughters.
(16:25):
All of them are grown, they're on their twenties, and
I've been with Easter Seals three years, but I was
very proud and excited to take the role of CEO,
the national CEO. And I told them over dinner and
my oldest said, Easter Sales. And she was at the
time twenty seven or twenty six, and Easter Seals. What
is it with the Catholic stuff? Mom? And I said, no, no, no, no,
(16:47):
it's not Catholic. It's not Catholic, it's non sectarian. And
the middle child said something to the effect of, well,
is it event planning around like the holidays? And I
said no, oh, my gosh, no. And then I talked
to my dad, who's in his eighties, and he said, oh,
I remember Easter Seals. I remember it vividly. What do
(17:09):
they do? And I think that's where we're at, danis
that's where we're at. So, you know, in the disability community,
Easter Seals is very well known and very well respected.
And again we've been around for more than a century
and we continue to expand and take on more programs
and grow the services we provide. But outside the disability
(17:30):
community we have we are just not as well known
as I think we should be. We're working to change
that through PSAs and through honestly through interviews like this
that will help me and and people I work with
across our network. You know, we employ thirty seven thousand
people in our seventy affiliates, help them help others to
(17:51):
understand and get to know Easter Seals because we offer
an awful lot and I really believe that virtually every family,
anyone you meet, and I'm sure you could do this
exercise too. If you ask people they say, do you
know anyone who has Alzheimer's? Almost everyone will say yes,
I do. Do you know someone with a physical disability,
(18:12):
yes I do. Do you know someone with autism, Yes
I do. Do you know someone who's vision impaired? Yes
I do. Do you know someone with hearing impairment? You
know someone who uses a walker? I mean, I think
the short answer. When people say, you know, what is
disability to you? Often people will talk about a physical disability.
They'll say, well, if I think disability, I think wheelchair. Okay,
(18:35):
But seventy percent of all disability is invisible, meaning it's
not visible to the naked eye, which is very telling.
I think we need to get the word out that
twenty five percent of the country identifies as being disabled.
It's not a bad word and it's not something to
be ashamed of. In fact, disability doesn't mean inability, and
(18:57):
I think that's one of the messages that we really
can to apply nationwide.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yeah, I think it's well said. I think when it
comes to that or mental wellness. I mean, I'm a
kid of the seventies and there were times well, first
of all, no internet, no social media, no education on anything, right,
so you threw some dirt on it and you moved on. Well,
now we have the opportunity to be much more educated.
And I have a daughter who's in her twenties as
(19:22):
well too, which they also educate us. So I'm sure
they do for you and your family. And it's good
they're around because they have boots on the ground of
what today's like for them. So I appreciate you sharing
all that I did want to indulge all of us
just for a second. And I hope you too about
a great story. Now I understand with you being with
the organization for three years, there are probably handfuls of
(19:43):
just amazing stories of lives changing, and this is you know,
your passion certainly comes through in our interview, Kendra, and
I always appreciate that the people that run nonprofits with
their team because passion is a part of leadership, which
I'm going to ask you in a little bit a
little bit more of your leadership role. But when it
comes to maybe a great story might be able to
share with us, no names, no specifics, but was there
(20:04):
anything where it really just so impressed you? And you said,
this is why I get up every day that this happened.
Can you share something with us?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Oh? Yeah, hands down. I have a story that I
think about frequently. And as I think, I told you,
I love our adult day programs for adults with intellectual
and or physical disabilities. And I was out in southern
California at Easter Seals SoCal and as we call it,
and they took me to one of their centers and
(20:32):
it's called the Piatt Center. And they said, I said,
what's the day like? And I often, you know, I
have to tell our affiliates. I don't want to be
a burden. I want to come and visit, but I
don't want to derail the whole day. So I want
to do whatever your participants are doing. So I walked
in and it's a beautiful center, and it's southern California,
so the weather is really conducive to having an open
(20:54):
air area. And there were program participants planting things in planters.
There were others making lunch, there were others doing art projects.
And I spent some time just meeting with their individual
therapists and meeting with all of them. And the whole
(21:16):
time I was there, Dennis, I kept thinking, Gosh, if
I had a son or a daughter who needed to
have this kind of support, I'd move heaven and earth
to come here. I'd want them to be here. And
around the time I was thinking that, one of the
staff members came to me and said, Kendre, we have
a program participant whose brothers are in a mariachi band
(21:39):
and he is often with them, and he'd like to
sing for you.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
My God, oh my gosh, this is the best and
sing he did, and he got everyone clapping, and he
had an amazing voice, and it.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Was just it was just a moment, and I came
away thinking, this is really the gold standard. This is
what we want for people with disabilities. This is this
is an amalgamation of empathy and positive vibes and happiness
and respect for people with disabilities, treating them with respect,
(22:17):
letting them make decisions for themselves, like to sing me
a song or whatever. But I think of that day.
I have photographs from that day, and for me, that
encapsulates the best of Easter sales. You know, if you
talk with a parent of a child with a disability,
oftentimes what you'll say, You know, when I ask them,
(22:39):
what's your what do you worry about most? What keeps
you up at night? Almost always they say the same thing.
And they'll say, what happens to my child when I'm gone?
Who is going to care for my child the way
I care for them? And that child may be thirty
or forty years old, And I think that that Easter
(23:01):
seals fulfills that role. And I think that's why people
who know us are so loyal and so grateful for
the relationship they have with Easter Seals and for what
we do for their family members, and to be a
part of that play, just a small part, and that
is really meaningful. I love it. Yeah, I'm a better
(23:22):
person for it.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
I really appreciate you sharing that. And I always talk
in my industry when it comes to talk show hosts
talking the audiences that we never see, right, you know,
it's just us in a booth and you're talking to thousands,
if nine hundreds of thousands people at a time. That
people humanity, people want to be able to relate to
each other, and then they want simple acknowledgment, which we
don't get a lot anymore because everything's moving so fast.
(23:45):
And those two things are hit by what you're talking
about when families are in dire straits and they feel
like they're on an island by themselves with whatever they're
going through. So I appreciate you sharing that. I did
want to talk about just a few more things, and
I can't tell you how much I pre sh your time.
But leadership is this is part of this series in
Leading a Company, and you talked about why you joined
(24:06):
this company, which I thought was fascinating and cool. I
have a very strong women in my life with my wife,
who is a head of a very big deal that
she does, and I've got a very strong twenty ten
year old daughter that lives in Brooklyn, New York, who's
a filmmaker, and I am in awe of what they
do every day. So when I see people like you
running companies, I'm in awe again, and I just think
(24:27):
it's so cool. But I realize that your journey is
very specific to you, Kendra, But we have so many
future leaders that are listening to this program, including a
lot of young women that say, you know, the doors
are closing on me, the massaging, da da da da da,
I'm not gonna make it. This is dow. I'm gonna
do something else. Could you impart just maybe a little
advice from your specific journey on all the people they
(24:50):
want to lead something, whether they're building a business, they
want to lead a company, profit, nonprofit, anything they like
to do out there.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Well, I absolutely, I'll try, and I certainly don't have
all the answers, but I do think that that there's
a tremendous amount of pressure to pick a lane and
then stay in that lane, and you know, the road
is long and circuitous, and I think too many people
get wrapped around the axle thinking I can't make a change.
This is what I went to school for. I can't
(25:17):
change it. And while I was one of those people
who did stay in my lane and found ways of
you know, growing more, doing more, expanding under the umbrella
of you know, non nonprofit, for many people they don't
and they're afraid to make that you know, that U
turn or that that zig or that zag, and I
(25:39):
just would say, go for it. This is you know.
I often say to my husband, you know, the ride
isn't finite, you know, I mean, the ride is an
infinite It's finite, and we got to make the most
of it. So I would say that. I would also
say talk to people, Identify mentors, Identify people that can
champion you and support you when you're feeling, like you said,
(26:00):
you know, things aren't going my way or this is
a dead end job I'm not fancying if I really
think about it. And I look back in my career,
every job taught me something, every single job. And I
didn't like every job, but I can tell you I
learned from every job. And then lastly, I'd say, don't
be risk averse. You know, I think there are folks
(26:22):
that live to the letter of the law in terms
of what they think they should be doing. They go
and get the NBA, and they go to the right school,
and they get certificates, and they're active on social media
and they're like, I'm doing everything the right way. But
they never take that risk. They never go after a
job that maybe they think they might not be one
(26:43):
hundred percent qualified for. And I think, you know what again,
it's you only go around once. You've got to try
for what you want.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Yeah, I'm glad you said that. And it's I impart
this to my daughter all the time. You know a
couple of things that you know, if somebody say no,
you're not talking to the right person. So just keep
it going. You got to keep it moving and grind
it out what she does. But also that you know,
there's going to be a lot of pitfalls, and there
are a lot of ebbs and flows, and you know,
it's I think it's human nature depending on your personality.
(27:14):
You know, you can get too high, you can get
too low. So if you like to stay even keel,
especially in this wacky world, that we live in and
what you want to do and all the choices you
have out there. It is certainly a ride. And I
think it's great advice and I appreciate you sharing that.
I did want to do this because I think this
is really important. Before we give the website gorgeous website,
we're going to give you the web address. I know
a lot of people have already googled that and they're
(27:34):
on Easter Seals right now. But with that said, donations
are a very big deal. And when it comes to
a small, medium, large business, a corporate sponsor, or an
individual that would like to do a one time or
every month, how do they go about donating?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
They can do that right on our website and that's
just Easterseals dot com. A donate, We hit the donate
button and it will give them all the ways they
can donate. And we're always looking for people obviously to
support Easter Seals. I think in the economic climate we're
in right now, given some of the changes that are
happening government wise, it's going to be absolutely critical that
we maintain support and we grow our support from you know,
(28:13):
individuals and companies and foundations, and we work towards that
every day. But I really encourage anyone to go to
our website, learn about us, and support us in any
way they can.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Well, Thankskendra, And one last thing from me, because people
always ask, Hey, if I donate money, where's it going?
And I know there's a lot of organizations that are
super transparent and a percentage goes here. So when they
do donate, where does the money go? Depending on what
region they're in.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
You know, if they donate on the national website, that
money goes right out to our affiliates, so about ninety
percent of it goes to our affiliates. Ten percent stays
at the National Easter Sales office, and that really does
help facilitate programs of all types. They can go on
Charity Navigator and look us up. We have a very
(29:00):
good rating and we have for many, many, many many years.
We're an ethical nonprofit and I think the mere fact
that we've been around for more than one hundred years
speaks volumes.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Ken Ra, I can't tell you how much I appreciate
your time because I know how busy you are. I
know you're traveling a lot, and as we said and
started off this interview, running another you know these, whether
your for profit, nonprofit, or you're doing something like you
are and running Easter Seals, it is epic. It's herculean.
I know you have a team that you're very proud
of as well too, but I really appreciate you making
time for us to continue success with everything at Easter
(29:31):
Seals and thank you so much for joining us on CEOs.
You should know we really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Dennis, Thank you so much. This has been a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Our community partner, M and T Bank supports CEOs, you
should know, is part of their ongoing commitment to building
strong communities, and that starts by backing the businesses within them.
As a Bank for communities, M and T believes in
dedicating time, talent, and resources to help local businesses thrive,
because when businesses succeed, our community succeed.
M and T Bank presents CEOs.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
You should know power advite I hardly.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Let's speak Kendra Davenport. She is the president and CEO
for Easter Seals, a nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities,
veterans and their families live independently. Before we talk more
about Kendra and all that she and her incredible team
are accomplishing every day, I first asked her to talk
a little bit about herself, where she's from, and her
origin story.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
I am a Navy brat, I'm a military wife. I
grew up all over the place, is the short answer.
I went to a girls I say girls and my
daughter's Gonettes, but a women's Catholic college in Philadelphia and
got a terrific education. And my dad jokes because I'm
on the board of my college now. And when I
(00:47):
told my dad that was about that was only like
a year ago. I said, you know, they asked me
to serve on the board. And he said, wow, the
nuns don't hold a grudge. So I am not a student,
but I had a great time in colleg I didn't
know what I wanted to do. You know, I didn't
really know what I wanted to do. I actually honestly
thought I wanted to be on TV. I thought that
was the height of sophistication to be, you know, a
(01:10):
news announcer. So I went to school, got an English
and communications degree, and then quickly veered into nonprofits. And
I've been a nonprofit my entire career without cessation. And
at the time, I think when I when I first started,
I was working for Please Touch Museum, which is one
of the nation's first children's museums in Philadelphia, and I
(01:31):
met the founder at a luncheon and she said, well,
you should come apply for a job in development. So
I was very excited called my parents, you know, I
was a senior in college, and said I'm going to
interview for this job at this museum. And my dad
again said well what is it. What would you be doing?
And I said, I have no idea, no idea. It's development.
And he said, well what is that? And I said,
(01:52):
I don't know, Dad, I'll find out. So here we
are thirty seven years later, in development, fundraising, marketing, communications,
and then later in my career management has really served
me well. And I've just loved working in a nonprofit spector.
I've marked in a lot of international as well as
national and now here at Easter Seals for the past
(02:15):
three years.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
Well, thanks for sharing all that, and not to embarrass you,
but I also, for context do a public affairs show
here in Washington, d C. And I talked to nonprofits
for that program all the time and getting to know
people like you. Over the last four years of doing
the show, I realized how extra difficult it is to
run nonprofits. There's a lot of fulfillment from it, but
it's just hard. And that doesn't mean that anybody's job
(02:37):
that's noted but that's for profit is hard, but specifically
to my conversations, I realized how hard it is. So
more gratitude towards you that you've been in this for
so long, over three decades. And I did want to
talk about you joining Easter Seals because you do have
this very diverse nonprofit background with some very cool jobs.
So what that said, I can see why Easter Seals
(02:59):
was interested in you. Kindri, Well, why were you interested
in joining them three years ago?
Speaker 2 (03:03):
You know, it's a good question, and thank you. I
think you get to a point. Many people get to
a point in their career where they think, you know,
I could do more if honestly I was unimpeded. I'd
really like to move into a leadership role and to
be perfectly honest, get out from under misogyny, you know.
I mean, I know that might not be what everybody
(03:25):
wants to hear, but as a woman, I felt I
was constantly answering and explaining to men in senior roles,
and after you know, more than thirty years, I felt
I really need to need and want to be in
a leadership role where my mistakes are mine and I
can own them, but also I can exercise you know,
control and creativity and do some things that I've always
(03:48):
wanted to do. You know, nonprofits differ in mission, but
the basic premise is the same, and I think you
hit it on the head. Is not easy to run
a nonprofit because you're running it on altruism. You're not
selling anything other than a really good feeling to your donors,
and every dollar you spend is one you have to
(04:09):
raise and you're gonna have to raise another. And I
think it's it's challenging. But if you're working for the
right cause, and I really believe this is critical, that
you can be passionate about that passion comes through and
you bring people along with you. And I had an
enthusiasm for Easter Seals because of all the things they do.
(04:30):
And I think, you know, maybe thirty years ago, most
people would have known what Easter Seals does. They would
have known what the Easter Seals name stood for and meant.
And today when you ask people, they might know the
name if they're of a certain age, they're over fifty five,
and they might say, oh, yeah, I remember Easter Seals.
(04:51):
I remember getting the stamps and sealing them on the
back of envelopes from Easter Seals for a donation. What
do they do? And I think that is that's part
and parcel with being around as long as Easter Sales
has been around. So the organization's one hundred and six
hundred and seven years old, and that's wonderful. It's a
testament to what we do. And in a nutshell, what
we do is we support people with disabilities, people of
(05:15):
all ages with all disabilities. We also support older Americans,
and we support veterans. We help veterans transition from active
duty into private sector jobs, and we help seniors go
back to work. Frankly, so I love that we work
with everyone on the spectrum in terms of disability, all disabilities,
(05:37):
all ages, from really birth to death, and I wanted
to be a part of that. I felt, and I
still feel, my entire career led me to this, and
I didn't know it at the time. I didn't know
it when I was doing marketing or communications or all
the development. You know, when you're head down. I think
in what they used to call the hungry years, the
(05:59):
years where you are really struggling and trying to make
the most of your career, you don't think that's going
to always add up to, you know, a job that
you're going to really be able to sink your teeth into.
But that's actually what happened. And when Easter Seals came along,
I was thrilled. I didn't honestly think they'd hire me.
(06:19):
I didn't have enough experience in my mind with disability,
with disability programming, and I thought, wow, there's probably many
more people much more qualified than I am that could
do that. And when I got into the interview process,
I felt I was really fortunate even to get that far.
The board of directors people interviewing me said well, that's
(06:42):
not actually what we want. We want to make Easter
Seals sustainable for another one hundred years, and we really
we value the development, the fundraising experience you bring to
the table. So I just lucked out. It was a struggle.
Luck I was in the right place at the right time.
And now that I'm three years into this, I can
honestly say it is. If it's not my favorite job,
(07:03):
it's probably in the top two. You know, it has
been incredibly rewarding, and that's that's due largely to who
I work with. So Easter Shields is national. We have
seventy affiliate offices across the country and they are all
independently operated by CEOs and teams, and they have varying programs.
(07:24):
They all differ. Some deal only with early childhood, others
support adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Others do both
of those things and support seniors. So every day is different,
every affiliate is different. Every time I go out into
the field to visit an affiliate, it's really really compelling
and fulfilling and fueling. You know, it's empowering. I love it. Well.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
I really appreciate you sharing all that, and I do
want to circle back to the programs capabilities and get
into the weeds a little bit of what you do,
because I think our listeners could use a good education
because it is I mean, it's so layered of the
many things you offer up, which is absolutely incredible that
we'll talk about it in a few moments. But if
I could go back a little bit, if you could
talk about mission, mission and vision, what would they be
(08:09):
for you? Your team and Easer Seals.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Thank you. Our mission is to empower people with disabilities
to live their fullest life, to live life to their
fullest capability, and that really entails us creating accessibility to jobs,
to education, to healthcare. We create supportive environments where people
with disabilities can thrive. We work with partner organizations and
(08:34):
corporations to give them job skills in many cases, to
introduce them to new things. And we work with their
families frankly, because when you're caring for someone with the disability,
it takes a lot out of you. It's draining. So
we do a lot to empower families to live their
best lives and provide respite care for caregivers. We often
(08:56):
say that identifying a child's needs, whether they're intellectual or
physical or both early on really places that child in
a better spot to learn. It enables them to learn
and thrive in school as they grow. So the earlier
we do intervention, the better. That's why head start and
(09:16):
early intervention programs easter Seals runs are critically important. Similarly,
and people offen ask me, well, what's your favorite thing
when you go to visit affiliates. What's your favorite program?
Is it the small children? Is it the integrated daycare?
Is it head Starts? And I say, I love that.
I love to see our children. I don't know anybody
who doesn't, who isn't empowered and find that, you know,
(09:40):
joy inducing. But my favorite is adult daycare. It's adult
day programs for individuals with intellectual and maybe some physical disabilities.
I find what easter Seals does to be so enriching.
And many of our programs you'll go into and then
just the your joy when you're greeted by participants in
(10:03):
the programs, it has really oh it's almost overwhelming at times.
They're so happy to be there. And then you meet
you know, I often have the opportunity to meet the
people that work with them every day, and it is
not uncommon Dennis for them to say to me, you know,
I've been here for fourteen years, fifteen years, thirty two years,
thirty eight years, and that is that really gives me
(10:27):
pause because I think that speaks volumes about Easter Seals
and what kind of mission we have. What is my vision?
My vision? Well, let me go back just one more thing,
because I want to talk a little bit more about
the seniors and the veterans and the programs we have
for both of them. I love our senior program because
I feel that in the United States we tend to
(10:52):
relegate people when they get to a certain age, We
sort of shove them aside. We don't pay as close
attention to them as we once did, you know. And
I think I think many older adults have so much
more still to give, so much more in the tank
and the work Easter Sales does to ensure that their
(11:12):
final years are spent doing something that helps them thrive
and makes them happy, I think is terrific. And if
we can put them into a work situation and retrain
them or train them to go back into the working world,
that not only helps them financially just make ends meet.
As life gets more and more expensive and eggs are
(11:33):
you know, ten dollars a dozen. But many of the
people that participate in those programs that I've met with,
will say, well, I started out in the in the
work program, the c SET work Program, and c SET
stands for Senior Community Service Employment Program. It's not our acronymic.
It's a Department of Labor program that we operate. And
(11:53):
they'll say, I started out just to make ends meet,
but then I just found my community and I'm so
happy here, and I think that's really important. And then lastly,
I'll just wrap up and say the work we do
with veterans is so so near and dear to my heart.
I am a Navy brat. My dad was in the
Navy for twenty years. My husband was in the Coast
Guard for thirty six years, and both of them retired
(12:13):
as officers. They had stellar careers, they had terrific support systems,
and both of them struggled to get a job in
the private sector for more than a year when they
separated from the military. Imagine, Dennis, you know, you've been
in the military three to five years, which is average,
and now you try to get out and get a job.
It's very difficult to parlay that experience, which doesn't necessarily
(12:37):
resonate with private sector employers. So Easter Seal steps in
and tries to help them do that. We identify ways
of making their resume and their interviewing skills, you know,
to help them improve those, and then we put them
in touch with potential employers and really work with them.
If a veteran has a disability, that's even more complex,
(12:57):
and Easter Seals also addresses them those needs, provides those therapies,
whether they're physical or mental or both, and works with
families military families, and I can tell you the average
military family when everything's going well, is under a lot
of stress. When the military members separates, that students is compounded.
(13:19):
So I love that we help military families and caregivers.
So let me come up for airantee.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
No, it's great stuff, and I know that you're only
hitting the tip of the iceberg or the things that
you offer, but I did want to ask because I
think we've got people's attention about some of the things
that you do, and we'll get into a few more
of them, and I know you're proud of all of them,
and we can't hit all the different touch points of
all the different programs capabilities, but I'll let you go
back and we can spotlight several that are most important
or that people are using the most. But when it
(13:46):
comes to criteria, is there any criteria to reaching out
your Easter Seals in who you accept in programs? How
does it all work?
Speaker 2 (13:54):
No, you know, And that's one of the things I
love about Easter Seals. We try to help everyone, and
that's on is a double edged sword because it really
makes the pool and of work we do very deep
and very wide. And Easter Seals isn't everywhere. But if
someone were, for example, to go to our website, type
(14:14):
in the zip code they're looking for, if we don't
have an affiliate there, we'll help them. Easter Seals will
help them find the resources they need. But if we
can help them and there is an affiliate in their area,
then we absolutely do. And that's that's something we've offered
for a very long time. And as I said, there
are seventy affiliates. Most of our affiliates have multiple locations.
(14:35):
Most of them operate you know, varied programs and again
work with children and early intervention and headstart. Many of
them operate daycares or there's adult daycare, we run foster care, transition,
we run you know, other therapies for again seniors and veterans.
So the programs are varied. And one of the things
(14:57):
I love that is universal if the pro aren't universal.
And one thing I can say that is absolutely universal
of all of our affiliates is the desire to help
the positivity. And again, it's all about empowering people with disabilities,
helping meet those needs so that they can thrive. Maybe
(15:18):
it's helping them get transportation, maybe it's helping them make
their car more accessible if they've sustained an injury. And
you know, that's something I think people don't really take
into consideration. Any one of us can become disabled at
any given time in our life, and by the time
we hit sixty five, most of us have experienced something
(15:39):
physical that would classify us as being a disabled person.
There's twenty five I'm sorry, twenty five percent of Americans
identify as having a disability. That's seventy million Americans. That
makes people with disabilities the largest minority in our country.
And yet I feel it's a minority that's very quiet,
(16:03):
and that's always, you know, motivated me to vocalize what
Easter Sales needs and try to explain to people what
we do and who we are, and that we are
the largest provider of services, supports, and programs in the
country for people with disabilities of all ages. You know,
when I took this job, I remember telling my three daughters.
(16:25):
All of them are grown, they're on their twenties, and
I've been with Easter Seals three years, but I was
very proud and excited to take the role of CEO,
the national CEO. And I told them over dinner and
my oldest said, Easter Sales. And she was at the
time twenty seven or twenty six, and Easter Seals. What
is it with the Catholic stuff? Mom? And I said, no, no, no, no,
(16:47):
it's not Catholic. It's not Catholic, it's non sectarian. And
the middle child said something to the effect of, well,
is it event planning around like the holidays? And I
said no, oh, my gosh, no. And then I talked
to my dad, who's in his eighties, and he said, oh,
I remember Easter Seals. I remember it vividly. What do
(17:09):
they do? And I think that's where we're at, danis
that's where we're at. So, you know, in the disability community,
Easter Seals is very well known and very well respected.
And again we've been around for more than a century
and we continue to expand and take on more programs
and grow the services we provide. But outside the disability
(17:30):
community we have we are just not as well known
as I think we should be. We're working to change
that through PSAs and through honestly through interviews like this
that will help me and and people I work with
across our network. You know, we employ thirty seven thousand
people in our seventy affiliates, help them help others to
(17:51):
understand and get to know Easter Seals because we offer
an awful lot and I really believe that virtually every family,
anyone you meet, and I'm sure you could do this
exercise too. If you ask people they say, do you
know anyone who has Alzheimer's? Almost everyone will say yes,
I do. Do you know someone with a physical disability,
(18:12):
yes I do. Do you know someone with autism, Yes
I do. Do you know someone who's vision impaired? Yes
I do. Do you know someone with hearing impairment? You
know someone who uses a walker? I mean, I think
the short answer. When people say, you know, what is
disability to you? Often people will talk about a physical disability.
They'll say, well, if I think disability, I think wheelchair. Okay,
(18:35):
But seventy percent of all disability is invisible, meaning it's
not visible to the naked eye, which is very telling.
I think we need to get the word out that
twenty five percent of the country identifies as being disabled.
It's not a bad word and it's not something to
be ashamed of. In fact, disability doesn't mean inability, and
(18:57):
I think that's one of the messages that we really
can to apply nationwide.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
Yeah, I think it's well said. I think when it
comes to that or mental wellness. I mean, I'm a
kid of the seventies and there were times well, first
of all, no internet, no social media, no education on anything, right,
so you threw some dirt on it and you moved on. Well,
now we have the opportunity to be much more educated.
And I have a daughter who's in her twenties as
(19:22):
well too, which they also educate us. So I'm sure
they do for you and your family. And it's good
they're around because they have boots on the ground of
what today's like for them. So I appreciate you sharing
all that I did want to indulge all of us
just for a second. And I hope you too about
a great story. Now I understand with you being with
the organization for three years, there are probably handfuls of
(19:43):
just amazing stories of lives changing, and this is you know,
your passion certainly comes through in our interview, Kendra, and
I always appreciate that the people that run nonprofits with
their team because passion is a part of leadership, which
I'm going to ask you in a little bit a
little bit more of your leadership role. But when it
comes to maybe a great story might be able to
share with us, no names, no specifics, but was there
(20:04):
anything where it really just so impressed you? And you said,
this is why I get up every day that this happened.
Can you share something with us?
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Oh? Yeah, hands down. I have a story that I
think about frequently. And as I think, I told you,
I love our adult day programs for adults with intellectual
and or physical disabilities. And I was out in southern
California at Easter Seals SoCal and as we call it,
and they took me to one of their centers and
(20:32):
it's called the Piatt Center. And they said, I said,
what's the day like? And I often, you know, I
have to tell our affiliates. I don't want to be
a burden. I want to come and visit, but I
don't want to derail the whole day. So I want
to do whatever your participants are doing. So I walked
in and it's a beautiful center, and it's southern California,
so the weather is really conducive to having an open
(20:54):
air area. And there were program participants planting things in planters.
There were others making lunch, there were others doing art projects.
And I spent some time just meeting with their individual
therapists and meeting with all of them. And the whole
(21:16):
time I was there, Dennis, I kept thinking, Gosh, if
I had a son or a daughter who needed to
have this kind of support, I'd move heaven and earth
to come here. I'd want them to be here. And
around the time I was thinking that, one of the
staff members came to me and said, Kendre, we have
a program participant whose brothers are in a mariachi band
(21:39):
and he is often with them, and he'd like to
sing for you.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
My God, oh my gosh, this is the best and
sing he did, and he got everyone clapping, and he
had an amazing voice, and it.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Was just it was just a moment, and I came
away thinking, this is really the gold standard. This is
what we want for people with disabilities. This is this
is an amalgamation of empathy and positive vibes and happiness
and respect for people with disabilities, treating them with respect,
(22:17):
letting them make decisions for themselves, like to sing me
a song or whatever. But I think of that day.
I have photographs from that day, and for me, that
encapsulates the best of Easter sales. You know, if you
talk with a parent of a child with a disability,
oftentimes what you'll say, You know, when I ask them,
(22:39):
what's your what do you worry about most? What keeps
you up at night? Almost always they say the same thing.
And they'll say, what happens to my child when I'm gone?
Who is going to care for my child the way
I care for them? And that child may be thirty
or forty years old, And I think that that Easter
(23:01):
seals fulfills that role. And I think that's why people
who know us are so loyal and so grateful for
the relationship they have with Easter Seals and for what
we do for their family members, and to be a
part of that play, just a small part, and that
is really meaningful. I love it. Yeah, I'm a better
(23:22):
person for it.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
I really appreciate you sharing that. And I always talk
in my industry when it comes to talk show hosts
talking the audiences that we never see, right, you know,
it's just us in a booth and you're talking to thousands,
if nine hundreds of thousands people at a time. That
people humanity, people want to be able to relate to
each other, and then they want simple acknowledgment, which we
don't get a lot anymore because everything's moving so fast.
(23:45):
And those two things are hit by what you're talking
about when families are in dire straits and they feel
like they're on an island by themselves with whatever they're
going through. So I appreciate you sharing that. I did
want to talk about just a few more things, and
I can't tell you how much I pre sh your time.
But leadership is this is part of this series in
Leading a Company, and you talked about why you joined
(24:06):
this company, which I thought was fascinating and cool. I
have a very strong women in my life with my wife,
who is a head of a very big deal that
she does, and I've got a very strong twenty ten
year old daughter that lives in Brooklyn, New York, who's
a filmmaker, and I am in awe of what they
do every day. So when I see people like you
running companies, I'm in awe again, and I just think
(24:27):
it's so cool. But I realize that your journey is
very specific to you, Kendra, But we have so many
future leaders that are listening to this program, including a
lot of young women that say, you know, the doors
are closing on me, the massaging, da da da da da,
I'm not gonna make it. This is dow. I'm gonna
do something else. Could you impart just maybe a little
advice from your specific journey on all the people they
(24:50):
want to lead something, whether they're building a business, they
want to lead a company, profit, nonprofit, anything they like
to do out there.
Speaker 2 (24:57):
Well, I absolutely, I'll try, and I certainly don't have
all the answers, but I do think that that there's
a tremendous amount of pressure to pick a lane and
then stay in that lane, and you know, the road
is long and circuitous, and I think too many people
get wrapped around the axle thinking I can't make a change.
This is what I went to school for. I can't
(25:17):
change it. And while I was one of those people
who did stay in my lane and found ways of
you know, growing more, doing more, expanding under the umbrella
of you know, non nonprofit, for many people they don't
and they're afraid to make that you know, that U
turn or that that zig or that zag, and I
(25:39):
just would say, go for it. This is you know.
I often say to my husband, you know, the ride
isn't finite, you know, I mean, the ride is an
infinite It's finite, and we got to make the most
of it. So I would say that. I would also
say talk to people, Identify mentors, Identify people that can
champion you and support you when you're feeling, like you said,
(26:00):
you know, things aren't going my way or this is
a dead end job I'm not fancying if I really
think about it. And I look back in my career,
every job taught me something, every single job. And I
didn't like every job, but I can tell you I
learned from every job. And then lastly, I'd say, don't
be risk averse. You know, I think there are folks
(26:22):
that live to the letter of the law in terms
of what they think they should be doing. They go
and get the NBA, and they go to the right school,
and they get certificates, and they're active on social media
and they're like, I'm doing everything the right way. But
they never take that risk. They never go after a
job that maybe they think they might not be one
(26:43):
hundred percent qualified for. And I think, you know what again,
it's you only go around once. You've got to try
for what you want.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Yeah, I'm glad you said that. And it's I impart
this to my daughter all the time. You know a
couple of things that you know, if somebody say no,
you're not talking to the right person. So just keep
it going. You got to keep it moving and grind
it out what she does. But also that you know,
there's going to be a lot of pitfalls, and there
are a lot of ebbs and flows, and you know,
it's I think it's human nature depending on your personality.
(27:14):
You know, you can get too high, you can get
too low. So if you like to stay even keel,
especially in this wacky world, that we live in and
what you want to do and all the choices you
have out there. It is certainly a ride. And I
think it's great advice and I appreciate you sharing that.
I did want to do this because I think this
is really important. Before we give the website gorgeous website,
we're going to give you the web address. I know
a lot of people have already googled that and they're
(27:34):
on Easter Seals right now. But with that said, donations
are a very big deal. And when it comes to
a small, medium, large business, a corporate sponsor, or an
individual that would like to do a one time or
every month, how do they go about donating?
Speaker 2 (27:49):
They can do that right on our website and that's
just Easterseals dot com. A donate, We hit the donate
button and it will give them all the ways they
can donate. And we're always looking for people obviously to
support Easter Seals. I think in the economic climate we're
in right now, given some of the changes that are
happening government wise, it's going to be absolutely critical that
we maintain support and we grow our support from you know,
(28:13):
individuals and companies and foundations, and we work towards that
every day. But I really encourage anyone to go to
our website, learn about us, and support us in any
way they can.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Well, Thankskendra, And one last thing from me, because people
always ask, Hey, if I donate money, where's it going?
And I know there's a lot of organizations that are
super transparent and a percentage goes here. So when they
do donate, where does the money go? Depending on what
region they're in.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
You know, if they donate on the national website, that
money goes right out to our affiliates, so about ninety
percent of it goes to our affiliates. Ten percent stays
at the National Easter Sales office, and that really does
help facilitate programs of all types. They can go on
Charity Navigator and look us up. We have a very
(29:00):
good rating and we have for many, many, many many years.
We're an ethical nonprofit and I think the mere fact
that we've been around for more than one hundred years
speaks volumes.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
Ken Ra, I can't tell you how much I appreciate
your time because I know how busy you are. I
know you're traveling a lot, and as we said and
started off this interview, running another you know these, whether
your for profit, nonprofit, or you're doing something like you
are and running Easter Seals, it is epic. It's herculean.
I know you have a team that you're very proud
of as well too, but I really appreciate you making
time for us to continue success with everything at Easter
(29:31):
Seals and thank you so much for joining us on CEOs.
You should know we really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Dennis, Thank you so much. This has been a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Our community partner, M and T Bank supports CEOs, you
should know, is part of their ongoing commitment to building
strong communities, and that starts by backing the businesses within them.
As a Bank for communities, M and T believes in
dedicating time, talent, and resources to help local businesses thrive,
because when businesses succeed, our community succeed.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com