Conversations with Chanda

This is a conversation about the kind of leadership that doesn't show up in a job description — trusting your own voice, holding the people you love accountable, and finding the grace to keep showing up as yourself. Chanda and Adren Wilson have known each other for over a decade, and it shows.

Adren Wilson is Vice President, Youth Opportunity Programs and Executive Director of the My Brother's Keeper Alliance at the Obama Foun...

Ganesha Martin is the Bureau Chief of Constitutional Policing at the Minneapolis Police Department — one of the first civilians to hold an executive rank in MPD — and a nationally recognized police reform leader who served as Deputy Mayor of Public Safety in Baltimore and helped guide that city through its federal consent decree. She joins Chanda to talk about how she got into this work, what Minneapolis's settlement ag...

Katherine Hayes spent 25 years as portfolio manager for her family's investment partnership — managing wealth she didn't earn, inside a system built to protect it. In this conversation with Chanda Smith Baker, she opens up about "money morality": the guilt that can come with inherited wealth, the silence families keep around money, and why she walked away from the industry she once worked inside.

Katherine and Chanda talk thro...

Dr. Marcheta Evans is the 12th president of St. Catherine University — and the institution's first African American president — after nearly 30 years in higher education leadership, including as Chancellor and President of Bloomfield College of Montclair State University. In this conversation, she and Chanda talk about what it means to be "the first," why finding your community matters, and how she's led through profoun...

Marlene Johnson was Minnesota's first woman lieutenant governor, a founder of NAWBO, and a leader who believes the only time you can't move forward is when you stop listening. In this conversation, she shares what it really means to be the first—and why that responsibility is ultimately about creating opportunities for others.

Drawing from her new memoir, Rise to the Challenge, Marlene reflects on a lifetime of leadership acro...

Cathy ten Broeke, Assistant Commissioner and Executive Director of the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness, has spent more than 30 years working to end homelessness — long enough to know it isn't a problem any one person, agency, or shelter solves alone.

She started at 24, working overnight shifts at a Minneapolis shelter, certain she had nothing to offer a conversation about policy. Someone told her otherwise. Thirt...

Recorded live at the Stewardverse Business Forum on Earth Day, Chanda sits down with Bill George — author of Authentic Leadership and True North, former CEO of Medtronic, and longtime Harvard Business School professor — for a conversation that becomes, in her words, a master class.

Bill tells the story of an executive who confessed on the verge of retirement: "Bill, without a title, I'm nothing." That moment becomes the ...

Ramsey County Commissioner Mai Chong Xiong grew up as a first-generation Hmong American, navigating government systems for her parents as a child. Now she sits on the county board — shaping housing policy, stewarding public dollars, and governing for all 78,000 people in her district.

In this conversation with the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation Senior Vice President Alfonso Wenker, Commissioner Xiong talks about what ca...

In this episode, Chanda is joined by Dr. Patricia Virella, an Assistant Professor of Urban Educational Leadership at Montclair State University, to explore the role of belief in education, leadership, and identity.

Patricia shares her journey from being underestimated in school to becoming a principal and professor, and how those experiences shaped her approach to advocating for students and families. Together, they discuss what it ...

In this conversation, Senior Vice President of Impact Alfonso Wenker of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation sits down with Marcus Owens, Director of the Office of Financial Empowerment for the City of Saint Paul.

Marcus shares how financial empowerment is about more than money—it’s about dignity, access, and creating real pathways for people to move forward. From leadership to systems change, this conversation expl...

In this episode, Chanda Smith Baker sits down with Henry Jiménez, CEO of Propel Nonprofits and a longtime nonprofit leader in Minnesota, for a conversation about what it really takes to support organizations doing the work closest to community.

Drawing from decades of leadership, Henry reflects on the growing demands nonprofits face, from reporting requirements to short-term funding cycles, and how those systems can unintentionally ...

In this episode of Conversations with Chanda, Senior Vice President of Impact Alfonso Wenker interviews Jamie Verbrugge, President & CEO of Catholic Charities Twin Cities, about nonprofit leadership, housing stability, and leading with dignity in complex times.

Catholic Charities Twin Cities is one of the largest social service providers in Minnesota, serving people experiencing homelessness through permanent supportive housing,...

In this episode of Conversations with Chanda, Chanda Smith Baker speaks with Ashani O’Mard, President of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, about what it takes to align capital, leadership, and community around affordable housing.

Recorded during a Minnesota–Atlanta housing learning exchange, this conversation explores cross-sector collaboration, capital strategy, and why housing is ultimately a shared res...

Chanda is joined by philanthropy leader, board member, and author Nausheena Hussain for a thoughtful conversation about faith, money, leadership, and legacy.

Nausheena reflects on her journey from corporate America to nonprofit leadership, the intentional decision to step away from an organization she built, and why healthy leadership transitions—especially for women of color—remain so rare. Together, they explore how fa...

In this episode of Conversations with Chanda, Chanda Smith Baker explores the human side of healthcare where care, leadership, and crisis intersect. The conversation begins with Bridget Rosario-Vega, a staff member at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, who shares her deeply personal experience navigating a serious hospital stay and the nurses and caregivers who showed up with compassion when she needed it most.

Chanda is the...

Hon. Harriette Chiggai, Advisor on Women’s Rights to the President of Kenya, joins Chanda Smith Baker for a powerful and deeply human conversation about courage, bias, and the fight for safety and dignity in leadership.

From growing up in Nakuru to advising the highest office in her country, Harriette shares what she has learned about resilience, mentorship, and the cost and reward of breaking barriers. Together they explore t...

In this episode, Chanda sits down with Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon for a conversation that goes beyond the ballot box. Together, they unpack the state of democracy in America and why choosing not to vote isn’t resistance, but resignation.

From the real impact of government shutdowns to the erosion of public trust, Simon shares a behind-the-scenes look at how democracy actually functions and what happens when w...

Steve Grove, a former Google executive and current Star Tribune leader, joins Chanda Smith Baker on 'Conversations with Chanda' to discuss his new book, 'How I Found Myself in the Midwest.' Listen as Steve dives into his personal journey of reinvention, the challenges and triumphs faced in his career transitions, and the unique community dynamics in Minnesota. Discover how local stories of hope and innovation can inspire broader so...