Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona

Flinn-Brown Fellow Thea Wilshire tells her story of how she unexpectedly moved from Southern California to Globe to work as a child psychologist on the San Carlos Apache Reservation three decades ago—and how Arizona became her home. In this 12th episode of the Leadership for a Better Arizona podcast, hosted by Dawn Wallace with the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation, the 2011 Flinn-Brown Fellow and former vice mayor of Globe talks about her work with the tribe; her dedication to public art, places and service; her book; faith; and love of community.

In this 11th episode of the Leadership for a Better Arizona podcast, hosted by Dawn Wallace with the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation, Flinn-Brown Fellow Tony Cani, founder of Slingshot Campaigns, and Daniel Scarpinato, president of Winged Victory Agency, discuss the issues that are top of mind for Arizona voters in the upcoming general election. The political strategists talk about the party breakdown of Arizona voters, expected turnout, the realignment of the parties, the impact of debates, statewide propositions and how the size of the Maricopa County ballot may influence outcomes.

Flinn-Brown Fellow Elyse Guidas talks about her dedication to providing access to food for Arizonans during this 10th episode of the Leadership for a Better Arizona podcast, hosted by Dawn Wallace with the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation. Guidas, a 2019 Fellow and executive director of Activate Food Arizona, shares stories about growing up in Phoenix and her family’s food insecurity which sparked her passion to eliminate those barriers for others.

In our ninth episode of the Leadership for a Better Arizona podcast, Gina Roberts (Scottsdale, 2019) chronicles her public service journey from local government to leading the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission. She discusses the importance of voter education and how that led to an unprecedented partnership this year with the Arizona Media Association to stream candidate debates to every corner of the state. Bonus: Learn which Hogwarts house she'd most like to be assigned to.

In this eighth episode of the Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona podcast, host Dawn Wallace of the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation is joined by East Valley emergency physician and 2016 Flinn-Brown Fellow Dr. Nick Vasquez. Vasquez, who serves as a Vitalyst Health Foundation trustee among other community service roles, talks about his experiences in the emergency department and how it is representative of the community and public policy, diversity and equity in health care, reading as an indicator of future health behaviors, changes in physician recruitment strategies, and his love of chess.

In this seventh episode of the Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona podcast, host Dawn Wallace of the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation is joined by Arizona Corporation Commissioner and 2011 Flinn-Brown Fellow Lea Márquez Peterson. Peterson talks about her early career as an entrepreneur in Tucson and how that led to her leading the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and eventually being appointed, and then elected, to the Arizona Corporation Commission. The conversation also covers energy policy, running for statewide office, and the value of the Flinn-Brown Network.

In this sixth episode of the Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona podcast, host Dawn Wallace of the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation is joined by 2023 Flinn-Brown Fellow Adam Goodman, a business and community leader and CEO of Goodmans. In this wide-ranging interview, Goodman discusses shaping his third-generation furniture business to impact and better the community, and offers his perspective on print journalism, capitalism, community service, Flinn-Brown, and the open primaries initiative.

In this fifth episode of the Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona podcast, host Dawn Wallace of the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation is joined by two Flinn-Brown Fellows: Erin Carr-Jordan and Mignonne Hollis. Carr-Jordan, president and CEO of the Digital Equity Institute, and Hollis, executive director of the Arizona Regional Economic Development Foundation, discuss the importance of reliable and affordable broadband in Arizona’s rural, tribal, and underserved communities and the impact it can make on people’s lives.

On this episode of Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona, Dawn Wallace is joined by two executives from Helios Education Foundation: Paul Perrault, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Community Impact and Learning, and Janice Palmer, Senior Vice President, Government Affairs and Public Policy. Perrault and Palmer discuss with Wallace research Helios has done on the economic benefits of postsecondary education for both the student and state of Arizona, and examine how supporting dual-enrollment classes can lead to more Arizona students pursuing college degrees—an action that state leaders have recently embraced.

Elvy Barton, Water and Forest Sustainability Manager at Salt River Project—and a 2013 Flinn-Brown Fellow—joins Dawn Wallace on Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona, a podcast from the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation. In a period of rapid economic growth and ongoing drought, Arizonans are increasingly concerned about catastrophic wildfires, water conservation, and water quality. Against this backdrop, Barton speaks with Dawn about watershed management and landscape-scale restoration under SRP's Healthy Forests Initiative, as well as public-policy challenges from the local to federal level. Barton also talks about the difference that participating in the Flinn-Brown Academy and joining the Flinn-Brown Network has made for her life's work and her capacity to engage in civic leadership.

It’s the second episode of Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona, the podcast where leaders unite, ideas collide, and the future of the Grand Canyon State comes into focus, hosted by Dawn Wallace of the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation. Today, Wallace speaks with Teniqua Broughton, executive director of The State of Black Arizona and CEO of VerveSimone Consulting. A 2013 Flinn-Brown Fellow, Broughton shares alarming figures about Black maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rates in Arizona, how she and others are working to address the causes, and how participating in the Flinn-Brown Academy and being part of the Flinn-Brown Network has helped her become the leader she is today.   LINKS/RESOURCES: https://stateofblackarizona.org https://www.vervesimone.com

It’s the inaugural episode of Leadership Forward for a Better Arizona, the podcast where leaders unite, ideas collide, and the future of the Grand Canyon State comes into focus.   For this first episode, host Dawn Wallace is joined by two influential figures in Arizona politics, former legislators and political insiders, Stan Barnes and Chad Campbell, who partnered for several years as the principal facilitators for the Flinn-Brown Civic Leadership Academy.   In a time when leadership is paramount, Barnes, a seasoned Republican strategist, and Campbell, a respected Democratic leader, illustrate how to bridge political divides and inspire a deeper understanding of the issues facing Arizona, fostering constructive and civil dialogue on the most pressing matters. They comment on Arizona’s changing political landscape, including ever-changing voter demographics, policy trends, and how they have found ways, despite their differing political ideologies, to come together to find common ground and work toward solutions.