Off-Track, On-Purpose Britt Yamamoto, Mya Fisher

Wow, Season 1 is in the books! 8 episodes of inspiration, insight and laughter--and LOTS to reflect upon.

Today's guest, Dr. David Walton, is a brilliant example of making it count and living with purpose.

The youngest of 3 boys, David didn’t understand his true potential until later in his academic journey, in large part thanks to his single mother’s enduring belief in him, even when he didn’t believe in himself.

Late in his collegiate career he realized his vocational calling – to work as a physician and dedicate his life to remediating inequity in healthcare amongst the poor and disenfranchised.

He relocated to Boston for medical school, where he obtained his MD and Masters in Public Health from Harvard.

After completing his residency in Internal Medicine and Global Health he spent the next 15 years living and working in rural Haiti, where his work focused on health systems strengthening, improvement and expansion of medical care, and medical infrastructure in resource-constrained settings.

Dr. Walton is the co-founder and previously served as the CEO of Build Health International, a non-profit dedicated to designing and building health infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries.

He now works as the Senior Director of Global Health at Butterfly Network, focused on reducing disparities of access to healthcare by making medical imaging accessible to everyone around the world.

Most important, David met the love of his life after he moved back to Boston full time, and he and his partner are the proud parents of Blue, the cutest rescue dog in Boston.

Dr. Mariko Silver is the president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation, the current, significant stop in her remarkable career journey that weaves through leadership in higher education, philanthropy, and public service.

Before coming to the Luce Foundation, she was the president of Bennington College and also worked in the Obama administration as Acting Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Policy in the US Department of Homeland Security.

Mariko is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is also active in the formation of the new Asian American Foundation.

She holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geography from UCLA, a Masters degree in Science and Technology Policy from University of Sussex (UK) and a B.A. in History from Yale University.

Dr. Holly Heard is the Director of Data and Analytics for Texas 2036, a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy organization that uses data to advocate for policy change in the state of Texas. Holly’s team works to develop data products, resources, and governance systems to support strong state policies. Previously, Holly served as a Senior Research Scientist and Associate Director at the Houston Education Research Consortium, and as an Assistant Professor in the Sociology Department, both at Rice University in Houston, TX. Holly is a native Californian but has lived in her adopted state of Texas for 18 years, so it’s home now.

Holly has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was originally trained in the sociology of family, education, and demography. Her career path has moved from tenure-track position in a sociology department, to education researcher, to manager of data and research systems, to Director. None of this was planned. Along the way, Holly has learned, sometimes the hard way, about leadership, equity, and finding her space in the world.

Dr. Lindsey Sasaki Kogasaka is an interdisciplinary trained scholar with a PhD and master's in international education from New York University, passionate about the intersection of international relations, political and cultural identity and cross-cultural exchange and training.

Her work has tackled the Asian diaspora communities in Latin America, specifically Brazil and Peru and Latin American communities in Japan. Lindsey is a gifted polyglot and as someone who is deeply committed to people in community, she serves on various boards, committees and organizations that invest in next generation leaders and creates opportunities to connect international visitors and scholars with people in the greater Los Angeles area.

She most recently brought all of this to bear as a senior researcher on a groundbreaking project of the Nippon foundation and the Japanese American national museum. Examining the concept of Nikkei identity among young adults around the world, Lindsey continues to encourage and impact the lives of college students to take their leap and first steps in an international journey.

Dr. Lisa Jackson is Managing Partner at the Imago Dei Fund, the current hill station in her eclectic career journey that weaves through higher education, direct social service, and philanthropy, and originates from a strong set of values around justice, equity, and inclusion.

Raised in California, Lisa comes from a long line of proud and successful Howard University graduates, including parents holding a Holy Trinity of doctoral degrees, an MD, a PhD and a JD. Needless to say, the bar was set high for educational achievement in her childhood home.

She herself would also go on to Howard, study psychology, and complete her PhD at Stanford University in Education. But don't let the academic degrees fool you, as you will learn, her path has been hardly conventional.

Lisa's unique blend of ferocity, curiosity, insight, and levity is a true gift to the world and embodies the spirit of this podcast.