The SALA Series Podcast

SALA Series

Welcome to the SALA Series Podcast – bringing together purpose-driven leaders and ideas that matter. Hosted by Dalen Cuff and Monica McNutt, SALA celebrates diverse voices and highlights a commitment to community and individuals who are driving positive change across the interrelated worlds of sports, entertainment, corporate and nonprofit.

  1. 7h ago

    Marshall Hatch Jr. & Winnie Varghese | Faith, Belonging, and the Power of Community

    Recorded during the SALA Series Retreat on Martha’s Vineyard, this episode brings together Marshall Hatch Jr., a Chicago community leader shaped by generations of Black Baptist ministry, and the Very Rev. Winnie Varghese, Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, for a conversation about faith, identity, justice, and the power of community. Marshall’s father, the Rev. Dr. Marshall Hatch Sr., has led New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church on Chicago’s West Side since 1993, continuing a family legacy of faith and public service that extends to his grandfather, a pastor for 42 years. Marshall Jr. carries that tradition into his work with the MAAFA Redemption Project, supporting young men navigating trauma, violence, and barriers to opportunity.Winnie, the daughter of Indian immigrants who spent part of her childhood in Kerala, India, is a nationally recognized Episcopal priest, writer, and advocate for a church engaged with the wider world. In 2025, she became the first woman to lead the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, one of New York’s great religious and cultural landmarks and one of the world’s largest Gothic cathedrals. With a mission encompassing spiritual life, education, community outreach, and civic engagement, the Cathedral offers a powerful platform for exploring how historic institutions can serve an increasingly diverse city. Together, Marshall and Winnie explore how faith communities can confront injustice, bridge differences, and create spaces where people genuinely belong. They discuss the challenge of white Christian nationalism, the responsibility of religious institutions to engage public life, and how leaders can turn shared values into collective action. Ultimately, the conversation asks what it means for faith to move beyond belief and become a force for building a more just and inclusive society.

  2. 5d ago

    Shavar Jeffries | Educational Equity, Leadership, and the Future of Education

    In this episode of the SALA Series Podcast, host Dalen Cuff sits down with Shavar Jeffries, CEO of the KIPP Foundation, which supports a national network of more than 270 public charter schools serving approximately 120,000 students. One of the most prominent nonprofit organizations in American education, KIPP works to expand access to excellent schools and prepare young people for success in college, careers, and life. A first-generation college graduate, civil rights lawyer, and longtime education advocate, Shavar brings both personal experience and decades of work across education, law, and public policy to the challenge of expanding opportunity. He and Dalen explore the persistent challenges facing American schools, from early literacy and math achievement to school leadership and pathways to higher education. More broadly, they consider what it takes to lead institutions capable of delivering lasting change, why good intentions must be matched by results, and how education leaders can ensure that a student's future is not determined by the zipcode into which they're born. At its core, the conversation examines the responsibility of leadership in shaping the next generation and what it will take to make the promise of American education a reality for more young people.

  3. Oct 15

    Marshall Hatch Jr., Curtis Toler & William “Juju” Brown on Building Peace and Creating Change in Chicago

    Recorded at the SALA Series Retreat on Martha’s Vineyard, Marshall Hatch Jr. sits down with Curtis Toler and William “Juju” Brown of Chicago CRED to talk about what it takes to build peace in communities deeply affected by gun violence—and what it means to create the conditions for lasting change. Drawing on their own experiences growing up in Chicago, Curtis and Juju discuss the realities behind violence, from poverty and neighborhood disinvestment to social media, fractured community structures and limited economic opportunity. They also explain why policing alone cannot solve problems ultimately rooted in relationships, opportunity and community. The conversation explores Chicago CRED’s relationship-driven approach to violence prevention, the power of credible messengers, and the importance of creating real pathways to education, employment and a different future. Along the way, they reflect on mentorship, family, personal transformation and the small victories that signal meaningful change—from a young person choosing a different path to a child or elder feeling safe enough to return to their neighborhood. At the heart of the conversation is a simple but consequential idea: peace becomes possible when people can see it, believe in it and begin to live it themselves.

  4. Oct 8

    Jonathan Koppell | Higher Education, Hope, and Building a Better Future

    As president of Montclair State University, Jonathan Koppell sees higher education as more than a pathway to a degree or a career. At a moment when young people are navigating economic uncertainty, mental health challenges, rapid technological change, and declining trust in institutions, he believes universities have a responsibility to prepare students not only for work, but for lives of meaning, purpose, and contribution. In this episode of the SALA Series, Jeff Olivet—nationally recognized leader and advocate on homelessness, housing, and social policy, and a longtime voice for building more equitable and connected communities—sits down with Koppell to explore the future of higher education and its role in a changing world. Their conversation moves from AI and the future of work to the pressures facing young people and the broader crisis of trust in institutions. Koppell argues that universities must become more responsive to the students and communities they serve, while also using their knowledge, talent, and resources to address the challenges beyond their campuses.Koppell also reflects on homelessness, public service, democracy, and what it means for institutions to turn outward—to engage the communities around them and help solve real-world problems. In many ways, the conversation connects directly to Olivet’s own work: the belief that lasting change depends not only on strong institutions, but on the relationships, communities, and shared sense of purpose that give those institutions meaning.Running through the conversation is a powerful argument for hope—not optimism detached from reality, but a conviction that progress is possible because people and institutions have the capacity to change. For Koppell, education is itself an act of hope: a belief that tomorrow can be better than today, and that each generation has both the opportunity and the responsibility to help make it so.

  5. Oct 1

    Michael Lamb | Character, Trust, and the Future of Leadership

    What does character mean in an age of political division, declining trust, social media, and artificial intelligence? Dalen Cuff sits down with Michael Lamb, Senior Executive Director of the Program for Leadership and Character at Wake Forest University, to explore why character remains at the heart of leadership—and what it takes to develop it. Drawing on philosophy, research, and his work with students and universities across the country, Michael makes the case that character is not fixed; it can be cultivated through practice. The conversation examines the virtues that matter most—humility, empathy, courage, accountability, and hope—and the ways our institutions, workplaces, and communities either reinforce or undermine them. They explore what is happening to trust in politics and public institutions, the responsibility of higher education to develop not only capable graduates but good leaders, and the ways social media can distort our understanding of success and influence. They also consider what character looks like in business, law, and public service—and, as AI increasingly reshapes how we work and make decisions, whether the qualities that cannot be automated may be the ones that matter most.

  6. Sep 24

    John Beadle | Reimagining Healthcare Through Innovation and Human Connection

    For John Beadle, founder of Aegis Ventures, healthcare innovation is deeply personal. Inspired by his mother's experience navigating the healthcare system after a life-changing brain injury, Beadle has built his career around bringing entrepreneurs, healthcare leaders, technology, and capital together to solve some of the industry's most difficult problems with the needs of patients at the center. In this episode of the SALA Series, host Jeff Olivet sits down with Beadle to explore how artificial intelligence and emerging technologies can transform healthcare while making it more human. They discuss using AI to expand the capacity of doctors and nurses, moving healthcare toward prevention, building trust between innovators and health systems, and developing new technologies that can improve and even save patients' lives.  The conversation offers an optimistic vision for the future of healthcare, one where innovation doesn't replace the human side of care, but strengthens it, giving clinicians better tools, patients better outcomes, and promising ideas a faster path from possibility to impact.

  7. Sep 22

    Fatherhood | Katie Hurley on Raising Resilient Kids in an Age of Anxiety

    Psychotherapist, author, and parenting expert Katie Hurley has spent her career helping children and families navigate a world that can feel increasingly anxious, demanding, and disconnected. Her work challenges the idea that today’s youth mental health crisis has a single cause, pointing instead to a childhood reshaped by less free play, greater academic pressure, technology, social isolation, and a culture increasingly organized around achievement. In this episode of Fatherhood, Gordon LaForge—host of the series and a writer and policy thinker exploring the forces shaping families, communities, and the lives of young people—sits down with Hurley to ask a fundamental question: What do children actually need from the adults raising them? They explore the importance of play, boredom, failure, and conflict; why building distress tolerance matters more than solving every problem; and how parents can help children develop healthier relationships with technology. The conversation also takes a deeper look at boys and young men, an area Hurley has explored extensively in her writing and clinical work. At a time when many boys are struggling with loneliness, emotional expression, belonging, and narrow ideas about masculinity, Hurley makes the case for giving boys permission to be vulnerable, ask for help, form meaningful relationships, and develop a fuller emotional vocabulary. Rather than shielding children from difficulty, she argues for giving them the experiences, relationships, and support they need to meet difficulty with confidence. At its heart, this is a conversation about resilience as something we build, not something we simply possess. It is about giving children the freedom to be children while helping them develop the confidence, emotional strength, and sense of connection to navigate a complicated world—and, ultimately, to become the adults we hope they will be.

    Fatherhood | Katie Hurley on Raising Resilient Kids in an Age of Anxiety

  8. Sep 10

    Jennifer Sirangelo | The Power of Service and Civic Engagement

    As President and CEO of Points of Light, Jennifer Sirangelo has spent her career making the case that service is more than generosity—it is a way to build stronger communities, deepen civic connection, and create purpose. From Boys & Girls Clubs to the National 4-H Council and now Points of Light, she has championed the idea that people who take responsibility for their communities can help strengthen our country more broadly. At Points of Light, Sirangelo has set ambitious goals to expand volunteerism, increase the number of people engaged in service, and make it easier for people of all backgrounds and generations to participate. Her vision reflects a larger belief: that a stronger culture of service is an investment in the civic health of our country—and a way to bring people together at a time when so much is pulling us apart. In this episode of the SALA Series, host Basil Smikle sits down with Sirangelo to explore how volunteerism can combat loneliness, rebuild civic trust, and bridge political and social divides. They discuss empowering the next generation of leaders, the role of service in creating belonging, and why meaningful opportunities to contribute can renew our connections to one another and our communities. At its heart, the conversation is about what happens when people move from being observers of their communities to participants in them—and how those individual acts of service can become a powerful force for a more connected, engaged, and resilient country.

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About

Welcome to the SALA Series Podcast – bringing together purpose-driven leaders and ideas that matter. Hosted by Dalen Cuff and Monica McNutt, SALA celebrates diverse voices and highlights a commitment to community and individuals who are driving positive change across the interrelated worlds of sports, entertainment, corporate and nonprofit.

Information

  • Creator
    SALA Series
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright SALA Series
  • Show Website
    The SALA Series Podcast

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