Grounds to Listen Frank Batten School of Leadership & Public Policy

In this episode of Grounds to Listen, Dean Ian Solomon talks with Professor Melissa Thomas-Hunt about her new book, "Inclusion Unlocked - A Guide for Leaders to Act," the challenges of being an inclusive leader in today's world, the role of candor in leadership.

Thomas-Hunt is the John Forbes Distinguished Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business and professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia.  She is the senior associate dean for the Residential Full-Time MBA Program at the Darden School and the former Head of Global Diversity and Belonging at Airbnb where she led the strategy and execution of our global internal diversity, inclusion, equity and belonging programs.

Bill Howell, former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and David Toscano, former Minority Leader and mayor of Charlottesville, join Dean Ian Solomon to talk about their time in the legislature, how they worked together across the aisle to get things done, and the importance of listening as a leader.

Former Washington state representative and entrepreneur Kevin Parker joins Dean Ian Solomon to share his story of how his experience as a survivor of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting has shaped his journey as a leader and to offer ideas for policy solutions to the epidemic of gun violence. The Batten School invited Parker to Grounds in November, 2023 to participate in our "Beyond Boundaries" special event on the one-year anniversary of the shooting that took the lives of three UVA student-athletes. This episode is the third in a three-part series featuring elected leaders who are alums of Rodel Institute's prestigious Rodel Fellowship leadership development program.

Dean Ian Solomon talks with two Arizona Republicans - Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates, who presided over the pivotal county's 2020 presidential election and recount, and State Sen. Heather Carter - about the challenges they have faced by working across the aisle and the importance of communication. This audio-only episode is the second in a three-part series featuring elected leaders who are alums of Rodel Institute's prestigious Rodel Fellowship leadership development program.

Hawaii State Rep Lauren Matsumoto joins Dean Ian Solomon for a conversation about her path from Miss Hawaii to Minority Leader and the challenges of leading a "superminority". This audio-only episode is the first in a three-part series featuring elected leaders who are alums of Rodel Institute's prestigious Rodel Fellowship leadership development program.

The second episode of the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy’s Grounds to Listen podcast features Bo Seo, two-time world debate champion and author of the book “Good Arguments.” Seo talks about how debate has influenced his life and how we can learn how to argue better.