Off the Rak

Walt Rakowich
  • 5.0 (2)
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Walt Rakowich's passion to help shape a generation of leaders who lead with honesty, humility and heart inspired him to launch Off the Rak: Conversations on Transformative Leadership. Featuring rich and raw conversations with notable leaders across different industries, Off the Rak inspires curious leaders to embrace challenges, seize opportunities and become positive influences in their world.

  1. 40M AGO

    Leading Better in Crisis Through Compassion with Dr. Christian Ntizimira

    On this episode of Off the Rak, Dr. Christian Ntizimira — a Rwandan palliative care physician, Harvard-trained researcher, and Executive Director of the African Center for Research on End-of-Life Care — shares how prioritizing compassion, dignity, and community can redefine how we lead, especially in moments of crisis. We explore practical ways to design empathy into institutions, honor presence over quick fixes, and recognize how much culture matters to nurturing trust. From personal stories in Africa to addressing global health challenges, Dr. Ntizimira’s work at the intersection of medicine, culture, faith, and leadership invites you to rethink what it means to care at the collective level and to lead with humanity at the center.  About the Guest Dr. Christian Ntizimira is the Founder and Executive Director of ACREOL and an International member of the Faculty of The Palliative Care Centre for Excellence in Research and Education (PalC). He is a Fulbright alumnus and graduated from Harvard Medical School, Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and former City Manager, Kigali, City Cancer Challenge Foundation, and the former Executive Director of the Rwanda Palliative Care and Hospice Organization (RPCHO), a non-profit organization focused on home-based care in the City of Kigali. Dr. Ntizimira pioneered the integration of palliative care and end-of-life care into health services rendered to Rwandan cancer patients and in community settings. Through his program (2008-2013), more than 1500 health care providers and community health workers learned the principles of cancer prevention, control & palliative care, leading to a five-fold increase in the prescription of morphine, an essential pain medication. In 2016, he was awarded as a young cancer leader and a world cancer regional lead in 2018 for his outstanding contributions to cancer control in Rwanda and Africa. In 2018, he became the first advocacy/policy champion among extraordinary individuals who are making a significant contribution to developing palliative care in low and middle-income countries for the World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA). From 2010 to 2013, he was the director of Kibagabaga Hospital in Kigali. He has advised several governments on national palliative-care policy, including Burundi, Rwanda, and Senegal, on access to palliative care services. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Control. Ntizimira graduated in medicine from the College of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Rwanda in 2008. In 2011, he received a scholarship to study palliative care education and practice in the United States of America at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Palliative Care. He also trained as an African Pain Policy Expert at the University of Wisconsin. Ntizimira was named Young Cancer Leader by the Union for International Cancer Control in 2016 and Distinguished Young Leader by the Harvard Global Health Catalyst in 2017. He was named by OncoDaily to The 100 Most Influential CEOs in Oncology in 2025. Links in this Episode www.acreol.org Dr. Christian Ntizimira's LinkedIn Learn more about Off the Rak and watch past episodes at waltrakowich.com/offtherak Follow @waltrakowich on Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Threads

    32 min

  2. FEB 17

    Rak Rewind: Getting Honest About Culture Change with Tina DeSalvo

    Sitting on a stoop conjures up summer weather, friendly neighbors, and good conversation. It’s a place of community, purpose, and safety. Join a stoop chat with the founder of The Soul Purpose. Culture change doesn’t happen from the outside, but from within. Advisor, coach, and facilitator Tina DeSalvo has worked with leaders from household names such as Comcast, Google, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald’s, Goodyear, HBO, and many more to build effective teams and transform cultures, and she starts by holding up a mirror. That honesty breaks through barriers, builds trust, and finds a way forward to success. Tune in to our chat to learn more about her strategy, called “Living Life on Purpose,” on the next Off the Rak. About the Guest For more than 25 years, clients consistently comment on Tina’s uncanny ability to provide the exact guidance their leadership teams need at precisely the right moment to build a psychologically safe environment and break through interaction barriers. Clients also tell her that she makes it faster and easier to speak the truth; name the issues; and, yes, cough up the hairballs that clog potential—all while working in partnership to design a more wholehearted, effective, and trusting way forward that has a direct impact on EBITDA. Tina brings a vast and unique array of “culture-change credentials” to the table. These experiences are grounded in systems thinking, collective intelligence disciplines, container building, personality assessments, and typologies, neuroscience, conversation, event and meeting design, and devoted practices of compassion, bearing witness, and mindfulness. Her tenure of successful client outcomes is layered by her love of interdisciplinary learning, her holistic obsession with how to bring about cultural change, and her formative years in a tight-knit community that she fondly remembers as The Stoop—where conversation and community came together.  Learn more about her affiliations, credentials, client offerings, and outcomes at thesoulpurpose.com. And if you’d like to join The Stoop community, you’ll learn insights, enjoy musings, see what she’s reading, and more. Links in this Episode https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesoulpurpose https://www.thesoulpurpose.com/ https://www.instagram.com/thesoulpurpose https://www.facebook.com/thesoulpurpose Learn more about Off the Rak and watch past episodes at waltrakowich.com/offtherak Follow @waltrakowich on Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Threads

    40 min

  3. FEB 3

    Embracing Change and Tradition: Insights from Former USAA CEO Wayne Peacock

    Is it possible to honor traditions and still embrace a growth mindset?  Wayne Peacock’s 35-year tenure as USAA’s CEO has demonstrated that an entrepreneurial spirit can not only be nurtured at a 103-year-old company, but it can also be successful. Providing insurance and financial services to millions of veterans and their families, USAA’s singular focus has helped the organization, founded in 1922 by military veterans who were struggling to get car insurance, remain innovative. Respecting tradition in serving military families exclusively while embracing early tech and staying competitive in turbulent climates is no easy feat. A purpose-driven leader committed to honoring military families, Peacock joins Off the Rak to share insights on fostering innovation and making a lasting impact. About the Guest For 36 years, Wayne Peacock is proud to have served USAA, including five years as President and Chief Executive Officer. USAA is a Fortune 100, privately held financial services association serving 14 million members – including active-duty service members, veterans and their families – with a wide range of financial products and personalized advice across banking, insurance and retirement. Known for industry-leading financial strength, exceptional customer service, a leader in customer experience design and a deep commitment to military families, USAA is consistently recognized as a top employer and one of the world’s most admired companies. Peacock extends his expertise to several external organizations. He is a member of the Business Roundtable (BRT), an association of CEOs at America's leading companies, and he serves as a board member for the American Property Casualty Insurance Association. Wayne is also vice chair of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation's Board of Directors, a member of the CNBC CEO Council, and serves as an advisory board member at The Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership and Ethics (COLE) at Duke University. He is also active in the San Antonio community, with a focus on workforce development and downtown revitalization, and is a proud Eagle Scout. Wayne graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and has completed executive education programs at Harvard, Duke, and Stanford. Links in this Episode Follow Wayne on LinkedIn Read Wayne's acceptance speech for the Hiring Our Heroes President's Award for Lifetime Achievement from U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation Learn more about Off the Rak and watch past episodes at waltrakowich.com/offtherak Follow @waltrakowich on Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Threads

    40 min

  4. JAN 20

    Rak Rewind: Winning the War for Talent Through Purpose (and Strategic Hiring) with Jennifer Trzepacz

    Insights from a people guru who’s hired over 6,500 employees in 23 countries! Employment used to be transactional. But companies don’t just go out and hire people, especially talented people. They need to attract them. It seems that more and more these days, the war for talent will be won by purpose. HR guru Jennifer Trzepacz joins Off the Rak to share what she’s learned in her two decades of experience in HR. As the Chief People Officer at SymphonyAI (and now Transcarent), she knows how to make HR a value within an organization and aligned with the business bottom line. AI — how it’s perceived and used — is transforming how we manage people and company culture, now and in the future. You don’t want to miss this! About the Guest Jennifer Trzepacz has more than 20 years of experience implementing operational and talent strategies at transformative, industry-leading companies. Now Chief People Officer at Transcarent, she was previously at SymphonyAI and Wildcat Venture Partners, where she was an HR operating partner for over 20 B2B and B2B2C technology portfolio companies. Previously, she was the executive vice president of HR and business operations at Rocket Fuel, a role she took on following the AI-driven predictive marketing SaaS platform’s 2013 IPO. Prior to that, Trzepacz held talent leadership positions with Salesforce, Yahoo, and LivingSocial, among other fast-growing technology companies. During her career, she has been an early adopter of HR technology and supported many start-ups to build out their product offerings for mainstream markets. Trzepacz was selected as one of the Top 100 most influential HR leaders in the tech industry. Trzepacz earned her MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Management in Boston and her undergraduate degree from Bryant University. Links in this Episode https://www.linkedin.com/in/jetrzepacz Learn more about Off the Rak and watch past episodes at waltrakowich.com/offtherak Follow @waltrakowich on Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Threads

    38 min

  5. JAN 6

    Rethinking Work in Humanity’s AI-Driven Future with Rishad Tobaccowala

    Are you prepared for the future of work? Off the Rak welcomes Rishad Tobaccowala, a global business advisor, author, and futurist, to explore what transformative leadership looks like in a fast-moving, AI-enabled world. Drawing on four decades of helping leaders reinvent themselves, Rishad shares insights from his book Rethinking Work on how leaders must evolve to thrive in a dramatically transforming modern age, and how creativity and meaningful connection become true competitive advantages. It’s more than theory; reimagining work, purpose and progress offers critical and practical actions leaders can take today to rethink how they lead and live tomorrow. About the Guest Rishad Tobaccowala is the author of “Rethinking Work: Seismic Changes in the Where, When and Why” and “Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data.” Additional writings can be found in the “The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past” read by 30,000 leaders around the world.  Rishad most recently was the Global Strategist and Chief Growth Officeer of the 80,000 person marketing and business transformation Publicis Groupe and has been named by BusinessWeek as one of the top business leaders for his pioneering innovation and TIME magazine dubbed him one of five “Marketing Innovators.  He regularly presents keynotes at industry conferences and speaks at well-known global organizations, such as Kellogg’s, IBM, Amazon, Google, and Facebook. Links in this Episode Subscribe to Rishad’s Substack Learn more about Rishad at his website, rishadtobaccowala.com Learn more about Off the Rak and watch past episodes at waltrakowich.com/offtherak Follow @waltrakowich on Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Threads

    48 min

  6. 12/16/2025

    Rak Rewind: Turning Adversity into an Opportunity to Help Others with LPGA Pro Stacy Lewis

    Learn what it’s like being a professional female athlete from the recently retired LPGA golfer and two-time U.S. team captain. Lewis announced that she will be stepping away from full-time competitive golf at the end of the 2025 season — let's look back at her conversation.  Can adversity help you find your greatest strengths? That’s just one of the topics we’re exploring as I welcome one of my favorite professional golfers, Stacy Lewis! The LPGA golfer and two-time Solheim Cup captain is here to talk team leadership and managing success, women in professional sports, and the transformative influence we can have on communities, in our backyard and around the world. Golf is not a game of perfect — neither is being a leader — but we can still train to be great. And it’d be great if you joined us! About the Guest Stacy Lewis is an American professional golfer in the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. She has won two major championships: the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2011 and the Women’s British Open in 2013. She has ranked number one on the Women’s World Golf Rankings for 25 weeks throughout her career, and has 13 career wins. Lewis was diagnosed with Scoliosis when she was 11 and was treated with a spinal fusion when she was in high school, missing her first collegiate golf season to recover.  Lewis was a decorated All-American at the University of Arkansas and redshirted her first year while in recovery. She won the Southeastern Conference Tournament and was named SEC Freshman Golfer of the Year.  Lewis turned professional in 2008 and has played in nearly 400 tournaments throughout her career, including the 2016 Rio Olympics. Links in this Episode Stacy Lewis’ LPGA profile Learn more about Off the Rak and watch past episodes at waltrakowich.com/offtherak Follow @waltrakowich on Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Threads

    32 min

  7. 12/02/2025

    Turning Personal Crisis into a Drive for a Cure with Dr. David Fajgenbaum

    How do you make the journey from being given last rites in a hospital bed to founding an organization that has saved thousands of lives through medical innovation? Dr. David Fajgenbaum is a physician-scientist, Castleman disease survivor, and the co-founder of Every Cure. From medical student to patient to leader, David shares how he turned personal health challenges into a driving force for innovative research, drug repurposing, and AI-driven discovery to help rare-disease patients. Tune in to explore what resilient leadership looks like and what future breakthroughs he’s hopeful to see on his purpose-driven mission to cure the incurable. About the Guest David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, is Co-Founder & President of Every Cure as well as a groundbreaking physician-scientist, disease hunter, speaker, and national bestselling author of Chasing My Cure: A Doctor’s Race to Turn Hope Into Action. Best known as the ‘doctor who cured himself’ (Doctor Cure Thyself, NY Times), Fajgenbaum went from being a beast-like college Quarterback to receiving his last rites while in medical school and nearly dying four more times battling Castleman disease. To try to save his own life, he spearheaded an innovative approach to research through the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) and discovered a treatment that is saving his life and others. Now, he is spreading this approach to other diseases (His method could save millions, CNN) and co-founded Every Cure in 2022 to unlock the full potential of every drug to treat every disease possible. He has advanced 14 repurposed treatments for diseases they weren’t initially intended for. Fajgenbaum also continues to share lessons he learned about life, hope, and resilience from nearly dying through his national bestseller, Chasing My Cure, which has been profiled by Good Morning America, CNN, NPR’s Fresh Air, and BBC News, among others, translated into over five languages, and named one of the “Best Non-Fiction Books.” Links in this Episode Donate to Every Cure at everycure.org Watch David'd TedTalk here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb34MfJjurc Learn more and connect with David at davidfajgenbaum.com Learn more about Off the Rak and watch past episodes at waltrakowich.com/offtherak Follow @waltrakowich on Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Threads

    28 min

  8. 11/25/2025

    Rak Rewind: Fostering More Human Connection and Empathy Through Leadership with Michael Lee Stallard

    Michael Lee Stallard is president of E Pluribus Partners, and a speaker, teacher, and consultant on leadership, employee engagement, productivity, and innovation. He is the primary author of "Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team's Passion, Creativity and Productivity" and a contributor to The ASTD Management Development Handbook. He joins me to discuss how leaders must fostering more human connection and empathy, and humanity in the workplace: why we need it and how to foster more human connection and empathy through leadership. About the Guest Michael is an author, thought leader, speaker and a widely recognized expert on how effective leaders boost human connection in cultures to improve the health and performance of individuals and organizations.   He is the author of Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy and Understanding at Work and Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion, Creativity and Productivity, and a contributor to other books. Articles by or about Michael’s work have been in the media worldwide including The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Leader to Leader, Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, FastCompany.com, HR Magazine, Human Resource Executive, Talent Management, SmartBrief, Rotman (Canada), Shukan Diayamondo (Japan), Developing HR Strategy (UK), The Economic Times (India),LiveMint (India), Outlook Business for Decision Makers (India), Smart Manager (India), and Capital (Dubai). Michael has spoken at many organizations and conferences including the Association for Talent Development, Center for Creative Leadership, Costco, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, General Dynamics, General Electric, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, NASA, Northwestern Medicine, Qualcomm, Turner Construction, University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Department of Treasury. He is a faculty member at the Institute for Management Studies. Texas Christian University created the TCU Center for Connection Culture to advance Connection Culture at TCU and in higher education generally. Prior to founding E Pluribus Partners, Michael was a managing director on Wall Street. Earlier in his career he worked in the technology sector. Michael is married to Katharine Stallard. They have two grown daughters. Links in this Episode https://www.michaelleestallard.com http://connectionculture.com/book Learn more about Off the Rak and watch past episodes at waltrakowich.com/offtherak Follow @waltrakowich on Linkedin | Instagram | Facebook | X | YouTube | Threads

    40 min
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About

Walt Rakowich's passion to help shape a generation of leaders who lead with honesty, humility and heart inspired him to launch Off the Rak: Conversations on Transformative Leadership. Featuring rich and raw conversations with notable leaders across different industries, Off the Rak inspires curious leaders to embrace challenges, seize opportunities and become positive influences in their world.

Information

  • Creator
    Walt Rakowich
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    29
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Transfluence LLC
  • Show Website
    Off the Rak