WEBVTT
1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.720
Good morning. You're listening to Insight, a show about empowering
2
00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:05.519
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrel. As part of our
3
00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:08.800
partnership with Philadelphia Youth Network, we hosted students over the
4
00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.599
summer for the Work Ready program. We have an interview
5
00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:14.640
conducted by one of those students, Jonathan Fulton, with a
6
00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:19.199
longtime community activist now Philadelphia City Council Member, Anthony Phillips.
7
00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:22.519
But first, there are some great resources for parents and
8
00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:26.719
students in Philadelphia who need help navigating school selection season.
9
00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.519
Finding the right school is always a challenge for parents
10
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:33.679
and students. So I am absolutely delighted to introduce doctor
11
00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:37.679
Stacey E. Holland, executive director of Elevate two point fifteen.
12
00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:41.200
She's going to be talking about schools and how we
13
00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.799
can make the best decisions for our kids. With thirty
14
00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:48.920
years of experience creating educational solutions for children, doctor Holland
15
00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:53.240
is helping to align Philadelphia's education community around a shared
16
00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:56.719
vision making sure that every kid has access to a
17
00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:59.799
quality school that prepares them to thrive. She's here to
18
00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:02.920
talk talk about the school selection season, the new Philly
19
00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:07.079
School's Compass tool, and updates to the Apply Philly charter system. So,
20
00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:09.439
doctor Holland, thank you so much for joining us here today.
21
00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:12.599
And it's a very fraught process, I think, for parents
22
00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:14.959
and for students. So let's see how we can help
23
00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.280
them make the right decision for their kids. So you've
24
00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:23.040
spent three decades shaping education in Philadelphia. Let's go back
25
00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:25.920
into an origin story. What inspired your passion for the
26
00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.760
work and how does Elevate to fifteen fit into that journey.
27
00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:32.000
Yeah, well, thanks so much for having me, Lorraine. It's
28
00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:35.159
always good to be with you. You know, what really
29
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:38.000
brought me into the field of education is my own
30
00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:42.239
journey around education and the challenges I had as a
31
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:47.439
learner and wanting to really make sure that kids don't
32
00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:51.359
have that level of struggle, and so much of it
33
00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:55.760
is about really parents having access to a wide variety
34
00:01:55.799 --> 00:02:00.280
of options, and so I have loved the journey orny
35
00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:04.799
of building and talking and figuring out with kids and
36
00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:08.159
their parents and administrators and system leaders, how can we
37
00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:11.000
actually improve the quality of the experience for young people.
38
00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:14.080
So that leads us to school selection season and the
39
00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:17.240
work we do at Elevate two one five, which is
40
00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:20.599
really focused on how do we make sure that there's
41
00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:24.159
great schools, there's a great workforce. By honoring teachers and
42
00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:27.479
school leaders, and that we're working with our system partners
43
00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:29.759
to build tools that really help families and kids.
44
00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.319
Well, doctor Holland, you talk about school selection season, Why
45
00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.400
is this so important for Philadelphia families and how does
46
00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:39.840
Elevate two point fifteen helping parents navigate this process?
47
00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:43.840
Well, our tagline at Elevate two one five is Philly's
48
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.719
future starts at school, and school being able to choose
49
00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:50.639
a high quality school that meets the need of your
50
00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:54.960
individual young person is mission critical. So we are now
51
00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.479
in what we call the recruitment season, and in that season,
52
00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:02.759
it's the time in which you can apply to both
53
00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:08.319
public schools, public charter schools, private schools, Catholic schools. So
54
00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:12.199
you really have to be educated around one who is
55
00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:18.240
my child, Let me understand all of their nuances, all
56
00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.280
the things they like, all the things that won't work
57
00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.560
for them. Then you have to have a set of
58
00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:26.520
criteria about the school in which you're choosing. And Philadelphia,
59
00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:29.800
we're fortunate to have over four hundred options, whether it's
60
00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:34.000
a district charter, public charter, Catholic, and or private schools.
61
00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.240
So there's lots to choose from, so you have to
62
00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.000
understand your criteria. The third is then I got to
63
00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:41.759
go out and find well which schools actually meet my
64
00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:45.159
criteria based on my young person. And then last you
65
00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:47.000
got to do the match right. The magic is in
66
00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:50.919
the cookie. How can you make sure that I'm actually
67
00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:55.520
choosing what makes sense for my kid. One of the
68
00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:59.080
things that Elevates doing during this season is a couple
69
00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:02.280
of things is one and we were building a website
70
00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:06.240
called Philly Compass that will be a navigator. Parents can
71
00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:08.919
go on and ask questions, Hey, may can I find
72
00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.039
all the schools that have really good science programs? Or
73
00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.639
can I have schools that actually have a great have
74
00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:18.480
athletics programs or have a special needs programs? And it
75
00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.759
will help navigate you to those schools that meet this
76
00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:25.680
narrow down choice. It could be proximity. I only want
77
00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.839
to go to schools within five miles or two miles.
78
00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:32.879
I want to go to schools that actually are dual language.
79
00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:35.759
I have a young person that speaks both Spanish and
80
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:38.560
English and I really want them to have an emergent experience.
81
00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:43.199
So through this tool that will be available, you can
82
00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:47.759
go on to phillyschoolscompus dot com and you will be
83
00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.560
able to put in your selections and then up will
84
00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:54.360
pop a series of schools that meet that criteria and
85
00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:57.160
then it'll give you all your contact information. That's really critical.
86
00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.279
The second thing we're doing is apply Philly Charter. So
87
00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:04.480
in that Apply Philly Charter in application land as we
88
00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:07.319
are in right now, you can go on the school
89
00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:13.120
district's website philisity dot org and you're finding this function
90
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:17.720
called find Your Fit. That's the site that school that
91
00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:21.000
individuals can go on and actually look for district schools.
92
00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:26.040
You should start applying now. The window to apply actually
93
00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:29.639
closes in October. I think it's October twenty third, so
94
00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:33.319
really important. If you're looking for a charter school, you
95
00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:37.240
can go to apply Philly Charter dot org that season
96
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.360
opens up. That application window opens up September the nineteenth
97
00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:44.319
and will be open until January the nineteenth.
98
00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:47.839
They are also big updates to apply Philly Charter the
99
00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:50.439
charter system this year. Can you talk about the new
100
00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:54.160
ranking system, how that works and why it improves access
101
00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:54.680
for kids?
102
00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.360
Yeah, so, you know, one of the challenges is every
103
00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.920
year we see about one hundred and thirty thousand applications
104
00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:07.560
or about and that represents about thirty thousand families, but
105
00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:12.680
we only have about eleven thousand opportunities available. So this year,
106
00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:17.759
in order to try and make the process more transparent,
107
00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:21.480
we actually went to a ranking system, so parents can
108
00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:25.600
now go in, they can apply to a number of schools,
109
00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:28.439
but they can say here's my top five. And that's
110
00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:33.160
really important because now that ranking system will allow us
111
00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:37.279
to try and match the young person closer to what
112
00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:40.600
their choice is if a seat is available, and so
113
00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:42.680
one of the reasons why we did that. It's also
114
00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.480
important to note that the school district has also went
115
00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:47.839
to a ranking system, so the goal is to create
116
00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:52.160
efficiency in both systems and to expedite the match. How
117
00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:55.079
I know that I actually how did I know I'm
118
00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.199
closer to getting a school than I want? Well, if
119
00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:59.439
you rate it one, two, three, four, five, or how
120
00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:03.319
many many you're allowed to do, it'll allow the system
121
00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:06.160
to try and sort out all the kids who don't
122
00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:09.120
want that school and push you further up the line.
123
00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:12.639
So what we're hoping it will do is actually reduce
124
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:16.199
the wait time, and that's really critical. Right, if I
125
00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.519
know I want to go to this number one school
126
00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.199
and I have an opportunity and there's a space available,
127
00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:24.759
you'd want to know that sooner versus later.
128
00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:28.000
Yeah, Well, for parents who want more information, what is
129
00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:31.480
the best way to connect with Elevate to fifteen and
130
00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:35.240
to learn about these resources? And finally, also maybe if
131
00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:37.839
you could repeat all those many websites that people can
132
00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:38.639
take advantage of.
133
00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:43.800
Sure, so let me start with the school application websites,
134
00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:47.360
because those are the most important in this conversation. If
135
00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:50.480
you are applying to the school District of Philadelphia, you
136
00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:53.600
want to go to philipsd dot org. If you are
137
00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:59.040
applying to a charter school, go to apply Phillycharter dot org.
138
00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.839
If you want to search for a school, you're going
139
00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:07.360
to go to Philly Schools compus all one word dot org.
140
00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:11.759
Those are your three the three areas, the three websites
141
00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.519
if you really want to kind of sort your way
142
00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:17.040
through it, and there's lots of instructional materials on all
143
00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:20.600
three of those websites to actually help you in your journey.
144
00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:23.199
And will we have access to that through your website
145
00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:25.519
Elevate too fifteen dot org.
146
00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:30.120
Absolutely, if you remember nothing else, you can go to
147
00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:34.240
elevate Elevate too fifteen dot org, and it will direct
148
00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:37.399
you to both phillycompas. It will direct you to apply
149
00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:38.480
Philly Charter as well.
150
00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:43.240
That's fantastic. It's such a challenging process finding the right
151
00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:47.159
school for a student. These are tools that really assist
152
00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:49.759
parents and students finding.
153
00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:50.320
The right fit.
154
00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:55.399
Doctor Staceye Holland, Executive Director, elevate two fifty thirty years
155
00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:59.519
of experience creating educational solutions for kids. Doctor Holland is
156
00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.200
helping to align Philadelphia's education community around a shared vision,
157
00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:06.639
making sure that every child has access to a quality
158
00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:09.399
school that prepares them to thrive. Thank you so much
159
00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:10.360
for joining us today.
160
00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.480
Thank you so much for having me Lorraine, have a
161
00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:12.960
great day.
162
00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:22.720
Teaching is more than a profession. It's a calling, a
163
00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.519
calling that is strengthened by community. Join your peers at
164
00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:31.240
the eighth National Black Men in Education convening in Philadelphia
165
00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.960
this November. Come see what it means to be part
166
00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.720
of a powerful community dedicated to driving positive social change
167
00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:44.679
through education. Learn more and register now at the Center
168
00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:46.279
Blacked dot org.
169
00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:49.679
I'm deejur Pourchet from Chase and I want to ask
170
00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.879
you a question. Are you prepared for an unexpected emergency.
171
00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:56.200
More than half of Americans couldn't cover three months of
172
00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:59.480
expenses if something went wrong. At Chase, we're here to help.
173
00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:02.480
Visit your local branch or attend one of our financial
174
00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:05.840
health workshops to learn how to start building an emergency fund.
175
00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:08.519
Our workshops are open to everyone, whether you're a Chase
176
00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:11.559
customer or not. Best of all, they're free. Chase is
177
00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.679
here to help you save, spend, and grow your money.
178
00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:16.039
We look forward to seeing you.
179
00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.039
When it comes to a gun suicide attempt, All it
180
00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:19.840
takes is a moment.
181
00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.039
My son, Ricky, took his life by the use of
182
00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:28.879
a firearm. It broke me and I contemplated suicide my grandson.
183
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.080
I was gonna have.
184
00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:30.960
To be here for him.
185
00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.399
I still own my firearm. I keep it in a
186
00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:38.399
safe because I want to keep my grandson and myself safe.
187
00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:42.279
Store your guns locked, unloaded, and away from AMMO. Hear
188
00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.519
more safe stories at endfamilyfire dot Org. Brought to you
189
00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:46.759
by Brady and the AD Council.
190
00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.480
Hi, I'm joving food when they work. Ready student, I
191
00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:55.600
heard media and today I have a very special guest
192
00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:59.720
with us IS Council member Anthony Phillips. He represents the
193
00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:05.120
night district and an education, youth adveracy, and community leadership.
194
00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:09.440
Before co founded Youth Action, he worked titlesly to empower
195
00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.519
young people across the city. Now, as a council member,
196
00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:16.000
he continues to focus on education. So I'm pleased to
197
00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:18.320
introduce Anthony Phillips. How are you today?
198
00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.360
I'm doing well, Jonathan, I'm better now I'm speaking to you.
199
00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:23.000
Man.
200
00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:26.879
First, congratulations. I was excited to hear about you receiving
201
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.360
your doctor degree recently. I know I'm encouraged by your
202
00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.960
accomplishments as a young black men in this city as
203
00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.840
of today. So what was one of your career goals
204
00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.759
to be a city council member in Philadelphia.
205
00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:43.159
I started off in doing community work when I was
206
00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:47.360
in high school around thirteen, fourteen years age. I learned
207
00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:51.159
about this program called the Tavis Valley Foundation when I
208
00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.639
was a teenager and I went to a local conference
209
00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:57.039
that taught students the importance of learning how to be
210
00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:00.960
civically engaged in volunteering in their community. So, out of
211
00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:04.360
this conference that I went to that was in Washington,
212
00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:08.000
d C. I was able to found an organization with
213
00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:11.759
the help of people I met from Philadelphia, including now
214
00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:14.480
State representative Jordan Harris who was a teenager DN and
215
00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:17.039
Jeanine Lewis who is a teenager INN and a few
216
00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:20.600
other folks. We started organization called Youth Action, and that
217
00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.519
was my way of entering the field of service. I
218
00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:28.960
volunteered helping to get young people involved with leadership and
219
00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.200
organizing projects and programs in the city. And then from
220
00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.919
there people would say, if you love service so much,
221
00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.159
why don't you think about running office a government office.
222
00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:41.320
I had always read about government office in terms of
223
00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.879
in high school and also like in middle school, because
224
00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:46.320
like in middle school, I was a fanatic about the
225
00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.320
civils movement, and once I started like getting a better
226
00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:52.720
understanding of like the the rights movement, also like you know,
227
00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:55.440
the history of people of Avenuercent, I got excited about
228
00:12:55.559 --> 00:12:57.200
wanting to do more for others.
229
00:12:57.559 --> 00:12:58.919
So long story.
230
00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.600
Short, I always had government and politics in my mind,
231
00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:04.600
but I always knew I want to do service. So
232
00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:08.240
what I now know is that, you know, because I
233
00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.039
was intimately involved with helping young people become more engaged
234
00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.200
with service in the communities, I ended up making a
235
00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.120
career out of what I started with you Action.
236
00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.279
When I was a teenager.
237
00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.480
Other people saw me, you know, doing work in the community,
238
00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:22.440
including Schreel Parker.
239
00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.240
Who was running from mayor at the time.
240
00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:27.840
And I ended up becoming a committee person, an intern
241
00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.320
first in our office, then a committee person, and I
242
00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:33.639
took both of those positions very seriously. So i'd say
243
00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:35.559
this to say to you, is that like, if you
244
00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:41.399
start off volunteering, just interested in just doing service, you know,
245
00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.320
all the other things like getting involved in politics starts
246
00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:46.360
to come because people start to notice you and think
247
00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:49.679
of you as potentially as someone that can be trusted
248
00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:50.279
to be a leader.
249
00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:50.559
You know.
250
00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:52.360
That's how I got started.
251
00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.600
I got started because I was just doing service as
252
00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:57.120
a young person, trying to make a real big difference
253
00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.480
in my neighborhood. And next thing, you know, thought of
254
00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:03.879
me to run for office. I was hesitant because politics
255
00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:06.919
could be murky, but at the same time I really
256
00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:09.960
was thinking about like you know, people saying to me, Anthony,
257
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:11.919
I know you can do this, and family and friends,
258
00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.639
and I was just like, you know what, I decided
259
00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.679
to run in twenty twenty two, and then next thing
260
00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:17.799
you know, I'm in office.
261
00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:18.240
Wow.
262
00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:19.080
That's amazing.
263
00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:20.440
Yeah, yeah, that's amazing.
264
00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.840
So you mentioned the youth action, So far. You've been
265
00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.799
in this position for a little bit more than three years, right, yeah,
266
00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:31.120
and what changes have you initiated and how can they
267
00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:32.279
help the youth in the city.
268
00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.799
So when I first came or filled office city Council,
269
00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:42.240
I was adamant about doing one thing, making lives better
270
00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:46.200
for young people, but also our most vulnerable citizens as well,
271
00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:50.000
which include our adult citizens, which are seniors. And I
272
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.279
always believe that if you make life better for young
273
00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:58.080
people as well as our seniors, that takes care of
274
00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.879
every demographic in a city, because if you take care
275
00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:03.679
of them, everyone's going to be really excited, right. And
276
00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.600
so what that being said, when it came to young people,
277
00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.200
one of the first things that you know, I was
278
00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.720
able to do was I visited every school in our district.
279
00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:15.399
Our district represents northwest Philadelphia, so that's like Mount Arie,
280
00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.600
westoll Glane, you know a little bit of East o'glane,
281
00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:22.080
al and the Fern Rock and lower Northeast. So I
282
00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:25.879
was visiting every school and I came across a parent
283
00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.960
at the Saint Anna Nation School in westoll Glane who
284
00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.759
came to me during a school visit and said, hey,
285
00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:36.519
our school needs speed bumps. I said, well, that's great.
286
00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:38.159
I said, man, that's great. Maybe we could find a
287
00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:39.799
way to work on it. You know, I say, I'm
288
00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:41.879
just two months in. I was only two months into
289
00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:43.519
the job, maybe a mile and a half at that.
290
00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.720
I said, But what I do know is that the
291
00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:49.960
city normally only works more closely with the Phildelphia public
292
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.279
schools when it comes to speed bumps at the time.
293
00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:55.159
It doesn't mean the parochial schools and private schools couldn't
294
00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.279
get them, but it just means, like the public schools
295
00:15:57.320 --> 00:15:59.320
did come first. She says, well, what about our babies.
296
00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:01.559
We need speed bumps here too, because our babies are
297
00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.679
potentially going to be hit. And she said, what is
298
00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:05.720
a study that you know that needs to be done?
299
00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:07.480
And that's when it dawned to me. I was like,
300
00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:10.159
she was like, I'm demanding for you to get a
301
00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:12.399
speed bump in front of our school. And I'm talking
302
00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.919
to her about a study that needs to be done
303
00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:16.960
to put a speed bump in front of a school.
304
00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:18.879
I'm like, why do you? And that Dawnam is like,
305
00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.480
why does the city make people do a study for
306
00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.840
an already vulnerable area and it's for its speed bump?
307
00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:31.399
So I created a law that ultimately bypasses any study
308
00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:34.440
for a speed bump to have to you know, be
309
00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.960
done in order to get a speedbump in front of
310
00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:37.360
a school.
311
00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:39.639
So now it's called Student Pedestrian Bill.
312
00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.159
So basically, if every school in the city of Philadelphia
313
00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:47.159
is getting a speed bump with no particular bureaucratic study
314
00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:49.440
as a result of me visiting neighborhoods, and so that's
315
00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:52.320
helping young people stay safe. I also was the author
316
00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.519
of the ski maps bill. Some young people were not
317
00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:57.000
as excided about that bill because they thought it was
318
00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:00.120
like a fashion trend, but we wanted to protect you
319
00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:02.759
if we want to protect them, and made them feel
320
00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.079
really good in terms of like we want to see
321
00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.039
your face, we want to be excited about who you
322
00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:12.799
are and your identity. Unfortunately, too much currental behavior has
323
00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:14.279
been associated.
324
00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.279
With ski masks. So I was able to ban that.
325
00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:19.960
Mostly for everybody, but it was a thing that was
326
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.279
impacting a lot of young people in the city because
327
00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:24.960
a lot of young people are being terrorized unfortunately wearing
328
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:26.799
ski masks, and then a lot of young people were
329
00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:29.240
also being looked upon for wearing them.
330
00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:31.599
So we banded around all of our city properties.
331
00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:35.160
In addition to that, I created this opportunity for communities
332
00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:38.720
to come together in our district. We have five major
333
00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:41.720
festivals that are inviting young people and families to come together,
334
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.519
including our Wives Worth Day and we brought that back,
335
00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:47.599
which was a historic thing that we were doing in
336
00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:51.359
our community and it's a nice family fund festival. And
337
00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:54.880
in addition to that, I ended up doing a program
338
00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:59.720
called I just organized it. It now called Philadelphia After School Height,
339
00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.759
myself and councilormb Isaiah Thomas, along with a couple of
340
00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.559
nonprofit partners and cuting the Philadelphi Youth Basketball We're going
341
00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.240
to be organizing the one of the largest at the
342
00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.039
school programs the city is seen. So ultimately, we're trying
343
00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.160
to dispel the myth that there's no youth programs in
344
00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.319
a city. So we're trying to get one hundred or
345
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.319
so at the school programs to come together at the
346
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:26.799
Philadelphia Basketball Facility. We're inviting every student from Prokio public
347
00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.640
and private schools to come to this event and sign up.
348
00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:31.759
We want parents to come sign your kids.
349
00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:34.119
Up for a program because we want to dispel the
350
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.839
myth that there's no programs for young people be involved in.
351
00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:40.119
We believe that if there's a Karen and loving adult
352
00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:42.519
in your life during the after school hours, that will
353
00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:45.359
help us decrease crime and also put young people onto
354
00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.880
positive tracks. Just like you, Jonathan, you're here getting an
355
00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:52.880
experience as a young person here at iHeartRadio. So when
356
00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:56.119
students have Carrien and love in adults like Lorraine Balamoro
357
00:18:56.440 --> 00:19:00.640
or anything of that nature, what happens is that things
358
00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:03.039
go well. So that's what we're doing September twenty seventh
359
00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:06.319
from eleven to three pm at the Philadelphia Youth Basketball
360
00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.440
six Man Center located off of with sakon Ad Avenue.
361
00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:12.200
So more information to come on that, so hopefully everyone,
362
00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:14.480
you know, we'll see people there. So yeah, I mean,
363
00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:16.960
and then there's other stuff that we've done for young people,
364
00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:21.400
including you know, other festivals, school festivals, We've we funded schools,
365
00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:22.480
so just.
366
00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:23.599
There's there's more to go.
367
00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.079
But most importantly, when we make sure that streets are clean,
368
00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.680
that's that's helping young people. We're making sure that young
369
00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:32.759
people get opportunities for jobs and at school programs, that's
370
00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:33.440
us helping.
371
00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:35.000
Young people, among some other stuff.
372
00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:38.599
So yeah, okay, yeah, oh I also offted the Parent
373
00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.880
Task Force to help figure out how we can help
374
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:45.519
young people get involved parents being better engaged with their
375
00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:49.480
young person, with their with their son and daughters. So yeah,
376
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:51.440
So that's because we've been talking about people have been
377
00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.599
saying we're to parents. Where the parents? So this Parent
378
00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:56.759
Task Force is giving recommendations on how the city can
379
00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:59.000
do better to engage parents with their young people.
380
00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:04.559
Yeah, okay, all right, that's very good. Prior to this position,
381
00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:08.640
you were the director of a youth organization. What can
382
00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:11.480
we look forward to in the coming year in the
383
00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:12.799
community from your office?
384
00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.920
Wow, I really look forward to this year a lot.
385
00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:20.880
We have a fall.
386
00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:24.960
Festival in Northeast and on our office that's going to
387
00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:28.160
focus on bringing together young people as I just talked
388
00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:31.599
about in the community for like an October fest, like
389
00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:37.680
right before Halloween, full of candy, fun activities in Northeast.
390
00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:40.799
We have a concert that we're doing with young people
391
00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:45.079
in December. It's called our Holiday Fest in Alane. We're
392
00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.200
also opening up an office in Alani for the first
393
00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:49.880
time in the history.
394
00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:50.279
Of Night District.
395
00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:52.839
There's going to be an office on fifth Street, which
396
00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:57.599
is the center point near Alanie East o Glane Fern
397
00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:00.880
Rock and Logan, and it's closer to northeast, so our
398
00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:04.039
district is kind of like wide. So we now have
399
00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:07.279
two locations on Wisrif Avenue, and then we're gonna also
400
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:10.319
have one on Fifth Street, so that's better serve our neighbors.
401
00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:12.640
I'm also looking forward to what I just said earlier
402
00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:14.920
about the Philly at the School Height program where we're
403
00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:18.079
bringing all of these high school students and middle school students,
404
00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:21.920
elementary school students and parents together to learn about after
405
00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:25.279
school programs that are happening in our city. And I'm
406
00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:28.519
also looking forward to doing some legislation that's going to
407
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:34.480
make sure that apartments you know, are better inspected, you know.
408
00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:37.960
And I'm also looking forward to unveiling our Parent and
409
00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:40.920
Engagement Task Force to make sure the city is really
410
00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:45.839
engage with making sure that parents are involved with their children,
411
00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:48.759
which people always been saying word to parents. This task
412
00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:51.759
force report is going to give recommendations on what you
413
00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:53.880
need to do, what the city can do the better
414
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.160
get parents involved with their children and to the better
415
00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.599
support them so the kids can be a better outcome.
416
00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:00.160
So I'm looking for to.
417
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.960
That and also in addition to that, I will be really,
418
00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:07.039
I'm really excited about this council session because a lot
419
00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:09.039
of us are working together to achieve.
420
00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:12.039
This year alone, we've done over one.
421
00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:14.880
Hundred or so driveways to a driveway program that I
422
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.960
help with the City of Philadelphia.
423
00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:18.039
I had fun.
424
00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:20.759
I was the person who initiated to push this over
425
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.680
the past couple of years to get the driveway program funded.
426
00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:26.920
It was something that you know, married Tasko Cherl Parker
427
00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:30.039
advocated for and then when I got there, you know,
428
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:33.759
conversations with councilor President Clark, and then further support by
429
00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:36.839
Counsel President Kenyatta Johnson. We're now seeing people will get
430
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.880
their driveways fixed. It's taking a little time, but at
431
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.519
least we are able to pilot the program and we're seeing,
432
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.000
you know, a thing that the city normally didn't do,
433
00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.240
they're now doing and people are super excited about the
434
00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:50.279
city now doing that for them. And I just want
435
00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:52.640
to say that, like, you know, this year, I'm just
436
00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:55.000
looking forward to service. I'm being out in the neighborhoods,
437
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:56.960
being out a community. I know there's so many other
438
00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:00.200
initiatives that I haven't even mentioned, but most importantly, we
439
00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:03.039
need to make sure that we're handling the quality life
440
00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:05.279
for our community. I'm constantly trying to come up with
441
00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:08.720
new ideas, especially to protect our commercial quarters and get
442
00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:12.400
more you know, restaurants and businesses in general that we
443
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:15.680
want on our commercial quarterers. We just got a new
444
00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.680
sit down restaurant on wiserf Avenue in our district that
445
00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:21.519
people are excited about, called the Pink Plate. My goal
446
00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:24.960
is to continue to look for opportunities for businesses to
447
00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:28.039
grow that people want to go to on our commercial quarder.
448
00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.039
So yeah, I mean there's a lot, a lot to
449
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:33.599
look forward to, but those are just a couple of highlights.
450
00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:38.000
So you made all these great accountments, you did all
451
00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:42.599
this great work. Who inspired you to be in this
452
00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:44.359
role that you are right now?
453
00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:49.359
You know, honestly, I was inspired by my mom and grandmother.
454
00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:51.839
I had to start with them. Plenty of people that
455
00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:54.759
I look up to in terms of you know, mentorship,
456
00:23:55.160 --> 00:23:58.279
but my mom and grandmother really set the foundation for me.
457
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:00.480
My mom was a single parent. I grew up in
458
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:04.000
North Philadelphia. We didn't have a lot of financial resources.
459
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.880
We stayed with my grandmother for many years until we
460
00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.839
moved to Mount Area, where my mom staid up the
461
00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:11.440
money to buy a house in the one five five
462
00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:13.920
zero section of Mint area. And you know, my mom
463
00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:17.319
sacrificed a lot for me and my sister. She took
464
00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:19.039
on the extra job so we can have food on
465
00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:22.279
the table at cow door and Walmart. My mom was
466
00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:26.440
also in the State office building doing you know, public welfare,
467
00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:27.599
you know, for many years.
468
00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:30.279
My mom was a hard worker, and she cared and
469
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:30.960
she loved.
470
00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:34.000
But she was also serious about me, you know, getting
471
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:36.279
an education, and she was serious about making sure I
472
00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.359
had opportunities in life. My mom, you know, found you know,
473
00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:42.599
ways to put me around decent people all the time
474
00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:45.279
and made sure that I wasn't in the negative route.
475
00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:48.400
So and my grandmother was instrumental because when my mom
476
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.400
wasn't there, my mom, my grandmother, you know, practically raised me.
477
00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:54.240
I stayed at my grandmother's house all the time, and
478
00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:57.319
she taught me about manners. She taught me about the
479
00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:01.400
importance of like being respectful to other But they really
480
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.119
inspired me. I can't tell you how much their love
481
00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:08.160
and the importance of what they did to sacrifice for others.
482
00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:11.000
Like they were so selfless. They barely talked about themselves.
483
00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.279
They didn't do a lot for themselves. It's always about
484
00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.680
their children. And I think me watching them do stuff
485
00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.759
all the time for other people indirectly kind of make
486
00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:21.039
me understand the importance of like wanting to do for
487
00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:24.440
other people, which, honestly, if you don't have that strong foundation,
488
00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:27.519
I don't get to where I am today serving as
489
00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:29.839
a member of Phildelphis City Council. I'm the youngest in
490
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:33.079
her Philip for city Council. I love the service, I
491
00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:35.119
tell people that, but I said, a lot of times
492
00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:37.839
I don't love is the politics behind stuff, because I
493
00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:40.279
do recognize that some people don't have that foundation of
494
00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:43.599
understanding the importance of giving back and being a servant.
495
00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:46.960
And it's not about us as council members. We're not
496
00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:50.039
meant to be kings or queens. We're meant to be
497
00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:52.640
people to understand that, like when people ask us to
498
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.440
do something, is our responsibility to try our best to
499
00:25:55.559 --> 00:25:58.039
navigate it and to do it in an efficient, effective
500
00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:00.839
and powerful innovative way. And I think I see why
501
00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:03.079
a lot of people think politics is murky is because
502
00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:05.880
sometimes people ask for services to be done and they're
503
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:09.440
not getting done and they just is a distrust.
504
00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:11.920
But a lot of times what I've.
505
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:14.000
Learned by coming into government is that there's a lot
506
00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:16.440
of bureaucracy, is a lot of people who are in
507
00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:20.359
this unfortunately for power and influence as opposed to service.
508
00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:23.559
And I think that you the reason I say my
509
00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:26.640
mom and grandmother inspiring the most is because there's one
510
00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:28.839
thing people are not going to say about myself is
511
00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:32.720
that I'm interested in power or influence because I have
512
00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:35.160
a strong foundation and my grandmother and my mother who
513
00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:39.000
were never interested in just themselves, They were interested in
514
00:26:39.079 --> 00:26:41.559
the well being of others. And I think that's where
515
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:44.480
I get a lot of my inspiration from. And you know,
516
00:26:44.599 --> 00:26:45.400
I had a lot of people in.
517
00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:47.359
My life, you know. You know I told you about,
518
00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:48.480
you know, people that.
519
00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:50.519
I connected with that helped me get to where I
520
00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:53.960
am right including how I got involved with Cheryl Parker
521
00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:57.440
and her influence. And then I've had you know, inspirations
522
00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:01.319
from mentors you know and high school you know, from
523
00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:06.480
David Ford, Gus Tolsen, you know, Missus Toulson from she
524
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:10.160
used to work at the Parking Authority in the Sete department.
525
00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:13.400
There's so many different people I can name doctor Michael Adams,
526
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:16.680
my school principal, my teachers that I worked with. So
527
00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:19.720
I'm also inspired by people like that. I never even
528
00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:22.000
met like David Richardson, because I always thought that he
529
00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:24.519
was always about people and always bout serving people. And
530
00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:29.079
Roxanne Jones, right, I always thought that she was a
531
00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.119
person that always thought about people that were in the
532
00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:34.319
working class and how we can elevate them and was
533
00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.720
a tireless advocate for them and when she was a
534
00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:39.160
state rep. And so when I think about these people,
535
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:41.640
I just say, you know what, you know, the foundation
536
00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:43.039
was here and I just need to take it to
537
00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:43.559
another level.
538
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:44.119
Oh.
539
00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:47.000
I got to mention John White Junior because John White
540
00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:49.640
Junior has been such an incredible mentor to me of
541
00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:52.400
late and I really appreciate it. He's a former council
542
00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:54.599
member of our district in the ninth district.
543
00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:58.400
Okay, thank you so much, mister counsel member Anthony Phillis,
544
00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:00.559
Thank you for being here with us so much.
545
00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:01.319
Appreciate it.
546
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.279
I'm John the Folman entering Heart Radio. Thank you for
547
00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:05.160
joining us today.
548
00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:08.200
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
549
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:11.519
to our station website and typing in keyword community. You
550
00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:15.000
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app yey Words Philadelphia
551
00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:18.960
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
552
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.759
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow and I stand for service to
553
00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:23.960
our community and media that empowers.
554
00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:25.759
What will you stand for?
555
00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:28.640
You've been listening to Insight and thank you
1
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.720
Good morning. You're listening to Insight, a show about empowering
2
00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:05.519
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrel. As part of our
3
00:00:05.559 --> 00:00:08.800
partnership with Philadelphia Youth Network, we hosted students over the
4
00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.599
summer for the Work Ready program. We have an interview
5
00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:14.640
conducted by one of those students, Jonathan Fulton, with a
6
00:00:14.679 --> 00:00:19.199
longtime community activist now Philadelphia City Council Member, Anthony Phillips.
7
00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:22.519
But first, there are some great resources for parents and
8
00:00:22.600 --> 00:00:26.719
students in Philadelphia who need help navigating school selection season.
9
00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.519
Finding the right school is always a challenge for parents
10
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:33.679
and students. So I am absolutely delighted to introduce doctor
11
00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:37.679
Stacey E. Holland, executive director of Elevate two point fifteen.
12
00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:41.200
She's going to be talking about schools and how we
13
00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.799
can make the best decisions for our kids. With thirty
14
00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:48.920
years of experience creating educational solutions for children, doctor Holland
15
00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:53.240
is helping to align Philadelphia's education community around a shared
16
00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:56.719
vision making sure that every kid has access to a
17
00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:59.799
quality school that prepares them to thrive. She's here to
18
00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:02.920
talk talk about the school selection season, the new Philly
19
00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:07.079
School's Compass tool, and updates to the Apply Philly charter system. So,
20
00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:09.439
doctor Holland, thank you so much for joining us here today.
21
00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:12.599
And it's a very fraught process, I think, for parents
22
00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:14.959
and for students. So let's see how we can help
23
00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:18.280
them make the right decision for their kids. So you've
24
00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:23.040
spent three decades shaping education in Philadelphia. Let's go back
25
00:01:23.079 --> 00:01:25.920
into an origin story. What inspired your passion for the
26
00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.760
work and how does Elevate to fifteen fit into that journey.
27
00:01:29.879 --> 00:01:32.000
Yeah, well, thanks so much for having me, Lorraine. It's
28
00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:35.159
always good to be with you. You know, what really
29
00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:38.000
brought me into the field of education is my own
30
00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:42.239
journey around education and the challenges I had as a
31
00:01:42.319 --> 00:01:47.439
learner and wanting to really make sure that kids don't
32
00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:51.359
have that level of struggle, and so much of it
33
00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:55.760
is about really parents having access to a wide variety
34
00:01:55.799 --> 00:02:00.280
of options, and so I have loved the journey orny
35
00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:04.799
of building and talking and figuring out with kids and
36
00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:08.159
their parents and administrators and system leaders, how can we
37
00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:11.000
actually improve the quality of the experience for young people.
38
00:02:11.400 --> 00:02:14.080
So that leads us to school selection season and the
39
00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:17.240
work we do at Elevate two one five, which is
40
00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:20.599
really focused on how do we make sure that there's
41
00:02:20.639 --> 00:02:24.159
great schools, there's a great workforce. By honoring teachers and
42
00:02:24.400 --> 00:02:27.479
school leaders, and that we're working with our system partners
43
00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:29.759
to build tools that really help families and kids.
44
00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.319
Well, doctor Holland, you talk about school selection season, Why
45
00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:36.400
is this so important for Philadelphia families and how does
46
00:02:36.439 --> 00:02:39.840
Elevate two point fifteen helping parents navigate this process?
47
00:02:40.800 --> 00:02:43.840
Well, our tagline at Elevate two one five is Philly's
48
00:02:43.840 --> 00:02:47.719
future starts at school, and school being able to choose
49
00:02:47.879 --> 00:02:50.639
a high quality school that meets the need of your
50
00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:54.960
individual young person is mission critical. So we are now
51
00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:59.479
in what we call the recruitment season, and in that season,
52
00:02:59.719 --> 00:03:02.759
it's the time in which you can apply to both
53
00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:08.319
public schools, public charter schools, private schools, Catholic schools. So
54
00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:12.199
you really have to be educated around one who is
55
00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:18.240
my child, Let me understand all of their nuances, all
56
00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:20.280
the things they like, all the things that won't work
57
00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:22.560
for them. Then you have to have a set of
58
00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:26.520
criteria about the school in which you're choosing. And Philadelphia,
59
00:03:26.599 --> 00:03:29.800
we're fortunate to have over four hundred options, whether it's
60
00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:34.000
a district charter, public charter, Catholic, and or private schools.
61
00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.240
So there's lots to choose from, so you have to
62
00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:39.000
understand your criteria. The third is then I got to
63
00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:41.759
go out and find well which schools actually meet my
64
00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:45.159
criteria based on my young person. And then last you
65
00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:47.000
got to do the match right. The magic is in
66
00:03:47.080 --> 00:03:50.919
the cookie. How can you make sure that I'm actually
67
00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:55.520
choosing what makes sense for my kid. One of the
68
00:03:55.560 --> 00:03:59.080
things that Elevates doing during this season is a couple
69
00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:02.280
of things is one and we were building a website
70
00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:06.240
called Philly Compass that will be a navigator. Parents can
71
00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:08.919
go on and ask questions, Hey, may can I find
72
00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.039
all the schools that have really good science programs? Or
73
00:04:11.039 --> 00:04:13.639
can I have schools that actually have a great have
74
00:04:13.759 --> 00:04:18.480
athletics programs or have a special needs programs? And it
75
00:04:18.519 --> 00:04:21.759
will help navigate you to those schools that meet this
76
00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:25.680
narrow down choice. It could be proximity. I only want
77
00:04:25.720 --> 00:04:28.839
to go to schools within five miles or two miles.
78
00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:32.879
I want to go to schools that actually are dual language.
79
00:04:33.319 --> 00:04:35.759
I have a young person that speaks both Spanish and
80
00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:38.560
English and I really want them to have an emergent experience.
81
00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:43.199
So through this tool that will be available, you can
82
00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:47.759
go on to phillyschoolscompus dot com and you will be
83
00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:50.560
able to put in your selections and then up will
84
00:04:50.560 --> 00:04:54.360
pop a series of schools that meet that criteria and
85
00:04:54.399 --> 00:04:57.160
then it'll give you all your contact information. That's really critical.
86
00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.279
The second thing we're doing is apply Philly Charter. So
87
00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:04.480
in that Apply Philly Charter in application land as we
88
00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:07.319
are in right now, you can go on the school
89
00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:13.120
district's website philisity dot org and you're finding this function
90
00:05:13.240 --> 00:05:17.720
called find Your Fit. That's the site that school that
91
00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:21.000
individuals can go on and actually look for district schools.
92
00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:26.040
You should start applying now. The window to apply actually
93
00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:29.639
closes in October. I think it's October twenty third, so
94
00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:33.319
really important. If you're looking for a charter school, you
95
00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:37.240
can go to apply Philly Charter dot org that season
96
00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.360
opens up. That application window opens up September the nineteenth
97
00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:44.319
and will be open until January the nineteenth.
98
00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:47.839
They are also big updates to apply Philly Charter the
99
00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:50.439
charter system this year. Can you talk about the new
100
00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:54.160
ranking system, how that works and why it improves access
101
00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:54.680
for kids?
102
00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.360
Yeah, so, you know, one of the challenges is every
103
00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:01.920
year we see about one hundred and thirty thousand applications
104
00:06:02.639 --> 00:06:07.560
or about and that represents about thirty thousand families, but
105
00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:12.680
we only have about eleven thousand opportunities available. So this year,
106
00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:17.759
in order to try and make the process more transparent,
107
00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:21.480
we actually went to a ranking system, so parents can
108
00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:25.600
now go in, they can apply to a number of schools,
109
00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:28.439
but they can say here's my top five. And that's
110
00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:33.160
really important because now that ranking system will allow us
111
00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:37.279
to try and match the young person closer to what
112
00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:40.600
their choice is if a seat is available, and so
113
00:06:40.759 --> 00:06:42.680
one of the reasons why we did that. It's also
114
00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:45.480
important to note that the school district has also went
115
00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:47.839
to a ranking system, so the goal is to create
116
00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:52.160
efficiency in both systems and to expedite the match. How
117
00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:55.079
I know that I actually how did I know I'm
118
00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.199
closer to getting a school than I want? Well, if
119
00:06:57.199 --> 00:06:59.439
you rate it one, two, three, four, five, or how
120
00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:03.319
many many you're allowed to do, it'll allow the system
121
00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:06.160
to try and sort out all the kids who don't
122
00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:09.120
want that school and push you further up the line.
123
00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:12.639
So what we're hoping it will do is actually reduce
124
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:16.199
the wait time, and that's really critical. Right, if I
125
00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:18.519
know I want to go to this number one school
126
00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.199
and I have an opportunity and there's a space available,
127
00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:24.759
you'd want to know that sooner versus later.
128
00:07:24.959 --> 00:07:28.000
Yeah, Well, for parents who want more information, what is
129
00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:31.480
the best way to connect with Elevate to fifteen and
130
00:07:31.639 --> 00:07:35.240
to learn about these resources? And finally, also maybe if
131
00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:37.839
you could repeat all those many websites that people can
132
00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:38.639
take advantage of.
133
00:07:39.879 --> 00:07:43.800
Sure, so let me start with the school application websites,
134
00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:47.360
because those are the most important in this conversation. If
135
00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:50.480
you are applying to the school District of Philadelphia, you
136
00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:53.600
want to go to philipsd dot org. If you are
137
00:07:53.639 --> 00:07:59.040
applying to a charter school, go to apply Phillycharter dot org.
138
00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:02.839
If you want to search for a school, you're going
139
00:08:02.920 --> 00:08:07.360
to go to Philly Schools compus all one word dot org.
140
00:08:08.040 --> 00:08:11.759
Those are your three the three areas, the three websites
141
00:08:11.759 --> 00:08:13.519
if you really want to kind of sort your way
142
00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:17.040
through it, and there's lots of instructional materials on all
143
00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:20.600
three of those websites to actually help you in your journey.
144
00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:23.199
And will we have access to that through your website
145
00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:25.519
Elevate too fifteen dot org.
146
00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:30.120
Absolutely, if you remember nothing else, you can go to
147
00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:34.240
elevate Elevate too fifteen dot org, and it will direct
148
00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:37.399
you to both phillycompas. It will direct you to apply
149
00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:38.480
Philly Charter as well.
150
00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:43.240
That's fantastic. It's such a challenging process finding the right
151
00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:47.159
school for a student. These are tools that really assist
152
00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:49.759
parents and students finding.
153
00:08:49.639 --> 00:08:50.320
The right fit.
154
00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:55.399
Doctor Staceye Holland, Executive Director, elevate two fifty thirty years
155
00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:59.519
of experience creating educational solutions for kids. Doctor Holland is
156
00:08:59.559 --> 00:09:03.200
helping to align Philadelphia's education community around a shared vision,
157
00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:06.639
making sure that every child has access to a quality
158
00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:09.399
school that prepares them to thrive. Thank you so much
159
00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:10.360
for joining us today.
160
00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.480
Thank you so much for having me Lorraine, have a
161
00:09:12.519 --> 00:09:12.960
great day.
162
00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:22.720
Teaching is more than a profession. It's a calling, a
163
00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:26.519
calling that is strengthened by community. Join your peers at
164
00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:31.240
the eighth National Black Men in Education convening in Philadelphia
165
00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:34.960
this November. Come see what it means to be part
166
00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:39.720
of a powerful community dedicated to driving positive social change
167
00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:44.679
through education. Learn more and register now at the Center
168
00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:46.279
Blacked dot org.
169
00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:49.679
I'm deejur Pourchet from Chase and I want to ask
170
00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:52.879
you a question. Are you prepared for an unexpected emergency.
171
00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:56.200
More than half of Americans couldn't cover three months of
172
00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:59.480
expenses if something went wrong. At Chase, we're here to help.
173
00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:02.480
Visit your local branch or attend one of our financial
174
00:10:02.519 --> 00:10:05.840
health workshops to learn how to start building an emergency fund.
175
00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:08.519
Our workshops are open to everyone, whether you're a Chase
176
00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:11.559
customer or not. Best of all, they're free. Chase is
177
00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:14.679
here to help you save, spend, and grow your money.
178
00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:16.039
We look forward to seeing you.
179
00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.039
When it comes to a gun suicide attempt, All it
180
00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:19.840
takes is a moment.
181
00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.039
My son, Ricky, took his life by the use of
182
00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:28.879
a firearm. It broke me and I contemplated suicide my grandson.
183
00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.080
I was gonna have.
184
00:10:30.039 --> 00:10:30.960
To be here for him.
185
00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:34.399
I still own my firearm. I keep it in a
186
00:10:34.480 --> 00:10:38.399
safe because I want to keep my grandson and myself safe.
187
00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:42.279
Store your guns locked, unloaded, and away from AMMO. Hear
188
00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:45.519
more safe stories at endfamilyfire dot Org. Brought to you
189
00:10:45.519 --> 00:10:46.759
by Brady and the AD Council.
190
00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:52.480
Hi, I'm joving food when they work. Ready student, I
191
00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:55.600
heard media and today I have a very special guest
192
00:10:55.639 --> 00:10:59.720
with us IS Council member Anthony Phillips. He represents the
193
00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:05.120
night district and an education, youth adveracy, and community leadership.
194
00:11:05.600 --> 00:11:09.440
Before co founded Youth Action, he worked titlesly to empower
195
00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:12.519
young people across the city. Now, as a council member,
196
00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:16.000
he continues to focus on education. So I'm pleased to
197
00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:18.320
introduce Anthony Phillips. How are you today?
198
00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.360
I'm doing well, Jonathan, I'm better now I'm speaking to you.
199
00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:23.000
Man.
200
00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:26.879
First, congratulations. I was excited to hear about you receiving
201
00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:30.360
your doctor degree recently. I know I'm encouraged by your
202
00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:33.960
accomplishments as a young black men in this city as
203
00:11:33.960 --> 00:11:36.840
of today. So what was one of your career goals
204
00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:39.759
to be a city council member in Philadelphia.
205
00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:43.159
I started off in doing community work when I was
206
00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:47.360
in high school around thirteen, fourteen years age. I learned
207
00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:51.159
about this program called the Tavis Valley Foundation when I
208
00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.639
was a teenager and I went to a local conference
209
00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:57.039
that taught students the importance of learning how to be
210
00:11:57.080 --> 00:12:00.960
civically engaged in volunteering in their community. So, out of
211
00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:04.360
this conference that I went to that was in Washington,
212
00:12:04.440 --> 00:12:08.000
d C. I was able to found an organization with
213
00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:11.759
the help of people I met from Philadelphia, including now
214
00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:14.480
State representative Jordan Harris who was a teenager DN and
215
00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:17.039
Jeanine Lewis who is a teenager INN and a few
216
00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:20.600
other folks. We started organization called Youth Action, and that
217
00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:24.519
was my way of entering the field of service. I
218
00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:28.960
volunteered helping to get young people involved with leadership and
219
00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.200
organizing projects and programs in the city. And then from
220
00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:34.919
there people would say, if you love service so much,
221
00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.159
why don't you think about running office a government office.
222
00:12:38.440 --> 00:12:41.320
I had always read about government office in terms of
223
00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.879
in high school and also like in middle school, because
224
00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:46.320
like in middle school, I was a fanatic about the
225
00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:49.320
civils movement, and once I started like getting a better
226
00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:52.720
understanding of like the the rights movement, also like you know,
227
00:12:52.840 --> 00:12:55.440
the history of people of Avenuercent, I got excited about
228
00:12:55.559 --> 00:12:57.200
wanting to do more for others.
229
00:12:57.559 --> 00:12:58.919
So long story.
230
00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:02.600
Short, I always had government and politics in my mind,
231
00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:04.600
but I always knew I want to do service. So
232
00:13:04.919 --> 00:13:08.240
what I now know is that, you know, because I
233
00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:11.039
was intimately involved with helping young people become more engaged
234
00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:13.200
with service in the communities, I ended up making a
235
00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.120
career out of what I started with you Action.
236
00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.279
When I was a teenager.
237
00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.480
Other people saw me, you know, doing work in the community,
238
00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:22.440
including Schreel Parker.
239
00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:24.240
Who was running from mayor at the time.
240
00:13:24.840 --> 00:13:27.840
And I ended up becoming a committee person, an intern
241
00:13:27.919 --> 00:13:30.320
first in our office, then a committee person, and I
242
00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:33.639
took both of those positions very seriously. So i'd say
243
00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:35.559
this to say to you, is that like, if you
244
00:13:35.919 --> 00:13:41.399
start off volunteering, just interested in just doing service, you know,
245
00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.320
all the other things like getting involved in politics starts
246
00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:46.360
to come because people start to notice you and think
247
00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:49.679
of you as potentially as someone that can be trusted
248
00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:50.279
to be a leader.
249
00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:50.559
You know.
250
00:13:50.679 --> 00:13:52.360
That's how I got started.
251
00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.600
I got started because I was just doing service as
252
00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:57.120
a young person, trying to make a real big difference
253
00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.480
in my neighborhood. And next thing, you know, thought of
254
00:14:00.519 --> 00:14:03.879
me to run for office. I was hesitant because politics
255
00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:06.919
could be murky, but at the same time I really
256
00:14:07.159 --> 00:14:09.960
was thinking about like you know, people saying to me, Anthony,
257
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:11.919
I know you can do this, and family and friends,
258
00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.639
and I was just like, you know what, I decided
259
00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.679
to run in twenty twenty two, and then next thing
260
00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:17.799
you know, I'm in office.
261
00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:18.240
Wow.
262
00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:19.080
That's amazing.
263
00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:20.440
Yeah, yeah, that's amazing.
264
00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:23.840
So you mentioned the youth action, So far. You've been
265
00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:26.799
in this position for a little bit more than three years, right, yeah,
266
00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:31.120
and what changes have you initiated and how can they
267
00:14:31.200 --> 00:14:32.279
help the youth in the city.
268
00:14:32.879 --> 00:14:35.799
So when I first came or filled office city Council,
269
00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:42.240
I was adamant about doing one thing, making lives better
270
00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:46.200
for young people, but also our most vulnerable citizens as well,
271
00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:50.000
which include our adult citizens, which are seniors. And I
272
00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:53.279
always believe that if you make life better for young
273
00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:58.080
people as well as our seniors, that takes care of
274
00:14:58.159 --> 00:15:00.879
every demographic in a city, because if you take care
275
00:15:00.919 --> 00:15:03.679
of them, everyone's going to be really excited, right. And
276
00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.600
so what that being said, when it came to young people,
277
00:15:06.639 --> 00:15:08.200
one of the first things that you know, I was
278
00:15:08.240 --> 00:15:11.720
able to do was I visited every school in our district.
279
00:15:11.759 --> 00:15:15.399
Our district represents northwest Philadelphia, so that's like Mount Arie,
280
00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:18.600
westoll Glane, you know a little bit of East o'glane,
281
00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:22.080
al and the Fern Rock and lower Northeast. So I
282
00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:25.879
was visiting every school and I came across a parent
283
00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:29.960
at the Saint Anna Nation School in westoll Glane who
284
00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.759
came to me during a school visit and said, hey,
285
00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:36.519
our school needs speed bumps. I said, well, that's great.
286
00:15:36.519 --> 00:15:38.159
I said, man, that's great. Maybe we could find a
287
00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:39.799
way to work on it. You know, I say, I'm
288
00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:41.879
just two months in. I was only two months into
289
00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:43.519
the job, maybe a mile and a half at that.
290
00:15:44.279 --> 00:15:46.720
I said, But what I do know is that the
291
00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:49.960
city normally only works more closely with the Phildelphia public
292
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:52.279
schools when it comes to speed bumps at the time.
293
00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:55.159
It doesn't mean the parochial schools and private schools couldn't
294
00:15:55.159 --> 00:15:57.279
get them, but it just means, like the public schools
295
00:15:57.320 --> 00:15:59.320
did come first. She says, well, what about our babies.
296
00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:01.559
We need speed bumps here too, because our babies are
297
00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:03.679
potentially going to be hit. And she said, what is
298
00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:05.720
a study that you know that needs to be done?
299
00:16:05.799 --> 00:16:07.480
And that's when it dawned to me. I was like,
300
00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:10.159
she was like, I'm demanding for you to get a
301
00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:12.399
speed bump in front of our school. And I'm talking
302
00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.919
to her about a study that needs to be done
303
00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:16.960
to put a speed bump in front of a school.
304
00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:18.879
I'm like, why do you? And that Dawnam is like,
305
00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.480
why does the city make people do a study for
306
00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.840
an already vulnerable area and it's for its speed bump?
307
00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:31.399
So I created a law that ultimately bypasses any study
308
00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:34.440
for a speed bump to have to you know, be
309
00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:36.960
done in order to get a speedbump in front of
310
00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:37.360
a school.
311
00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:39.639
So now it's called Student Pedestrian Bill.
312
00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.159
So basically, if every school in the city of Philadelphia
313
00:16:43.960 --> 00:16:47.159
is getting a speed bump with no particular bureaucratic study
314
00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:49.440
as a result of me visiting neighborhoods, and so that's
315
00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:52.320
helping young people stay safe. I also was the author
316
00:16:52.399 --> 00:16:54.519
of the ski maps bill. Some young people were not
317
00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:57.000
as excided about that bill because they thought it was
318
00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:00.120
like a fashion trend, but we wanted to protect you
319
00:17:00.039 --> 00:17:02.759
if we want to protect them, and made them feel
320
00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:06.079
really good in terms of like we want to see
321
00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.039
your face, we want to be excited about who you
322
00:17:08.119 --> 00:17:12.799
are and your identity. Unfortunately, too much currental behavior has
323
00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:14.279
been associated.
324
00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.279
With ski masks. So I was able to ban that.
325
00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:19.960
Mostly for everybody, but it was a thing that was
326
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.279
impacting a lot of young people in the city because
327
00:17:22.279 --> 00:17:24.960
a lot of young people are being terrorized unfortunately wearing
328
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:26.799
ski masks, and then a lot of young people were
329
00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:29.240
also being looked upon for wearing them.
330
00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:31.599
So we banded around all of our city properties.
331
00:17:32.039 --> 00:17:35.160
In addition to that, I created this opportunity for communities
332
00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:38.720
to come together in our district. We have five major
333
00:17:38.759 --> 00:17:41.720
festivals that are inviting young people and families to come together,
334
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:45.519
including our Wives Worth Day and we brought that back,
335
00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:47.599
which was a historic thing that we were doing in
336
00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:51.359
our community and it's a nice family fund festival. And
337
00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:54.880
in addition to that, I ended up doing a program
338
00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:59.720
called I just organized it. It now called Philadelphia After School Height,
339
00:18:00.119 --> 00:18:03.759
myself and councilormb Isaiah Thomas, along with a couple of
340
00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.559
nonprofit partners and cuting the Philadelphi Youth Basketball We're going
341
00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.240
to be organizing the one of the largest at the
342
00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.039
school programs the city is seen. So ultimately, we're trying
343
00:18:14.079 --> 00:18:17.160
to dispel the myth that there's no youth programs in
344
00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:19.319
a city. So we're trying to get one hundred or
345
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.319
so at the school programs to come together at the
346
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:26.799
Philadelphia Basketball Facility. We're inviting every student from Prokio public
347
00:18:26.839 --> 00:18:29.640
and private schools to come to this event and sign up.
348
00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:31.759
We want parents to come sign your kids.
349
00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:34.119
Up for a program because we want to dispel the
350
00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.839
myth that there's no programs for young people be involved in.
351
00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:40.119
We believe that if there's a Karen and loving adult
352
00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:42.519
in your life during the after school hours, that will
353
00:18:42.559 --> 00:18:45.359
help us decrease crime and also put young people onto
354
00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.880
positive tracks. Just like you, Jonathan, you're here getting an
355
00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:52.880
experience as a young person here at iHeartRadio. So when
356
00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:56.119
students have Carrien and love in adults like Lorraine Balamoro
357
00:18:56.440 --> 00:19:00.640
or anything of that nature, what happens is that things
358
00:19:00.680 --> 00:19:03.039
go well. So that's what we're doing September twenty seventh
359
00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:06.319
from eleven to three pm at the Philadelphia Youth Basketball
360
00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:09.440
six Man Center located off of with sakon Ad Avenue.
361
00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:12.200
So more information to come on that, so hopefully everyone,
362
00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:14.480
you know, we'll see people there. So yeah, I mean,
363
00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:16.960
and then there's other stuff that we've done for young people,
364
00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:21.400
including you know, other festivals, school festivals, We've we funded schools,
365
00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:22.480
so just.
366
00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:23.599
There's there's more to go.
367
00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.079
But most importantly, when we make sure that streets are clean,
368
00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.680
that's that's helping young people. We're making sure that young
369
00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:32.759
people get opportunities for jobs and at school programs, that's
370
00:19:32.839 --> 00:19:33.440
us helping.
371
00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:35.000
Young people, among some other stuff.
372
00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:38.599
So yeah, okay, yeah, oh I also offted the Parent
373
00:19:38.720 --> 00:19:40.880
Task Force to help figure out how we can help
374
00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:45.519
young people get involved parents being better engaged with their
375
00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:49.480
young person, with their with their son and daughters. So yeah,
376
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:51.440
So that's because we've been talking about people have been
377
00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:53.599
saying we're to parents. Where the parents? So this Parent
378
00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:56.759
Task Force is giving recommendations on how the city can
379
00:19:56.799 --> 00:19:59.000
do better to engage parents with their young people.
380
00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:04.559
Yeah, okay, all right, that's very good. Prior to this position,
381
00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:08.640
you were the director of a youth organization. What can
382
00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:11.480
we look forward to in the coming year in the
383
00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:12.799
community from your office?
384
00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.920
Wow, I really look forward to this year a lot.
385
00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:20.880
We have a fall.
386
00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:24.960
Festival in Northeast and on our office that's going to
387
00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:28.160
focus on bringing together young people as I just talked
388
00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:31.599
about in the community for like an October fest, like
389
00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:37.680
right before Halloween, full of candy, fun activities in Northeast.
390
00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:40.799
We have a concert that we're doing with young people
391
00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:45.079
in December. It's called our Holiday Fest in Alane. We're
392
00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.200
also opening up an office in Alani for the first
393
00:20:48.279 --> 00:20:49.880
time in the history.
394
00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:50.279
Of Night District.
395
00:20:50.279 --> 00:20:52.839
There's going to be an office on fifth Street, which
396
00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:57.599
is the center point near Alanie East o Glane Fern
397
00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:00.880
Rock and Logan, and it's closer to northeast, so our
398
00:21:01.160 --> 00:21:04.039
district is kind of like wide. So we now have
399
00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:07.279
two locations on Wisrif Avenue, and then we're gonna also
400
00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:10.319
have one on Fifth Street, so that's better serve our neighbors.
401
00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:12.640
I'm also looking forward to what I just said earlier
402
00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:14.920
about the Philly at the School Height program where we're
403
00:21:14.920 --> 00:21:18.079
bringing all of these high school students and middle school students,
404
00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:21.920
elementary school students and parents together to learn about after
405
00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:25.279
school programs that are happening in our city. And I'm
406
00:21:25.319 --> 00:21:28.519
also looking forward to doing some legislation that's going to
407
00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:34.480
make sure that apartments you know, are better inspected, you know.
408
00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:37.960
And I'm also looking forward to unveiling our Parent and
409
00:21:38.039 --> 00:21:40.920
Engagement Task Force to make sure the city is really
410
00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:45.839
engage with making sure that parents are involved with their children,
411
00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:48.759
which people always been saying word to parents. This task
412
00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:51.759
force report is going to give recommendations on what you
413
00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:53.880
need to do, what the city can do the better
414
00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:56.160
get parents involved with their children and to the better
415
00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:58.599
support them so the kids can be a better outcome.
416
00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:00.160
So I'm looking for to.
417
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:03.960
That and also in addition to that, I will be really,
418
00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:07.039
I'm really excited about this council session because a lot
419
00:22:07.079 --> 00:22:09.039
of us are working together to achieve.
420
00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:12.039
This year alone, we've done over one.
421
00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:14.880
Hundred or so driveways to a driveway program that I
422
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:16.960
help with the City of Philadelphia.
423
00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:18.039
I had fun.
424
00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:20.759
I was the person who initiated to push this over
425
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.680
the past couple of years to get the driveway program funded.
426
00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:26.920
It was something that you know, married Tasko Cherl Parker
427
00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:30.039
advocated for and then when I got there, you know,
428
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:33.759
conversations with councilor President Clark, and then further support by
429
00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:36.839
Counsel President Kenyatta Johnson. We're now seeing people will get
430
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:39.880
their driveways fixed. It's taking a little time, but at
431
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.519
least we are able to pilot the program and we're seeing,
432
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:45.000
you know, a thing that the city normally didn't do,
433
00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.240
they're now doing and people are super excited about the
434
00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:50.279
city now doing that for them. And I just want
435
00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:52.640
to say that, like, you know, this year, I'm just
436
00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:55.000
looking forward to service. I'm being out in the neighborhoods,
437
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:56.960
being out a community. I know there's so many other
438
00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:00.200
initiatives that I haven't even mentioned, but most importantly, we
439
00:23:00.359 --> 00:23:03.039
need to make sure that we're handling the quality life
440
00:23:03.079 --> 00:23:05.279
for our community. I'm constantly trying to come up with
441
00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:08.720
new ideas, especially to protect our commercial quarters and get
442
00:23:08.799 --> 00:23:12.400
more you know, restaurants and businesses in general that we
443
00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:15.680
want on our commercial quarterers. We just got a new
444
00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.680
sit down restaurant on wiserf Avenue in our district that
445
00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:21.519
people are excited about, called the Pink Plate. My goal
446
00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:24.960
is to continue to look for opportunities for businesses to
447
00:23:25.039 --> 00:23:28.039
grow that people want to go to on our commercial quarder.
448
00:23:28.279 --> 00:23:31.039
So yeah, I mean there's a lot, a lot to
449
00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:33.599
look forward to, but those are just a couple of highlights.
450
00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:38.000
So you made all these great accountments, you did all
451
00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:42.599
this great work. Who inspired you to be in this
452
00:23:42.880 --> 00:23:44.359
role that you are right now?
453
00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:49.359
You know, honestly, I was inspired by my mom and grandmother.
454
00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:51.839
I had to start with them. Plenty of people that
455
00:23:51.960 --> 00:23:54.759
I look up to in terms of you know, mentorship,
456
00:23:55.160 --> 00:23:58.279
but my mom and grandmother really set the foundation for me.
457
00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:00.480
My mom was a single parent. I grew up in
458
00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:04.000
North Philadelphia. We didn't have a lot of financial resources.
459
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.880
We stayed with my grandmother for many years until we
460
00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.839
moved to Mount Area, where my mom staid up the
461
00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:11.440
money to buy a house in the one five five
462
00:24:11.559 --> 00:24:13.920
zero section of Mint area. And you know, my mom
463
00:24:14.039 --> 00:24:17.319
sacrificed a lot for me and my sister. She took
464
00:24:17.359 --> 00:24:19.039
on the extra job so we can have food on
465
00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:22.279
the table at cow door and Walmart. My mom was
466
00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:26.440
also in the State office building doing you know, public welfare,
467
00:24:26.680 --> 00:24:27.599
you know, for many years.
468
00:24:27.960 --> 00:24:30.279
My mom was a hard worker, and she cared and
469
00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:30.960
she loved.
470
00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:34.000
But she was also serious about me, you know, getting
471
00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:36.279
an education, and she was serious about making sure I
472
00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:39.359
had opportunities in life. My mom, you know, found you know,
473
00:24:39.480 --> 00:24:42.599
ways to put me around decent people all the time
474
00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:45.279
and made sure that I wasn't in the negative route.
475
00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:48.400
So and my grandmother was instrumental because when my mom
476
00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.400
wasn't there, my mom, my grandmother, you know, practically raised me.
477
00:24:51.920 --> 00:24:54.240
I stayed at my grandmother's house all the time, and
478
00:24:54.440 --> 00:24:57.319
she taught me about manners. She taught me about the
479
00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:01.400
importance of like being respectful to other But they really
480
00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:05.119
inspired me. I can't tell you how much their love
481
00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:08.160
and the importance of what they did to sacrifice for others.
482
00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:11.000
Like they were so selfless. They barely talked about themselves.
483
00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:13.279
They didn't do a lot for themselves. It's always about
484
00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:15.680
their children. And I think me watching them do stuff
485
00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.759
all the time for other people indirectly kind of make
486
00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:21.039
me understand the importance of like wanting to do for
487
00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:24.440
other people, which, honestly, if you don't have that strong foundation,
488
00:25:24.599 --> 00:25:27.519
I don't get to where I am today serving as
489
00:25:27.559 --> 00:25:29.839
a member of Phildelphis City Council. I'm the youngest in
490
00:25:29.920 --> 00:25:33.079
her Philip for city Council. I love the service, I
491
00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:35.119
tell people that, but I said, a lot of times
492
00:25:35.160 --> 00:25:37.839
I don't love is the politics behind stuff, because I
493
00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:40.279
do recognize that some people don't have that foundation of
494
00:25:40.519 --> 00:25:43.599
understanding the importance of giving back and being a servant.
495
00:25:44.039 --> 00:25:46.960
And it's not about us as council members. We're not
496
00:25:47.480 --> 00:25:50.039
meant to be kings or queens. We're meant to be
497
00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:52.640
people to understand that, like when people ask us to
498
00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:55.440
do something, is our responsibility to try our best to
499
00:25:55.559 --> 00:25:58.039
navigate it and to do it in an efficient, effective
500
00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:00.839
and powerful innovative way. And I think I see why
501
00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:03.079
a lot of people think politics is murky is because
502
00:26:03.160 --> 00:26:05.880
sometimes people ask for services to be done and they're
503
00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:09.440
not getting done and they just is a distrust.
504
00:26:10.200 --> 00:26:11.920
But a lot of times what I've.
505
00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:14.000
Learned by coming into government is that there's a lot
506
00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:16.440
of bureaucracy, is a lot of people who are in
507
00:26:16.559 --> 00:26:20.359
this unfortunately for power and influence as opposed to service.
508
00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:23.559
And I think that you the reason I say my
509
00:26:23.640 --> 00:26:26.640
mom and grandmother inspiring the most is because there's one
510
00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:28.839
thing people are not going to say about myself is
511
00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:32.720
that I'm interested in power or influence because I have
512
00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:35.160
a strong foundation and my grandmother and my mother who
513
00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:39.000
were never interested in just themselves, They were interested in
514
00:26:39.079 --> 00:26:41.559
the well being of others. And I think that's where
515
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:44.480
I get a lot of my inspiration from. And you know,
516
00:26:44.599 --> 00:26:45.400
I had a lot of people in.
517
00:26:45.400 --> 00:26:47.359
My life, you know. You know I told you about,
518
00:26:47.880 --> 00:26:48.480
you know, people that.
519
00:26:48.599 --> 00:26:50.519
I connected with that helped me get to where I
520
00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:53.960
am right including how I got involved with Cheryl Parker
521
00:26:54.079 --> 00:26:57.440
and her influence. And then I've had you know, inspirations
522
00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:01.319
from mentors you know and high school you know, from
523
00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:06.480
David Ford, Gus Tolsen, you know, Missus Toulson from she
524
00:27:06.880 --> 00:27:10.160
used to work at the Parking Authority in the Sete department.
525
00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:13.400
There's so many different people I can name doctor Michael Adams,
526
00:27:13.519 --> 00:27:16.680
my school principal, my teachers that I worked with. So
527
00:27:16.960 --> 00:27:19.720
I'm also inspired by people like that. I never even
528
00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:22.000
met like David Richardson, because I always thought that he
529
00:27:22.119 --> 00:27:24.519
was always about people and always bout serving people. And
530
00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:29.079
Roxanne Jones, right, I always thought that she was a
531
00:27:29.200 --> 00:27:32.119
person that always thought about people that were in the
532
00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:34.319
working class and how we can elevate them and was
533
00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.720
a tireless advocate for them and when she was a
534
00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:39.160
state rep. And so when I think about these people,
535
00:27:39.440 --> 00:27:41.640
I just say, you know what, you know, the foundation
536
00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:43.039
was here and I just need to take it to
537
00:27:43.079 --> 00:27:43.559
another level.
538
00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:44.119
Oh.
539
00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:47.000
I got to mention John White Junior because John White
540
00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:49.640
Junior has been such an incredible mentor to me of
541
00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:52.400
late and I really appreciate it. He's a former council
542
00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:54.599
member of our district in the ninth district.
543
00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:58.400
Okay, thank you so much, mister counsel member Anthony Phillis,
544
00:27:58.440 --> 00:28:00.559
Thank you for being here with us so much.
545
00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:01.319
Appreciate it.
546
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.279
I'm John the Folman entering Heart Radio. Thank you for
547
00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:05.160
joining us today.
548
00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:08.200
You can listen to all of today's interviews by going
549
00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:11.519
to our station website and typing in keyword community. You
550
00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:15.000
can also listen on the iHeartRadio app yey Words Philadelphia
551
00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:18.960
Community Podcast. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram at Lorraine Ballard.
552
00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:21.759
I'm Lorraine Ballard Morrow and I stand for service to
553
00:28:21.839 --> 00:28:23.960
our community and media that empowers.
554
00:28:24.559 --> 00:28:25.759
What will you stand for?
555
00:28:26.519 --> 00:28:28.640
You've been listening to Insight and thank you
