THE JEDCAST: A Dialogue With Changemakers

Seemingly benign laws and policies deny black people and other people of color the  right to move or simply exist in a public space. Adjunct professor and CEO of Equitable Cities, Charles T. Brown has done more than just study this. He wrote the book on it. As the author of Arrested Mobility, he examines how the Three P’s: Policy, Polity, and Policing all work together to limit the physical mobility of black people directly along with limiting their social and upwards mobility indirectly. By tracking the way black bodies are arrested, Charles shows the inequity in planning, the racist land use in zoning practices, and the bias in infrastructure. It’s a hard look at how laws that are just a mere irritant for some can be used to hold an entire society back. Fortunately for us, Charles T. Brown holds nothing back on this episode of The Jed Cast!

When Devon Hartman retired after a successful time in architecture and construction, he decided to focus the next phase of his career on global warming issues. He also realized that the more disadvantaged communities are the ones that are hardest hit by climate change. Armed with that knowledge, he created the first non-profit solar panel company in the world. As President and CEO of CHERP Solar Works, Devon’s working to revitalize marginalized communities from the ground up. He found the only way to compete in the manufacturing of solar panels is the non-profit business model. He also located CHERP in Pomona, CA, one of hardest hit cities when it comes to the economic and equity issues brought about by climate change. Devon Hartman wants to stop the economic leakage and bring more manufacturing and jobs to communities across the United States. He’s going to tell us how he’s doing it on this episode of The Jed Cast!

Jasmeet Bains was raised in California’s Central Valley. When she became a doctor, she decided to practice there, because coming from a rural area, she saw the lack of access to quality health care. Now Dr. Bains is on the front lines dealing with addiction and recovery as Medical Director of Bakersfield Recovery Services. As a primary care physician, she sees the trends immediately. The impact of the pandemic, homelessness, the opioid crisis, and loss of jobs have become magnified in her community. When it came time for her to make a difference, she put herself out there and with the support of her community the doors opened. She has been a board president, sat on task forces, and served as a commissioner all while pushing for access to better health care for those who need it the most. The Central Valley is fortunate to have a physician who is as passionate as Dr. Jasmeet Bains and we’re fortunate to have her on this episode of The Jed Cast!

California State Senator Anthony Portantino knows first-hand about the anguish of a family member suffering with mental health. After an older brother committed suicide, Senator Portantino knew there needed to be mental health reform, especially among younger people. He is the sponsor of SB14 which formally requires school boards to treat mental health the same as physical health. He also sponsored SB224 which requires mental health to be included in other health education. By taking the mental health issue of school children out of the shadows, Senator Portantino has built alliances and coalitions with long-time institutions. He did it by asking the question, “How do we get to yes?” We couldn’t be happier that he said “Yes.” to being on this episode of The Jed Cast!

Whittier City Councilmember Henry Bouchot wrote the book about running for office as a young person. Literally. As the author of A Millennial's Guide to Running for Office: How to Get Elected Without Kissing the Ring, he explains that roadblocks are there for a reason, but the traditional paths for running aren’t there anymore. He feels that as long as you believe in yourself and have a strong reason for running, you can run. Henry also reveals that you can lose the race before you even start without a plan. Our plan is to learn more about Henry, his book, and The Battlefield of Ideas on this episode of The Jed Cast!

Nina Smith has built quite a resume. Press Secretary for Representative Maxine Waters. National Traveling Press Secretary for Pete Buttigieg. She also worked with Barack Obama’s Small Business Administration. Nina found that walking through the halls of power is based on access to information and opportunities, opportunities that are few and far between in a white, male, heterosexual dominated space. Because she learned how hard it is to get heard when you don’t fit the profile, she helped form Community Groundwork—a new organization that mentors community college students to find, explore, and launch civic careers. Nina Smith knows that the more people that get involved, get engaged having different voices, the better off we’ll all be. And we’re better off having her on this episode of The Jed Cast!

What do you do when you’re riding high and then lose everything in the crash of 2008? If you’re like La Palma City Councilmember Nitesh Patel, you work hard, build yourself back up, and then help families in your community as well as other countries. He’s formed not just one, but two non-profits: Each One, Teach One and Kicks for Kids. Along the way, he’s learned that there are only three things that really matter: Family, relationships, and your word. While facing the challenges to do good work, Nitesh found out you can never take no for an answer, and you must be willing to beg. Nitesh Patel is a changemaker out to change the world of non-profits, one pair of shoes at a time. Find out how he’s going to do it on this episode of the Jed Cast!

Culver City is situated in a great area of Southern California with all the advantages that come with its location. If you think that Council Member Alex Fisch would want to keep things just the way they are, you would be wrong. Alex is using his leadership position to confront head-on the toughest challenges in California: housing crisis, climate change, and transportation infrastructure. Alex wants to expand the opportunities in Culver City, because he passionately believes that a complete neighborhood is a more interesting neighborhood. That passion also makes for a more interesting podcast and that’s why Culver City's Alex Fisch is on this episode of the Jed Cast!

There are so few young people in local politics, and many of the young people engaged in government merely use office as a platform for social media. This is where Alhambra City Councilmember Sasha Renée Pérez breaks from the pack. A supporter of workers.  She has fought to bring the Universal Guaranteed Income Initiative and the Hero Pay Ordinance to her city. As a renter, she has put a spotlight on inclusionary housing laws in her community. As a first-generation college graduate, she put front and center disenfranchised marginalized populations, showing solidarity where it was needed. We always ask, who will be the next generation of changemakers. We know we found one in Sasha Renée Pérez and we’re glad she’s on this episode of the Jed Cast!

Season Two of the Jed Cast kicks off in a big way with a conversation with California State Senator Dave Min. Senator Min is the sponsor of SB 264 a bill that bans gun shows on state property. Since he believes in being accessible, truthful, thoughtful, and fair, Senator Min went to a gun show to have an honest dialogue with the show’s owners and try to find any common ground. Find out what that was like in Episode One of Season Two of the Jed Cast!

Priya Bhat-Patel was a public health professional by trade. As fate would have it, she chose the perfect time to serve as council member for the city of Carlsbad. Priya made sure to ask local health professionals the right questions so she could make policy from an up-to-date, knowledge-based platform. She also worked to ensure the economic vitality of hotel workers directly impacted by the pandemic.  Priya built a bipartisan coalition to get the Right To Recall ordinance passed so the workers were guaranteed to return when restrictions eased. Priya believes in being a people’s representative by talking to the people she represents. Whether it’s different generations including working youth, people of color or women-owned businesses, Priya listens to her community. Now we get to listen to this first-generation changemaker on this episode of the Jed Cast!

The fight to protect our environment begins on a local level. And almost no one understands that better than the former mayor of Culver City and National Board Member of the Sierra Club, Meghan Sahli-Wells. She believes in creating a new transportation culture that doesn’t rely on fossil fuel-based vehicles. That meant helping to build a city that was walkable and bikeable. But she wasn’t just the “Biking Mayor”, Meghan made sure that Culver City was forward-thinking and invested in clean energy and energy storage. She’s a big picture changemaker who knows that changing the transportation narrative will create more jobs and housing. She made her mark by breaking down silos and listening to the experts and now we’re lucky to hear her tell us how on this episode of the Jed Cast!

In the fight for environmental equity, the only way to get results is to build coalitions and fight to be heard. City Councilmember Denise Diaz is not afraid to be vocal about the needs for her hometown. South Gate is home to three superfund sites and the core of the port of LA transit corridor. Denise needed to find the right partners and the political courage to bring about real change for her city. Now we’re lucky to hear this changemaker’s voice on the latest episode of the Jed Cast!

Salvador Melendez has completely blown up the myth that young people aren’t interested in local politics. He was told to wait his turn to run for a seat on the Montebello City Council. But he knew there wasn’t a perfect age, that if you want to represent, you just run. So, at the age of 29 while in law school, Salvador won a seat and became a City Councilmember in his hometown. He also became a new voice, bringing a sincerity and straight-forward approach that connects with all generations. Salvador Melendez’s time is now in local government and also on the newest episode of the Jed Cast!

Long Beach Vice Mayor and SCAG past president Rex Richardson doesn’t just want to build bridges. He wants to build better bridges so that no one gets lost downstream. Whether it’s declaring racism a public health crisis or creating an equity department in one of CA's largest cities, Rex is a voice that needs to be heard. Rex is a changemaker who understands that inequitable outcomes are not accidents, but rather planned consequences of systems built to protect the inequity of status quo. We know we’re lucky to have him on this episode of the Jed Cast!

It takes a special person to stay in their hometown and work tirelessly to make it better. El Monte City Councilmember Vicky Martinez Muela is that kind of person. She provides an authentic voice for the voiceless in her city. Vicky brings a different, caring sensibility to local government with public health being a main focus. Vicky is a leader who learned from her mentors, whether it was in sports or in government. Now she’s a mentor to the next generations of changemakers and that’s why she’s on this episode of the Jed Cast!

It’s one thing to look at homelessness and think it’s wrong. It’s another to go out and do something about it. When it comes to fighting for solutions in homelessness, you can’t find a more passionate changemaker than Sarah Dusseault. She knows first-hand how the most vulnerable residents in our society experience homelessness. As chair of Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Commission, on the Committee for “No Going Back LA,” and in years of work at LA city hall, Sarah’s mission is to make housing a human right. Find out how she’s doing just that on this episode of the Jed Cast!

Housing crisis. Systemic racism. LGBTQ rights. Mental Health. Some leaders talk about problems, and then there is California State Senator Scott Wiener. In just one term, he has authored 42 bills in the State Senate that have become law. Senator Wiener deals with the hard-hitting issues that affect all of us every single day. To find out what’s going right now, check out this episode of the Jed Cast!

Pomona. Elk Grove. Irvine. Three diverse cities. Three diverse mayors. Episode four of the Jed Cast brings in Pomona mayor Tim Sandoval, Elk Grove mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, and Irvine mayor Farrah Khan discussing how they took on COVID, the summer of 2020, and the call for equitable post-pandemic recovery.

Compton. Pasadena. Lynwood. Three different communities grappling with equity issues during COVID. The third episode of the Jed Cast brings in three guests: Compton Unified School District President Micah Ali, Lynwood School Board Member Gary Hardie, Jr. and Pasadena School Board Member Tina Fredericks. Learn how these school board leaders deal with the issues that impact the delivery of better education to our children on this powerful episode of the Jed Cast.

Host Jed Leano and Co-Host Dr. Audrey Jordan have a dialogue with California State Treasurer Fiona Ma. They find out about Treasurer Ma's background and her passion to help small businesses. They also discuss her start in politics and how important it is to gain a seat at the table. Treasurer Ma truly believes in the power of public service and getting things done.

In our first episode, the tables are turned as Host Jed Leano gets interviewed by Co-Host, Dr. Audrey Jordan. Audrey finds out about Jed's background and how he got his start in politics. Jed also explains what it's like to try to bring change into communities as an equity driven leader.