News from the Peak

Join us at Grays Peak Strategies for an inspiring conversation on our latest podcast episode, dedicated to women in leadership. In this captivating discussion, we had the honor of hosting IV-D Director Erin Frisch from Michigan and Federal Office of Child Support Services Commissioner Tanguler Gray. Reflecting on our experiences from participating in Women in Leadership panels over the past year, we dive deep into the rewards and insights gained from sharing our journeys. From breaking barriers to fostering diversity, women are instrumental in shaping the future of leadership. As leaders in our fields, we share our hopes for the next generation and discuss the importance of empowerment and creating opportunities for growth. Despite challenges such as gender bias and imposter syndrome, we offer strategies for navigating them. Tune in for valuable insights, inspiration, and advice as we celebrate women in leadership and pave the way for greater equality and empowerment. 

On Valentines day in 2024, we opened the Zoom line, and Gabby Leif recorded messages of gratitude for anyone that wanted to call in. With only one day to record, I know we missed a lot of people, but we had some very nice messages from people who couldn't make it... so we hope to try this again in the future. Sharing messages of gratitude felt appropriate for Valentine's Day. But we are grateful for our listeners and supporters every day! We hope you enjoy this short episode, and we'll be back with a full episode very soon.

In this world where we tend to wear stress and being busy as a badge of honor, taking time out of work and family life to volunteer easy to overlook the profound impact that volunteering can have on both individuals and communities. From fostering a sense of purpose to building strong social connections, the benefits of volunteering are limitless. That idea that volunteering can be worth the time and effort even if you have a lot of other responsibilities is the focus of this edition of Community Table Talk from News from the Peak. I’m excited for you to hear from our esteemed panel of superpower women, Veronica Riley an owner and founder of her own consulting and training company, Stefanie Jones my best friend and the President and Founder of a successful public relation company, Feed Media, Tricia Harper, a Lead Partner for KPMG, and Janice Neal a lead consultant for Grays Peak Strategies. 

Join us as we talk to our guests to uncover the transformative power of giving back. Through engaging discussions and inspiring stories we'll delve into the many ways volunteering enriches our lives and strengthens the fabric of our communities.

David Kilgore serves as the Director of the California Department of Child Support Services. At a recent Western Intergovernmental Child Support conference, David participated in a session called “the World Café”. At this session, the audience could choose various tables around the room where a discussion leader would talk to them about an innovative, or sometimes controversial topics related to the Child Support Program. 

David led the table discussing something he’s been working on in California for quite a while; enhancing Self Service options for people. Of course, this leads to all kinds of other issues, like public awareness of the program, how to address the needs of families in the context of what is required, and how this might lead to a more effective and more successful program overall. 

 So on today’s show, we dig a little deeper into the subject of self service, and explore some really interesting ideas.

November marks Native American Heritage Month, an annual observance in the United States dedicated to honoring and celebrating the rich tapestry of Native American cultures, histories, contributions, and achievements. This month provides a valuable opportunity for individuals, both Native and non-Native, to pay tribute to the unique heritage and resilience of Native American communities.

In the spirit of this commemoration, we bring you a captivating podcast featuring Terrance "TJ" Lafromboise, MSW-ITR, Piikani – Siiksakaitstiitaapii of the Blackfeet Tribe in Browning, MT. Our engagement with TJ stems from our collaboration on the Iiksook’Ksooksik Project, translating to "Good Future" in Blackfeet. This initiative, funded by a Section 1115 Demonstration grant from the Federal Office of Child Support titled "Charting the Court for Economic Mobility and Responsible Parenting," holds significance in its mission to empower Native communities.

Our fourth episode on Bear Management may be our best yet. Carl Ramm returns to give us an update on his adventures trying to get the resident Alaskan Brown Bears and human visitors at Brooks Camp in Alaska to do what they're supposed to. Along the way, we hear about what it's like to be in the bear management zone, how bear management really is like human management, and what's next for Carl, who is leaving Alaska after some 40 years to live in rural Virginia. 

What do Elvis Presley, child support, and our guest James Forsher have in common? (No, he's not the long lost son of Elvis...) They share a connection with pioneering child support researcher Trude Forsher. On today's show, we hear about Trude Forsher's life, her escape from Nazi-occupied Austria, her groundbreaking role as a working mother (including time as Elvis Presley's personal secretary), and how, on top of all of that, she provided a research base that helped set in motion the child support program we know today. This podcast just keeps getting better!

On the 50th Anniversary of Title IX, we had the good fortune to speak with two amazing women who played a roll in the creation and implementation of this important milestone in education and a move toward furthering opportunities for women. On this episode, Part 1 of 2, we welcome Hall of Fame Coach, Carol Plodzien to talk about her experiences as a student athlete and coach before and after Title IX. As a coach to our own Liz Bullard, we hear their recollection of their days as Player and Coach, and the impact that the experiences had on both of them. 

We have had a couple of recent episodes, which you should check out if you haven’t already, on the LCO Good Life Camp. This camp, while an amazing experience on its own, is part of a larger grant we are working on with the LCO Tribal Child Support program. The grant is focused on responsible parenting and economic mobility. The underlying theme of the grant is the idea that by teaching young people about their own culture, we can improve these outcomes for them as they become adults. There is obviously a lot more to it than that… and that’s where our guest comes in. Today we welcome Dr. Nell Weber. Nell is a consultant and researcher with experience in parenting, parental beliefs, early childhood education, literacy, language acquisition, global citizenship, and international education. She earned her Doctorate in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and now makes her home in Charlottesville, Virginia.

We talk about her research on parenting both in the US and internationally, and how that background led her to our project. We discuss the impact of culture in parenting, and why this is such a key component of our project.

Part 2 of our series on the Good Life Camp features Andy Bachmann. One of our partners in this endeavor was Camp Highlands in Sayner Wisconsin. Andy is the third generation in his family to serve as the Camp Director at Camp Highlands, and he has been at camp as a camper, counselor and Director every summer for most of his life. When not in Sayner, Andy serves as Minister for Education, Outreach and Justice at the United Church of Gainesville, in Gainsville, Florida. In this episode we get Andy's thoughts on how the mission of the camp worked so well with the mission of the Good Life project, and reflects on the impact this had on him and his staff, and what he sees for the future of this program. Don't forget to check out the previous episode and watch for more on the Good Life Camp, and the Good Life project coming soon. 

This is the first in our multi episode series about the Good Life Grant, and the Culture Camp. This summer Lac Courte Oreilles Child Support Services (LCO CSS) launched its first ever cultural camp for youth. The camp is part of The Good Life Vision project, which brings LCO CSS together with community partners to preserve, strengthen, and renew Ojibwe values in the LCO youth by providing opportunities to learn about the culture’s history, values, and practices to support Good Life parenting and reduce the negative effects of generations of cultural trauma.

The LCO Cultural Camp is one of the many programs in the works this year to develop culturally relevant and long-sustainable curricula and other tools for middle school, high school, and college students and young parents.

On this episode of the News from Peak’s podcast, Melinda McKevitt-Isham, who was the lead from the LCO CSS office, shares her perspectives on the goals of the camp with us, how it turned out, discuss with us lessons learned, and the impact she has already seen on the youth and the community at large, and hopes to build on in the future.

During this time of high stress, organizations are finding it more important than ever to support employees and teammates and encouraging self-care. Organizations are realizing that employees that are take care of themselves and feel supported have reduced stress, are more efficient and productive. Employees that take care of themselves, take less sick time and stay at an organization longer. Self-care helps ensure ongoing good health (both mental and physical), and help you better manage your stress and build resilience.

Grays Peak Strategies has been doing work with organizations on energy management, chair yoga, and meditation. This idea of a health coaching has been a recent topic that has come up and we have been introduced to an amazing health coach, Lenka Dostalova.

On this episode, Maureen Leif welcomes 4 outstanding leaders answer questions on the topic of women in leadership. We feel so lucky to have interviewed Betsy C. Donat - Ardita, Vice President of Compliance at Everside Health, Kim Newsom Bridges, Director of Child Support Services at Conduent, Keri Batchelder Jacobs, Programs and Services Section Manager, Division of Child Support Services at Colorado Department of Human Services and Kristie Arneson, Senior Administrator, Economic Security Divsion/Wyoming IV-D Director at the Wyoming Department of Human Services. They talk about their leadership styles, how they have overcome obstacles and challenges during their career, and what advice they would give if they could talk to themselves at age 25. It's an insightful and interesting conversation, and we hope it will spur on more conversation for our listeners.

On this episode we welcome Author, Photographer and Restorative Justice Scholar Howard Zehr. This episode is focused on his book Still Doing Life, 22 Lifers, 25 Years Later which is a follow up to a book he published in the 1990's. In addition to the book, we talk to him about the concept of restorative justice, and get some insights into his other projects. A fascinating guest, and after you listen you will want to visit our website for links to all his work. Be sure to listen to the end! Real fans know... 

In this edition of our Community Table Talks series, we speak with 4 guests with different perspectives and experiences with the Child Welfare program. We start with Judge Ann Meinster from Jefferson County Colorado, Korey Elder, the Permanency Manager from the Colorado Division of Child Welfare, Ángela Quijada-Banks, author of The Black Foster Youth Handbook: 50+ Lessons I Learned to Successfully Age-Out of Foster Care and Holistically Heal (Soulful Liberation Publishing), and Bill DeLisio, the Family Law Program Manager at the Colorado State Court Administrator's Office. Each guest offers their own perspective on our two questions - What is the most pressing issue in Child Welfare Today, and What is the number one way we can make a substantial difference. The panel has a lot to say, and shares some big ideas. 

More information on the guests, and links to their other work, can be found on our website at Grayspeakstrategies.com in the News from the Peak section. We encourage you to also search for the Soulful Liberation Podcast to hear more from Ángela Quijada-Banks.

In this episode we proudly present the first podcast interview with the new OCSE Commissioner Tanguler Gray. In this episode we celebrate her success, talk about her background, and get just a little preview of her approach to this new and exciting role. We get to also get a sense of her warm and welcoming personality, her sense of humor, and her commitment to the program and child support professionals across the country. 

From the OCSE Website - 

Tanguler Gray serves as the commissioner of the Office of Child Support Enforcement at the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Prior to her appointment in the Biden Administration in December 2021, Gray was a deputy commissioner in the Georgia Department of Human Services.  She previously served as the director for the division of child support services in Georgia, with over 26 years of leadership and child support experience there.  Gray has served as a member of the board for the National Child Support Enforcement Association, including president and secretary, and is serving a second term as a board member of the Eastern Regional Interstate Child Support Association.

She graduated from Valdosta State University and has a daughter and a son.

On this episode we re-visit the topic of peer support groups first introduced on this podcast in April of 2020. At that time we had just begun working with the State of Colorado on a grant to expand the use of peer support groups and study their effectiveness. In this episode we are joined by three people who serve as coordinators and leaders of the group in Montezuma County, Colorado. We get a look at how this really works from the point of view of participants, group leaders and parents who have been through the system. 

In this episode we asked several members of the GPS team to talk about 2021 and how the work we did and the people we've been fortunate to cross paths with has made this a good year. 2021 had it's ups and downs and it wasn't the huge relief over 2020 that we may have expected, but there was a lot of good stuff. Thanks for spending this time with us, and we are very excited for what we have coming up in 2022, both on the podcast and with Grays Peak Strategies in general. Speaking on this episode - in order of appearance - Joe Mamlin, Maureen Leif, Robert Riddle, Jasmine Robinson, David Ramm, Liz Bullard and Puni Kalra. Listen to the end! Watch for more episodes soon! 

For many people, when you hear the term “Executive Coaching” you think of high powered CEO’s and tall office buildings and corner offices. I know I would have thought that too – until recently. I’ve learned that executive coaching is something that can be of great value to anyone in a leadership position – and can be particularly helpful in the public sector.

On today’s show, we welcome back Liz Bullard and Puni Kalra – who we have heard from on this podcast before. Liz and Puni, in addition to their other skills are both certified executive coaches. And today they talk to Maureen Leif about what executive coaching really is, how it can be applied in the public sector, and what they have seen in their combined experience coaching leaders across a wide array of programs.

After our conversation with Liz and Puni, we get a chance to also hear from Doug Gray, who was one of the leaders who has been working with Liz as his coach for quite some time. So hopefully it will give you an even better insight into why this can be so valuable.

As most of our listeners know, the child support program has been evolving since it’s creation as part of the Social Security Act in 1975. One of the most significant changes we have seen – and probably the hardest to accomplish – has been the transition from being focused on enforcement to being focused on families. The Child Support program, and the people we serve in the program, has contact with more families than any other social service program and with that we have both a great deal of responsibility as well as a great deal of opportunity.

On today’s show, we welcome Christine Wolf, who is a social worker from the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, Family Support Division – Christine works with child support cases in Las Vegas and throughout Clark County and she is the perfect example of what we can do when we focus on the opportunity we have in this program to help families find the resources and help they need to move forward.

For more information on the Clarke County program, or to share ideas on how you might start your own, Christine has generously provided her contact information - Christine Wolf, MSW, LSW, Clark County Office of the District Attorney, Family Support Division. Email Christine.wolf@ClarkCountyDA.com. 

This is a conversation about how to continue to grow as people and how we can always bring compassion to others. We talk about the examples through Black Lives Matter and Palestine but it’s really a story for living with a true purpose to care for others, to continue to explore the realities of what we hear on our chosen new outlets, to continue to listen to one another and stay engaged. The biggest take away for me personally is that we can not remain indifferent to injustice, we must all stand up for the vulnerable. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I loved having it!

They say time flies when you’re having fun. It seems like one day you are the new kid starting your first job at the local county office, then you wake up the next day and suddenly you are the wise veteran, with enough years of service to think about the next chapter. As retirement becomes a reality, what things should you be considering? What options are available to you, and how do you want the next few years to look?

In this episode we talk about hobbies people have outside of work. This topic was of particular interest to me as I know how important my time away from work is, and how it makes me better at my job and in so many other ways. In fact, everyone at Grays Peak has some kind of interesting hobby that they are passionate about. In the GPS Family, we have people who enjoy skiing, hiking, traveling, music, art, wine, fishing, horseback riding, kayaking and much more. We do our best to encourage these things, and provide space for people to pursue what they love, which in turn makes us a happier and more cohesive team.

We have a great group of 4 guests on the show. We start the show with Chad Dexter. Chad is the Child Support director for the State of Montana and is a Mountain Bike enthusiast – to say the least. We then speak with Ian Broughton, who works for the Michigan Child Support program as the Planning, Evaluation and Analysis manager, and who is an excellent singer and musician. Then we speak with Michael Adrian, also from the Michigan Child Support program, where he serves as the Program Development Division Director. Michael is an accomplished hiker, and enjoys biking, and Kayaking as well. We close the show speaking with Zach Steed, who works for Conduent providing services to a multitude of child support clients, and who is also an accomplished blue grass musician. Stay tuned until the very end to hear some extra content and some music from Zach's band.

We were so pleased to welcome to the podcast Ángela Quijada-Banks.

Ms. Quijada-Banks is a NAACP Image Award–nominated, American best-selling author, Founder and C.E.O of Soulful Liberation (a Book publishing company and podcast), and Consciously Melanated Queens, a community to support young women of color to uncover their divine purpose and holistically heal.

She came to our attention as the author of The Black Foster Youth Handbook: 50+ Lessons I Learned to Successfully Age-Out of Foster Care and Holistically Heal (Soulful Liberation Publishing).

News from the Peak is giving away a copy of the book to the first 5 listeners to post a comment on the News from the Peak section of our website with their favorite quote from the episode. So, enjoy the episode, and leave a comment. Even if you aren’t one of the first 5, we’d love to know what you think of the episode.

In our second Community Table Talks episode, we ask about leadership. This is one of the topics we tend to hear a lot about but can never get enough of. There are certainly plenty of books, trainings, articles, and other podcasts dedicated to this topic, but today we get perhaps a more practical view on some specific leadership questions – and some great conversations that came out of them. This episode features Veronica Riley, Bryan Hubbard, Erin Frisch and Irma Neal.

In a conversation with David Ramm, Maureen Leif and Robert Riddle, Dr. Karen Mahler combines the passion and acuity of a skilled psychologist with an educator’s unstinting concern for the interests and strengths of young people. She drives home the importance—really, the sheer practical necessity—of listening to young people at every stage in the process of creating programs intended to serve them.

To kick off Season two, we bring you our first edition of a community table talk format that we hope to use occasionally. The longer conversations are really great for getting into the details of a topic, but this is a good way to gather a multitude of perspectives on one or two questions. Today we welcome 6 great guests including Tanguler gray, the Deputy Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Services, Lee Fisher, Assistant Director from Ventura County California Child Support Services, Liesa Stockdale, the State IV-D Director for Utah, Charles Smith from CSR Consulting and a long time Child Support leader from Texas, Lisa Skenadore, a VP with Systems and Methods, and the current NCSEA President, and Dr. Rita Cameron Wedding, a previous guest on the show, from the Implicit Bias Training Institute. It's a great line up of guests answering two compelling questions. At the end of the show, you hear our own answers as well. We welcome your feedback on this format, as well as suggestions for future table talk questions and guests. 

Our team developed a bond with Dr. Wedding and after the amazing attendance on the WICSEC Micro Learning we asked her to be on our podcast to which she quickly agreed. She’s also agreed to facilitate a WICSEC book club on the topic in the early part of 2021 (so stay tuned). In this podcast episode we delve deeper into systemic racism and why it is so important to be having these conversations and provide more training. We get personal and hear from Dr. Wedding on why this work means so much to her and how we all be part of the solution and lead from wherever we are.

In this episode of News from the Peak, Maureen Leif speaks with the leaders of the Leadership Pulse, Liz Bullard and Puni Kalra. They talk about the origin of the idea, the intended audience, and what to expect when you participate.  As always… listen all the way to the end for some bonus content. (#outtakes)

Maureen Leif has a conversation with Liz Bullard and Puni Kalra. It starts as a discussion about Executive Coaching, and winds up covering a lot of really interesting and intriguing topics.  Puni Kalra has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver, and is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), and has been providing leadership development and executive coaching services to clients across a multitude of industries and disciplines.  Liz Bullard has a Masters in Systems Management, and is also a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC). Liz has over 20 years of experience, and has spent a great deal of time working with public sector clients especially in the Judiciary. Both of have a wealth of experience and insights and we are delighted to have them as guests on this episode. 

We are very pleased to be releasing our 10th Episode, and to welcome our guest than Irma J. Neal. Irma is the Co-Owner and Senior Partner at Onyx Rising Financial Services, and before that had a long and successful career in Government and Human Services in both the public and private sectors. Her recent book, Leading in Chaos, is available on Amazon and Audible, and links to the book can be found on our website.  Anyone that knows her understands that she brings something very positive, very productive and very real to the table. And if you don’t know her, this is your chance!

David and Maureen interview Mariellen Keely, Policy Program Consultant with the Virginia Department of Social Services. Mariellen talks with us about the kinds of digital marketing approaches seem to be working for the Virginia child support program, how programs can get past their fears of social media (and especially the negative comments that seem to come with the territory), and what the next wave in digital marketing for child support might be.

As pride month draws to a close, we wanted to dedicate an episode to hear from people close to us about what Pride Month means to them, and what it was like this year.  We were fortunate to interview 4 people for this project, and actually wound up with so much good stuff, we decided to make it a 2 part series. Part 2 features interviews with Joe Jean and Leigh Mamlin. 

As pride month draws to a close, we wanted to dedicate an episode to hear from people close to us about what Pride Month means to them, and what it was like this year.  We were fortunate to interview 4 people for this project, and actually wound up with so much good stuff, we decided to make it a 2 part series. Part 1 features interviews with Harry Mamlin and Mike Lockner.

On this episode about modern human-centric designed technology for use in human services and specifically child support. We at Grays Peak Strategies have been working with a team from IBM for about a year now on a new approach to human services systems. Maureen Leif has a conversation with Jarrad Dann and Mike Lockner to talk about our approach to system development and how this can be applied anywhere.

In this episode, Maureen Leif speaks with Danielle Becwar about difficult conversations. Having a difficult conversation can be dreadful and often times we put them off and let things fester. Danielle has some great insight on this podcast on why we dread it so much and therefore how we can make it goes as smooth as possible.

In this episode, Kenora Dagon has a conversation with Maureen Leif about working from home. Maureen made the transition from an office environment to working from home when she started Grays Peak Strategies about 5 years ago. She talks about some of the ways she has been able to make this transition work, and how this recent situation has caused her to need to shift even further.

In this episode, Maureen Leif (President and Executive Producer) has a conversation with Tara Risser. In her role with Equinix, Tara has been managing teams around the globe for many years. While she has a lot of experience managing from a distance, during the COVID crisis, even she has had to make some adjustments.

On today’s show, Producer David Ramm has a conversation with Brett St. Clair, a marketing and communications expert, to discuss Crisis Communications. Brett is accredited by the Public Relations Society of America and has more than 25 years of experience in the field of public relations and communications. He offers some really helpful ideas and examples of how to communicate in a crisis.

This is our preview episode of our new Podcast, News from the Peak. You will hear from the creators of the show as we discuss our plans for the coming season. The focus of the podcast is to share and discuss news related to human services. In addition we have some interviews and round table discussions lined up on a variety of timely topics. Please subscribe and follow us - and we welcome your comments and suggestions. You can learn more about Grays Peak at www.grayspeakstrategies.com, and follow us on Twitter @graysPeak.