The OtterCares Podcast

We have a lot to be thankful for. From the fantastic people and organizations we partner with to bring our mission to life to the incredible people who make up Otter Products and live out our core value of Giving Back, we are privileged to be a part of experiences and stories of transformational impact. We've learned that at the core of all impact is relationships. Whether a relationship between a teacher and a student or an individual and an organization, the relationships that we forge with others can create a positive impact in their lives. And sometimes, we had no idea that we were the catalyst of that impact. 

We had a chance to catch up with Otter Products employee, Cass Santoro and Heidi Olinger, the CEO of one of our partner organizations, Pretty Brainy, to talk about how one person's choice to invest their time and talent can create far-reaching and long-lasting impact. Several years ago, Cass signed up to volunteer to help Pretty Brainy with a project to connect young women to STEM in fun and hands-on ways. Cass had no idea that her choice to engage with Pretty Brainy would change the course of her life as well as create impact in the lives of so many other young women. Get ready to be INSPIRED! 

Check out Episode 6 of the OtterCares Podcast! We reflect on a very special day we have the joy of hosting each year - Pack2School! Our annual Pack2School event is about so much more than school supplies; it's about community. What a great way to start the school year!

We're back from our summer break and are sharing some of the cool things we experience over the last couple months and talk about what we're up to this fall! Check out this episode of the OtterCares Podcast and hear about some of the impactful projects we were apart of in June, what we were up to in July and hear more stories of impact that you can watch on YouTube Channel!

It's National Volunteer Week! We're celebrating the week (and every day!) that focuses on the importance of volunteering. From picking up trash at a local park to using your professional skills to help an organization, everyone has the ability to make a difference by using their time, talent and treasure in our community. Listen to this month's episode of the OtterCares Podcast to get inspired to volunteer in your community, either in-person or virtually! Want to volunteer but not sure where to start? Check out volunteermatch.org to get started! 

Sometimes you have to look back to appreciate your journey and get excited about the future. In our journey, we've had the privilege of partnering with some incredible organizations that have allowed us the opportunity to invest in the future and create long-lasting, transformational change in the lives of students and in our communities. One of these partners is the Rocky Mountain chapter of Junior Achievement. We sat down with Kelsey and Elizabeth from JA to reflect on a relationship that has spanned over a decade and celebrate the impact we have created together. So many feels!

Happy 2022! We're jumping right into the New Year with some helpful tips and ideas for helping you craft a killer grant proposal! We sat down with Hilary Sontag, Director of Competitive Grants & Strategic Partnerships at St. Vrain Valley Schools in Longmont, Colo., to chat about all things grant writing, including how to develop partnerships with potential funders and overcoming writer's block to help convey your idea in words. Have grant writing as a goal to accomplish this year? Take a listen!

Another year of impact, learning and growth in the books! As we wrap up 2021, we take time in our final episode of the year to reflect on the moments that made the year memorable. Take a listen and remember to celebrate your growth and learning from this past year! Thank you to ALL of our amazing listeners who make this Podcast possible! Happy New Year!

It's the most WONDERFUL time of the year...to give back! As we approach the end of the year and the holiday season, there are so many ways we can help inspire kiddos in our world to give back by leveraging the spirit of the season. Whether it is finding ways to volunteer as a family during the holidays or creating fun and easy activities that help young people understand the power they have to help others, this time of the year is the perfect time to dive into those opportunities that bring the joy of giving to life. We chatted with our Impact and Education Director, Sarah Weeks, all about ways that anyone can jump into giving back and creating impact in their communities! Get inspired!!

Welcome to episode 9 of the OtterCares Podcast! In this episode, we have the privilege to chat with an incredible Otter who volunteers over 200 hours a year with nonprofits she cares about! Not only is she an amazing Otter, she is also the recipient of the Minoru Yasui Community Volunteer Award and February 26, 2021 was officially “Liza Patton Day” in Denver  in recognition of her incredible volunteerism! What an inspiration!

At OtterCares, we love to invest in ideas that have the power to transform young people and unleash the maker, doer and giver inside each and every student. But this transformation cannot be made alone. That is why we are eager to tap into the passions and talents of educators who are cultivating tomorrow's change-makers using hands-on and innovative approaches to learning. We not only seek to partner with these likeminded educators, we want to help create more educators to transform even more students! We're partnering with MindSpark Learning to kick off our inaugural NoCO IgnitED event! This event is designed to bring together educators, business leaders and community members to discover ways to not only prepare students for the workforce of tomorrow but to help cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and spirit in young people, setting them up to be the innovators, problem-solvers and world-changers who will transform our communities and world for the better. Check it out!

Welcome to episode 7 of the OtterCares Podcast! In this amazing episode, we chat with STEM Coordinator, Becky Woodcocks and parent volunteer, Kelli Wallace about their students' experience using Project Heart! Becky and our very own Sarah Weeks collaborated on integrated our Project Heart content into Becky's afterschool leadership club, STAR Squad, and the results were incredible! Get ready to be inspired and listen to Becky and Kelli's awesome story!

We've sat down with Kellie, the CEO of MindSpark, to talk about our incredible partnership and collaboration on one of their flagship programs, Education Accelerator! Get ready to be inspired and learn more about how you can get involved in EA to advance and elevate your school or organization's educational goals!

Welcome to episode 5 of the OtterCares Podcast! In this episode, we get the opportunity to chat with an extraordinary Otter who is not only passionate about the work she does but also about the service she gives to others. We talked with Shanshan about her incredible volunteer experience and what she is doing to create impact in her community while celebrating and preserving her culture. She also shares some ideas and tips for how you can get into volunteering and find a project that is just right for you! Check it out!

It's National Volunteer Week! In this episode, we chat about all things volunteering and how you can find ways to give back, even from home! We also chat about our annual volunteer day, closed2open! Tricia Vincent, our Senior Director of Grants and Programs, shares the genesis of this incredible day of giving, what is different this year and why this day is so important to our company and our communities! Don't miss it!

We sat down with one of our awesome partners, Christian Ludwig at the Vista Innovation and Design Academy in Vista, Calif. and chatted about how he has brought Project Heart to his students in an unique and entrepreneurial way! Have a listen and then visit https://myprojectheart.org/resources/projectheartvida to get access to Christian's materials and use them in your classroom today! 

To create change, you have to have community. Meet one of our amazing community partners, Colorado Succeeds, and hear how we are working together to help connect community and education to help prepare students for tomorrow!

Happy New Year to all of our listeners! We're so excited about a new year full of new opportunities to create impact! In this episode, we talk a little bit about our plans for 2021, share thoughts about how we can make the most out of the year and share some teasers into future Podcast episodes. Are you ready to make 2021 a year to remember (in a good way!)? Let's do it!

Our last episode of 2020!

It's been a crazy year but that hasn't stopped us from working hard to continue to grow our impact through our mission while staying true to our core value of giving back. We sat down with our Executive Director, Linda Crum, to reflect on the successes and accomplishments this year while sharing some of our goals for 2021. Get INSPIRED!!!

Thank you to ALL of our amazing listeners for making our pilot year so incredible! Stay tuned for a new year full of new stories, new tips and more ways to Ignite Tomorrow Today!

Happy National Entrepreneurship Month! In this episode we get to chat with one of our amazing education partners, Erin Bley, all about teaching students the fundamentals of thinking and being an entrepreneur!

Another AMAZING episode the OtterCares Podcast! This month, we talk all things Innovation Stations! Hear from Tricia Vincent, our Senior Director of Grants and Programs and one of our Innovation Station Fund recipients, Kaitlyn Chambers and get inspired to apply for your own Innovation Station!

Our Impact and Education Director, Sarah, wrote an amazing series focused on a book by Dr. Michelle Borba called, "Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About- Me World." The framework that Dr. Borba shares in this page-turner aligns beautifully with our belief that empathy is life-long practice and that it is something that requires intentional reinforcement in school, home and in our community. We love this book SO much and see a beautiful synergy between teaching and cultivating empathy and what we're striving to cultivate in young people through Project Heart! We dug into Dr. Borba’s framework and discussed what these habits mean to us, how they connect to Project Heart and provide some fun tips and tools on how you can put these habits into action. In this Episode of the OtterCares Podcast, we talk about the series as a whole and focus our discussion around why teaching empathy is so important. Check it out!

We're back from summer break with some fun news - we have a new addition to our team! In this episode, we introduce you to our new Community and Employee Engagement Manager, Courtney, and hear all about who she is and her role in helping us grow our mission! Check it out!

S1:E5 of the OtterCares Podcast introduces you to Tricia Vincent, our Senior Director of Grants and Programs. Tricia has been with the Foundation since day 1 and is our go-to person for all of your burning questions about grants and funding! Want to know more about how to apply for one of our program grants? Listen now!

When a young person uses their personal passions to identify and solve a problem in the world using entrepreneurial thinking, they are the change-makers that make our world better! Olivia is an amazing example of how you can use entrepreneurship to tackle a problem in an innovative way and she is one of our Illumination Fund grant recipients! Check out Olivia's interview and listen to her passion, determination and drive to change the world!

Welcome to a special edition of the OtterCares Podcast! Like all of our listeners, we are practicing social distancing and shelter in place to safeguard the health of ourselves and those in our communities. But just because we're social distancing doesn't mean we can't socialize! We've practiced and not quite perfected the art of Zoom conferences but we sure had fun using the platform to interview our Impact and Education Director, Sarah Weeks! Listen to Sarah, a former teacher, talk about the importance of helping young people connect to and solve problems while engaging in remote learning and hear how our philanthropy education program, Project Heart, can help you unleash the world-changer in your students!

Whew! We're still coming off of such an amazing rush after our 4th annual closed2open volunteer event! Listen to some of the amazing (and tear-jerking) testimonials we captured from the day and learn more about what closed2open is about! And...drum roll please...we have a big announcement! Want to know what is happening at OtterCares? Listen to find out!

Welcome to the first ever episode of our new OtterCares Podcast! Our goal is to bring you fun and enjoyable content that you can listen to anywhere. In this episode, you'll be introduced to our production and hosting team, learn a little bit about who OtterCares is and what we're all about. You'll hear overviews of upcoming stories and learn more about what to expect when you tune into future episodes of the OtterCares Podcast.