Tish Guerin is an innovative Mental Health and Wellness Clinician and also the first full time in-house Mental Health Clinician to be hired by a National Football League (NFL) franchise, The Carolina Panthers. She specializes in program development, life transitions, sports therapy, anxiety, depression and professional burnout.

Over the course of her career, Tish has been able to guide thousands of individuals and many organizations through periods of transition, equipping them with techniques and propelling them through an array of challenges, while remaining focused on optimal growth. Tish’s work is guided by Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Crisis Intervention.

On today’s podcast, Judge Cureton and Dr. McCarter joined to discuss racial justice and the social determinants of health. Both speak about their careers working to advance the lives of youth of color through programs, services, and the criminal justice system. They also highlight the work of Race Matters for Juvenile Justice (RMJJ) a court-driven organization that works to reduce disproportionality and disparate outcomes for children and families of color through institutional organizing, education, and workforce development.

On this episode, Greg Jackson discusses his work with at-risk youth in northeast Charlotte neighborhood of Orchard Trace Condominiums. He describes the days following the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott as a driving force for him to work to build bridges across racial difference in the Charlotte community, and how this experience informs his current work with youth.

On this episode, Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at the University of North Carolina Charlotte, joins to talk about health, diet, nutrition, and exercise. She discusses the science of physical activity, and what we know about how exercise promotes so many different aspects of health. She also discusses how access and other factors determine one's ability to engage in exercise and how these differences in access lead to health disparities across the life course.

On this podcast episode, Shawna Pagano joins to discuss the work being done in Charlotte to address the challenge of human trafficking. Shawna provides an introduction into types of trafficking (e.g. labor trafficking, sex trafficking), and discusses how her work at Pat’s Place and collaboration with law enforcement is working to address this challenge within the Charlotte community and beyond.

On today's podcast, Ericka Ellis-Stewart joins from Mental Health America to discuss her work in advocating for the health and mental wellness of communities across North Carolina. A tireless advocate for mental wellness, Ericka discusses her work training communities in mental health first aid, engaging communities in suicide prevention efforts, and advancing legislation in local, state, and federal levels to address mental health concerns.

Wendy Mateo Pascual joins the podcast to talk about her work empowering and connecting people and communities. Wendy is originally from Dominican Republic and had lived in Charlotte Region for sixteen years. She shares about her work as a community leader skilled in non- profit organization, leadership development, civic engagement, women empowerment, immigrant integration and networking building.

Dr. Keri Revens joins the podcast as a community-based health researcher with expertise in mental health, population health change, immigrant health, and evaluation. She shares her research on the topic of resilience, and how resilience can help individuals and communities cope with stress, bounce back from challenges, and support one's health and wellbeing in the context of the Latino immigration experience.

Katie Pendergrast joins the podcast with Erin Nasmyth from Adoption Support Alliance. They discuss areas of their work where they help adoptive families through the challenges of building their forever families. ASA provides adoption-competent counseling, support groups for adoptees and adoptive families, classes to educate pre and post adoption and hosts community building events for adoptive families, with a vision to ensure that all adoptive families get the support they need to thrive.

Dr. Vanessa Drew-Branch, Assistant Professor at Elon University and the Owner of VLDrew Consulting Inc., joins the podcast to share about her work in end-of-life care and doula services from a multicultural and culturally inclusive perspective. She also speaks to the importance of mental health care and managing grief, and loss from a holistic perspective.

Will Jones has devoted his career to child welfare, juvenile justice and behavioral health services in residential- and community-based programming. He joins the podcast today to share insight into how to address the social determinants of health across a wide domain of human services work.

Markia Hearst, Kelli Wood, and Jasmine Warren from Pat's Place join the podcast to discuss the impact of child abuse and neglect on the health and wellbeing of children, and offer examples of how we can support children as they navigate a complex system of social care. The conversation continues with an engaging conversation on choosing a career in the helping professions and taking time for self-care.

Award-winning investigative reporter and author Paul Cuadros joins the podcast to discuss migration and the experience of newcomers in the United States. He discusses much of the reporting outlined in his fantastic book, “A Home on the Field: How One Championship Team Inspires Hope for the Revival of Small Town America,” which tells the story of Siler City, N.C., as it copes and struggles with Latino immigration through the lives of a predominantly Latino high school soccer team.

North Carolina State Representative Graig Meyer joins the podcast to offer examples of legislative solutions that address the social determinants of health across North Carolina. He describes his work across micro and macro levels, using skills to work both with individuals while also bringing a systemic perspective about how policy impacts the health and wellbeing of people. He also encourages social workers and helping professionals to be engaged in the political process and describes how promoting community health is inextricable from engaging in the public sphere.

Shantiqua Neely, Executive Director, and Delana Murdock, Grants and Data Associate of A Child's Place join the podcast to discuss the social determinants of family homelessness. Using examples from their practice and evaluation data, Shantiqua and Delana challenge common perceptions of family and child homelessness and encourage listeners to examine root causes and the social and contextual factors that put families in positions of housing insecurity - while offering avenues for positive support and intervention.