Nora: You're listening to episode one of The Do Good Team Podcast, a brief introduction to our podcast.
David: Hello everyone and thank you so much for choosing to listen to the do good team. I am one half of your married couple hosts, David.
Nora: And I am his very lovely wife, Nora. Thank you so much for joining us today on this very first episode of our new adventure as part of The Do Good Team. In today's episode, we want to take a little bit of time to talk to you about what The Do Good Team is, what our purpose is, and finally sharing what personal connection and meaning David and I have towards this podcast, what motivated us and encouraged us to develop this.
David: Nora and I have been talking about this podcast for a long time. We're both pretty active and, not necessarily with nonprofits per se, but we have activity in education and trying to work with different communities of need. So we were trying to figure out, hey, how can we develop something on our own that can, you know, help people out and just make the world a little bit of a better place. But with you too, the listener, as active team, with us. So jumping into that, what's the purpose of the do good team? Why should you keep listening in? What's so important about this podcast? What makes it different from everything else? Well, the purpose of this podcast is to create a team of individuals, you the listener, along with Nora and I, to really connect with different organizations out there that are working to improve the world, and by that I mean individuals, organizations that are going out there working on a wide range of topics. It could be anything from veterans causes, it could be humane treatment of animals, it could be issues related to mental health matters…anything under the sun. There will be no topic that we won't cover as long as there's interesting, intriguing stories to tell and there's impacts to be made and, most importantly, connecting people to resources. How can we improve each other's lives collectively? Because it's not just about those organizations and the work that they do. Of course that's important. But the work that we do through them and the connections can improve our own lives as well. So that's very important to us. I think I just had a heartfelt talk about what this is. Nora did I miss anything?
Nora: The only thing that I would like to add is that the way that the podcast is going to be working is that we are going to specifically target nonprofits to highlight in each episode and during the episodes we're going to have an opportunity to interview and highlight the specific work, the type of cost that the nonprofit is focused on doing, so that more or less will be the structure of the podcast in addition to what David mentioned. About the purpose of our podcast, some additional things that we hope to achieve are being able to take this and spread it so that it is focused on the personal side of nonprofits. We want to be able to present to you, the audience, the personal stories behind the individuals that developed the nonprofits and are working actively in them. We also want to present to you the origin and the inspiration behind the nonprofit that we're highlighting in each episode. And as David already mentioned, we want to make sure that this podcast and that this journey and adventure includes you as part of the team, which would mean having you become actively engaged in these courses in various ways and what will be the end result is that not only will the lives of those that benefit from the causes will be empowered, but also your own life will be empowered by us helping bridge connections and a purpose driven action.
David: That's beautiful. And everybody here is listening to the main reason why I we we decided to make this a A-Team endeavor. Nor reins me in. Nor is the brains and the beauties of the operation, and I'm just along for the ride. So thank you so much, sweetheart. The other thing that I wanted to mention really quickly. That I've mentioned before, kind of behind the scenes, is that another important thing is making sure that people know that they're already loved. There's individuals out there that may not know that there's resources out there, that there's organizations committed to causes that are important to. Them and they may listen to this podcast and realize, Oh my gosh, I didn't know that there was individuals out there who already cared about me and the issues or the matters in them. And I'm facing so you know, love is definitely going to be a central theme of the do good team. In fact, our catch phrase, and you'll hear a lot from us, is we're going to do some good and spread some love. Really excited about that.
Nora: So now we want to go ahead and start kind of sharing a little bit about our personal journeys. What has brought us to create this podcast, like why is it important and meaningful for us individually. So David, would you like to share first?
David: Yeah, I will share first. Thank you so much. So you know, I think Nora and I as we continue this podcast, you'll learn that we're a little bit off open books. I think that's important to be transparent in who we are and where we came from and you know to share just a little bit about my background, I had a pretty rough patch in my life roughly about 10 years ago and that lasted for several years. And reflecting on that time, I realized that I would not be where I'm at without the unconditional love and support of family and friends and the community at large in my own community. I started really thinking about how people such as, you know, myself and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to something [like that]. That really do rely on the support of the individuals around them, so how can I highlight or we as a do good team, how can we highlight how can we amplify those causes, organizations, individuals that are already working out there to help other people that may be in need of services. [It] could be counseling, [it] could be financial services. So that's really how the idea came up, at least in my mind, so I know there's a phrase that I really like, which is “but for the grace of God there goes I.” My life could have taken many different directions, but for the grace of God there was loving people and individuals in my life that you know ensured that I stayed on a on a good path. So that was the impetus behind The Do Good Team, at least in my own mind, but moving forward and ahead a little bit about myself. Currently I am attorney. And uh, most of my practice has been with Indian tribes. I've done a lot of work on criminal justice issues, tribal court building. I also have a background in human resources. I've done some HR work for some educational institutions over the past five years, including building some educational bridges with local Indian tribes…Ihave always kept a connection with the tribes, no matter what work I've done. And if you probably could assume by my work, I am also a native myself, I'm an enrolled member of the Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. So that's a little bit about my background. And I am a proud Mexican as well. I can't forget both parts of my heritage. So yeah, I think that's just a brief overview of who I am. And you'll probably will notice as you learn and go along this adventure with me that I could talk a lot, so I gotta pull that in a little bit, and I'm generally a pretty positive. And I laugh a lot. So hopefully you'll be able to withstand my giggles and my positive attitude as we go along this adventure with each other.
Nora: Thank you, David. So now it's my turn. Personally, academically and professionally, I've always had a connection and an interest in learning, discussing and working to holistically address matters of access, equity and justice. I have a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in sociology. And that perspective has taken me from focusing on individual. Factors that influence one to make certain decisions and then have certain impacts in our life to then with the sociological perspective, looking at the bigger lens, looking at how society, the norms that are created in society affect an individual. And so these two perspectives together. The individual and the societal perspectives have really helped me be able to. My dress, my career in such a holistic lens, and anytime that I'm working with an individual, really applying a multidisciplinary multifactorial perspective to addressing the issue that I'm taking on hand with the individual that I'm working with in terms of like my personal background. I definitely have had a lot of experience and been very positively. Supported by various resources specifically related to nonprofits as a result of some of like my upbringing and background, I am of an immigrant background. I came from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, at the age of three. I have primarily been raised by a single mother. My background has been low income and minoritized so. Well, we never had any significant issues with having food on the table. There were times where we had very low resources like we needed any, any support that we could get was helpful to our family professionally. I have been intrigued and always enjoyed. Working in public service, I've worked in addition to public service also in Human Services and currently in student support. Some of my past careers have been working as an educational interpreter and translator, specifically in the field of special education. I've been a case worker. I've been a social worker, most recently for about the past four years I've been working as a career advisor. And very soon I'm going to be starting a role as an academic advisor. And the reason why I'm bringing all these three areas up is because every single one of those has been influenced by. This lens of trying to work towards equity, but also understanding that equity can't really be addressed on its own. It takes many individuals. It takes various resources, various supports, specifically nonprofits. I would also like to share a little bit about. My experience as both a child and adult working directly and receiving support from some nonprofits, so when I was. In elementary school, as I mentioned earlier, I had a family that had very limited resources. We definitely had enough to get a couple outfits for the beginning of the school year, but it was like maybe one or two. While I would see like other peers, that had a lot more resources available. And you know, there was a program that still exists that's called operation. Well, and somebody in our school nominated my family to be able to get to be to participate in this program, and it was, it's a really neat program that offers students that come from disadvantaged minoritized and low income backgrounds the opportunity to go into this really neat. Little it's kind of like. A setup of a mom. Rock retail store and you get an opportunity to go in there, pick out clothes like try them on and then take a couple of pairs for the beginning of the school year. And that was just such a huge blessing for my family and for I like it helped us not feel stigmatized or feel different from other children. That had more than we could afford. Um, so that's been one program that is very close to my heart and that has made a significant impact in my life. And I know of other students that have benefited from. And then finally, UM, I want to talk about the program. It's called “Salvemos Una Vida.” Let's save a life. This is a program that I had an opportunity to collaborate with when I was studying abroad in Mexico during college. This program is very much community geared. It is focused on training. And educating on providing resources. For individuals that are dealing with depression, anxiety and are at risk for suicide, the area where I did my research, it was in the state of Yucatan and Yucatan is one of the states in Mexico that has the highest rate of suicide in the country. And through this program they work with my mentor, who is a faculty at The Who has this multidisciplinary perspective towards addressing matters of suicide. And they really applied different strategies like that, I really feel are going to be significant in making a difference with decreasing the suicide rate. And they would discuss things related to culture, they would discuss matters related to the medical area. They would discuss things related to like, societal issues that might be contributing to suicide. So this very comprehensive program community driven is one of those programs that also stays very close to my heart and that I really support very much for its holistic. So finally kind of just to end a little bit on my perspective, I really believe that the work that is done by nonprofits is working towards addressing the inequity puzzle. Everyone's work together is helping us get closer to ending disparities and equities and injustices. And I am very excited to be a part of this podcast because I know that together we will work towards creating awareness, spreading community and love, and bringing equity closer to everyone.
David: I love it when you talk. About your work.
Nora: Thank you.
David: Ladies and gentlemen, you're listening to one of the many reasons why I love my wife. She's just an amazing human being. Thank you. Geez, now I have to follow up all of that and man, OK, tough act to follow everybody. Alright, So what can you expect next from The Do Good Team? The next thing is, as you heard from both of us ,is meaningful connections developing those deep connections. It's hard to create those deep connections in our busy world, and we're going to try to do a make it a little bit easier for everybody and we hope to inspire everybody. Additionally, when this podcast drops episode one soon after, or maybe at the same time, we will have our first episode, also published at the same time, so we will keep you informed via our social media. We are still setting that up right now. So hopefully by episode two we will have information about our social media, but we do have an e-mail right now that we can share with you if you have any comments or suggestions, please send your emails to. The do good team@gmail.com that's all spelled normally, no, you know, crazy punctuations or numbers. Just the do good team@gmail.com. And yeah, I think we're just very excited about this endeavor and seeing where it goes and creating a team of do gooders.
Nora: Finally, we'd like to share with you a small little secret to keep an eye out for. So during each interview we are going to ask each of our interviewees how they define love. We are very excited to hear how each individual defines it for themselves and we are excited for you to keep an eye out. For that special thing, we're going to be.
David: Yes, lots of fun surprises and things that we can look forward to all as a group of individuals. And I'm really excited about this. So we have reached the end of today's very first podcast. Yay for everybody here. We're excited. Looking forward to creating a team of do gooders. And I know we're going to put together. A great team and before we close out, we're going to share something else that's really close and important to us. A phrase that's near and dear to Nora and I. It's something that appeared in our wedding vows, and it's a phrase that we actually both wrote down in our vows individually. We did not expect the other person to write it, so it's always been near and dear to our heart so.
Nora: We didn't. And now we want to share that with you and also make this kind of a vow to you that in our work together, I know that David and I and all. Of you, the nonprofits that are going to be working with us and the listeners that.
Nora & David: Juntos, somos and buen equipo, which means together, we're a good team, yes.
David: So thank you, everybody, for listening in and I'm looking forward to you tuning in Episode 2.
Nora: Yes, thank you so much. And let's do some good and spread some love.
David: See you later.