Civic Engagement

Podcast 09.28.22

S6 E02: Why Our Courts Matter

On today’s episode of Pod for the Cause, our host Kanya Bennett discusses the importance of our courts with Kadida Kenner, chief executive officer of the New Pennsylvania Project and co-chair of Why Courts Matter – Pennsylvania, and Kim Tignor, executive director for the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice and co-founder of #SheWillRise.

Podcast 09.15.22

S6 E01: Vote to Save Democracy

Welcome back to Pod for the Cause Season 6! On today’s episode our new host, Kanya Bennett, managing director of government affairs at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the Leadership Conference Education Fund, will discuss voting and civic engagement with Cece Huddleston, voting rights field coordinator for the Prepared to Vote and Voting Rights Defender projects at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Maria Town, president and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

Podcast 10.28.21

S05 E02: The Biden Scorecard Episode

Our host Vanessa Gonzalez is joined by Lena Zwarensteyn, Senior Director of the Fair Courts Campaign at The Leadership Conference and The Education Fund, and Patricia Richman, National Sentencing Resource Counsel at Federal Public and Community Defenders, to discuss the promises President Biden made to voters, unpack his record on judicial nominations and criminal justice reform, and how else our communities need him to show up.

Podcast 09.20.21

S05 E01: The Intersections of Abortion Bans

Our host Vanessa Gonzalez is joined by Aimee Arrambide, Executive Director at Avow Texas; Leila Abolfazli, Director for Federal Reproductive Rights at National Women’s Law Center; and Nancy Cardenas Pena, Texas Director of Policy and Advocacy at the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice to discuss how recent abortion restrictions ​and laws that are chipping away at the right to vote are rooted in white supremacy and how to fight against them.

Podcast 04.28.21

S04 E06: We Must Keep Fighting Barriers to the Ballot

Pod for the Cause host Vanessa N. Gonzalez is joined by voting rights leaders: Bo Shuff (Executive Director at DC Vote), Lisa Cylar Barrett (Director of Policy at the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc.), and Kadeem Cooper (Policy Counsel at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law) to break down the latest in federal voting legislation, DC Statehood, and how we move forward after the 2020 election.

Podcast 07.28.20

S03 E01: The Horrible Storm

In the season 3 premiere of "Pod for the Cause", host Ashley Allison is joined by Compton’s Mayor Aja Brown to discuss the horrible storm - between COVID-19, police violence, and everything else that has been happening in our nation. Plus, The Leadership Conference’s Allyn Brooks-LaSure and United We Dream’s Greisa Martinez join Ashley on the Pod Squad to talk about the legacies of Rev. C. T. Vivian and Congressman John Lewis, a major victory for DACA at the Supreme Court, when the pandemic is or isn’t ending, and hyper-realistic cakes.

Podcast 05.11.20

S02 E09: A Mother’s Day Tribute – 1 Year Later

Pod for the Cause host Ashley Allison is joined by former Senior Advisor to barack Obama, New York Times Bestselling Author, and mother/grandmother Valerie Jarrett to talk about the journey of motherhood, finding her voice, and the realities of being a working mother.

Podcast 04.13.20

S02 E06: Staying Connected at Home

Pod for the Cause host Ashley Allison is joined remotely by Vanita Gupta, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference, to talk about how COVID-19 has impacted our world and how, now more than ever, the fierce fight to protect civil and human rights continues.