- This month on The SPARK, our theme is "Fostering Inclusivity".

We'll learn more about an organization creating opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership development, for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

A nonprofit pursuing a smaller, fair, and more humane criminal justice system.

And a business with a book focused on cultivating culture in the workplace and in our community.

We'll also share a special moment from our SPARK Awards, 2021.

- From our very beginnings in 1954, Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance has been built on the values of customer service, leading with integrity, and supporting our community.

We believe in promoting the positives, encouraging engagement, and leading by example to power the good.

Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance is honored to be a presenting sponsor of The SPARK.

- (male announcer) Additional funding for The SPARK is provided by EcOp, the Memphis Zoo, My Town Movers, My Town Roofing, My Town Miracles, and by Meritan.

- Ever been excited by a new idea, inspired by watching someone lead by example?

When we talk about creating change, we start by sharing the stories of everyday heroes, who are making a difference in their own way, so we can learn and do the same.

I'm Jeremy Park, and this is The SPARK.

[uplifting music] They're creating opportunities for one-to-one friendships, leadership development, integrated employment, and so much more.

We're here with Morgan Tansey, she's the deputy Director of Programs and Operations for Best Buddies of Tennessee.

And let's start out, give us a little bit of history for Best Buddies of Tennessee.

- Yes, Best Buddies in Tennessee, we have been here for, gosh, going on over a decade.

We started out in the Nashville area, transitioned to the Memphis area a few years after that.

And we offer programming for our school participants, adult participants, jobs, primarily through friendships.

But we are creating inclusive communities that support just overall, the life cycle of our participants.

- Let's go ahead and dive in onto the school program, especially.

So talk about how the magic works for the schools.

- Our schools start as early as pre-K, go all the way through college.

And the focus is creating authentic and meaningful friendships through our chapters.

We match students with and without disabilities in one-to-one friendships, based on shared interests, age range, and they spend about two to four hours together through these chapter activities.

And it's just a great way to not only give students an opportunity to come together and learn from one another, but also to create more inclusive school communities in our Nashville and Memphis communities.

- I look at this as a powerful way to foster inclusivity, build relationships, break down barriers and stereotypes.

What does it mean for you all in the community, and what are some of those testimonials that are coming back, the feedback from people involved?

- So one of the biggest testimonials we've had this year is from a smaller rural community between Memphis and Nashville.

And it's their first year that they've had the chapter.

They were a little nervous about how the chapter would just be received within the school community, and the culture of the school.

But they reported, at the end of this year, that they have just seen the impact Best Buddies has had on making that campus more inclusive.

One of their buddies who has a disability, he's pretty large, and sometimes just doesn't realize how tall he is, and his range, and his impact as just a physical person.

And he has been matched with the chapter president there, and they have just developed such a sweet friendship.

And she invited him to her signing day, she signed on to play college sports at a university, and he was a part of that every step of the way.

And they just said that's such a testament that people are oftentimes intimidated by him because of his physical presence.

And she took the time to really get to know him on a personal level.

And now they have this just sweet, authentic friendship, that extends past just the chapter activities, into her personal life and her celebrations and everything.

And that's really the goal of our programs.

- You also do this with adults.

Let's talk about the adult program.

- Yes, our adult program is for anyone 18 and up.

Maybe they're aging out of a high school chapter, or like a post-secondary program, just isn't the right fit for them, 'cause we do have adult programs at the college level.

But Citizens is for anyone who maybe just doesn't fit into that college chapter mold, and they wanna stay connected to Best Buddies, they wanna stay connected socially, and it operates very similarly to our school-based chapters.

Individuals are matched in those one-to-one friendships based on similar interests, age range.

We really wanna be mindful of geographic location as well, so people aren't having to drive all over town to meet their match.

And then they spend two to four hours together monthly, doing whatever it is that they like to do.

We have Buddy pairs who, you know, go to Memphis Hustle games, are going to Preds games, are just going to catch a movie.

We have one buddy pair in the Memphis area, and the peer buddy drives all the way from Oxford.

He's just so passionate about our mission, he comes all the way up from Ole Miss to be matched in a friendship with one of our buddies, who's such a joy, and his favorite thing is Huey's.

So I think they eat at Huey's almost every month, as part of their monthly activities.

But it's just so fun to see what they all do, that's so different and unique to them.

- Integrated employment is another piece of what you do.

So talk about jobs and how companies can engage.

- So companies can engage, if they're interested in being a Jobs employer, the goal of our Jobs Program is to create inclusive opportunities for employment.

So our Jobs participants are very capable, and they wanna have this independence.

And I think independence really starts with having a job to support them, and for them to feel like they have a place that they belong.

And we really individualize the support that we give to Jobs participants, based on their strengths and their needs.

Our Jobs team does a great job of taking the time to just learn from each Jobs participant.

You know, what job are you looking for?

We're not trying to create a job for you, we're looking out into the community, like what is a good fit that already is out there, that you have the strengths for and the skillset for?

Once, you know, they go through that job development phase, our Jobs team does a great job of finding job placement, and then doing job support, as people do their onboarding and their jobs.

We have people who are, you know, data analysts for some healthcare companies.

We have people that work at Blaze Pizza Company in the Nashville area.

We have someone who works at T.J. Maxx here in Memphis.

So there's a wide range of what jobs look like, and it's very individualized just to that person.

So any corporate organization who's interested, and wants to get involved, we're always looking for, you know, people to engage with the mission as a Jobs employer.

Maybe even just for someone to come do job training, or like job shadowing, to see, "Is this something I'm even interested in?"

There's a wide variety of ways to get involved with Jobs Program.

- Wrap up, Morgan, with contact information, so website, social media, where do we go to learn more, and to reach out and get involved?

- Our website is bestbuddies.org/tennessee.

And you can find us on Facebook and Instagram, @BBTN, Best Buddies BBTN.

- Well Morgan, thank you for all you, and your amazing team, do.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you so much.

[uplifting music] - They're pursuing a smaller, fair, and more humane criminal justice system.

We're here with the Executive Director of Just City, Josh Spickler.

And Josh, let's start out with the why for Just City.

- Hey Jeremy, thanks for having me.

The "why" for Just City is this system, this system of public safety, of justice, is fundamentally broken from the top to the bottom, the top in Tennessee being the death penalty, a system that we still use, but one that we have stopped using, just as of a couple of weeks ago, because it doesn't work.

So we've paused executions, because that system is so broken all the way down to traffic offenses, right?

People who get pulled over every day, for all sorts of minor, very minor offenses.

But that system itself has, you know, resulted in nothing more than a debt trap for most people.

And they're more unlicensed drivers on our roads, in Tennessee, than there have ever been before.

So from the most serious, to the least serious, the system is broken, and it's not doing what it purports to do.

It's not doing what we deserve it to do, and that is to keep us safe, and to bring this community justice and accountability, when people break the law.

So we're here to try to bring focus on those issues, and do what we can to make it work for all of us.

- So go ahead and dive into the magic of how you operate.

So talk about everything from bails and expungements, to, you know, going into the courts and seeing it for yourself.

So how does it work?

- Yeah, well, our theory of change is that we do a little bit of harm reduction, right?

This system can, you know, can work better, when someone comes along, like Just City, and helps.

And for us, that's meant paying expungement fees, paying this fee, that when we started Just City, was the third-highest in the country for people to get that record clear, and to move on with their life, and to get a job, and to get financial independence.

We, while we're doing that harm reduction, are also working on the policy itself, working on the system itself.

And so over the years we have reduced that fee that we used to have to pay, from $450 to 0, in a lot of instances.

And so we've sort of proven the case, and we do the same thing with bail.

We pay people's bail for lower level, more non-violent offenses, as harm reduction.

But at the same time, we're in discussions right now with Shelby County on how to do pre-trial detention better, and how to not depend upon money bail so heavily, so that fewer people are safely in our jail.

And more people are safely on our streets awaiting their day in court.

And so it's that type of theory of change that we're pursuing; show a little bit of the problem, but really attack the system, and not try to build the biggest harm-reduction nonprofit in the city.

We wanna fix these systems, because we know how they can work better, other communities have demonstrated that.

And we wanna bring that here to Shelby County.

- Talk about your efforts with COVID-19, and tied to the pandemic, what you all have been doing.

- Yeah, well, when COVID-19 came to our community, like all the communities in this country, we knew that jails and prisons were going to be one of the most dangerous places to be.

And in this community, we have proportionally more people in jails and prisons than most communities in this country.

And so we got busy with our bail fund, and went from paying bail for about 15 people a month, to doubling that to about 30 people a month, pretty quickly at the beginning of the pandemic.

And we've continued that pace ever since.

We've also joined with partners to file a lawsuit against the sheriff for the conditions in the jail during COVID, arguing that there are certain disabled and medically-vulnerable people in the jail, who simply can't be kept safe.

And so with that litigation, we have gotten inspectors into the jail, and we've gotten certain policies and procedures in place to help protect people in the jail.

But those jails and prisons, the jails and prisons in this community, are dangerous places to be, even in good times.

And so we need to figure out how to have fewer people in them safely.

And that's really the ultimate focus of everything we're doing, is getting people out of this system and back to normal, back to, even with their community, in a safe, efficient way.

- How do you approach for those who say, "Hey, how are you balancing the being proactive, but yet also managing public safety?"

So the humane side of this, but also the safety and accountability side.

Talk about the balance, and where that reform comes in.

- Yeah, absolutely.

mean, we crossed a tipping point decades ago in America, with our criminal justice policies.

I mean, we embarked on an experiment in the late '70s, early '80s in this country, that is unlike one that any other country has ever tried, in the history of mankind, right?

So it's not about the length of sentences anymore, that they're as long as they can get, right?

And what we know, after studying this for decades, is that a lengthier sentence at this point does no good.

So we've got data and science on our side.

We know that we've reached a point where lengthier sentences are not gonna make us safer.

And in fact, are making us less safe.

And that's the truth, in pre-trial detention in the jail too.

We know that after three days, a person's life begins to come unraveled, especially a person living in poverty.

And it makes them more likely to come back into the system.

It makes it more likely that there will be another victim.

And that's why things like this Truth in Sentencing Bill that Tennessee passed this year are just fundamentally terrible public policy.

The governor said it himself, when he refused to sign it, "We are going to see more victims, "we are going to see more recidivism, "and we're going to see more physical strain on our budgets because of these policies."

So public safety is possible, more public safety is possible, but we've got to reverse this trend of being as punitive as we know how; it's just not working.

- Talk about the expungements and the work around that, tied to creating and fostering inclusivity, so giving people opportunities in our community.

- Yeah, people who have been through this system come out with a brand, right, with a Scarlet letter, if you will, on their chest.

Even sometimes folks whose cases have been dismissed, right?

We talk to people all the time who were arrested, had their case dismissed, but still have to explain that to a potential employer.

And so we talk about discrimination of a lot of different people in our society.

But you know, millions of Americans, at this point, sixty or seventy, millions of Americans, have a criminal history, have a criminal record of some sort.

And that's a lot of people going in, trying to get into the workforce, or trying to advance in the workforce, for something that may have happened 5, 10, 15 years ago.

And so we're trying to, yes, make it a more inclusive opportunity when people want to get a better job, when people wanna get a better place to live, when people wanna get a better education.

And a criminal history can severely impact all of that.

So we're trying to do everything we can, to again, safely reduce that discrimination, and eliminate it, ultimately, with public safety in mind.

You know, if you're hiring someone to a bank, you wanna know if they've been convicted of embezzlement, right, in the last 5 or 10 years.

But you know, there are ways to create policy with that in mind, right?

It's about negotiation and compromise, and that's what we've done in the past, and hope to do more of in the future.

- So wrap up with website, social media, where do we go to learn more about Just City?

- Yeah, you can find us on the web at justcity.org.

We're on most social media platforms @JustCity901.

We update frequently, we give you some stats and stories.

It's a great way to stay informed about what's going on in the criminal legal system in this community.

- Well Josh, greatly appreciate all you and your amazing team are doing, thank you for coming on the show.

- Thanks, Jeremy.

[uplifting music] - The SPARK Awards annually recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the community.

The 2021 recipient of the Corporate Award for companies with 101 to 499 employees is Nucor Logistics.

- Nucor is North America's most diversified steel and steel products company.

Nucor Logistics Center is a division, a Nucor Corporation, located here in Memphis.

Nucor Logistics Center serves as a resource for all of our divisions across the US, and helps them move product to-and-from their various customers.

In 2013, when the Nucor Logistics Center started up, we were approached by a group that was looking for some corporate development with the American Cancer Society.

Memphis didn't have a big presence in corporations participating in their annual events.

And they visited with us at the Nucor Memphis location here in Memphis, and were wondering if we would be interested in helping to support the American Cancer Society.

As a whole, Nucor Corporation really encourages their divisions to jump into all events with the communities and support.

They give us the ability, the time, and the encouragement to do it.

So at the Nucor Logistics Center, we decided that we would take on the challenge of the American Cancer Society.

And we'd start putting some things together with them, to try to start raising money, and grow that awareness in the Memphis area.

Nucor Corporation and Nucor Company, as a whole, is really strong with building relationships and partnerships, no matter if it be with a vendor, or if it be with that community, just like we built here in Memphis.

In doing that, we were able to engage with those partners, have 'em help us along, and in year one, we were able to raise $81,000.

Since that time in 2012, which is the first year that we set out to do that, we have raised over $876,000 for the American Cancer Society.

So I remember the first year that they had the relay walk here in Memphis.

One of the things, if you've ever been to an American Cancer Society relay event, is you all get together, you decorate your booth, you do things to bring people along.

And just get them engaged in what the process is about.

So we pulled up in Nucor fashion, ready to go and excited.

We have a wonderful trailer that was donated by one of our wonderful vendors that we were able to put the American Cancer Society on the side of, we were able to put our cookers inside of it, all of our decorations done, and we rolled up to this event.

And when we did, it was a small area that they were accustomed to having these events in.

And Nucor rolled out all power tools, we put up big tents, before you knew it, we had huge displays up that year.

Really, really ready to support the American Cancer Society, and get people excited about it.

In doing that, you know, you wouldn't be able to do that with one or two people, but Nucor teammates are always willing to jump in and do what it takes.

[soothing music] - We're talking about a business and a book focused on cultivating culture in the workplace and in our community.

We're here with the CEO of Performance Point, Brad Federman.

And Brad, let's start out, before we dive into the book, give us some background on Performance Point.

- Performance Point is focused on helping organizations move towards the right P's.

What do I mean by that?

Companies focus on profits, proclamations, process; they need to start focusing more on purpose, passion, and people.

And we really want to push that.

So our mission is to inspire others, "others" being companies and organizations, to discover it and live their possible.

We do that by focusing on helping companies with their brands and culture, with their leadership, their employee experience, and their customer experience.

You get those things down, and they're all intertwined and connected.

You can really win in this environment.

- Absolutely, so let's dive into the book, the full title is, "Cultivating Culture: 101 Ways to Foster Engagement in 15 Minutes or Less".

What led you to write this book?

- Well, the first thing that led us to write the book is we know it works, we've done this with clients.

The second reason though, is the world's changed.

You know, you said "15 minutes or less", we live in a short attention-span world.

We don't have time, time is a hot commodity.

We are a TikTok nation, and so how do you build things in quick, quick moments, right?

That's that's the first reason.

The second reason is the world's changed on us.

Culture used to be a very top-down driven approach.

I think it's really changed.

When you think about building culture, you define it from the outside in, or at least you should, it should be based on customers, on your business strategy, and what's gonna make it work.

Companies forget that they build it around people, or employee groups.

And what ends happening with that is it doesn't actually help your business.

Or if it's around a leader, you get whiplash, you know, because leaders change so fast these days.

It's gotta transcend a particular person.

The second thing is that we're networked, we're flat, we're dispersed and distributed.

We are remote and hybrid.

All those things have happened, and so because of that, we now live in a world where culture has to be shared.

It's a two-way conversation, we have to develop norms, shared norms, shared values.

You can't do that through proclamations, you can't do that through telling people what we believe.

They have to play with concepts and ideas, and get comfortable with them.

And we need to make sure that we're on the same page.

And that's why we wrote the book, to make sure those conversations were actually happening throughout the year, so that you have the culture that you want and need.

And it is shared across the board.

- Talk about community service, and why that's so important to fostering engagement and culture.

- Wow, you know, I think the reason why it's so important, and it's not just community service, community service and community outreach, you know?

I think what happens in our organizations has two major implications for our communities.

The first is if we have a strong culture, where people can talk about almost anything, where they have the skillset, the resiliency, the empathy, the emotional intelligence to talk through it, which is what we're discussing here, really building a great culture.

Then that seeps into our communities, and the conversations in our communities, and the civil discourse in our communities becomes better.

If we don't do that, then the civil... the uncivil discourse will seep into our figurative, or literal, four walls; that's a big thing.

The second thing is people are searching and looking for meaning in their life.

They wanna work for a company that has a culture, that not only is fun and exciting, but has an impact on the broader community.

So if you really wanna retain people, one aspect is to create purpose, meaning, in peoples' lives.

And one way to do that is to connect them with community and show that they have a major impact in their own community, or a community at large.

It's powerful and people will sign up to live that way, to work that way, and to work with people who feel that way.

It uplifts everyone in the process.

- Give us one tip, either from the book, or just off the top of your head, when it comes to driving volunteerism, community engagement, opening the access for your employees.

What's a tip around that for business leaders to start engaging in?

- Well, I would encourage them to actually think about what's important to, not only their business, but what's important to their people?

Guaranteed, every one of their employees has an interest.

Now, you're not gonna be able to tackle everyone's interests, but you can do this: you can, for a year or two, focus on one, and then switch, and you can use your employees to help generate that perspective.

Or you can look at your employees and see, are there common interests?

And you can communicate why you chose these volunteer efforts, why you chose these community service efforts.

And how they connect to, not only the business, but to the people in the business, and why we're all in it together.

I think that has a powerful aspect to it, and it really brings people along.

So you want to talk about the why's, and you want to involve your people.

- We'll wrap up with contact information, so website, where can we reach out, and also too find the book.

- Fantastic, PerformancePointllc.com is the website.

And the book can be found at any major retailer, whether it's Walmart, Target, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, you name it, it's there.

You could buy it from your local bookstore, they might have to order it, but you could buy it from there.

And it is written as a playbook, as almost a recipe book, for any supervisor leader, team leader, manager, on how to cultivate the culture they need and want in their organization.

So you can pick it up, and it's more of a book to use than to read.

And it will give you everything you need to pull it off.

- Well, Brad, thank you for all you do, you and your amazing team.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you very much, glad to be here.

Appreciate the time.

[uplifting music] - When we talk about fostering inclusivity, we're talking about ways to provide equal access to opportunities and resources, for those who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized.

We're talking about standing with those who are on the margins.

Those who, Father Greg Boyle from Homeboy Industries describe, as having burdens more than they can bear.

The poor and powerless, the easily despised, and the readily left out.

When we stand at the margins and foster inclusivity in our community, our companies and our lives, our views of each other, and ourselves, start to change for the better.

Thankfully we have leaders and organizations, like Best Buddies of Tennessee, and Just City, along with companies like Performance Point, which are focused on fostering inclusivity here in the Mid-South.

The more we can include and support everyone in our community, opening access to opportunities for all, the stronger our city becomes.

Fostering inclusivity is a spark that can change lives and change our community.

So thank you for watching The SPARK.

To learn more about each of the guests, to watch past episodes, and to share your stories of others leading by example, visit wkno.org, and click on the link for The SPARK.

We look forward to seeing you next month, and we hope you'll continue joining with us to create a spark for the Mid-South.

- From our very beginnings in 1954, Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance has been built on the values of customer service, leading with integrity, and supporting our community.

We believe in promoting the positives, encouraging engagement, and leading by example to power the good.

Lipscomb & Pitts Insurance is honored to be a presenting sponsor of The SPARK.

[uplifting music] [acoustic guitar chords]