On this episode my guest is Brian Bond, Executive Director of PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, the first and largest organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people, their parents, families, and allies. With over 400 chapters and 200,000 members and supporters crossing multiple generations of families in major urban centers, small cities, and rural areas across America, Brian leads PFLAG providing support and initiatives to ensure the equality of LGBTQIA persons. Brian is no stranger to being front and center on positions of what some people would identify as controversial, but instead of sidestepping these initiatives he finds himself embracing the opportunities. It’s doubtful Brian had much of a choice considering his mother was a notable leader in the Missouri Democratic party and he himself came out publicly to his parents in high school launching him on a path of leadership that he continues forward with to this day. Brian was the former executive director of the Victory Fund, the executive director of the Democratic National Committee Gay and Lesbian Leadership Fund, the National Constituency Director of Obama For America and the Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison during the Obama Administration. Anyone in the LGBTQIA community in the United States would be hard pressed not to have benefitted from the life long dedication to equality that Brian has been committed to his entire adult life. https://pflag.org

On this episode Alan Solow a former advisor on Middle East policy to President Obama and the Obama Administration joins me for a dynamic conversation on the current state of affairs in Israel. Mr. Solow is a public affairs consultant, political advisor and notable leader in the U.S. Jewish community. He is the former Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations having met with the leaders of multiple countries around the world. In addition, he served as Chairman of JCC Association of North America, the Chairman of Chicago's Jewish Community Relations Council, President of the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago, President of Young Men's Jewish Council and as a member of the board of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, including on its Executive Committee. He also served as a Trustee of the Jewish Federations of North America and was a Director of Sinai Health Systems. In addition,  Mr. Solow is the former Chairman of Interfaith Youth Core, a national organization promoting interfaith dialogue and service projects on college campuses. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Truman National Security Project and is the Vice-Chair of the Israel Policy Forum. He graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and served as a partner at the international law firm of DLA Piper. Mr. Solow was a senior advisor and national co-chair of the 2012 Obama re-elect campaign and accompanied the former President on his first trip to Israel in 2006. 

Jake Kheel joins me to discuss his recent book “Waking The Sleeping Giant, Unlocking The Hidden Power of Business to Save The Planet”. For fifteen years Jake Kheel www.jakekheel.com has confronted social and environmental challenges in the Dominican Republic as Vice President of the Grupo Puntacana Foundation and Vice President of Sustainability for Grupo Puntacana. Under his leadership, the company’s sustainability programs have been recognized with numerous prominent international awards. Jake was instrumental in pioneering one of the Caribbean’s largest coral reef restoration projects, implementing the Dominican Republic’s largest integrated solid waste program known as the Zero Waste initiative and directs the Center for Sustainability, a think tank that works with some of the world’s most notable universities to conduct research and devise experiments related to sustainable development. The Punta Cana development has become a global example of how the private sector can implement sustainability programs and simultaneously turn them into profitable enterprises.