In this compelling episode of Essential Leadership to End Poverty, host Scott Miller sits down with Lottie Ryans (Director of Workforce and Literacy Initiatives) and Leslie Thompson (Grant Manager) from First Tennessee Development District to explore their groundbreaking Strong Families program—one of seven $25 million pilot initiatives funded by Tennessee's Department of Human Services.

Discover how this innovative approach is shattering traditional case management models by:

• Hiring family partners with lived poverty experience who build genuine relationships first
• Meeting families at ballparks, homes, and wherever trust can be built
• Maintaining low caseloads (10-15 families) for intensive, personalized support
• Achieving 95% staff satisfaction in an industry plagued by burnout
• Successfully serving 807 families across 10 rural counties

Lottie and Leslie reveal the subtle nuances that make comprehensive poverty solutions actually work—from flexible work arrangements that empower staff to strategic partnerships with regional healthcare and financial literacy organizations. They share hard-won lessons about hiring for teachability over credentials, maintaining transparent communication across partner organizations, and why relationship-building can't be confined to 9-to-5 office hours.

Whether you're a policymaker, nonprofit leader, or community advocate, this conversation offers a masterclass in designing and implementing anti-poverty programs that prioritize human dignity, staff empowerment, and measurable outcomes.

In this episode, we explore what it takes to build thriving communities that work for everyone. Former Cookeville, Tennessee Mayor Ricky Shelton shares insights from his eight years leading a city of 35,000 that sits at the heart of Tennessee's Upper Cumberland region.

Key Topics:

• How regional collaboration beats competition in economic development

• The "rising tide lifts all boats" approach to attracting 5,500 new jobs

• Bridging political divides through shared community values

• The benefit cliff problem and innovative solutions being piloted in the Upper Cumberland

• Why workforce development requires partnerships between government, education, and business

• Leadership lessons on building buy-in and thinking systemically

• The importance of trades education alongside traditional college pathways

Ricky discusses the Upper Cumberland poverty alleviation pilot that's helping 300 families transition to self-sufficiency through coordinated case management, addressing housing affordability, childcare access, and skills training. He shares how communities can move from poverty management to true poverty alleviation.

Whether you're in local government, economic development, nonprofit work, or simply care about your community's future, this conversation offers practical wisdom on essential leadership and collaborative problem-solving.

When Tennessee invested $175 million in seven regional pilots to transform how families move from public assistance to sustainable employment, it became the largest anti-poverty experiment of its kind. Now, two and a half years in, the results are surprising—and the lessons are invaluable.

In this episode, host Scott Miller sits down with Kaki Reynolds, Senior Director of Economic Mobility at United Way of Greater Knoxville, and Megan Spurgeon, Director of Empower Upper Cumberland. Together, they're serving over 5,000 families across 24 counties, testing comprehensive wraparound services that address everything from career coaching to childcare to housing stability.

What they've discovered challenges conventional wisdom: rural families are achieving higher self-sufficiency scores than urban ones, despite lower wages. The reason? Housing costs in cities like Knoxville have become an insurmountable barrier, even for families earning more.

But the conversation goes deeper than outcomes. Kaki and Megan reveal the systemic failures that have nothing to do with family motivation—the "benefits cliff" that punishes people for earning an extra dollar, the siloed government platforms that create duplicate work and payments, and the healthcare transitions that leave families vulnerable.

They also share what they'd do differently with another $25 million: expand their now-proven models, embed services in schools for early intervention, and serve populations that current TANF funding excludes, like young adults without children.

This is essential listening for anyone working in social services, workforce development, or economic mobility—and for anyone who believes poverty is solvable if we're willing to learn from what actually works.

Key Topics:

• The EMPath economic mobility model and ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) framework

• Why the benefits cliff remains the biggest barrier to economic mobility

• The surprising success of rural poverty interventions

• Building talent pipelines from public assistance to sustainable careers

• The critical need for coordinated social service platforms

• What it takes to create lasting community change