Episodes

  • Sustainability and Culture in Justice-Driven Work

    Sustainability and Culture in Justice-Driven Work
    Jan 20 2026
    On this episode of Mindful Management, host Shenandoah Chefalo sits down with Vice President and Chief People Officer at Vera Institute, Tracey Wilmot, to explore what it really takes to build an internal culture that matches a mission rooted in dignity and equity. She discusses how internal systems, policies, and norms can either drain staff or help them thrive in complex, mission-driven environments. Tracey also breaks down how Vera Institute supports its people with rest, mental health resources, and internal systems that actually work. The conversation offers concrete insights for leaders wrestling with burnout, turnover, and the challenge of sustaining teams through difficult, but meaningful work.
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    45 mins
  • Designing Systems for Humanity: Technology That Supports Care

    Designing Systems for Humanity: Technology That Supports Care
    Jan 6 2026
    In this episode of Mindful Management, host Shenandoah Sheffield sits down with Felicia Curcuru, CEO and co-founder of Binti, to explore what happens when technology is designed to give humanity back to public systems. Drawing from her sister’s adoption journey and years of shadowing social workers, Felicia shares how Binti streamlines child welfare processes—not to rush care, but to free social workers from administrative overload so they can focus on connection, prevention, and healing. Together, they discuss equity in foster care, supporting kinship placements, using data without losing empathy, and why listening deeply to families, frontline workers, and staff is a strategic advantage for leaders. This conversation offers a hopeful look at how small, but thoughtful changes can transform systems and make space for care, connection, and dignity. https://binti.com/
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    27 mins
  • Culture Starts With Care

    Culture Starts With Care
    Dec 16 2025
    In this episode of Mindful Management, Shen is joined by Renae Dupuis, founder and CEO of TraumaWise, for a grounded conversation about trauma-informed leadership and building cultures rooted in safety and belonging. Drawing from her lived experience as a foster and adoptive parent, survivor, and systems reformer, Renae challenges traditional leadership models that prioritize hierarchy and speed over humanity. Together, they explore nervous-system awareness, co-regulation, and why lived experience matters more than pedigree. Their conversation offers practical insight into how leaders—especially those in middle management—can create environments where people feel safe, valued, and able to thrive.
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    30 mins
  • Students and Civics: Empowering Others To Lead

    Students and Civics: Empowering Others To Lead
    Dec 2 2025
    In this episode, Shen talks with Morgan Kim, Executive Director of Generation Citizen’s West Region, a nonprofit dedicated to community-based civic education and empowering students to take an active role in the shaping of our democracy. Morgan shares how her experiences as an immigrant, a “twice exceptional” student, and an adoptive parent fuel her commitment to creating environments—both in schools and workplaces—where people can take risks, voice their needs, and grow without fear of being shut down. Together, they explore how leaders unintentionally limit potential by chasing “realistic” goals, why projects fail when adults control the process, and what it takes to build team cultures where decision-making is shared, all voices are valued, and vulnerability actually moves the work forward.
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    35 mins
  • The Human Side of Leadership: Empathy Without Compromise

    The Human Side of Leadership: Empathy Without Compromise
    Nov 18 2025
    In this episode, Shen sits down with CEO and author Erika Sinner for an inspiring conversation about leading with empathy without sacrificing excellence. Erika shares her journey from starting as a 21-year-old receptionist in pharma to becoming the CEO of both a fast-growing life sciences consulting firm and TinySuperheroes, a nonprofit that empowers kids facing illness or disability through play. Together, they explore how early frontline roles shaped her commitment to psychological safety, why “moments that matter” are essential for building trust, and how compassionate policies like pet bereavement can transform workplace culture. Erika also reflects on grief, shame, and the emotional realities employees carry into the workplace, underscoring why leaders must create space for humanity without lowering performance standards. It’s a powerful look at leading with empathy, fostering a culture of belonging, and building organizations where people feel seen, supported, and ready to thrive.
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    35 mins
  • Building Healing-Centered Workplaces on a Shoestring Budget

    Building Healing-Centered Workplaces on a Shoestring Budget
    Nov 4 2025
    Raleigh Barmer, COO and CFO of Kids in the Spotlight, shares how his lived experience of homelessness informs his approach to creating psychologically safe workplaces without expensive programs or consultants. In this conversation, he reveals the specific structure of community meetings that build transparency and accountability, walks through the three essential questions he uses in team check-ins to surface what really matters, and explains how nonprofit leaders can prioritize healing-centered culture even when operating on shoestring budgets. Raleigh also discusses why traditional C-suite training often misses what frontline teams actually need, how vulnerability builds trust faster than polish, and the mindset shifts required to lead authentically when resources are scarce but the mission demands excellence.
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    49 mins
  • The Cost of Caring

    The Cost of Caring
    Oct 21 2025
    In this episode of Mindful Management, host Shenandoah Chefalo explores the hidden toll of caring professions, defining compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary trauma. She introduces her concept that "you can only give what you're overflowing with" and presents a three-level self-care framework: daily care plans, trigger care plans, and crisis care plans. Shenandoah offers a practical tool listeners can use immediately—the three-question resilience check-in: "How am I feeling?", "What do I need?", and "Who can support me?" She emphasizes that addressing compassion fatigue isn't about lowering expectations but equipping people to sustain good performance, and challenges leaders to model self-care behavior rather than just advocating for it.
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    22 mins
  • What's Strong in You

    What's Strong in You
    Oct 21 2025
    In this episode of Mindful Management, host Shenandoah Chefalo challenges leaders to shift from asking "what's wrong with you?" to "what's strong in you?" She explains how trauma-informed leadership moves from deficit-based thinking to strength-based leadership, reframing behaviors as communication rather than problems. Shenandoah introduces the concept that "defiance is communication waiting to be understood" and shares examples of reframing: seeing "distracted" as creative, "pushes back" as courageous, and "negative" as critical thinking. She cites research showing that employees who use their strengths daily are six times more likely to be engaged and that leaders who focus on strengths see performance improve up to 36%. Drawing from her personal experience in foster care, she emphasizes that people rise to the expectations we set for them. The episode includes a practical exercise: identify one problem behavior and rewrite it as a strength.
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    17 mins