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In this episode of the Square Pizza Pod, Greg welcomes Tahira Stalberte, Assistant Superintendent of Communications and Community Relations at Union County Public Schools, for a thoughtful conversation about leadership, trust, and what it really takes to communicate well in public education. Drawing from more than two decades in communications, from the television newsroom to one of the largest school districts in North Carolina, Tahira shares how relationship-building, consistency, and a willingness to take smart risks have shaped her approach to the work.

Tahira also opens up about the real complexity of leading communications in a modern school district, from crisis response and community trust to family engagement, artificial intelligence, and the everyday challenge of making sure families feel informed, heard, and supported. Along the way, she offers practical insight on why communication and family engagement are not the same thing, what strong two-way communication should look like in schools, and how districts can better connect with families in ways that actually improve outcomes for students.

In this episode, you’ll learn more about:

• What makes a great communicator and why trust, listening, and risk-taking matter so much in leadership
• How Tahira thinks about balancing the many audiences a school district serves, from families and staff to media and community stakeholders
• Why communication and family engagement are distinct, and why both are essential to student success
• What Union County Public Schools has learned about building stronger family engagement systems and two-way communication with parents
• How Tahira and her team are approaching artificial intelligence, crisis communication, and storytelling in a fast-changing school landscape

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GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

In this episode of the Square Pizza Pod, Greg welcomes Dan Porterfield, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Aspen Institute, for a wide-ranging conversation about leadership, educational opportunity, and how ideas can scale far beyond a single institution. Drawing from his upbringing in Baltimore, his years leading Georgetown and Franklin & Marshall, and now his work at Aspen, Dan reflects on the experiences that shaped his belief in talent, public service, and the power of institutions to expand opportunity for more people.

Dan also shares why “scaling an idea” can sometimes matter more than scaling an operation, how the Aspen Institute grew from a postwar humanist gathering into a global platform for dialogue and leadership, and why he still believes deeply in the talent that exists in every zip code. Along the way, he offers thoughtful insight on philanthropy, higher education, nonprofit leadership, succession planning, and what it looks like to bend systems toward the public good without losing sight of the people they are meant to serve.

In this episode, you’ll learn more about:

• Why Dan believes scaling ideas can sometimes create more impact than simply scaling operations
• How his work at Franklin & Marshall helped spark the American Talent Initiative and expand opportunity for low-income students across top colleges
• What leaders can learn from the founding story and evolution of the Aspen Institute
• Why partnerships with aligned donors and institutions can be transformative when building enduring change
• How Aspen’s new Center for Rising Generations is rethinking civic dialogue, leadership, and opportunity for young people
• What Dan has learned about board leadership, succession planning, and building strong people-serving institutions

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GIVEAWAY - send us a message and let us know your favorite thing about the Square Pizza Pod. We are giving away SchermCo swag to the first three people that send us a note!

Shamaiye Haynes is more than a school board member. She is a longtime community leader, family engagement advocate, and one of the voices helping shape the future of a $2 billion public school district. In this episode of the Square Pizza Pod, she shares how years of grassroots organizing and showing up for families prepared her to lead at the district level, and why family engagement, advocacy, and community trust are still at the center of meaningful change in education.

In this episode, you’ll learn more about:

• Why Shamaiye believes family engagement is the missing link to stronger student outcomes
• How her journey from active parent advocate to school board member prepared her to lead at the district level
• What it looks like to operationalize family engagement so schools better serve whole families, not just students
• How she thinks about school choice, charter schools, and what a stronger public education ecosystem could look like
• How Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is approaching issues like artificial intelligence, cell phone policy, and support for teachers and families

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