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In this episode of the Square Pizza Pod, Greg welcomes Jacob Adams, Founder and Executive Director of Inner Spark Learning Lab, for a powerful conversation about what happens when schools stop asking students to fit the system and start redesigning the system to fit students. Drawing from his own journey as a first-generation college student, student athlete, Teach For America educator, and nonprofit founder, Jacob shares how his lived experience pushed him to challenge compliance-driven models of education and build something more human, adaptive, and deeply rooted in student voice.

Jacob also opens up about the real work of building Inner Spark from the ground up, from taking the leap on his first school contract to designing learning environments where students help shape curriculum, choose resident teachers, and explore issues that actually matter to them. Along the way, he offers a compelling vision for why belonging, relevance, and flexibility are not extras in education, but essential conditions for real learning and long-term change.

In this episode, you’ll learn more about:

• Why Jacob believes schools should adapt to students more than students should be forced to adapt to school
• How his own experiences as a first-generation college student, athlete, and teacher shaped the vision behind Inner Spark Learning Lab
• What he saw inside high-performing schools that made him question whether test scores alone tell the full story
• How Inner Spark creates learning spaces where students help shape projects, select teachers, and drive more meaningful engagement
• What it looks like to build a nonprofit from scratch while staying focused on depth, belonging, and real systems change

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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 sits down with Aneesh Sohoni, Chief Executive Officer of Teach For America, for a candid conversation about leadership, purpose, and why he still believes education can be one of the most unifying forces in the country. From his own path into the classroom to now leading a national organization, Aneesh shares what it means to lead with curiosity, stay close to the front lines, and keep belief alive in a moment when many have lost it.

They also dig into the future of Teach For America, how today’s young leaders are searching for purpose and community, and why artificial intelligence could either deepen learning or weaken it, depending on who shapes it. This episode is a sharp, hopeful, and timely conversation for anyone thinking about education, leadership, and the future of impact.

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In this episode of the Square Pizza Pod, Greg welcomes Corey Carlesimo, CEO of Prospect HQ, and returning guest Dewey Norwood to talk about Prospect HQ, a purpose-driven hiring platform built to connect current and former student athletes with employers who value leadership, resilience, and cultural fit. They break down how Prospect HQ is rethinking the hiring process by helping athletes reflect more deeply on their values, strengths, and long-term purpose while giving employers a more authentic way to identify talent that can strengthen workplace culture.

Cory and Dewey also share why they believe student athletes are uniquely prepared to lead in today’s workforce, how their own experiences in sports and corporate leadership shaped the vision for the platform, and why culture, authenticity, and community matter just as much as credentials in helping people find the right opportunities.

In this episode, you’ll learn more about:

• Why Cory and Dewey believe student athletes are one of the most overlooked and high-impact talent pools in today’s workforce
• How Prospect HQ is helping athletes move beyond just finding a job to discovering a clearer path to purpose
• What makes the platform different from a traditional job board, including its focus on cultural fit, reflection, mentorship, and authentic storytelling
• How sports, coaching, failure, and teamwork prepare student athletes to thrive far beyond the field, court, or diamond

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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 Samantha Lurie Carroll and Sylvester Chisom, co-founders of Show Me The World Project, to share how a single school trip idea grew into a multi-city nonprofit helping high school students from under-resourced communities see – and shape – the world. They walk through the journey from a “show me Costa Rica” classroom project to a yearlong program that blends leadership development, entrepreneurship, workforce skills, and first-time international travel, plus the student-driven coffee business that emerged from a visit to a Costa Rican farm.

Samantha and Sylvester also open up about the real behind-the-scenes work of going from scraping together $2,500 grants to securing six-figure investments, building a trusted brand, and “responsibly replicating” their model beyond St. Louis without losing their roots in student voice and community.

In this episode, you’ll learn more about:

• How students’ reactions to an inequitable “school swap” experience sparked the original vision for Show Me The World Project
• What a yearlong leadership, entrepreneurship, and global learning journey actually looks like for high school students in St. Louis and Kansas City
• How a visit to a coffee farm turned into a student-led social enterprise and the Show Me The Cause fundraising platform
• The mindset shifts and concrete steps that helped Show Me The World move from tiny grassroots grants to major foundation investments
• Why honoring your word, embracing “no” as fuel for innovation, and adding earned revenue are core to building a resilient, mission-driven nonprofit

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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 back Taylor James for her fourth appearance on the show and her first since earning her MBA and stepping into the role of Director of Strategic Implementation at SchermCo. In this episode, you’ll learn more about:

• How Taylor’s journey from classroom teacher to Director of Strategic Implementation shapes the way she leads complex strategy and project management work
• How earning her MBA while working full time strengthened her “measurement muscle” and helped her shift from completing tasks to truly owning outcomes for clients
• What it really looks like to design and implement programs like the Flight Forward aviation internship program and She Built This City’s pre-apprenticeship expansion
• How Taylor approaches relaunching programs, managing stakeholders, and moving ideas from concept to execution
• Why time management, trusting the process, and building real relationships remain core to meaningful social impact work

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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!

On this episode of the Square Pizza Pod, Greg sits down with Danielle Frazier, Special Assistant to the City Manager for Workforce Development in the City of Charlotte and longtime girls flag football coach. They talk about what it really takes to build pathways to good jobs, why a one cent sales tax for transportation is actually a mobility and opportunity strategy, and how a career that started in one local organization has grown into national leadership.

From coaching high school flag football and renovating bathrooms with her dad to helping design Charlotte’s first Office of Workforce Development and chairing the United States Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council, Danielle shares a grounded, hopeful view of what is possible when cities, schools, employers, and residents pull in the same direction.

In this episode, you will hear:

• How growing up in a football family and coaching girls flag football shapes Danielle’s leadership with young people and teams
• A clear, accessible definition of workforce development and how Charlotte’s new Office of Workforce Development and strategic plan are bringing that vision to life
• What Charlotte’s historic transportation and mobility investment could mean for thousands of future jobs in construction, skilled trades, professional services, and small businesses
• How the Education to Employment initiative with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools is creating direct pathways from high school graduation into full-time roles with the City of Charlotte
• Why employer engagement and emerging tools like artificial intelligence are becoming essential to a healthy, future-ready workforce ecosystem

If you care about economic mobility, public investment, or connecting young people and adults to meaningful work in growing cities, this is a conversation you will want to hear.

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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 Erica Mitchell, Chief Executive Officer of United Way of Greater Nashville, for a candid conversation about leading regional change at the intersection of poverty, philanthropy, and community power.

From what was supposed to be a two-year stop at United Way to more than fifteen years of growing responsibility, Erica reflects on how the work has evolved as Nashville has exploded in size and complexity. She shares how her team is moving beyond traditional workplace giving to focus on workforce pathways, neighborhood-based partnerships, and efforts like the Fifth Third Neighborhood Initiative in North Nashville that are designed with, not just for, community members.

In this episode, you will hear:

• How a short-term role at United Way became a long-term calling to serve the region
• What it really takes to prevent and alleviate poverty in a fast-growing city
• Lessons from navigating multiple nonprofit mergers—and what leaders often underestimate
• How the merger with Hands On Nashville is reshaping volunteer engagement and community response
• Why affordable child care sits at the center of economic mobility for families
• How Erica approaches leading a one-hundred-person team and a forty-plus-member board
• Why she is cautiously optimistic about artificial intelligence and what questions leaders should be asking now

If you care about community, equity, or building stronger cities through real partnership, this is an episode you will not want to miss.

Support the show

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 Shaka Mitchell, educator, policy leader, and advocate for school choice, for an engaging and candid conversation about education, leadership, and civic engagement.

From his early days in Nashville to his current work shaping education policy across Tennessee, Shaka reflects on what’s changed—and what hasn’t—about how we prepare students for the future. Along the way, he shares sharp insights on the role of local leadership, the real stories behind school choice debates, and how families and communities can stay engaged in creating better systems for kids.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why Shaka believes “parents are the most important education reformers”
• How Tennessee’s education landscape is shifting post-pandemic
• Lessons from the charter sector and what traditional districts can learn
• His advice for building civic trust and bridging ideological divides
• How he uses music as a common ground to spark conversation and bridge differences
• A few Nashville stories (and laughs) along the way

If you care about schools, leadership, or the future of public education, this is one you don’t want to miss.

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