iFoster Futures

About iFoster Futures

iFoster Futures is a series of informal interviews designed to help youth in foster care explore a wide variety of career paths. Interviewees share insights on their career path, lessons and skills that can be achieved and career opportunities that can be pursued on that path.

Publisher

iFoster

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Mar 2021

Latest episode

29 Sept 2021

Latest episodes

6 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Sept 2021

   iFoster Futures: Luke Fox, CEO of WhiteFox, a global leader in drone airspace security.

   Luke Fox is CEO of WhiteFox, a global leader in drone airspace security. Pioneering the safe integration of drones into society, WhiteFox products securely manage drones in sensitive airspace worldwide. Fox, as he likes to be called, has spoken to audiences of millions around the world. He has been featured at dozens of global conferences and on networks such as CNN, Fox News, NBC, Al Jazeera, PBS, Discovery, History Channel, and many others. Fox is passionate about drone privacy and security, nextgen aviation policy, the trust revolution, the future of autonomy, roadmap to flying cars, workplace neurodiversity, tech startup culture, foster care reform, and male birth control. 0:00 - 1:20 Program intro and guest set up by co-hosts Serita Cox and Keira Green. 1:20 – 4:40 Serita welcomes Fox and jumps tight into her first question - You are on the leading edge of drone airspace security. How did you ever discover drone technology and cyber-security is where your talents lay? Most foster youth don't even have their own laptop let alone have access to or even understand the level of tech in which you operate. Fox weaves in how his love for (the positive use of) drones and his experience being the foster care system helped develop an “adversarial mindset” – thinking like a criminal but not doing criminal things. 4:40 –6:40 Serita follows up with asking Fox how he got to where he is today – “How did you get your hands on a drone… foster youth don’t even have access to laptops?” Fox talks about developing something he was passionate about, putting yourself out there. 6:40 – 8:00 Keira picks up the conversation by asking Fox to tell us a little bit about what being the CEO of WhiteFox Defense is like. “What excites you about what you do?” 8:00 – 9:20 Keira follows up with a question about WhiteFox Defense’s powerhouse executive team. “You lead a team of senior executives who have more years of experience in the Aerospace Defense industry than you have been alive. How did you build such a team and how do you manage a team with such experience and age?” 9:20 – 10:30 Fox asks Keira how she would feel if there was a drone hovering outside her window to make a point about resetting the status quo around drone use, privacy and security. 10:30 – 12:05 Serita weighs in to move the discussion forward around how new technologies can be scary and how early adopters can sometimes do bad things with it; Fox expands on this line of thought. 12:05 – 18:48 Serita queries Fox around how he got the funding to pursue his dream – “Many foster youth dream of starting their own business. You've done it. And you've done it in a field that has huge barriers to entry, not the least of which is money. How did you do it?” Fox shares the experiences he had with various mentors and their collective impact, as well as learning how to raise money. 18:48 – 22:35 Keira shares that Fox is an incredible success and “you're not even 30. In fact, you were named one of Forbes Magazine 30 Under 30 leaders, but you must have hit bumps in the road along the way. What failures stand out for you and how did you overcome them?” 22:35 – 25:10 Serita picks up the conversation and asks Fox to talk about how he can get his message about pursuing your dreams, hustling, working hard for what you want out there to youth. 25:10 – 28:45 Fox talks about getting involved to make changes to the foster care system; he cites a specific example of visitation rights with his sister and loophole in the ae that needed to be fixed. He made it his mission to fix it. 28:45 – Serita asks Fox if his working anything right now in terms of advocacy work? Fox provides a sneak peak into a project his developing for foster youth. 30:02 – 31:13 Serita winds up the interview and invites Fox back to tell us more about his project when it launches.

2. 

   8 Sept 2021

   iFoster Futures: Devin Alexander, Author, Entrepreneur & Celebrity Chef

   Devin Alexander is a Multi-Time New York Times bestselling author, award winning entrepreneur, sought after keynote speaker, passionate philanthropist and celebrity chef best known for decade-long stint as the Chef on NBC’s Biggest Loser. Devin Alexander, a Multi-Time New York Times bestselling author, award winning entrepreneur, sought after keynote speaker, passionate philanthropist and celebrity chef best known for decade-long stint as the Chef on NBC’s Biggest Loser. 0:00 - 2:00 Program intro and guest set up by co-hosts Serita Cox and Keira Green. 2:00 – 2:30 Serita welcomes Devin and asks her to start at the beginning of her incredible success story. “Let’s start back in Reading, Penn. when you were 15 years old and were dealing with loss and emotional eating?” 3:10 Serita follows up with a deeper dive into how Devin delt with the bullying about her weight while in high school – “how did you get out of it? What did you do to change your life?” Devin expands how she learned to manage her calorie intact while still loving to cook with family. 5:40 Keira shifts the conversation by asking Devin how she learned to cook and figure out how to make “Devinly delicious” meals that are healthy and with less calories? 7:20 Keira follows up with a comment about Devin’s insight into cutting out 100 calories a day will lead to a ten-pound weight loss over a year. Small changes will lead you to your goal. 8:50 Serita expands on Devin’s setting and achieving her goals and asks her to talk about sharing the value in what she’s created (her healthy recipes and more) – and “you chose to pursue acting at first, didn’t you?” 13:40 Keira picks up the thread and asks Devin to talk about her use of vision boards and vision statements to lay out her goals – “why did you start using them and what tips can you share for others to mimic you?” 17:08 Serita summarizes Devin’s tips on how to layout and track your goals – “Devin’s shining mindset.” Serita goes on to ask Devin about how she tracked down a specific person to pitch an idea; she talks about having confidence and perseverance, especially in a job interview. 22:00 Keira switches the direction of the conversation – “You’ve been so successful at achieving the goals you set for yourself. But you must have had setbacks. How do you deal with setbacks or barriers?” 27:55 Serita picks up on Devin’s comments about “setbacks happen, and you pivot, pivot, pivot to overcome them to get your vision.” Devin expands on her thoughts by weaving in the challenges she overcame to adopt her daughter. 35:25 Serita winds down the podcast with an emphasis on reaching out to people for support, believe in yourself, and walk your own path – and you can reach your goals.

3. 

   10 Aug 2021

   iFoster Futures: Rochelle Trochtenberg, Former California Foster Care Ombudsperson in Sacramento

   Rochelle Trochtenberg – Former California Foster Care Ombudsperson in Sacramento, Calif. is the first former foster youth to be appointed to serve in this role. She is responsible for educating foster youth and caregivers about their rights, investigating complaints related to the care, placement, and services of youth in foster care, and providing policy recommendations on improving California’s child welfare system. Rochelle believes that programs, policy, and systems function more effectively when decisions are informed and connected to the real-life experiences and voices of those who receive or depend on those services. 0:00 - 2:33 Program intro and guest set up by co-hosts Serita Cox and Keira Green. 2:33 Keira welcomes Rochelle and asks her about what she does: “Can you explain your Ombudsperson role here in California?” 4:45 Keira follows up with a question about Rochelle’s vision for youth growing up in foster care. 5:40 Serita transitions the conversation to working with Rochelle in 2020 on bridging the digital divide for foster youth; making tech access a reality. She notes that “iFoster can get devices in the hands of our kids, it doesn’t matter if the child welfare system says they don’t have the right to them. How did you make this happen when many in the system say it’s bad to give foster youth tech – it’s bad for their own safety or it’s a nice to have not a need to have?” 9:10 Serita expands on the discussion around tech for foster youth and the Foster Youth Bill of Rights. 9:56 Keira brings some personal context to the critical need for foster youth to have tech resources. 11:05 Rochelle discusses iFoster’s important role in educating caregivers and youth on how to use technology safely and effectively, and how to stay connected and get the resources they need. 12:45 Keira asks Rochelle to tell us more about how she advocates and gets changes made. “How do you do it? What skills do you use?” 17:05 Keira asks Rochelle to take us back – “you’re from LA County like me. You grew up in group homes, they labelled you ‘severely emotionally disturbed’ and you aged out of care to homelessness. Yet none of that stopped you – Associates Degree, Bachelor of Social Work, Master of Social Work. How did you do it?” 21:50 Serita asks Rochelle to dive deeper into how she persevered through the many setbacks she faced along the way to her role as Ombudsman. 24:15 Serita winds down the podcast with an emphasis on reaching out to people for support, believe in yourself, and walk your own path – Rochelle concurs, talks about doing just that and how important it was for her to go from aging out to the State Ombudsperson’s Office.

4. 

   20 Jul 2021

   iFoster Futures: Román Baca, Co-founder and Artistic Director Exit12 Dance Company

   Román Baca – Co-founder and Artistic Director Exit12 Dance Company. He is a ballet dancer, award-winning choreographer and entrepreneur who created his own dance company. Román is also a Marine and served time in Iraq as a machine-gunner and fire-team leader in Fallujah during the Iraq war. And now he uses dance as a positive outlet for veterans dealing with PTSD. 2:50 Keira welcomes Román and opens the discussion by asking him about what drove him to become a classically trained ballet dancer and choreographer. 7:08 As a follow up to Román’s life experience, Keira shares insight into her experience as a dancer and actress. 8:10 Keira transitions the conversation to… “dancing is not an easy career and so few people ever become professionals. For our many young people listening like myself who are thinking about a career in the performing arts - how did you do it? What obstacles did you overcome?” 10:35 Serita queries Román about the complete 180 that he took - a professional and award-winning dancer and choreographer and he walks away from it all to join the Marines in a time of war. Why? 13:30 Serita follows up with a question asking Román to take a deeper dive into what he really took away with him from his time in Iraq. 15:15 Serita continues to probe… “Can you tell us a bit more about the good and the bad experiences?” 18:45 Keira picks up the conversation and asks Román to talk about returning from war and opening the unique Exit12 Dance Company - tell us about what it is, who does it serve, outlet for veterans suffering from PTSD), etc. 23:30 Keira expands on this topic moving the conversation to Foster youth also suffering from PTSD. Some studies suggest that former foster youth are twice as likely as US war veterans to experience PTSD in adulthood. “How have you found dance, and even more broadly, art can help sufferers deal with PTSD and other issues related to the trauma they suffered?” 30:15 Serita, Keira and Román wrap up the program with some final thoughts and resources. “Román you have so perfectly weaved together your talent with your desire to be of service to your fellow man.”

5. 

   28 Jun 2021

   iFoster Futures: Audrey Stewart, Diversity & Inclusion Program Manager, Google

   Audrey Stewart – Diversity and Inclusion Program Manager for Google, a US Military Academy graduate, a vet, and an incredible leader for diversity and inclusion discusses her career and about her life at West Point as well as coming to terms with the fact that she’s transgender. She believed strongly in helping other LGBTQ service members as an Army officer serving under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. 2:25 Trinity opens the discussion by asking Audrey about West Point – “why you chose West Point, what it takes to get in, and what was your experience like?” 4:15 Trinity and Audrey dive deeper into what lead Audrey to apply for an appointment to the Academy. 4:55 Serita shares that the military is not seen in the best light by the foster care community, asks Audrey to talk about the family experience and camaraderie that she found at West Point, and after graduation. 6:50 Audrey talks about her experiences being deployed around the world. 8:10 Trinity asks Audrey to dive deeper into how she learned to manage deployments of personnel and equipment, budgets, strategic planning sessions with allies from over eight countries, and coordinated Army air defense tactics. 9:00 Follow up question to Audrey – “were you able to choose what you did?” Audrey explains how she was able to rank her preferences. 11:00 Serita and Audrey talk about how she made the pivot from military life to civilian life. 12:40 Audrey talks about forming her transgender organization in the military. 15:05 The conversation transitions to Audrey discussing how her path after the military eventually led her to Google. 18:00 Trinity follows up with a deeper dive into Audrey’s time at Google – “What’s it like to be a Googler? And clear up a misconception a lot of our listeners have – you can be in tech and NOT be a programmer – right?” 19:00 Audrey talks about her role and goals as Diversity and Inclusion Program Manager and exactly what diversity means. 22:10 Serita asks Audrey to share her thoughts on what companies should do to be equitable, diverse, and inclusive. 25:00 Serita talks about how those in foster care don’t feel included. They discuss how Audrey overcame barriers and suggestions for the audience – find out who are your people that you trust and connect with them; it may take time. 29:10 Serita, Trinity and Audrey wrap up the program with some final thoughts and resources.

6. 

   30 Mar 2021

   iFoster Futures: Neil Welsh, Founder & CEO, Silverback Strategies

   Neil Welsh, the Founder & CEO of Silverback Strategies, one of the hottest digital performance marketing firms in the US discusses his career and how he got there. 1:30 Trinity and Neil discuss what exactly a social and digital media marketing firm does. 2:20 Serita and Neil talk about how Silverback gets its data – does Silverback do research. Neil provides examples. 4:00 Trinity asks Neil to explain if the audience knows that all this data is being collected from them off the various social media platforms. 5:50 Trinity asks Neil what do you love most about your career? He expands on working with great people and a great team at Silverback. 6:12 Serita asks Neil about those days that are not great – and what do you not like about your job. He feels that success is defined by finding something you are passionate about and do it every day. 7:30 Serita and Neil talk about his early days, what helped him along his career path: successes and failures. Everything if life should be looked at as an experience. 9:15 Trinity asks Neil about how he decided that digital marketing was the path he wanted to take. 14:10 Trinity follows up with a question to Neil around targeted advertising to the consumer; getting the product in front of them when they are ready to purchase. 17:30 Serita probes a bit deeper asking how the ads follow her across various platforms – retargeting or remarketing. 19:00 Serita asks Neil about what skill sets do you need to do his job – what skills does he look for in people who work at Silverback. Understanding the role and fitting the right skills to match the role; tips for pursuing jobs. 24:00 Neil and Serita talk about overcoming daily challenges and barriers – how do you work through and or around them. Failure is part of the process. Neil, “…this is an essential lesson in life not just in your career.” Neil, “…this is an essential lesson in life not just in your career.” 26:40 Serita and Trinity wrap up the interview with Neil. 27:25 Neil shares a few last thoughts before departing. 28:10 Serita and Trinity close out the program.

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Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.