Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home

Episode 91 Dr. Betsy Boze - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Academic and Higher Education Administrator Dr. Betsy Boze sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:25 1. Betsy, you are one of our great local success stories. Graduating from Byrd High School, you went on to become (to name but a couple of the prestigious positions you’ve held), the president of the College of the Bahamas and CEO and Dean of Kent State University at Stark. 
 
Through our discussion today, I want to learn about you but I also want to lean on you to get your perspective on a number of things Shreveport-Bossier related.
 
Let’s start today with a fun fact that most people probably don’t know. In 1970, you were responsible for the first recorded flying of the Earth Day flag. Tell me about this.
 
2:49 2. As I said I want to lean on you for your perspective, as someone who has lived in eight countries what do you think is holding us back from becoming one of the next, great medium-sized cities in America?
 
4:54 3. What gives you hope that we’re headed in the right direction as a community?
 
6:45 4. Not too different from my second question. But if someone came to you and said, you can have any three new additions to the Shreveport-Bossier community if your children and any children they may have will commit to stay and live in Shreveport-Bossier, what would those three additions or changes be?
 
9:26 5. Two major themes of this podcast are who are we as a community and why do so many people in this community struggle with Shreveport-Bossier as their city and home. I’d love to hear your perspective on both of these questions.
 
What is our identity in Shreveport-Bossier, in your opinion?
 
11:56 6. To what do you attribute the prevailing negative self-image we often find among the people who live here?
 
15:07 7. Is there anything else you would like to share or talk about?

Episode 90 Chancellor Robert Smith - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Chancellor of LSUS, Dr. Robert Smith, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:36 1. You came to Shreveport after serving six years as Provost of Valdosta State University in Georgia.
 
You once said, “LSUS is one of the few institutions, regional universities, that you can find in this country that is not struggling.”
 
Let’s start here today. Talk to me about what is meant by the “Enrollment Cliff”.
 
2:15 2. I read where LSUS has the most graduate students of any university in Louisiana. Talk to me about how LSUS has been successful in avoiding the enrollment cliff.
 
3:37 3. For people who are not technology savvy at all and hear the word "online" class, what does that mean exactly? How does that work?
 
7:56 4. I believe one of the goals of the administration is to attract more face-to-face students. Talk to me about some of the challenges the university faces in achieving that goal.
 
12:14 5. Talk a little bit about the relationship between LSUS and LSU Health.
 
14:02 6. At the end of May 2023, you were named the new chancellor of LSU Shreveport. In addition to all that we’ve discussed, talk to me about some of your priorities and initiatives.
 
21:00 7. For someone listening to our conversation who says I have an idea of where I think LSUS should plug in or a gap they can fill, what's the best way to get into contact with the university?
 
23:03 8. In preparing for today’s discussion I learned something fascinating, that you are a first-generation college student.
 
With roughly half of LSUS's undergraduate students self-identifying first-generation, talk to me about how the University is taking a proactive role in addressing the needs and concerns of this student population.

Episode 89 Barbara Joseph - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Executive Director of the North Louisiana Jewish Federation, Barbara Joseph, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:28 1. Barbara, you’re the Executive Director of the North Louisiana Jewish Federation. I want to get into the Federation and all that they do locally. But before we do, I’d like to start here today.
 
We’ve talked quite a bit on this podcast about how to do better creating and accepting a multi-ethnic Shreveport.
 
Let’s talk about being Jewish in Shreveport-Bossier. Approximately, how many Jewish families do we have locally?
 
2:46 2. How many synagogues do we have, where are they located and when do they meet for services or religious school?
 
6:28 3. The North Louisiana Jewish Federation protects and enhances the well-being of Jews and Jewish communities in North Louisiana, the United States, Israel and around the world, striving to realize its core values of:
 
Ḥesed (caring and compassion),
Torah (Jewish learning),
Tikun Olam (repair of the world), and
Tz’dakah (social justice)
 
On October 7, 2023, Israel suffered the deadliest attack on its country since the country was established in 1948. Tell me about the current status of Israel and for people listening today, what should they understand and how can they help?
 
14:28 4. We’ve been hearing a lot in recent weeks/months about antisemitism on college campuses. Can you help us better understand what is happening across the country and why some universities are allowing this type of sentiment and these types of demonstrations?
 
23:50 5. Lastly, as you know I am on the Advisory Board for the LSUS Institute for Nonprofit Administration and Research (or INAR as it is commonly known). You were recently one of 15 nonprofit leaders selected to participate in an important INAR initiative, its first capacity building cohort.
 
INAR strives to elevate the future of the nonprofit sector through transformative education, impactful research, and professional development.
 
Tell me about your experience in the cohort and why it was an important initiative for you to be a part of.

Episode 88 Donny Jackson and Tim FitzGerald - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Shreveport Youth Boxing Club's Coach Donny Jackson and Tim FitzGerald sit down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:38 1. Our community consist of too many families who suffer from generational poverty and too many young people who lack mentors and role models.
 
We will get into all the nuts and bolts later today of the Shreveport Youth Boxing Club. But let’s start here.
 
Coach Donny, you once said, “A lot of these kids…no one has taken the time.” It seems kind of obvious, but why does taking the time with these kids matter?
 
1:57 2. Coach Donny, why do you do it? What drives you to be a mentor and role model for these kids?
 
3:15 3. Tim, tell me about the Shreveport Youth Boxing Club, how and why Coach Donny and you started it?
 
6:52 4. Paint me a picture of what the experience will be like for someone walking into the Shreveport Youth Boxing Club for the first time.
 
8:38 5. Who is welcome to use the Shreveport Youth Boxing Club?
 
9:57 6. I would love to hear from each of you on this, what is the one thing so far that you have learned from your experience with the kids in the Shreveport Youth Boxing Club that has most surprised you?
 
14:38 7. The kids that come to you, what can they expect to learn?
 
18:54 8. Lastly, how do we create more mentors and role models in our community?

Episode 87 Jon Soul - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Outdoor Educator Jon Soul sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:32 1. Jon, you’re involved in numerous aspects of our community, with a focus I would say on education, our environment and outdoors, and just an overall effort to strengthen Shreveport-Bossier by providing healing knowledge and activities for our residents.
 
Let’s start today with your interest in the Red River.
 
Like many of us, growing up you were told to stay out of the river because it’s dirty and dangerous. We are so fortunate to have a river that runs right through the middle of our city.
 
Why are we underutilizing and undervaluing our river while cities like St. Louis, Austin, Little Rock and Oklahoma City have embraced their rivers and used them to transform their downtown areas and city centers?
 
8:12 2. We hear a lot here about, how do we attract more people and companies to Shreveport-Bossier? Also, how do we get more residents to feel comfortable spending time downtown?
 
In that same vein, my question for you, and I really think it’s an important economic development subject is, how do we get more people on the Red River?
 
14:36 3. Since 2008 you have taught at the Montessori School of Shreveport and been deeply involved there, including starting the Coates Bluff Nature Trail.
 
How did you first become involved in this beautiful expanse of nature in the middle of our city?
 
37:01 4. Dionne Procell-Brown, a close friend and collaborator of yours once said, “If we want folks to love Shreveport, to care about this place, then why wouldn't we protect the area where the first settlement and trading post and post office was? Why wouldn't we take care of the oldest African-American cemetery that's right off the trail?”
 
Tell me about the Friends of the Coates Bluff Nature Trail and your current efforts.
 
45:13 5. In preparing for today’s discussion, I came across you describing some of your interest and work as place-based education. For the lay people out there, I put myself in that group, what is place-based education? And what value could more place-based education have for our community?

Episode 86 Dr. Michael Hicks - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Education Thought Leader, Dr. Michael Hicks, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:38 1. Although you and I don’t know each other all that well, we go way back. We were at Caddo Middle Magnet at the same time and then after that at Captain Shreve together.
 
I once heard you use the term “invisible backpack.”
 
Explain what that is and tell me, if you could, what was in your invisible backpack in those years at Middle Magnet and/or Shreve.
 
9:37 2. You hold a Doctorate degree in Education Leadership from Louisiana Tech University and your area of expertise is in leadership, justice and identity. You have a wide range of experience in education, starting as a substitute teacher in Caddo Parish, and later working as a community mental health specialist, school counselor, and faculty member at esteemed higher education institutions, including Southern University at Shreveport and Centenary College of Louisiana.
 
A couple of people have said to me recently how the Magnet school system might not be the ideal school system for our community, particularly in how it potentially has a negative impact on some of our neighborhood schools.
 
In your opinion, is the Magnet school system a bridge too far? Do you know of or see a better approach for our community?
 
19:44 3. You taught a course at Centenary College entitled “Doing Race”. We have talked quite a bit on this podcast about how to do better creating and accepting a multi-ethnic Shreveport.
 
How do we do better as a community dealing with our differences differently, and in fact better?
 
27:48 4. You have a unique perspective as your father, Dr. Raymond Hicks, was the President of Grambling University in the nineties. What is the same or worst today in terms of local race relations?
 
34:52 5. And, what is better you think now, in terms of race relations, than it was when we were growing up here and when your dad was President at Grambling?

Episode 85 Laura Baxter - "Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home"

Laura Baxter, Director of the Institute for Childhood Resilience at LSU Health Shreveport, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, and Kristi Gustavson, CEO of the Community Foundation of North Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:56 1. Define adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and why do they matter?
 
2:41 2. Why do some of us thrive despite adversity while others are overwhelmed by similar experiences?
 
3:44 3. Is our community resilient? Can resilience be built or is it something you’re born with? Explain.
 
5:44 4. What are the services provided by the Institute for Childhood Resilience (or ICR as it is commonly known)? When did it start and what is the genesis behind its formation?
 
9:09 5. I know you were instrumental in ensuring that every Caddo Parish educator receives ACEs training. Why did you do that and how did you do that? Explain how all of that went down.
 
14:31 6. What could cause a kid to carry an "emergency brain" from home to school?
 
15:56 7. Where would you go from there? Do you feel like the whole community needs to understand ACEs? If so, why?
 
17:52 8. What can parents do? What can community members do?
 
19:37 9. You once said, “There’s this great opportunity for learning but there’s also a great possibility of damage.” Why is the first five years of life the sweet spot?
 
22:30 10. You also once said, “Every child in this community deserves a childhood.”
 
I am a parent who has a low ACEs score. Why as a community member should I care about other people in my community who have high ACEs scores?
 
How are we doing a better job in our community recognizing trauma? And how are we doing a better job building resilience?
 
28:34 11. If you're a parent, why is it important to understand your own ACE score? What should you be on the lookout for relative to parenting your child?

Episode 84 Mike McSwain - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Architect Mike McSwain sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:26 1. Mike, you are one of our community’s most beloved architects, having designed countless projects including the Sci-Port Discovery Center, Bossier Parish Community College, the Cyber Innovation Center and renovations to the Shreveport Regional Airport and Municipal Auditorium, to name but a very few.
 
Let’s start here today.
 
One of your projects was the creation of the East Bank District in Bossier. Talk to me about the genesis of this project, if you could, and lessons we can learn from its success that might reinvigorate and revitalize other areas of our community.
 
7:15 2. I have known you for a long time but until I started preparing for today’s discussion I had never heard the story about how you first decided to become an architect. Would you mind sharing some of that? I think you were in Texas Tech in Lubbock and I’ll let you take it from there.
 
8:35 3. Your wonderful sense of design is not only on display for us to appreciate all over Shreveport-Bossier but you have been the architect on projects all over the world, including designing condominiums in Indonesia and a luxury estate community in China.
 
You have done a significant amount of travel over the last 15-20 years. When you meet people during your travels and they ask you what it’s like in Shreveport-Bossier, what do you tell them?
 
10:06 4. Are there particular cities around the country that provide examples to you of what Shreveport-Bossier should aspire to in the future? If so, can you talk about a few of the cities and the characteristics of them you feel we should strive to emulate?
 
12:46 5. Compared to some other cities around the country, Shreveport-Bossier could be called conservative in its thinking or openness to new ideas or perspectives. Yet, you have seemed to always transcend that, delivering some of the most progressively designed projects our area has seen these last 30 or so years.
 
What advice or words of wisdom can you offer to our younger creative class – architects or any kind of creative - to make them feel like it is possible to find support for personal and perhaps progressive expression in the Shreveport-Bossier community?
 
16:08 6. As you look around at our community, what do you think is holding us back?
 
21:49 7. Lastly, what gives you hope that we might be headed in a good direction as a community?

Episode 83 Father Raney Johnson - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Father Raney Johnson, administrator at Cathedral of St John Berchmans and one of the chaplains at Loyola College Prep, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:32 1. On 6/5/21, you were ordained the first native-born priest of the Diocese of Shreveport.
 
I read where you once said: “Being called ‘Father’ will take some getting used to. When I’m with another priest, and someone else says ‘Father,’ I assume they’re talking to him, not me. But then, it turns out they are talking to me.”
 
My first question today is, have you gotten used to being called Father yet?
 
2:33 2. You are the administrator at St John Berchmans and one of the chaplains at Loyola College Prep. Give me a snapshot if you could of what a typical week looks like for you at St Johns and Loyola? How are you working with the students, when are you saying mass for the St Johns congregation and for the Loyola student body, what days and times are you available for confession?
 
Just give me a sense if you could of what a typical week for Father Raney looks like.
 
6:55 3. What is the difference between a cathedral and a church?
 
9:58 4. Share, if you could, any advice or words of wisdom you have for people listening, who are contemplating pursuing the priesthood.
 
11:34 5. Many cities similar-sized to us have large universities and/or sports teams that bring the community together. We probably will never have either of those things in Shreveport-Bossier. What do you see that can help unify us more in the future as a community or help bring us together more than we are today?
 
13:26 6. As you look at our community, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
15:46 7. What gives you hope that we’re headed in the right direction?
 
20:26 8. How many individual Catholic churches do we have in Shreveport's Diocese?

Episode 82 Andrew Crawford - ”Shreveport-Bossier: My City, My Community, My Home”

Entrepreneur and Multiple Local Business Owner Andrew Crawford, sits down with Jeffrey Goodman, Director of Marketing and Development for the YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, to answer the following questions:
 
0:26 1. Andrew, you are part of the Atkins-Crawford family, one of the most philanthropic and important families in the history of Shreveport. Can you talk some about your family’s history in the community and just some about how you were raised?
 
6:35 2. You are owner or part owner of 3 Rhino Coffees, Cuban Liquor, Jacquelyn’s Café and the Crawford Design Group. I’ve read or listened to numerous interviews with you and building community is a theme you come back to quite often. How do you explain your commitment to this community and your almost unmatched drive to give back to it and make it better?
 
10:35 3. Many cities similar-sized to us have large universities and/or sports teams that bring the community together. We probably will never have either of those things in Shreveport-Bossier. What do you see that can help unify us more in the future as a community or help bring us together more than we are today?
 
12:06 4. As you well know, one of our major issues is the fact that we export so much of our talent. In your opinion, how do we do a better job retaining our best and brightest?
 
13:28 5. You've been back since 2010. In the thirteen years since you've been back here, do you feel like things are better than when you arrived back home?
 
14:46 6. As you look around at our community, what are some of the things that concern you the most?
 
21:28 7. How do we produce more Andrew Crawfords?
 
24:45 8. What gives you hope that we’re headed in the right direction?
 
25:56 9. What conversations, if any at this point, are you having with your kids about their city, their community?