George Mason University Archives

Images for Good with Kevin Krisco

(Jan. 2, 2019) Catherine Read interviews Kevin Krisko, founder and President of the nonprofit images for Good, and Yassmin Salem, a student currently working with the organization. They discuss the history, purpose and goals of this unique program that teaches visual storytelling while supporting the work of other non-profits.

Images for Good is a mentored service photography nonprofit that empowers new service leaders in the community, using photography as a tool of change. Students who are interested in telling the stories of important work being done in the community are mentored in the art of photography to help amplify and elevate the good work being done all around them. Krisko founded the organization after volunteering his own services for nonprofit events, because often times they do not have a budget to hire a photographer to capture professional style images. He thought that pairing the opportunity to teach a student about the art of photography, while giving back to the community, was a perfect way to both teach and inspire students. So images for Good was born, and is currently thriving.

The all-volunteer staff strives to close opportunity gaps through youth development and social innovation. Images for Good partners with small, community based nonprofits to document their events and tell their stories. Krisko emphasizes that it is important to have a diversity of perspectives when telling stories, so images for Good is deliberate about recruiting students from a variety of backgrounds. Their recruiting material is even translated into ten different languages.

Students who participate in this program are taught and mentored by professionals in the field. The goal is not only to teach photography skills, but also to open the students’ eyes to the world around them. Krisko notes that they teach students how to see things differently by bringing heart and soul to their work, with the goal of inspiring the students to ultimately live their life in a more altruistic manner. Once a student graduates from the program, they are encouraged to in turn become mentors to new students who want to get involved.

Yassmin Salem, a student at George Mason University and current participant, was connected to images for Good when searching for a community service opportunity as part of her course work at school. She has thoroughly enjoyed her experience working with the organization, and was excited to be exposed to so many community nonprofits that she did not know about before she embarked on this journey. She has learned about photography and editing skills, as well as how to frame a good picture, capture authentic images and how to tell a story through her pictures.

Since inception in March of 2015 images for Good has worked with over 100 nonprofit organizations and covered over 150 various engagements. They have brought in 27 adult mentors to inspire, teach and plant seeds in the students who they work with. They are always looking for more adult volunteers, and welcome any donations to help purchase more equipment and continue their good work. As the organization grows and they build a network of relationships, Krisko hopes to inspire students to be open and welcoming to new people and new experiences, as well as learn how to advocate and support causes that are meaningful to them.

Krisko is grateful to everyone who has helped images for Good get to where they are today, including individual donors, corporate donors and everyone who volunteers. They can be found on Twitter (@imagesforgood), Facebook and Instagram (@imagesforgood) as well as online at www.imagesforgood.org

by Rachel Simon

Northern Virginia Family Service – Inside Scoop

(Dec. 3, 2018) Catherine Read interviews several members of the Northern Virginia Family Service leadership team to talk about the wide array of services that they deliver to families throughout the region. For the past 95 years, NVFS has delivered support to the most vulnerable families in Northern Virginia. The organization was recently selected by Jeff and McKenzie Bezos to be a recipient of a $2.5 million grant from their Day 1 Families Fund to help end family homelessness in our region.

NVFS Programs

In the first segment, Catherine speaks with Andrea Eck, Executive Vice President of Programs at NVFS. Andrea points out that the programs offered to families range from workforce training to housing assistance to hunger relief to early childhood development and support. The unique thing about NVFS is that all of their programs are integrated with one another, and are designed to support the families they serve in a holistic manner, with the goal of moving the family toward self-sufficiency.

Eck notes that NVFS works collaboratively with partners throughout the region to help deliver necessary services, so that resources can be used wisely and efforts are not duplicated. She is confident that their excellent track record is what led to the grant from the Day 1 Families Fund. The grant money will be used to fight family homelessness in Northern Virginia. Specifically, they will be enhancing their housing locator service, improving their career navigation center, and enhancing the availability of mental health services in order to get people healthy so that they can support themselves and contribute to society.

Multi-Cultural Center and Youth Initiatives

In the second segment Catherine talks to Meredith McKeen, Director of the Multi-Cultural Center and Youth Initiatives. On the multi-cultural center side, her job is to oversee the array of services designed to help people recover from exposure to trauma and violence. Her department utilizes case management to navigate the issues, and services are delivered in 7 different languages to meet the needs of the community. Many families have suffered trauma throughout the immigration process, and McKeen’s department is designed to assist families with immigration legal aid, as well as assist them in finding the support services that they need within the community.

Under the youth umbrella, NVFS runs a gang prevention program to help keep kids safe and out of trouble. Additionally, for young people who have witnessed or been exposed to violence, her department is tasked with helping them find and access mental health services. Getting young people access to these critical programs is so important, because the sooner they can deal with the trauma that they have experienced, the sooner they can get back to school and be able to move their lives forward.

Another important aspect of McKeen’s department is the family reunification program. Many times, immigrant families are separated from one another for many years, with some parents being separated from their children for up to a decade. Reunification is always the goal, but with it comes its own set of challenges. First off, parents and children need to get to know one another again. Additionally, the children may have endured an arduous journey to make it to America, and they may have residual trauma from their travels. This program is aimed to get ahead of these challenges and address issues up front in order to keep everyone safe. It has been shown to help avoid child abuse, future foster care placement and potential mental health problems down the road. It is an investment in the family today that can have a lasting impact into the future. Families are resilient, but they need the right tools in order to be healthy and happy.

Workforce Development

In the third segment of the show Catherine speaks with Julie Mullen, Director of Workforce Development about how NVFS is working toward customized career training for its clients. This new approach is aimed at helping their clients identify their goals, attain the necessary skills and ultimately find a sustainable wage job. The One on One Navigator program is one of the areas that will greatly benefit from the grant give by the Day 1 Families Fund. A job with sustainable wages is the best way to keep a family out of homelessness, so this program will be critical to meeting their goals.

The One on One program will allow career counselors to help clients tap into their talents, then connect them with the partners in the community who can help them build the skills that they need to succeed. Money from the grant will be able to help pay for certifications or English classes, even assist with the costs of opening a new business like an in-home childcare center. The career navigators can assist with understanding the regulations and the paperwork needed to get a business started. Removing these barriers and hurdles are critical to helping clients move forward.

This winter NVFS is launching their “Team Up” imitative in the hospitality, manufacturing and healthcare space. They will be co-locating in space with their business partners to help deliver services and make sure that workers have the tools that they need to be successful and productive. For example, now that Medicaid has expanded in Virginia, NVFS will have people available to help workers understand that they are eligible for benefits, and assist them in learning how to apply.

Health Access and Nutrition Services

In the final segment of the show, Catherine interviews Ondrea McIntyre-Hall, Director of Health Access and Nutrition Services at NVFS. Her department oversees the Hunger Resource Center, located in Prince William County. The center serves 600-700 families a month, and processes approximately 3.3 million pounds of food a year. There is a growing community of food insecure families in our region, and NVFS is looking at creative ways to help stem the tide of hunger by providing food support and nutrition services. Their resource center includes cooking classes and demonstrations, in order to teach families how to make the best use of the ingredients that they have access to. Additionally, there is no limit on the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables that families can take when visiting their facility.

Thanks to generous donations from local farmers markets, grocery stores and the USDA the Hunger Resource Center receives a great deal of fresh, perishable food. Therefore, they partner with other smaller food pantries in the area so that the food can get better distributed in a timely manner. Many families cannot access the center in Prince William, so this gives the smaller, more local pantries an opportunity to get fresh fruit and vegetables distributed to their clients.

Currently, NVFS is launching an exciting pilot program with Mason and Partners (through George Mason University) that will give clients a “prescription card” for certain fruits and vegetables that clients need to maintain their health. Clients will then be able to redeems these cards at participating vendors – food pantries, Farmer’s Markets, stores where the cards are accepted. This innovative approach to providing access to fresh fruits and vegetables recognizes that what we eat can greatly contribute to supporting a healthy lifestyle.

by Rachel Simon

Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce

(Nov. 19, 2018) Catherine Read sits down with Jen Siciliano, Chairperson of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, along with recently hired Executive Director Julie Coons. Their wide-ranging discussion covers the makeup of the organization, the mission of the Chamber, and the wide variety of programming that the Chamber sponsors.

Jen Siciliano serves in a professional capacity as the Chief External Affairs Officer at INOVA, and has been active in the chamber for many years as a representative on the Healthcare committee. The Chamber has played a key role in her personal and professional development over the years. Her goal is to keep the organization relevant by meeting members where they are, and continuing to deliver a diverse set of programs and initiatives that support area businesses. One of the keys to the success of the Chamber is the ability to work collaboratively across industries and as a regional leader, while also cultivating the next generation of business leaders.

The Chamber hosts many successful annual programs that highlight the diversity of the Northern Virginia region. They recently hosted the Annual State of Healthcare Conference, where they brought together a panel of representatives from the insurance industry, medical professionals and hospitals to talk about the recently passed legislation that expanded Medicaid to low income Virginians. There are now significant changes in how healthcare will be delivered to thousands of Virginians, and this forum was a way to bring businesses together to better understand the nuances of the new system. Healthcare cuts across industry, and touches every business owner and employee, so the chamber was proud to sponsor this forum.

The Chamber also sponsors a variety of committees geared toward women in business, minority owned businesses, government contractors, and non-profits to just name a few. Each industry has their own set of issues and challenges, and it is important for business owners to be able to come together. The chamber also works hard to elevate the collective voice as a business community. They adopt legislative initiatives and advocate for policy positions at the local, state and federal level. One example of the success of the chamber was the Metro deal that they helped to negotiate in 2018. The investment in transit will benefit both employers and workers, and Siciliano is very proud of the hard work that went into negotiating that regional deal.

Jen also believes in the importance of cultivating the next generation of business leaders. The Next-Gen Council is designed to bring new people into the organization, and get them excited about having an impact on the business community. It also helps them better understand the benefits of professional networking that comes with chamber membership. Anyone can attend any of the chamber programs free of charge to see if it is a good “fit” for them. Jen notes that the chamber was instrumental in her professional success, and has a goal of bringing this value to the next generation of leaders.

In the second segment, Catherine speaks with newly hired Chamber CEO Julie Coons. Coons comes to the Chamber as former CEO of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, and is excited to be a part of the regional leadership as she heads the NoVa Chamber. She recognizes that there are many moving parts to such a large organization, and looks forward to working with her staff of 10 people to plan, execute and deliver relevant programming to her members.

Many small business owners think that a large, regional chamber such as NoVA Chamber is only for the large Fortune 500 companies. Coons points out that 60% of the member organizations have fewer than 50 employees, and 25% of members have fewer than 4 employees. Membership in the chamber gives a local business access to unique networking events that can help grow a business, as well as elevate their voice when it comes to legislative initiatives. The collective voice of businesses can make a big impact.

At the beginning of her tenure, Coons ventured out on a listening tour around the region, in order to ensure that she heard from different constituencies. She believes it is important for her understand the needs of her members, and the obstacles that they face in their respective industries. She also wants to understand priorities and make sure that the programming that the chamber offers is relevant and meeting the needs of her members. Coons understands the importance of looking for emerging business opportunities, so she strongly supports business incubators to help grow new business and cultivate new industries. For many years, the region relied heavily on government work. When that started to dry up, it became more important than ever to think about new ways to grow the economy.

Coons is excited about the new Amazon Headquarters slated to open in Crystal City. The jobs will be welcomed, and the investment in resources such as schools and transportation will be a huge benefit. Another ancillary benefit will be the innovation campus slated to open adjacent to the Amazon headquarters. This will not only be a pipeline for workers at Amazon, but a boost to the local economy by encouraging new businesses to sprout from the research and development that will be sparked by this campus.

The NoVa Chamber has a great relationship with both Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University. The chamber is looking to further develop some apprenticeship programs that will help students who might not look at attending a 4-year university. This will help in a variety of industries where there are actually shortages of workers in good paying jobs.

One of the Chamber’s hallmark events is the upcoming 27^th annual Economic Forum that will be held on January 31^st. The theme is Focus on the Future and will look at the evolution of the regional economy. There will be a variety of panels and speakers, with the goal that each person who attends the conference will be able to take away highly credible information, along with actionable items. Coons hope that all who are interested can join for this very popular annual program.

by Rachel Simon

Fall for the Book Festival at George Mason University

(Sept. 26, 2018) Catherine Read interviews Suzy Rigdon-Williams and Kara Oakleaf, professors at George Mason University (GMU), about the upcoming Fall for the Book Festival. This is the 20^th anniversary of the four-day event, featuring over 150 authors. It will run from October 11^th-14^th on the GMU campus.

Planning for this event goes on all year, and Rigdon-Williams and Oakleaf are enthusiastic about the variety and breadth of authors and genres that are being featured. During the planning phase they work closely with the festival partners, including the Fairfax County Public Library and professors from George Mason University, to make sure that they know what books are currently popular. This helps them shape the festival and provide relevant programming for patrons.

A few of the headliners include Tayari Jones, author of The American Marriage. This is a best seller that is being read and discussed by many book clubs. This book portrays the relationship of an African American couple when the husband is falsely accused of a crime and sent to jail. Congressman John Lewis will make an appearance to discuss his recently released graphic memoir entitled March, that documents his life story and his role in the civil rights movement. Author Paul Hawkins will speak about his book Drawdown, which outlines practical ways to mitigate climate change. The schedule of all of these authors, along with the 150 others, can be found on the Fall for the Book Website. There is also a special app that can be downloaded to help patrons organize their schedule during the festival.

Rigdon-Williams and Oakleaf note that one of the most exciting aspects of the festival is that they are giving their students first hand access to the authors. Student can learn about how an author completes the writing process and where they get their inspiration. Each and every writer goes about the creative process in their own way, and it is helpful for the students to understand this. For many of the students, it is the first time that they have had access to this type of forum. This exposure can be invaluable to young students who are considering embarking on a writing career.

Saturday October 13^th will be community day for the book festival. They are partnering with the city of Fairfax during their Fall for Fairfax Festival, and will have activities and events for people of all ages. The Old Town Hall will feature arts and crafts and special story times. There will be free parking on campus, as well as shuttle buses that will be running back to the downtown area, so people can easily access the activities. They encourage everyone to explore the schedule and come by to hear about a topic of interest.

Sadly, the closing event featuring Angie Thomas who wrote The Hate U Give has to be rescheduled. Stay tuned for information on the the Fall for the Book website, along with social media, to find out when she will be coming back to discuss her best selling book, which was just released as a movie this month.

Catherine Read will be moderating the panel “Surviving as an Outsider” on Saturday, Oct. 13th from 1:30 – 2:30 in Merten Hall. Joseph Cassara, author of The House of Impossible Beauties and Patrick Nathan, author of Some Hell, will be discussing the concept of outsiders as it relates to the LGBTQ community.

You can download the Fall for the Book app at www.FallfortheBook.org

by Catherine Read

So Lim – Challenges of May Municipal Elections in Virginia

(April 18, 2018) Catherine Read, a former candidate for Fairfax City Council in 2012, talks with first time candidate So Lim about some of the challenges of running in a May election for local office. The walk list candidates use to determine whose door to knock on is based on who has voted in that election previously. Local elections – also called municipal elections – have notoriously low voter turnouts. Many towns and cities have moved their elections from May to November to capitalize on the higher voter turnout for major statewide and federal elections. Fairfax City is not one of them.

Two current Fairfax City Council Members, Jeff Greenfield and Ellie Schmidt, announced that they would not be seeking re-election this year. This has left two open seats on the six person City Council. There are now eight candidates on the ballot for those six seats and the six candidates receiving the most votes on May 1st will make up the 2018-2020 Council in Fairfax City. For the first time in the city’s history, there are two Asian Americans on the ballot: So Lim and Sang Yi. There is a substantial community of Asian Americans in Fairfax City, most are Korean Americans. Since incorporating as a city in 1961, there has been almost no diversity on the council. Mayor David Meyer, a former Council Member who is running unopposed, holds a Mayoral position that has been exclusively held by white men since the city was founded.

So Lim has found that people care about very local issues: traffic, housing density, redevelopment projects and the downtown economy in Fairfax City. She has branched out beyond those who have previously voted in a May election for City Council and has started to talk with others in the city who aren’t aware there is a May election. Fairfax City has a high median income and a high level of education among the residents who live there. It’s perplexing as to why this population of people is not civically engaged in determining who will set their tax rate, fund their schools and pave their roads. So further discovered that there are over 300 registered Asian American voters in the City and only 20 have ever voted in the City Council election previously.

They discuss the City’s relationship with George Mason University, where Catherine is a 1984 alumna, and consider ways to better engage the thousands of students who live just outside the Fairfax City border. These ideas include bike sharing, better sidewalks, and businesses that appeal to college students. Catherine points out that many city voters were here long before Mason became the largest university in Virginia (by enrollment) and that having a “commuter school” in the 1970s and 1980s is vastly different than suddenly finding you are a “college town” within a matter of 20 years.

Catherine and So discuss affordable housing in the context of providing a variety of housing stock that allows everyone who is currently here to remain here – like senior citizens who want to age in place in homes more appropriate to their space requirements, income, and mobility. Students who want to remain in the area after graduating from Mason find it difficult to find housing they can afford. Families with children are drawn to our residential neighborhoods – many of which have parks nearby – but have trouble affording them. There are numerous redevelopment projects in various stages of completion in the city that will provide more townhouses, condos and apartments but affordability is still an issue and traffic concerns make many of these projects unwelcome by city residents.

In discussing ways in which to tap into the rich diversity of Fairfax City’s residents, So Lim proposes an international festival in the city that will bring people together. Catherine shares information about the annual International Showcase organized by the Centreville Immigration Forum that does exactly that. Now in it’s 8th year, the International Showcase is a celebration of the culture, music and food of the many ethnic communities represented in the Centreville area. Creating opportunities for a richer community connection and fostering cross cultural appreciation is something former Mayor Scott Silverthorne attempted to do when he brought Walter Tejada, Chair of the Arlington Board, to the city for a forum on diversity in 2013. While the forum was well attended, there was no advancement of the ideas brought by Walter Tejada.

So Lim is a local business owner. She started her insurance business nearly 20 years ago when her youngest child was only 4 months old. Fairfax City has been a good place to grow her business to quadruple its original size. She’s lived with her husband Mark Hardy in Farrcroft since 2001, her sons attended Fairfax City schools, and she is the former President of the Korean American Association of Greater Washington. While successful in these ventures, she’s not been involved politically in the City. As a political neophyte, she’s navigating her way through this process. So enjoys talking to people at their doors and she’s interested in what they have to say about what they love – and don’t love – about Fairfax City. She’s hoping that voters will give her an opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to council decision making, the future visioning of the city and some experience in building healthy businesses.

More information can be found about So Lim at www.SoLimForCityCouncil.com Election day is May 1st.

by Catherine Read

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute – The OLLI Players

(March 21, 2018) Catherine Read talks with Sandy Lisiewski, a member of The OLLI Players, and Michelle Blandburg, Treasurer of the OLLI Board of Directors and also a member of this local theatrical troupe. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) is affiliated with both The Osher Foundation and George Mason University. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute was founded for the purpose of offering mature adult learners ongoing educational experiences along with social activities and special events.

Sandy Lisiewski joined a Readers’ Theater class at OLLI in 1998. It was a way for those interested in acting to participate in productions without costumes, sets or memorizing lines. That evolved into performing skits which they performed at local events. In 2005, Kathie West, a retired drama teacher, joined the Readers’ Theater and started a Drama Club at OLLI. The OLLI Players Theater was established shortly thereafter. One of their members is also a producer at the local Fairfax Public Access (FPA) studio and created the opportunity to produce radio and television productions in addition to their live performances. They branched out into interactive Murder Mystery productions. After the first production, a class was offered every semester that allows those who want to participate in a Murder Mystery to create the characters, write the plot and participate in the production.

In 2015, Kathie West started the OLLI Players Workshop Class. The first performances were at the OLLI campus. They decided to do community outreach to see if there were organizations interested in having them perform at their own locations. Out of the 75 organizations they contacted, a substantial number welcomed their free performances, and so they took their show on the road in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William Counties. The players range in age from about 60 to 89 and there are 15 to 20 players in the troupe at any given time. Doing traditional plays are a challenge because the venues are dramatically different from one location to the next. So they have developed themed productions that are more of a variety show or vaudeville format to allow for different players’ availability and the constraints of the performance space. They have done a program around “Memories” and also “Lyrics from the Heart” as well as holiday themed shows. One of their favorite annual fundraising projects is a calendar featuring the OLLI Players in costumes around a particular theme.

Michelle Blandburg discovered OLLI through seeing it on a bumpersticker before she was even fully retired. She started taking classes around her part-time work schedule, and one of those classes was Readers’ Theater. She joined The OLLI Players, was asked to be on the OLLI Board of Directors (where she is currently Treasurer) and then began teaching the Readers’ Theater Class. There are 121 OLLIs affiliated with universities and colleges around the country supported by The Osher Foundation, at least one in every state and in DC. There is an introductory rate to try out the program for one semester. The annual membership fee for one full year provides unlimited classes (there are over 600 classes offered) and a GMU Student ID that offers eligibility for a number of discounts at the bookstore and in other places. Many instructors are academics (active and retired), and a wide range of other area professionals that are experts in their fields. If you want a class that is not provided, you can propose a class to the program committee and even teach it yourself.

There is a course catalogue published four times a year, the schedule of classes is also online, and there is an online registration. Classes are taught at the main OLLI campus at Tallwood off Roberts Road in Fairfax, as well as in Loudoun County, Reston and at locations scattered around Northern Virginia, some in spaces provided by faith communities. Classes include things like dance, yoga and Tai Chi. In addition to the classes, there are also many clubs – for Bridge, Current Events, Arts & Crafts, Poetry and more. There are also special events like wine tastings, chocolate tastings and ice cream socials. The Special Events Committee is open to new suggestions. This is a volunteer driven organization, and the people in the OLLI community are what makes it go.

For more information visit: http://OLLI.GMU.EDU or email: [email protected] The main office is located at 4210 Roberts Rd in Fairfax, VA.

To book The OLLI Players at your location, email: [email protected]