On this episode of CivicCast, we chat with our upcoming CivicCon speaker, Tom Dahlborg.

Tom Dahlborg is an internationally recognized speaker and writer focusing on stopping bullying, amplifying positive childhood experiences, and bringing “love in action” to all we do.

Tom’s multiple award-winning book, The Big Kid and Basketball … and the lessons he taught his Father and Coach, focusing on bullying and ACES and PCES, has led to significant youth sport and school system improvements and improved child experience and well-being.

In the episode, he shares some of the biggest misconceptions about bullying, his history with bullying education and what we can all do to stop bullying together.

Tom Dahlborg will be speaking at the Wesley Abbey Building of First United Methodist Church on Monday, October 28, from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. Wesley Abbey is the white building on the corner of Wright and Palafox. Register for free at this link.

He will also be hosting a workshop the following morning in the downstairs training room of Maritime Place (350 W Cedar Street) on Tuesday, October 29 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. Please RSVP for this workshop by emailing Eduardo Lara at elara@civicconversations.org.

Our guest today is Caitlin Cerame, transportation planner for the city of Pensacola.

She talks about the recent Pensacola Active Transportation Plan, the processes behind making traffic calming measures, updates to Palafox Street and more.

Cerame has a master's degree in urban and regional planning and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Florida, and she also holds the designation of American Institute of Certified Planners from the American Planning Association. She has several years of transportation planning experience in local government from both the Emerald Coast Regional Council and St. Johns County, where she has held a range of planner and program coordinator roles.

You can learn read the Pensacola Active Transportation Plan here: https://www.cityofpensacola.com/3392/Active-Transportation-Plan

Sign up for updates from the city of Pensacola here: https://www.cityofpensacola.com/List.aspx

Learn more about our CivicCon Supporters at www.civiccon.org

Joining us for this episode is Dr. Angela Bush, Area Director for Jefferson County Schools in Alabama.

During her four years as Principal of Erwin Middle School, Dr. Bush made notable strides to move the school from a low-performing school to a model high-performing educational institution in the school district, city, and state. She addressed and improved issues such as low teacher morale, low test scores, low attendance and high disciplinary infractions.

She gives us a preview of how she achieved that.

She will be giving a presentation at the REX Theatre in downtown pensacola on Thursday, April 11 from 6 - 7:30 p.m.

Register for her free CivicCon presentation here: https://CivicCon-Angela-Bush.eventbrite.com

Today we are joined by Rich Harwood, president and founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation. Richard has devoted his career to revitalizing the nation’s hardest-hit communities, transforming the world’s largest organizations, and reconnecting institutions like newsrooms and schools to society.

Over the past 35 years, he has developed a philosophy and practice of how communities can tackle shared problems, create a culture of shared responsibility, and deepen our civic faith.

He has written six books, including the Amazon bestseller Stepping Forward and Unleashed: A Proven Way Communities Can Spread Change and Make Hope Real for All.

He’s on a nationwide civic campaign called “Enough. Time to Build.” Amid contentious 2024 political campaigns, Rich believes the country needs a civic path forward, not more divisive politics, and that the real change we need is going to start in our local communities. His campaign calls on community leaders and active citizens to reclaim the public square from the most divisive voices and unleash our capacity as builders and doers.

Richard will be speaking at the Wesley Abbey building of first united Methodist church, 2 wright street in downtown Pensacola on Wednesday, March 20 starting at 6 p.m.

Register for this free CivicCon event here.

Our guest is Jarah Jacquay, founder of The Bluffline, a grassroots effort to reconnect Pensacola residents with their environment and each other by building a public greenway from UWF to West Pensacola.

You'll learn about Jarah's background in walkability, his inspiration to start The Bluffline and next steps for the project.

Get involved with the project at www.bluffline.org

To see any of CivicCon's past speakers on the topic of walkability, such as Jeff Speck or Dan Burden, visit our website at www.civiccon.org.

Welcome to CivicCast, the companion podcast to CivicCon, where we dive deeper into the topics that can move our communities forward, such as mental health, homelessness, walkability and education.

For our very first guest, we have the philanthropist, businessman and founder of the Studer Community Institute and CivicCon: Quint Studer. Join us as he discusses the events that led to the creation of CivicCon.

We are always happy to hear from our audience. If you have suggestions for future episodes or CivicCon events, please email me at elara@civicconversations.org.

If you are interested in watching footage from any of our speakers over the last six years, you can visit www.civiccon.org.