The SALA Series Podcast

Michelle Nunn has spent her career building and leading organizations rooted in service—from founding Hands On Atlanta to scaling Points of Light into a global volunteer network, and now as CEO of CARE USA.

In this episode, she shares what it really takes to lead mission-driven organizations at scale while staying anchored in purpose.Michelle reflects on the challenges of mobilizing millions of people, navigating complex humanitarian crises, and making tough decisions in environments where the stakes are deeply human. She offers candid insights on building trust, sustaining teams through uncertainty, and balancing urgency with long-term impact.

Jim Tooley, CEO of USA Basketball, joins the conversation to explore what it means to lead one of the most visible programs in global sport. Drawing on more than three decades with USA Basketball, Tooley reflects on leadership across eras, from Jerry Colangelo to Coach K to Gregg Popovich, and the cultural principles that sustain excellence at the highest level. He discusses building trust and accountability among superstar athletes, coaches, and partners while stewarding an organization that represents the country on the world stage. Jim Tooley is leading the future of the game: the globalization of basketball, youth development, understanding N...

Dr. Richard Carmona’s life is a blueprint for service: Vietnam combat medic, trauma surgeon, sheriff’s deputy, professor, and ultimately the 17th Surgeon General of the United States—the first Hispanic man to hold the role. In this episode of the SALA Series Podcast, Dr. Carmona reflects on the experiences that shaped his approach to leadership, public health, and service.

Raised in poverty in the Bronx, he brings a deeply personal understanding of the barriers facing underserved communities. Throughout his career—from emergency rooms to the highest levels of government—he has championed health equity, preventive care, and the we...

Together with Lawrence E. Adjah, ordained minister, social entrepreneur, and best-selling author, Karida Brown, Professor of Sociology at Emory University and author of multiple award-winning works on race has a wide-ranging conversation on the inherent tension between systems and human agency.

Dr. Brown draws on decades of scholarship to examine how racial difference is historically constructed, institutionalized, and maintained, while Adjah offers a complementary perspective grounded in faith, leadership, and community-building—shaped by his work at McKinsey & Company, global mental-health initiatives, and founding the Family Dinner Foundation to combat loneliness and social fragmentation.In a provocative and compelling conve...

In this episode Gary Pinkus, former Chairman and Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company’s North America practice, reflects on leadership, governance, and building enduring impact inside complex institutions. Drawing on nearly four decades at McKinsey where he helped found and lead the firm’s global Private Equity & Principal Investors practice and later guided its North American business Pinkus shares lessons on scaling organizations, balancing purpose with performance, and cultivating innovation within established enterprises. The discussion spans corporate governance, board leadership across energy, real estate finance, and sport, and the intellectual growth that comes from leading across sectors, geographies, and moments of chan...

In this episode Garry W. Jenkins, President of Bates College, joins Marshall Hatch Jr., Co-Founder and Executive Director of the MAAFA Redemption Project, for a conversation on leadership, institutions, and democratic responsibility. President Jenkins brings nationally recognized expertise in nonprofit governance, law, and higher education leadership, shaped by his tenure as Dean of the University of Minnesota Law School and his current role guiding Bates College’s academic mission. Marshall Hatch Jr., a Gates Millennium Scholar and Bates alumnus, adds a faith- and community-centered perspective informed by his work developing workforce, educational, and spiritual pathways for emerging adult Black and Brown men...

Best known for his work on geopolitics, emerging technologies like AI, international institutions, and the future of democracy, Gordon LaForge turns his analytical lens inward—to fatherhood. Becoming a father has prompted deep personal reflection, mirroring the broader evolution of what fatherhood means in contemporary society.

In this themed series, LaForge explores fatherhood as both personal reckoning and social lens. He reflects on changing ideas of manhood, the quiet loneliness many fathers experience, and the tension between achievement-driven success and lasting fulfillment.

Looking ahead, he examines how boys are coming of age amid technological acceleration, cultural un...

In this conversation, Rev. Dr. Kevin R. Johnson, Senior Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church, reflects on the weight and responsibility of leading one of America’s most storied congregations at a moment of national fracture.  Drawing on Abyssinian’s historic legacy and prophetic tradition, Dr. Johnson explores how the church can remain rooted in faith while expanding its reach—engaging younger generations, addressing mental and emotional well-being, and reimagining ministry beyond the sanctuary walls. He speaks candidly about leadership, stewardship, and moral imagination, offering a vision of the church as a keeper of tradition while responding to the moral and emotion...

Two visionary leaders in higher education—Aimée Eubanks-Davis, Co-Founder and CEO of Braven, and Dr. Lynn Mahoney, President of San Francisco State University—join host Jeff Olivet, Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, for a timely and inspiring conversation on the future of college and career pathways.Together, they examine how the partnership between Braven and San Francisco State is reimagining higher education as a true engine of economic mobility—particularly for first-generation and low-income students. The discussion explores the evolving role of higher ed, the growing importance of real-world skills and social capital, and the lea...

One of America’s most respected and influential religious thinkers, David Wolpe is our featured guest in a grounded, timely, and deeply human conversation about the questions of the day.

With clarity and compassion, Rabbi Wolpe reflects on the rise of antisemitism following October 7th, the growing polarization across campuses and civic spaces, and how we can confront these fractures directly and thoughtfully.  A celebrated author, public intellectual, and former visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School, he brings a rare combination of wisdom and candor to questions of faith, doubt, resilience, and the stories we tell to make sen...

Dr. Jim O’Connell has spent nearly forty years building Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, a best-of-class, consumer-led model that delivers medical care directly to shelters, soup kitchens, and the streets. His friend and board member Francis Hyatt, EVP & Chief Community Investments and Sustainability Officer at Liberty Mutual, offers the perspective of a 'stakeholder' leader committed to driving positive change in society.  Dr. O'Connell & Hyatt share lessons from their joint community-investment commitments, including caring for patients through AIDS, multidrug-resistant TB, and the COVID crisis. They discuss why trust and continuity remain the bedrock of partnerships between nonprofits and corpo...

They're back!  And picking up right where they left off - in between laughs, Dalen Cuff and Monica McNutt's catch-up on life and the world, including Monica’s major life changes, marriage, Mayor Mamdani and their own fresh takes on the Epstein Files.  Always fun to see old friends coming back together, especially when they're our hosts !!

In this deeply reflective episode, educators Lindsay Whorton, President of The Holdsworth Center, and Dr. Ruth Simmons, trailblazing university president and author of New York Times bestseller Up Home: One Girl’s Journey, explore what it means to lead with purpose in education.  In discussing the moral dimension of school leadership, Whorton and Simmons are aligned around the need to cultivate empathy and integrity in future leaders, and how personal history shapes one’s approach to service.  Further, as collaborators in practice (Simmons has served as a founding board chair and public-facing elder statesperson to The Holdsworth Center) the conversation moves nat...

Marlon Marshall leads The City Fund, a national organization committed to ensuring that every child—no matter their zip code—has access to a high-quality public education. A veteran of the Obama White House and one of today’s most influential voices in school reform, Marshall brings both political insight and deeply personal conviction to one of America’s most pressing challenges.
In this conversation, he reflects on his upbringing in St. Louis, where his mother taught in public schools and his father worked as a custodian—experiences that have shaped his lifelong belief in the transformative power of education...

Sean O’Brien, the fiery and plainspoken President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, leads one of the most storied labor unions in the United States—representing more than 1.4 million workers across logistics, transportation, and countless essential industries.In this conversation, O’Brien reflects on a lifetime shaped by the labor movement—from growing up in a Teamster family in Boston to becoming one of the youngest leaders in the union’s history. He discusses what it means to lead during a period of deep economic change and political polarization, and how the resurgence of organized labor is reshaping corporate America.O’B...

Faith, community and a calling.  In leading New Pilgrim Baptist Church on Chicago's west side for over three decades, Reverend Marshall Hatch serves the community from the pulpit.  Meanwhile, his son, Marshall Hatch Jr., also an ordained minister, leads from a grassroots level in the same West Garfield Park community as Executive Director of The MAAFA Redemption Project.  

In a remarkable discussion between father and son, the Hatches reflect on ways the spirit of fellowship has shaped their lives and their ministry.  For both, the church has served as a sanctuary and a launchpad for systemic change.  Reverend Hatch Sr...

Homelessness:  A Public Health Crisis 
Recent data shows that every night, in communities large and small across the United States, over 750,000 people experienced homelessness.  Behind every number is a life interrupted, families displaced, people struggling not just to survive, but to reclaim stability, dignity, and hope.  To better understand issues ranging from hands-on outreach to leadership roles shaping national strategy, Jeff Olivet, the former Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), hosts a conversation with two of the foremost practitioners and thought leaders on the issue:  Dr. Howard K. Koh, former U.S. Assistan...

Currently, Senior Advisor to the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Initiative on Health and Homelessness, Jeff Olivet, has worked in homelessness, behavioral health, and public health for more than three decades. On this episode, Olivet sits with Imani Perry, National Book Award–winning author of South to America and Professor of African American Studies and Gender Studies at Harvard University, to reflect on the meaning of home, history, and identity.  They explore their shared southern roots, the grief and memory tied to place, and the moral power of writing to preserve culture and challenge stereotypes.  Spanning music, storytellin...

As a former candidate for U.S. Senate (Ohio) and founder of the non-profit Columbus Stand Up, our friend and SALA member Morgan Harper knows a thing or two about politics, nonprofits and building an inclusive democracy.  During this session, Harper welcomes Dr. Basil Smikle Jr., Professor of Practice and Director of the M.S. program in Nonprofit Management at Columbia University and a frequent MSNBC political analyst.  With three decades in public service and leadership roles ranging from Executive Director of the New York State Democratic Party to senior aide to Hillary Clinton, Dr. Smikle shares insights on civic eng...

Host and faculty member at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Mori Taheripour brings together two extraordinary leaders in mental health:  Dr. Matt Biel, Director of the Thrive Center at Georgetown University, where he is Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics and holds the Marriott Endowed Chair in Child, Adolescent and Family Health, and Dr. Harold Koplewicz, one of the nation’s leading child and adolescent psychiatrists and the founding president of the Child Mind Institute.  Together, they unpack what it means to lead with empathy in a mental health system too often defined by stigma and scarcity.  With insig...

With five years at the helm of the New Orleans Pelicans and a twelve-year playing career in the league, Willie Green talks about how his leadership style has evolved and the prioritized elements of his approach - notably a combination of empathy, faith, and service.  He shares how he handles challenges out of his control, what it means when talent doesn’t fit, and why leadership starts with listening.  From mentoring players like Josh Hart to navigating the weight of a national platform, Coach Green opens up about what guides him, what grounds him, and what makes a great leader in t...

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Trymaine Lee joins the SALA Series for a powerful conversation about truth-telling, justice, and the enduring weight of history.  From the front lines of Hurricane Katrina to the streets of Ferguson, Trymaine has dedicated his career to spotlighting the voices and stories often ignored by the mainstream — with a deep focus on race, inequality, and Black life in America.  In the midst of a book tour promoting his recent work:  A Thousand Ways to Die:  The True Cost of Violence on Black Life in America, Lee shares his numerous provocative insights, including the importance of storytell...

When it comes to understanding terrorism, intelligence, and the ever-evolving global security landscape, few voices carry more authority than Peter Bergen. As CNN’s national security analyst, author of multiple definitive books on Osama bin Laden and jihadist networks, and a seasoned journalist who produced the first television interview with bin Laden himself, Bergen brings unrivaled insight to today’s most pressing geopolitical challenges. In this remarkable episode, Peter takes us deep into the post-9/11 evolution of extremist movements—from al-Qaeda to ISIS to emerging digital radicalization—and explores how the new era of AI, cyber warfare, and great-power competition is resha...

Emmy Award-winning journalists Juju Chang and Byron Pitts join the SALA Series to discuss the vital role of storytelling in American life.  As co-hosts of ABC News' Nightline, Juju Chang, a 30-year veteran of broadcast journalism and Byron Pitts, former chief national correspondent for CBS Evening News, reflect on the power of journalism to foster empathy, elevate underrepresented voices, and hold power to account. With decades of experience covering breaking news, social justice, and human resilience, Chang and Pitts share their insights on fact-finding and in-depth reporting in a polarized world—and why stories still matter.

Marcia Chatelain, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, historian and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is one of the nation's foremost experts on the intersections of race, capitalism, and social change. From her work on the civil rights movement to her exploration of corporate influence in Black communities, she uncovers the forces that shape economic and social power in America. In this episode, she discusses the challenges and political realities we currently face, and the broader implications of race and business in today’s society. With deep insight and sharp analysis, Chatelain unpacks the historical roots of inequality and what it mea...

Frank Bruni, a longtime New York Times journalist, bestselling author, and Duke University professor, has spent decades analyzing the forces shaping American politics, media, and culture. From his work as a White House correspondent to his role as an op-ed columnist, he has explored the narratives that define our times. In this episode, he discusses his latest book, The Age of Grievance, examining how resentment has become a powerful force in politics and society. With sharp insight and masterful storytelling, Bruni unpacks the roots of this discontent, its impact on democracy, and what it will take to move forward

As the former Executive Editor of the Los Angeles Times, acclaimed author and journalist Kevin Merida looks back on a forty-year career as a master storyteller. From covering politics today and yesterday, to tackling hard, thorny issues, Merida discusses the evolving role of the media and its impact. Whether offering unique insights into Kamala Harris’ rise within the broader context of leadership, identity, and politics or in developing new businesses as editor-in-chief at ESPN, Merida has remarkably candid and insightful perspectives to share. He helps us understand both where we’ve come from and where we’re going within the on-going...

Hear from Isaac Saul, the award-winning founder of Tangle; a media company that reaches hundreds of thousands of engaged subscribers from across the political spectrum.  In addition to understanding the positions from the left and right, Saul and his colleagues help us understand (and challenge) where (and how) media coverage leads us, while also deftly providing their own balanced views on some of the most polarizing issues of our time.

Co-hosts Monica McNutt and Dalen Cuff carve out time for a pre-holiday catch-up ranging from the day-to-day (hoops and travel) to bigger-picture musings (consumerism, intentionality and self-awareness) - and what it takes to juggle all of it as both evolve their on-air careers (including Monica being featured as part of a cartoon for the motion-enabled, animated NBA Christmas Day broadcast).  With all the humor, heart, and refreshing perspectives they're well known for, this is a fun one between friends.

Colleagues at ESPN, our SALA Series co-hosts Dalen Cuff and Monica McNutt, are first and foremost good friends.  Former college hoopers, Dalen (Columbia University) says Monica (Georgetown), both have a shared love for highlighting - and understanding - what drives purpose-driven leaders and the 'why' behind the impact they're making.  With a shared sense of humor, Dalen says he appreciates Monica keeping him positive.  And Monica appreciates the seriousness of Dalen's questioning and insights.  Here they catch up after a busy summer and reflect on what lies ahead - both for themselves, the SALA Series podcast and society more generally.

Join us for a special episode featuring Juju Chang, Emmy Award-winning journalist and co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline, Julian Zelizer, renowned historian, author and CNN political analyst, Eddie Glaude Jr., distinguished scholar, author and political analyst and Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department and CEO of New America. This special episode days prior to the election is a timely discussion on the Fragile Nature of Our Democracy. Together, they engage in a thought-provoking conversation about democracy today and the steps needed to safeguard its future.

As CEO and National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Jonathan Greenblatt, fights against hate and antisemitism while promoting justice and inclusion.  Greenblatt’s work focuses on creating a more equitable society while bridging divides and promoting resilience in these polarized times.  With a deep commitment to civil rights and a clear vision for social change, Greenblatt offers  insights into the power of leadership and advocacy in today’s world, making this conversation both timely and impactful.

Morgan Harper, a congressional candidate and progressive policy advocate, and Anne-Marie Slaughter, former Director of Policy Planning for the U.S. State Department and current CEO of New America, are both widely recognized for their leadership in addressing systemic challenges. Morgan Harper's work focuses on economic and racial justice, while Dr. Slaughter is one of the foremost experts on global network design and leadership; on gender equality and elevating the value of care for both men and women; and on American renewal. The author or editor of nine books, she is a contributing editor to the Financial Times and a reg...

The former dean of Duke University Divinity School and current President of Belmont University, Dr. Greg Jones is well known for his ability to re-shape cultures and navigate complex challenges.  As an academic, Jones is one of the foremost thinkers around the power of forgiveness and ways to build (and heal) community.  Dr. Jones leads with a uniquely optimistic and 'can do' mindset driving evolution and innovation within a sector facing numerous questions and challenges.

With a selfless commitment to others and a modesty starkly at odds with her extraordinary career, Lieutenant General Nadja West, the first African American Army Surgeon General and the highest-ranking woman to graduate from West Point, shares remarkable insights into leadership, resilience and teamwork.  In these divisive and polarizing times, Dr. West and her almost forty year career represents the best of America.

Join us for a remarkable conversation with NFL legend Larry Fitzgerald as he shares stories and insights from his extraordinary seventeen-year playing career, along with what has driven both his business success and extraordinary commitment to community and philanthropy.

Arne Duncan, former U.S. Secretary of Education, hosts Marshall Hatch Jr. and Sr., esteemed pastors and community leaders, in a compelling conversation around building community, driving social impact and investing in young people from marginalized communities.  Pastor Marshall Hatch Sr., leader of New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, has long been a force in faith-based initiatives on Chicago’s West Side, while Hatch Jr. builds on this legacy through youth advocacy and empowerment.  Together with their friend Arne Duncan, they offer powerful insights into what's needed to uplift underserved communities and drive systemic change.

Jonathan Koppell, the ninth president of Montclair State University, shares his vision for one of New Jersey’s leading public research institutions and insights into the challenges (and opportunities) for higher education more generally, including student protests, the impact of AI technology and inclusiveness in admissions.  Drawing from his experience at Arizona State University, where he led one of the nation's largest public affairs colleges, Koppell offers extraordinary insights into building a thriving, diverse university that advances societal well-being and shapes the next generation of leaders.

An extraordinary discussion with Larry Miller, Chairman of the Jordan Brand, around the power of second chances.  Having been in jail decades ago and now serving as a leading executive at the Jordan Brand (NIKE, Inc.), Miller serves as a remarkable example of second chances.  Among other things, Miller shares his rationale for writing “Jump:  My Secret Journey from the Streets to the Boardroom” and more generally reflects on his journey from the violent streets of West Philly in the 1960s to the highest echelons of the sports industry.

As professor of government and law at Georgetown University and founder of the Frederick Douglass Project for Justice, Marc Howard has dedicated his life to addressing the deep flaws in America’s criminal justice system.  From exposing misaligned incentives to advocating for meaningful second chance programs, Marc provides a powerful perspective on what systemic change needs to look like.  Leading a movement to ensure the humanity of incarcerated individuals, Marc is helping drive long-lasting change and ensuring more equitable opportunities for marginalized communities.