How Jeannie Warsaw Uses MEMA Music to Help Youth Find Their Voice – Village Talks Ep.43
https://youtu.be/2tfeFGp2PiE How Jeanne Warsaw Uses MEMA Music to Help Youth Find Their Voice When Jeanne Warsaw talks about music, she’s not talking about background noise. For Jeanne, founder of the youth development arts organization MEMA Music, music has always been a lifeline. Growing up in the late 60s and 70s, she watched artists use their […]
Tim Young and U Music: Turning SEL, Songwriting, and Gaming into Real Youth Development – Village Talks Ep. 42
https://youtu.be/tDOx7lt0BTE Tim Young and U Music: Turning SEL, Songwriting, and Gaming into Real Youth Development When Tim Young talks about music, he doesn’t sound like a typical producer or songwriter. He sounds like someone on a mission. “Music touches your emotions without your permission,” Tim said in his Village Talks conversation with host Damien Howard. […]
Shameco Lattia Moore on Redefining Excellence and Opening Doors of Opportunity – Village Talks Ep. 41
https://youtu.be/nq5LZOrIvJQ How Shameco Lattia Moore Redefines Excellence and Opens Doors for Young People When Damian Howard invited Shameco Lattia Moore onto the Village Talks segment of the SELvie podcast, he wasn’t just bringing on a guest. He was centering a woman whose entire life has been shaped by one core conviction: young people deserve real […]
Staying Lit for Chicago Youth – Village Talks Ep. 40 with Dr. Carol Collum
https://youtu.be/iIIDFkqajd0 Dr. Carol Collum Is Building the Village Chicago’s Young People Deserve When you ask Dr. Carol Collum what she does, she doesn’t start with titles. She starts with responsibility. As founder and executive director of True Believers Community Connections and its youth initiative Stay Lit, Dr. Collum has planted herself on the corner of […]
Village Talks Ep. 30 — Julianne Lang on “Rural Roots. Real Leadership.”
https://youtu.be/WOnjEklJoRY 🌱 Rural Roots. Real Leadership. What Julianne Lang is Building—and Why It Matters Big things are happening in places most people overlook. Not in major cities.Not in headline districts. But in a rural community in South Carolina—where leadership isn’t just taught… it’s lived. On this episode of #VillageTalks, I had the opportunity to sit […]
Village Talks Ep. 29 — Jose Santiago on “Building Systems Where Students Feel Seen”
https://youtu.be/8eu9Weqq_0U #VillageTalks: Jose Santiago — Building Systems Where Students Feel Seen Some leaders do more than manage systems. They transform them. That is exactly what stood out in this powerful #VillageTalks conversation with Jose Santiago. Jose currently serves as an assistant principal in Chicago, leads work around culture, belonging, attendance, discipline, and student services, and […]
Village Talks Ep. 23 — Michael Freeman with Elevate Your GAME on “Building What Lasts”
https://youtu.be/AQ7nUQxXz90 Michael Freeman — Building What Lasts in the Village There’s something powerful about conversations that don’t feel like interviews… they feel like truth being uncovered in real time. That’s what happened in this #VillageTalks session with Michael Freeman. From the start, Michael didn’t just talk about programs or initiatives. He talked about people. About […]
Village Talks Ep. 2: Building Bridges Between Nonprofit & For-Profit with Vince Edwards
https://youtu.be/1LhixbvlFp4 “It takes a village to raise a child.” That African proverb shaped this week’s conversation on Village Talks, where we explored what it means to mobilize the power of community—not just in words, but through strategic partnerships and innovative ideas. I sat down with Vincent Edwards, a seasoned entrepreneur, consultant, and founder of the Empire Builders Foundation, to […]
AI, Equity, and the Urgency to Personalize K–12 Learning
Hi, I’m Damien Howard—educator, community builder, and founder of SELvie.I’ve spent the last two decades working alongside students and mentors, especially in under-resourced schools. And let me tell you plainly: our current system is not built to personalize learning at scale. The ProblemStudents are falling through the cracks.✅ 40% of Black students in Illinois are chronically […]
Introducing SELvie
https://sel-plus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/072ff37-a8c-20c-5a7c-6ab5c160d620_IMG_0438.mov Introducing SELvie: Intelligent Mentoring for Real Change “I don’t care what you do for a living—if you do it well, I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” – Denzel Washington Across the country, schools and communities are in crisis. Students are falling behind academically, emotionally, and socially. […]