Advocacy

Betsy Dittenber, of the Community Foundation, on roller derby & personal transformation, social justice & nonprofit entrepreneurship, & the ‘Tinder for volunteering’

Overview: Betsy Dittenber, executive director of the Chaffee County (Colo.) Community Foundation, talks with Adam Williams about her early experiences in nonprofit work and volunteerism in Boston and Guadalajara. They talk about what a community foundation is and how it fosters resilience, and how the CCCF has created a website Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Tracy Arthur Kachadourian, on conflict resolution, self-accountability, her emancipation as a teen & the benefits of investing in youth

Overview: Tracy Arthur Kachadourian is a professional mediator and an expert in facilitating conflict resolution. She and Adam talk about how to build more empathetic, accountable and resilient relationships, personal and professional. Among other things. Tracy grew up in a home where conflict and her mother’s mental health challenges led Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Matt Allen, D.D.S., on dentistry as public service & his tech venture DifferentKind, the two halves of life & our roles as parents, Liverpool fandom & communal singing

Overview: Matt Allen, D.D.S., is a formerly practicing dentist who now is the CEO and co-founder of DifferentKind, a tech venture focused on making healthcare more human.  He talks with Adam Williams about how, having been the valedictorian of his high school class in Prescott, Ariz., he almost dropped out Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Angie Jenson, on Mormon excommunication & challenging rules, wildland firefighting & tree activism, solo world travel & a revelatory experience in a Buddhist monastery

Overview: Angie Jenson was brought up in the Mormon church and, when she was a young woman, she sought excommunication from The Church. She talks with Adam Williams about why she felt that was necessary and about the formal exit interview that she went through to make it happen. They Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Chris White, founder and builder of Yurts at Poncha Pass, on leaving a career in marine biology to build sustainable community in the mountains

Overview: Chris White, founder and builder of Yurts at Poncha Pass, grew up in Santa Fe, left to become a marine biologist and oceanographer who studied gray whales in British Columbia and bottlenose dolphins and wave energy in Peru, and has since moved to the mountains of Colorado to build Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Anna Heinauer, on nutrition & MyPlate, diet culture & ‘tricky foods,’ being a positive force in the food system & her children’s book, ‘Alice and the Garden’

Overview: Anna Heinauer is an integrative nutrition health coach and she’s co-owner of The Lettucehead Food Company. Host Adam Williams talks with Anna about many things nutrition. Like, what is it, really? And why should we care about it? They talk about the value of local food sources and the Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Kimi Uno, on Riot Grrrl, ‘Howl’, her family’s experience of internment camp during World War II, and the importance of fighting for what’s right

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with entrepreneur and activist Kimi Uno. Kimi shares about the influence of the  movement on her life when she was coming up in the Pacific Northwest. She and Adam talk about female empowerment and feminism, Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Travis Macy, pro endurance athlete and author, on his new book, his father Mark Macy’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, love and grief, optimism and resilience

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, Adam Williams talks with professional endurance athlete and author Travis Macy. Travis has a new book out, “A Mile at a Time.” It’s a collaboration with his father, the legendary endurance athlete, Mark “Mace” Macy, and Patrick Regan. Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Elisia Parham, on slam poetry, Black Lives Matter, allyship, confronting her own biases, activism out of love, and having difficult conversations

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Elisia Parham, poet, activist and social worker. Elisia is a poet who grew up in unconventional circumstances. She and Adam talk about how those circumstances helped her to develop resilience and her voice, Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Sophia Herzog Gibb, two-time Paralympic medalist, on her swimming career, cultivating resilience and confidence, her dwarfism and a love story

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Sophia Herzog Gibb, a two-time Paralympic medalist swimmer. Sophie retired from world competition after the Tokyo games were held in 2021. She grew up in Fairplay, Colo., at first with dreams of being Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Wendell Pryor, on civil rights and public service, family values, the importance of Internet for rural connectivity, and only semi-retiring in his 70s

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Wendell Pryor, the retired former executive director of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) in Chaffee County, Colo. Wendell tells about growing up in what was then a rural area outside Denver, coming up Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Monica White, on her yearslong struggle with Lyme disease and her advocacy as founder of the Colorado Tick-Borne Disease Awareness Association 

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Monica White, founder of the Colorado Tick-Borne Disease Awareness Association. Monica enjoyed a career as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Forest Service for a number of years, and then experienced a life-changing Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Andrea Carlstrom, Director of Public Health, on a ‘wild, surreal’ pandemic ride, optimism & gratitude, and finding love on a Phish tour 

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Andrea Carlstrom, director of Chaffee County (Colorado) Public Health. Andrea and Adam reflect on the recent past, with the three-year mark of the first COVID case noted in Chaffee County in mind. During Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Jonathon Stalls, author, artist and advocate, on shedding painful life stories, learning to love himself, and advocating for connection through unhurried movement

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Jonathon Stalls, author of the book, “Walk: Slow Down, Wake Up and Connect at 1-3 Miles Per Hour.”  They talk about Jonathon’s 242-day walk across the United States as a pivotal experience for Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago

Rob & Sarah Gartzman (‘The Biker & The Baker’), on balancing fear and love in business and marriage, and building a future that works

Overview: In this episode of the We Are Chaffee: Looking Upstream podcast, host Adam Williams talks with Rob and Sarah Gartzman, a married couple who also are entrepreneurial partners who own multiple restaurants in the town of Salida, Colorado. Sarah and Rob met as high school seniors in Evanston, Illinois, Read more…

By Adam Williams, ago