Kersy Azocar, President and CEO of Greenline Access Capital, joins our host Uva Coles in this episode of Our WellSpring. With over 16 years of experience in the financial industry, Kersy has grown into her leadership agency, voice, and strength through experience, training, and by learning from other leaders along the way. Kersy leverages her passion and a commitment to support and lift immigrant businesses, especially in the Latino community, to level the playing field for more women-led and BIPOC businesses in Philadelphia. In this episode, Kersy shares her origin story: her truths, her vulnerabilities, and the values that inform her work and leadership.

Guest/s

Kersy Azocar is the President and CEO of Greenline Access Capital, a mission-driven nonprofit financial institution that works to address the continued and persistent gap in access to capital for financially underserved people by providing customized lending products and services.

Greenline has served more than 250 people and has helped over 48 clients connect with $5.3 Million in Grants and Loans, including 23 Loans from Greenline’s funds.

Prior to joining Greenline, Kersy worked for 13 years at a Philadelphia-based Community Financial Development Institution (CDFI) where she managed a microlending department with a national scope leading the organization to become the #1 SBA microlender in the region and top

10 in the nation for over 7 years. In 2021, Kersy was the Project Manager of the Pennsylvania COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP), a $17 Million dollar grant program created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to support businesses in the hospitality industry. The program was managed by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC).

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Kersy prides herself on being able to address the needs of emerging and existing entrepreneurs providing a hands-on approach rarely encountered in the industry. She is nationally recognized, and able to leverage her expertise in the microlending and financial industries.

Our WellSpring Host

Uva Coles, Chief Learning Officer

Uva Coles serves as Chief Learning Officer for Spring Point Partners. As the organization’s external learning steward, Uva’s leadership ensures that equity, human-centered leadership, and narrative change are woven through every aspect of SPP’s partner-based learning deliveries. A writer, speaker, inclusive organizational strategist, and lifelong learner, Uva believes every room we step into is a classroom. Sometimes we are teachers; sometimes we are students. Our best learning happens, she believes, when we can be both.

Takeaways:

• Our relationship with leadership is fluid and often evolves over time.
• When designing our work and approaches for those we aim to serve, it is important to consider demographics, cultural norms and needs, and identity.
• We should know our value and understand the importance of exercising agency.
• Some of us are trained to simply do our work and let it speak for itself, but often, if we don’t ask for what we want, we may not get what we deserve.
• We ought to examine and reflect on the impact of love as a leadership competency.

Resources:

• Greenline Access Capital
• SBA
• Pew Foundation - 75 years in Philadelphia
  
  

In this special bonus episode, our host, Uva Coles, speaks to YouthBuild student leaders Adrianna Avila and Mirahcle Sanders. Adrianna and Mirahcle are bonded by a time-tested friendship and by navigating similarly challenging experiences. Both emerging leaders in their own right, the duo found the support system, agency, and community they were seeking at YouthBuild Philadelphia. They talk about their early learnings, the importance of mentorship, and their community-rooted and ever-evolving career aspirations.

Takeaways:

• Having the same expectations for everyone doesn’t work

• We have to heal ourselves and our homes in order to begin to heal our communities

• Showing up for ourselves is critically important

• Mentorship, no matter one’s role or title, is a strong signal to young people that the adults in their schools, communities, and lives are all invested and care

Resources:

• Philly Youth Make A Change (nonprofit organization)
• Jhene Aiko (music)
• Mindfulness Apps - Chill – Mindfulness Reminders, Headspace, Calm (app)
• YouthBuild Philly – youthbuild (YouthBuild Philadelphia’s site)

How to connect with us

• Spring Point Partners

In this episode, our host, Uva Coles, speaks with Bob Nardo, founding executive director of Libertas School of Memphis, the first Montessori neighborhood turnaround and charter school in Tennessee, and Arete Memphis Public Montessori Residency, the nation’s first dual-licensure urban teacher residency. Bob talks about his path to becoming an educator and the privilege of being part of a new community. Uva and Bob also dig into what it takes to build trust as a foundation for real community building.

Guest

Bob Nardo is founding executive director of Libertas School of Memphis, the first Montessori neighborhood turnaround and charter school in Tennessee, and Arete Memphis Public Montessori Residency, the nation’s first dual-licensure urban teacher residency. Bob previously served as COO of the Tennessee Achievement School District, of KIPP Newark, and a similar role at the Noble Network of Charter Schools in Chicago. Bob has taught band, choir, philosophy, and Latin. Bob earned a BA from American University, MA from the University of Chicago, and a postgraduate diploma in character education from the University of Birmingham (UK). Bob, his wife Sara (a homeschool educator), and their five children live on a small homestead near Memphis.

Our WellSpring Host

Uva Coles, Chief Learning Officer

Uva Coles serves as Chief Learning Officer for Spring Point Partners. As theorganization’s external learning steward, Uva’s leadership ensures that equity, human-centered leadership, and narrative change are woven through every aspect of SPP’s partner-based learning deliveries. A writer, speaker, inclusive organizational strategist, and lifelong learner, Uva believes every room we step into is a classroom. Sometimes we are teachers; sometimes we are students. Our best learning happens, she believes, when we can be both.

Key Takeaways

• It's important to say and share the “hard” things whenever we can. Our voice is a valuable tool—as is the time we have at our disposal to use it. Both should be leveraged.

• Pay attention to what children are saying; their observations, feedback and ideas are about what they need and not about what adults prescribe their needs to be.

• By giving children meaningful work to do and freedom of movement in the environment, you eradicate willpower battles and empower them with a sense of contribution.

Resource List

• Culturally Responsive Curriculum (Libertas)
• Omni Americans by Albert Murray (Book)

How to connect with us

• Spring Point Partners

In this episode, Uva Coles, Our WellSpring’s host, speaks with Dr. Candace Croney, Associate Vice-Provost for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging and Director of Purdue University’s Center for Animal Welfare Science. A highly regarded and accomplished animal welfare professional and advocate, Dr. Croney delicately balances the hypervisible with the invisible. Sharing from her personal experiences, she taps into the importance of bridging across divides, being a truth teller, and connecting not only with the animals but with the humans who care deeply about them. Much of this work, Dr. Croney reminds us, requires a deeper, non-judgmental understanding of cultural norms and contexts.

Guest/s

Dr. Candace Croney is the Associate Vice-Provost for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Director of Purdue University’s Center for Animal Welfare Science, and professor of animal behavior and well-being in the departments of Comparative Pathobiology and Animal Sciences.

Dr. Croney earned her PhD in animal sciences from Penn State University. Before joining Purdue University, she conducted postdoctoral studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, was Assistant Director of Conservation Education at the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, and held faculty appointments in animal behavior and bioethics in the Animal Sciences Department at Oregon State University and in Preventive Medicine at The Ohio State University.

Her research focuses on: developing and applying non-invasive metrics of welfare in agricultural and companion animals; understanding effects of rearing environments and management on animal behavior, health, and welfare; public perceptions of animal agriculture and welfare; bioethics-science interfaces in animal care and welfare policy, practice, and public communications. She recently translated her collaborative research on canine welfare to create a unique voluntary national certification program, TM Canine Care Certified, that sets rigorous standards for the care and welfare of dogs in breeding kennels. Her work has been featured in national and international broadcast programs by outlets such as Animal Planet, National Geographic, and the British Broadcasting Corporation.

She serves as scientific advisor on animal welfare to numerous groups, including the American Humane Association, Tyson Foods, Fairlife, and Bob Evans Farms.

Our WellSpring Host

Uva Coles, Chief Learning Officer

Uva Coles serves as Chief Learning Officer for Spring Point Partners. As theorganization’s external learning steward, Uva’s leadership ensures that equity,human-centered leadership, and narrative change are woven through every aspect of SPP’s partner-based learning deliveries. A writer, speaker, inclusive organizational strategist, and lifelong learner, Uva believes every room we step into is a classroom. Sometimes we are teachers; sometimes we are students. Our best learning happens, she believes, when we can be both.

Key Takeaways

• Try to suspend judgment and lean into learning cultural contexts in order to arrive at optimal, animal welfare work.

• We must be truth tellers. We can’t do good work in ethics without being honest.

• Biases are part of the human condition. Understanding them and working through them is part of our responsibility.

• In centering for animals, don’t view people as part of the problem but rather prospective partners in sustainable problem solving

Resource List

• Some We Eat, Some We Love, Some We Hate by Hal Herzog (book)
• The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (book)

How to connect with us

• Spring Point Partners

In this episode, Uva Coles, Our WellSpring’s host and Spring Point Partners’ Chief Learning Officer, speaks to Catherine Murphy, President of Spring Point Partners. In our pursuit to uncover origin stories this season, we must begin with our own. Catherine speaks on her passion and pursuit of leadership, while not always identifying as a leader. Hear about the early seeds that Spring Point Partners planted, Catherine’s work as the “conductor” in this co-creation, and how being relentlessly hopeful will help them forge ahead in the years to come.

Guest/s

Catherine Murphy, President & Senior Advisor to the Berwind Family

As president and senior advisor to the Berwind Family, Catherine Murphy brings a commitment to service and innovative leadership acumen to Spring Point Partners. Since joining the Berwind Corporation 17 years ago and helping the owners build their family office, she has pioneered efforts to create and bolster social value through impact investments and grantmaking. Through SPP, she continues to support stakeholders while ensuring continued innovation. She is a mother of three with a passion for children, animals, and the outdoors.

Our WellSpring Host

Uva Coles, Chief Learning Officer

Uva Coles serves as Chief Learning Officer for Spring Point Partners. As the organization’s external learning steward, Uva’s leadership ensures that equity, human-centered leadership, and narrative change are woven through every aspect of SPP’s partner-based learning deliveries. A writer, speaker, inclusive organizational strategist, and lifelong learner, Uva believes every room we step into is a classroom. Sometimes we are teachers; sometimes we are students. Our best learning happens, she believes, when we can be both.

Key Takeaways

• The importance of humility, grace, and finding the joy in making mistakes while on the journey of becoming a leader.
• Trust, learning, and trying new things are values that sit at the center of the work being done at Spring Point Partners.
• One can get lost at sea without core values and tying every part of your work to represent those values - allows the work to stay centered.

How to connect with us

• Spring Point Partners

Welcome to Our WellSpring, the Spring Point Partners podcast featuring remarkable leaders who are shifting narratives in their field and in the world.

In Season 1, we’ll be exploring leadership origin stories that impact what we do and how we do it. We’ll shed light on the source of something beautiful - human-centered leadership. This season we will hear from emerging and established voices in social impact who will speak candidly about their work, their leadership lens, and what they are learning and unlearning about themselves. Our highest aspiration? To share stories with you that inspire and seed the ground for community-driven impact and narrative change.