Hosted by Aja Schmeltz & Susan Grove

On this episode we chat with Christ Hewitt & Melissa Orozco from The Hudson Valley Current. We take a dive into the different tributaries that flow into the Hudson Valley Current organization: The Current, Tilda’s Kitchen & Market and Livelihood Magazine. We discuss what it means to be in community and how we as individuals and organizations can be the engines that keep communities afloat. Curious about how local currencies work? Want to know how Chris uses broccoli in his desserts? Take a listen to this episode, we had a lot of fun with this one!Chris Hewitt is the executive director of the Hudson Valley Current, an economic development organization that strives to keep money local and strengthen Main Streets. As a co-founder of the Current, our area’s local currency, publisher of Livelihood News, and creator of Tilda’s Kitchen on Broadway in Kingston, Chris loves to build economic engines with friends and community members.Melissa Orozco is a design and planning professional who can layout a publication as smoothly as organizing a large community event. Her work with VISITvortex and other local publications has connected her deeply to the region. After three years serving on the board of the Hudson Valley Current, Melissa recently shifted into a staff position with the organization to help run Tilda’s Kitchen and the Current with the community.To find out more about The Hudson Valley Current, Tilda’s Kitchen & Market or Livelihood Magazine, please visit:

Hudsonvalleycurrent.org

Livelihoodnews.org

Tildaskitchenandmarket.org

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Current, please write to [email protected].

Hosted by Aja Schmeltz & Terri Hall

On this episode, we are joined by Angel Gates and Laura Kandel, co-founders of HUDSY. We discuss the importance of sharing the wide array of Hudson Valley talent with the world. To help facilitate that, HUDSY will be launching  a new streaming app later this year! Team HUDSY has been very busy producing their own original content, partnering with local organizations and initiatives, implementing an apprenticeship program and kicking of their newest project, the Community Content Fund. This is a really fun and inspiring episode. We even get into it about the best concerts we have ever attended and those we want to attend – prepare to be surprised!

HUDSY’s digital streaming platform and local video production company is a non-traditional business, cooperatively owned and brought to you by a small group of locals dedicated to protecting and celebrating the Hudson Valley’s talent, diversity, recreational offerings, and culture.

To learn more about HUDSY’s work and their programs, visit hudsy.tv or write to [email protected]

Hosted by: Aja Schmeltz & Micah

On this episode we welcome back Corene Concepcion-Rivera and L’Quette Taylor, founders of the Right Way 2 PK Project in Poughkeepsie, NY. Corene & L’Quette joined us back in January to introduce the Right Way 2 PK Project. Since then the project has been successfully launched.

Right Way 2 PK is an art revitalization mentorship program at Hulme Park in Poughkeepsie, NY. Dozens of volunteers have already participated in transforming their beloved community park with gorgeous murals. Corene & L’Quette also shared that there is a new element of this project that is in the works…a living mural. Artist, Rosemarie Miner, has joined the project and will be creating a living mural stocked with culinary and medicinal herbs for all in the community to enjoy!

Corene Concepcion-Rivera is a creative advocate for the arts, mother of two fantastic teenagers, three dogs and founder of Concepcion-Rivera, LLC, a unique consultant company shaping clients views on a variety of projects. 

As her role of business owner and founder of CRLLC, she has broadened her scope by directing O+ Positive in Poughkeepsie, NY, consulted for art galleries, coordinated art shows and fundraisers, and completed projects with the City of Poughkeepsie- a Hudson Valley city in the midst of a cultural and economic revitalization. Facilitating projects and bringing the vision of creatives and passionate organizations is what drives Corene. Her coordination on murals, events, and serving on boards for Poughkeepsie Farm Project, the rebranding board for Poughkeepsie, NY and recently, Creative Director for Community Matters 2, Inc, an impressive non-profit. Corene is also a graduate and fellow of the Good Work Institute.

L’Quette Taylor was born & raised in Poughkeepsie, NY. He is a proud graduate of the City of Poughkeepsie School District and is the Founder and President of Community Matters 2, Inc., a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to empowering community, creating programs that encourage youth to think in a more innovative manner and operate as a hub for those looking for resources. 

He believes everyone should have a chance to have a chance. One of his goals is to make sure every child gets that opportunity. His efforts to better his community have made him the recipient of several prestigious awards including the 2019 Community Builders Award, a 40 Under 40 Shaker and Mover award winner, recipient of the Dutchess County Frontline Award for services provided during the rise of the covid-19 pandemic.

Hosted By Aja Schmeltz & Terri Hall

On this episode we are joined by Sam Wright from Catskill Mountainkeeper. Sam serves as their Program Associate, leading their HeatSmart campaign to transform New York’s energy landscape and assisting home and business owners to make energy efficiency improvements and transition to clean heating and cooling technologies.  He also lends his legal and programmatic expertise to Mountainkeeper’s campaign to oppose fossil fuel projects like pipelines and bomb trains.

We discuss the magic of the Catskills, alternative energy sources, successfully opposing fracking in NYS, development tracking databases and the Route 17 expansion boondoggle. Sam’s love for his place was immediately evident and when we asked what keeps him motivated, he said “seeing, feeling and touching lasting change” in my community. Click the link to listen to the full interview.

To get more information about the projects Sam is involved in, you can reach out to him directly at [email protected].

The Black Liberation Freedom Fellowship was created by Rise Up Kingston to support cisgendered Black men in confronting hetero-patriarchy and racism, how it shows up in them and within our community in an effort to combat sexism, trans misogyny and anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes/actions. Barry Mayo and Tyler Epps talk with co-hosts Terri and Micah about their experience as BLFF fellows and how this work, which is grounded in the work of Black feminist writer bell hooks, continues to be a transformative force in their lives. 

Applications for the next Black Liberation Freedom Fellowship cohort will go live soon. For more info, you can contact Tyler (info below.)

After a successful 35-year career as a radio broadcasting programmer, manager, owner, and CEO, Barry Mayo is a photographer whose work has been exhibited in various galleries, predominantly in the Chicago area, including a group exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Barry has served on the boards of numerous educational institutions including serving as the Vice-Chair of the World of Money.org; an organization that teaches financial education and philanthropy to young people in the New York City metro area. Mayo also served for 12 years on the Board of Trustees of Columbia College Chicago. Currently, Mayo serves on the board of Kingston’s Reher Center and is the co-President of the Board at the Center for Photography at Woodstock. 

Tyler Epps works as Food Justice and Black Liberation Freedom Fellowship Coordinator for Rise Up Kingston. As a father of triplets, an artist, an athlete, a creator, and many things that are still being defined, Tyler is passionate about passion, community, and action. A lot of his focus is to be an active part of creating the reality that he wishes for his sons to live in.

Tyler Epps: [email protected]

Rise Up Kingston: https://riseupkingston.org/

Instagram: @blacklibfellowship

Hosted by Susan & Aja

The increased transparency of racialized police brutality and many other identity-based injustices is awakening – for some of us, Eduardo reminds us. Others of us have been living with these injustices as part of our daily reality. These times reveal that we often live in different worlds separated by systems of social domination. And because it’s so familiar, we’re good at operating in a domination paradigm. If we’re willing to bring our full selves and shine a light on who and how we are, and the toxicity we’ve inherited, can we create a liberatory process together? Yes, according to Eduardo and Maryellen after twenty years of working together. Starting with a common language, framework and understanding, they have facilitated dialogue that allows us to stick with each other in the midst of the discomfort of truth about the past and present and emerge with a deep understanding of our interconnectedness, a commitment to our individual and collective liberation, and strategies and skills to coalesce across our differences to overcome the status quo of domination and live into a vision of partnership. 

Websites: Developing a Social Equity Practice (GWI online retreat facilitated by Eduardo and Maryellen June 4-6, 2021); Opening Doors (updated website under development)

Eduardo González, Jr. (he/him/his) is an Afro-Boricua, middle-class, cisgender, heterosexual man and father of two young children currenly living in what is historically Lenape territory currently known as the Bronx. Mr. González is a Cornell Certified Diversity Professional/Advanced Practitioner with over 25 years of experience working with a wide variety of not-for-profit and educational institutions to implement and sustain multicultural organizational development initiatives. A key area of his focus is assisting staff, managers, administrators and their respective organizations in developing the awareness and skills needed to support and/or provide leadership in organizational change efforts on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. He is the Cornell Cooperative Extension system-wide specialist for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and holds a Bachelor’s in Human Services and a Master’s in Public Administration from Pace University.

Maryellen Whittington-Couse (she/her) is a white, middle class, woman and mother who directs a regional Migrant Education Program at SUNY New Paltz that serves the children of migrant farmworkers. She has been part of the Opening Doors anti-oppression facilitation team since 2001 that provides training nationally and internationally. She provides consultation and training to educational, medical, human services and community organizations on issues related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She has a Master’s of International Administration from the School for International Training and is a Cornell Certified Diversity Professional.