Vitalyst Spark

David Martinez III hosts this episode and has an insightful conversation with partners from Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, the Arizona Center for Civic Leadership at the Flinn Foundation, and the Center for the Future of Arizona about how Arizonans view civic language. A recently published study finds that Arizonans react strongly to different civic language terms—more so than the rest of the country—and that these perceptions can enhance or hinder collaborative community conversations.

As Latino Heritage Month was wrapping up, we sat down with the team at ALL in Education for a great conversation about the benefits of growing up bilingual and bicultural. Their new Initiative, Multilingual Minds, aims to uplift multilingual learners in Arizona and advocate for language equity in schools through awareness and policy changes.

As part of an ongoing series looking into local practices, Arizona First Responder Systems and Mental Health Integration Spark Brief author, Matt Eckhoff, hosted a conversation with Dr. Gail Bradley, Emergency Medical Services & Trauma System, Medical Director, Arizona Department of Health Services; Captain Michelle Pickrom, Tucson Police Department; Sharon McDonough, Director, Public Safety Communications Department, City of Tucson; and Matt Shaw, Battalion Chief, Guardian Medical Transport in Flagstaff and rural northern Arizona. This conversation turned the lens inward into practices used by local departments to help their first responders deal with the trauma they encounter while serving communities. Links Arizona First Responder Systems Mental Health Integration

Vitalyst opened its Discovery Process on August 1 for potential partners to explore partnership opportunities. Through the Discovery Process, Vitalyst team members learn about opportunities to support coalitions on their systems change journey. On this conversation with CEO Suzanne Pfister, and Director of Strategic Community Partnerships David Martinez III, we walk listeners through Vitalyst's different grant opportunities. Links Vitalyst Grants and Partnership Opportunities Spark Report: Understanding Systems Change

In episode 130, we spent time with Sara Gonzalez, Belen Gonzalez, and Melia Dunn, talking about the Arizona Emerging Leaders Network and its origins and evolution. Now, we get to sit with one of the executive directors who was part of the Emerging Leaders Network. Chris Tiffany, Executive Director of Raising Special Kids, sat down with Melia Dunn and me and shared very candidly what a personal and organizational DEI journey can be—from victories to struggles. Links Raising Special Kids Website: https://raisingspecialkids.org/ Arizona Emerging Leaders Event Page: https://hexagon-sawfish-wahp.squarespace.com/azeml-learningseries

Here at Vitalyst, one of our programmatic priorities is to support statewide housing initiatives along the spectrum of housing types. The past few years, this has meant a lot of capacity building for organizations, whether that is schools or, more recently, churches, to explore creating housing options for members of our community. This also means we collaborate with a lot of partners, including the Arizona Housing Coalition. George Campbell and Jamie Podratz from the Coalition joined us for a conversation to learn more about their work and initiatives. Links Arizona Housing Coalition - Arizona Housing Coalition (azhousingcoalition.org) Arizona Veterans StandDown Alliance - Arizona Housing Coalition (azhousingcoalition.org) Grant and Per Diem Program - VA Homeless Programs Supportive Services for Veteran Families (va.gov) Temporary and Permanent Supportive Housing Solutions for Veterans (usvets.org) Tucson Veterans Serving Veterans - Meeting the needs of Vets since 2003

In this candid conversation, Matt Eckoff, Author of the Arizona First Responder Systems and Mental Health Integration Spark Brief, speaks with Captain Seth Gregar of the City of Flagstaff Fire Department and Bryan Gest and Brad Mattingly of Terros Health as they discuss the past two years since the City of Flagstaff's Community Alliance Response and Engagement (CARE) program was implemented. Learn more about how the program works and what challenges and opportunities they see as others may implement similar programs. Links Arizona First Responder Systems and Mental Health Integration - Vitalyst Health Coconino Voices: Terros Health and City of Flagstaff expand partnership to pay dividends for community | Columnists | azdailysun.com

This episode features some of the civic leaders working to strengthen democracy and civic life in Arizona and shows the intersection of civic engagement and health. It’s an election year, and Arizona is again at the epicenter. Let’s get the facts and explore how all registered voters could and should be voting in all elections – including primary elections, and why it all matters to the health of Arizonans, our state, and our American democracy. Links: Why Primaries Matter and What to Do About It Spark Report Strengthening Civic Health in Arizona Spark Report Maricopa County Elections and Voter Registration information Arizona Secretary of State Register / Update to Vote Healthy Democracy Healthy People Health and Democracy Index Arizona Town Hall