[NEW EPISODE] "Empowering Youth: Catalysts for Change"

Fridays 10:00am - 11:00am (EDT)

EPISODE SUMMARY:

Participants will discover how to harness the voices and perspectives of our youth to tackle community challenges. While some may feel disheartened by the behaviors of teens, fostering genuine connections can transform them into powerful allies in our efforts rather than seeing them as obstacles.

Katrena Perou is a seasoned collective impact strategist with over 21 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit sector. As the Founding Executive Director of Inspiring Minds NYC (IMNYC), she specializes in developing transformative community engagement models across various districts in New York City.

Katrena’s previous roles include Director at Groundwork Inc., CAMBA, and Chief Program Officer at Urban Arts Partnership, where she has demonstrated a profound ability to identify and leverage assets within partner communities to create program models and initiatives that unite stakeholders around common goals centered on youth empowerment.

Her work was particularly impactful during the pandemic. She engaged underserved youth and earned recognition in local and national media outlets such as PIX11, CBS, and Good Day NY.

Katrena firmly believes that passion, skills, talent, hard work, and resilience are key to solving problems in any community. This principle has enabled her to make a significant impact, sharing her expertise through TED Talks and participating in various state-wide and national conferences.

Her contributions have been honored with several prestigious awards, including the Al Vann Legacy Award, the Women of Distinction Award from the NY State Assembly, and the Power Women of Brooklyn Award.

Additionally, she was inducted into the Cleveland Heights Hall of Fame.

Katrena began as a standout basketball player on a Final Four team at Penn State University, where she completed her undergraduate degree. She further advanced her leadership skills by completing the Executive Leadership Program for Nonprofit Management at Columbia University. To explore Katrena's passion for her work, visit her inspiring TEDx Talks on YouTube.

Tune in for this sensible conversation at TalkRadio.nyc

Show Notes

‍Segment 1

Segment 2

Segment 3

‍Segment 4

Transcript

00:00:47.650 --> 00:00:51.330 Tommy DiMisa: We're back, your boy, the one and only the kid, Tommy Dean, nonprofit

00:00:51.650 --> 00:01:00.320 Tommy DiMisa: sector connector. We're back top of the house, you know, just below the house. What? Just below the roof of the house in the attic, 2 flights up from where I get my coffee.

00:01:00.860 --> 00:01:16.249 Tommy DiMisa: That's right. Every single Friday morning. I have the pleasure and honor to have this opportunity for conversations with leaders in the nonprofit sector. I get to do it every Friday to have these conversations to help nonprofit organization leaders

00:01:16.250 --> 00:01:38.410 Tommy DiMisa: tell their story and amplify their message. I get to share the reach that I have the relationships. I have to shine this light on the incredible work that the sector is doing day in and day out, and if you hang out with me in the real world, or the pretend world or social media world wherever we hang out. You know how passionate I am about this work. I got interviewed on a podcast yesterday

00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:54.030 Tommy DiMisa: and it was all about connections. It was all about relationships, and it was all about highlighting the work of the sector. So a couple of things I got to highlight before we get started before I even introduce my guest, who I am so fired up to speak to Katrina Peru today. I mean, we met over the summer. We'll get into all that.

00:01:54.120 --> 00:02:13.950 Tommy DiMisa: Just a handful of weeks. It's October 4, th right now of 2024, and just a handful of weeks from now. October 29, th 2024 will be the 4th annual New York City. Imagine awards! And just to show you that I'm not promoting the imagine awards. My guest and her organization are finalists in not one, but 2 categories which we will talk to

00:02:13.950 --> 00:02:24.599 Tommy DiMisa: speak about shortly. The go to the website. If you want to come to the Imagine awards nycimagineawards.com. Tuesday, October 29, th from 6 to 10 at Ghostavino's, underneath the 59th Street bridge

00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:54.231 Tommy DiMisa: 409 East 59th Street. What a cool venue we've been there the last 3 years! The first, st the last 2 years. The 1st year was at the Edison ballroom, and then the event got too large with the number of attendees. So now we're over at Costa Vinos, and what a cool place that is, if you haven't been, you should be there with us at night of the Imagine wars. So I tell you I'm fired up about the show every single week that I get to do it. We're somewhere in the 180. I'll look it up quickly for you at some point. But we're right around 190 ish number of episodes.

00:02:54.630 --> 00:03:10.409 Tommy DiMisa: that's a big deal, man, and you know I appreciate the the applause and everything, and from people. But that's a big deal to do. 190 episodes of something where I spent about a hundred. Thank you. I spent about a hundred weeks talking about it before I started to do it every week. So I say to everybody.

00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:17.356 Tommy DiMisa: be inspired by me. If you want to do the thing. I realized something the other day I was watching a video by Jesse Itzler, who's

00:03:18.060 --> 00:03:29.919 Tommy DiMisa: famous business Guy, like thought Leader in entrepreneurship and stuff like that. And he has this idea about, you know I've been telling everybody. This is me for a second, not Jesse, but I've been telling everybody I got 50 years left to live for like the last 4 or 5 years.

00:03:30.284 --> 00:03:45.099 Tommy DiMisa: So I keep it at 50, so it just keeps stretching it out. But I was listening to something by Jesse Isler, and if you think about it statistically, you know, if you're 46 years old, like I am, your life might be half over. There's no freaking time to wait.

00:03:45.190 --> 00:04:05.180 Tommy DiMisa: Just do. The thing is what I'm trying to say to you all. Don't wait 2 years to do it? Do you want to do the podcast do the podcast you want to start a radio show or TV show, do that you want to build a nonprofit organization that changes the world. Please do that. Don't wait, and I think we'll all be inspired by the mind of my friend Katrina Peru, and of inspiring minds. Nyc.

00:04:05.180 --> 00:04:16.579 Tommy DiMisa: to do that, build the community, build the relationships. And I was watching your Tedx video. By the way, Katrina, this morning and you have. Certainly you said heard the word. No.

00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:32.569 Tommy DiMisa: plenty of time. So it's not like the the yeah. Everybody's handing out everything that you want in the world right? We got to come up against those no's, however, and while let you get into it I just keep rambling. But the thing is we need to do the thing you want to do. Gang. Try it out, I promise you. There's a good chance. It's not going to work out how you thought it was.

00:04:32.570 --> 00:04:48.660 Tommy DiMisa: But guess what you did it, and you can own that. So I own this show. I love the fact that I've done so many episodes of the show, and guess where I'll be next Friday, right back here in the attic with another leader of a nonprofit organization helping them tell their story and amplify their message. All right.

00:04:49.430 --> 00:05:02.060 Tommy DiMisa: I'll fire it up. This is an important conversation. If it wasn't for the New York City. Imagine awards and Ken Serini and his vision and the Long Island. Imagine awards, I wouldn't get to meet many of the great leaders I get to meet through that through being on the committee.

00:05:02.530 --> 00:05:20.359 Tommy DiMisa: But my favorite part, after we get the applications in and after we, as a committee, make the recommendations who the semifinalists are going to be, and we send that semifinalist list over to the judges. What happens is we on the committee get to go out and interview a handful of these executive leaders, and

00:05:20.360 --> 00:05:47.660 Tommy DiMisa: I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm Tommy D. Maybe it's because I'm the nonprofit sector connector. I always get to have incredible conversations with these people shout out to Kellyanne, Serini, for always saying, Tommy, d, listen! Where do you want to go? Who do you want to interview, and what I I put in my ask, but I also say, wherever you need me is where I'm going to go, because any of these leaders and any of these organizations will change my day when I get to meet them, and I drove out to Brooklyn once. It was, I guess it was August.

00:05:47.670 --> 00:05:51.150 Tommy DiMisa: and I had the opportunity right? Oh, I think it was August Katrina, because

00:05:51.210 --> 00:05:58.039 Tommy DiMisa: maybe it was earlier, because it was before summer camps. Maybe it was June or July. I'm I'm I'm having trouble.

00:05:58.040 --> 00:05:58.575 Katrena Perou: Probably

00:05:59.260 --> 00:06:01.770 Katrena Perou: July or August. I can't remember the exact.

00:06:01.770 --> 00:06:06.349 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah. So 1st of all, good morning. Hello, my friend, how are you? What's going on.

00:06:06.350 --> 00:06:08.510 Katrena Perou: Good morning. I'm doing really well. How are you.

00:06:08.510 --> 00:06:09.809 Tommy DiMisa: I'm doing. Great man.

00:06:10.010 --> 00:06:34.899 Tommy DiMisa: you're welcome. Sorry to cut you off there. Yeah, you're welcome. I'll tell you. I'm always excited about this show, but I kind of put myself in this paradigm this morning of going into going to the website watching your Tedx talk, remembering I went back to the old application, not the old application, but the the imagine awards application, and I don't even know if I put a final thought on that. Folks after we get to do those interviews we get to do a write up to supplement the original application.

00:06:34.900 --> 00:06:51.860 Tommy DiMisa: and to say, I spend hours on that would be, you know, probably an understatement, because I try, and I'm like I can't be at this table, and I know I said this to Katrina because I say it. Everybody. You and I can't be at the table with the judges. Right? But how do we tell that story? So I try to take our conversation. Turn that into

00:06:52.148 --> 00:07:05.719 Tommy DiMisa: you know a well-written essay to explain the importance, and I'm by no means taking the credit for it, but I am jazzed to be a part of the fact that there's 2 your finalists in 2 different categories in the New York City. Imagine awards, and

00:07:05.990 --> 00:07:20.630 Tommy DiMisa: I never know, because they wouldn't tell me. I never know who the winners are till the night of like most people, but I just feel good about this to be honest with you. So let's jump. Let's let's jump in. I mean, there's so much of your story that you could tell as as we discussed earlier in the week is.

00:07:20.670 --> 00:07:33.440 Tommy DiMisa: I want to know about your story that when we sat in that classroom over the summer and really got to, you got to tell me and give me an understanding, you know. That's 1 part of the story is you and your background. And then it's the story of

00:07:33.940 --> 00:07:50.220 Tommy DiMisa: what is this organization doing? Day in and day out, and how it's affecting the lives of young people and literally transformative work. And that's, you know, that word transformative, you know, sometimes becomes cliche, but like this is legitimately transforming generations because of the work you all are doing. So.

00:07:50.770 --> 00:07:59.309 Tommy DiMisa: It's a conversation with you and me. We're having a cup of coffee together. It's just a bunch of people listening and watching. So let's let's take it away. Let's start with your story, please, Katrina.

00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:12.180 Katrena Perou: Yes, so again, thank you for having me on your show today. Yes. My name is Katrina Peru. I'm the executive director of a nonprofit called Inspiring Minds, Nyc. That I started here in New York in 2,019.

00:08:12.360 --> 00:08:15.290 Katrena Perou: I was born in Cleveland, Ohio.

00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:26.520 Katrena Perou: back in 1980, so it makes me 44 years old, and the biggest inspirations in my life are my parents. You know my father was a preacher. He actually just recently passed away in August.

00:08:26.670 --> 00:08:39.349 Katrena Perou: and my mother, you know, was a stay at home, mom. So she gave me a lot of the values that I have right now. She taught me how to be patient, how to love, how to care, and how to have faith, that everything's going to be all right, no matter what's going on.

00:08:39.380 --> 00:08:43.809 Katrena Perou: and both of them are very instrumental in what I'm doing today.

00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:44.900 Katrena Perou: But

00:08:44.990 --> 00:08:51.429 Katrena Perou: one of my biggest passions growing up was sports, you know as young as I as I could remember, I loved playing basketball.

00:08:51.837 --> 00:08:57.760 Katrena Perou: I used to. It's it's different now than how it was back in the day like right now, there's a lot of organized

00:08:58.110 --> 00:09:08.739 Katrena Perou: sport activities for little kids to play in. But when I was growing up we were just playing in the streets, you know, like latchkey kids, we would leave a house, go to someone's backyard and just play basketball all day.

00:09:08.800 --> 00:09:19.950 Katrena Perou: and that ended up being one of my early passions. Basketball, and also art. Art is a genetic trait that runs in my family. My mom and all her brothers and sisters are all artists.

00:09:19.970 --> 00:09:26.089 Katrena Perou: and I inherited that trait to be able to draw as well. So that was also another outlet and escape for me.

00:09:26.380 --> 00:09:32.559 Katrena Perou: And I remember, maybe, like 8th grade or 9th grade. My father told me that he didn't have

00:09:32.640 --> 00:09:41.649 Katrena Perou: money for me to go to college, but he also shared this proverb with me. Proverbs 18, verse 31. And he said, Your your gifts will make room for you

00:09:41.660 --> 00:09:43.919 Katrena Perou: and and bring you in front of great men.

00:09:44.070 --> 00:09:52.749 Katrena Perou: and I was like, well, what does that mean? And he's just like, well, you know, you're very talented. You can do a lot of things. You could play sports. You're an artist, you know. I also played instruments.

00:09:52.840 --> 00:10:01.439 Katrena Perou: and he's like, if you invest in your skills and sharpen them and and become really good at what you do, you can eventually earn a full scholarship to college.

00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:13.710 Katrena Perou: So right when he told me that I locked in. You know, all through high school. I never came home after school. I was. I was on the basketball team, the track team, the cross country trick team. I was in the marching band. I was doing everything.

00:10:13.900 --> 00:10:18.099 Katrena Perou: and by the time I was a senior in high school I had over 25 full scholarship offers.

00:10:18.420 --> 00:10:19.240 Katrena Perou: and.

00:10:19.609 --> 00:10:24.039 Tommy DiMisa: If I can interrupt one. Sec. You had 25 full scholarship.

00:10:24.040 --> 00:10:28.090 Katrena Perou: All full scholarship offers, most of them for basketball, a few for track.

00:10:28.700 --> 00:10:35.170 Katrena Perou: And I ended up choosing Penn State University, and that's where I went on a full basketball scholarship for 4 years.

00:10:35.589 --> 00:10:43.679 Katrena Perou: And I like to tell that story, because that relates to what I do now like. I tell I share that same proverbs with kids that I work with

00:10:43.730 --> 00:10:54.990 Katrena Perou: in New York City that all y'all have skills and talents. If you invest in your skill and talent and come to after school programs because we run after school programs across 20 schools in New York City.

00:10:55.320 --> 00:11:07.709 Katrena Perou: We are here to invest in you, you know, and if you get, if you become good enough in the things that you love. By the time that you graduate you can have a full scholarship, as well, you know, and I've been able to actually create a space to help kids.

00:11:07.870 --> 00:11:15.710 Katrena Perou: you know, travel along that journey as well. So there's a lot of connection or correlation between how I grew up to what I'm doing right now.

00:11:15.990 --> 00:11:24.650 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, thank you. Thank you for the backstory and and my condolences on your dad. I didn't realize he had passed. I knew how important he was in in your journey as you shared with me when we met.

00:11:25.208 --> 00:11:32.559 Tommy DiMisa: You know that piece of so much stands out from what you said specifically, about locking in like.

00:11:32.740 --> 00:11:41.870 Tommy DiMisa: you know, your dad told you I don't have the resources to get to college, but you actually have these innate talents that you gotta lock in on. And you said you locked in. And

00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:43.040 Tommy DiMisa: you know,

00:11:44.900 --> 00:11:49.049 Tommy DiMisa: there's that opportunity. And I think that's what the word I'm thinking

00:11:49.130 --> 00:12:07.219 Tommy DiMisa: is really important to think about is, there's an opportunity that we can take advantage of right in front of us, right? Not everybody's given everything, not everybody's given. You know, the the financial resources, but we certainly have these God given talents that we can accentuate, and, as you say, lock in on. You know, I'm thinking about one particular 13 year old in my life.

00:12:07.270 --> 00:12:21.040 Tommy DiMisa: who's a baseball kid, and, you know, wants to play ball. And last night, actually, our New York mets pulled out an incredible win, and we just got to keep going and see like how long the metsies can keep going. But very exciting. If you're a met fan.

00:12:21.960 --> 00:12:22.790 Tommy DiMisa: And

00:12:23.570 --> 00:12:34.789 Tommy DiMisa: there's another degree right, Katrina. There's another level of getting locked in, and it's like where you know you put these blinders on, and we just keep you just go, and you just put in more time. Put in more effort.

00:12:35.110 --> 00:12:41.069 Tommy DiMisa: You know it was Mj. Michael Jordan. I think I forget the exact story. But he he didn't make the Jv. Team.

00:12:41.150 --> 00:12:50.760 Tommy DiMisa: but then he just applied himself and and got locked in, and then he's Michael Jordan gang. If you don't know that one Google it because I don't, we don't have time to explain that story to you.

00:12:50.850 --> 00:13:03.589 Tommy DiMisa: But the point is like there is that, and I guess I have to guess some. You know a woman who comes out of Cleveland. There's probably another basketball player that is super important in your world, right?

00:13:06.680 --> 00:13:07.800 Katrena Perou: talking about as of right now.

00:13:07.800 --> 00:13:16.399 Tommy DiMisa: I'm just saying like Lebron, I mean, that's, you know, just a Lebron story. I'm just thinking, you know, I just think like hometown story and stuff like that.

00:13:18.231 --> 00:13:30.149 Katrena Perou: Well, I would say, like growing up, yeah, Lebron, definitely cause Cleve. One thing about Clevelanders is that we're very loyal to our sports teams we just are, even when they're not winning, you know, like

00:13:30.290 --> 00:13:47.009 Katrena Perou: browns were. The Browns were terrible for years the stadium packed with people. So we are always going to be you know, cheering for our hometown heroes. Yeah, definitely, Lebron is is one of the people that's at the top of my list as someone that you know. And he was.

00:13:47.020 --> 00:13:52.330 Katrena Perou: He was. I'm a lot older than him. Yes, as I was growing up, he wasn't necessarily the one that I was looking up to.

00:13:52.330 --> 00:13:52.870 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah.

00:13:53.252 --> 00:13:55.547 Katrena Perou: It was a Michael Jordan era.

00:13:56.180 --> 00:13:56.500 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah.

00:13:56.500 --> 00:13:57.840 Katrena Perou: Try it out. Yeah.

00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:07.429 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, right? Same. It's funny. I have a very good friend of mine who I wanted to introduce you to, and when you talked about art a couple minutes ago. It reminded me that, and we probably talked about it when we 1st met.

00:14:07.500 --> 00:14:35.829 Tommy DiMisa: One of the boards I sit on is called the Spirit of Huntington Arts Center, and I want to have you come out for a tour. You and I go out there one day, and my friend Michael Katakis, who's the executive director, grew up in Cleveland as well, and he talks to me about the Browns, and that whole story like you say, not not a great team for for a long, long time. So I want to get into, you know some when we talked, you know, I remember asking when we talked about Penn State. And I was like, Oh, well, you know, you play, weren't. You were in the final 4 during that.

00:14:36.030 --> 00:14:36.740 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah.

00:14:36.740 --> 00:14:41.570 Katrena Perou: Final 4 in 2,000 we lost to Connecticut just like everybody else that year.

00:14:41.570 --> 00:14:44.899 Tommy DiMisa: That was Uconn. I mean that the Uconn women's team forget about it right? I.

00:14:44.900 --> 00:14:52.575 Katrena Perou: Yeah, it was Yukon. It was when Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi and Swing cash, you know all. I think their whole entire team went to the League.

00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:59.070 Tommy DiMisa: That that, and that was my perfect, perfect segue, because that was my question, because I asked you that when we had we, when we got together.

00:14:59.290 --> 00:15:04.470 Tommy DiMisa: and I wanted to understand like, did you have that desire? Was there interest for you to go that direction?

00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:24.560 Katrena Perou: You know, I would say when I 1st started college I was probably really interested in it. But then, once I started to really have the college experience as a basketball player. It became more like a job. It started to feel more like a job, and it felt less fun. And yes, they were. There were definitely fun moments to me. My favorite moments was when the Ncaa tournament started and we got to go around and travel.

00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:33.518 Katrena Perou: because that's when you actually get to, you know, really experience the fruits of your labor, you know, showtime. But all that work leading up to it.

00:15:33.860 --> 00:15:39.780 Katrena Perou: I realized my senior year I started to have less passion for for basketball, and I wanted to try new things.

00:15:39.900 --> 00:15:48.959 Katrena Perou: and my advisor found me an internship to be an education intern in New York. So my 1st time coming to New York was my senior year

00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:54.399 Katrena Perou: in college for an internship at a Women's sports foundation, and I was an education intern there.

00:15:54.450 --> 00:16:10.039 Katrena Perou: And one thing I can say about my life that's been pretty consistent is, I've always chased my passion, and I chase it as far as I can, until I can't no more, or until I lose interest, and then I'm passionate in something else that I chase that so there was a stage in my life where basketball and sports was my passion, and I went.

00:16:10.040 --> 00:16:28.989 Katrena Perou: you know, full throttle in that direction, and then it started to shift. And now I have a passion for education and community organizing, and the same discipline and the same work ethic that I put into being an athlete. And now apply to what I'm doing right now. And now this is what I'm passionate about, you know.

00:16:28.990 --> 00:16:58.470 Tommy DiMisa: I know that I get it. I love it. I hear it. I mean good on you. You took it. Yeah, this is the wrong way to say it, I don't know, took advantage, saw an opportunity, and said, Let me get in. Let me get really focused on my sports and get this, you know. Get their full right. Penn state. That's no, that's no slap, you know, getting your degree from Penn State and getting it on on the backs of you know the hard work you did as an athlete. That's just that's that's great. What did you, before we go to break? Because I want to set this up before we go to break. What would. What did you study while you were at Penn State?

00:16:58.740 --> 00:17:00.080 Katrena Perou: Art, education.

00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:08.050 Tommy DiMisa: Our education right? So again, there's that education piece. So when we come back, I want to talk a little bit. Let's let's start with that internship, because, you know Cleveland.

00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:23.559 Tommy DiMisa: to State college right Penn State, and then coming out up to New York City. You know, there's obviously some transition and all that we could talk about. I want to talk about really, that when you, as you did that internship, and where that started you on this journey of focusing on education. How's that sound.

00:17:23.780 --> 00:17:24.749 Katrena Perou: That sounds great.

00:17:24.750 --> 00:17:31.869 Tommy DiMisa: All right. We'll be right back philanthropy and focus Katrina Peru. Inspiring minds. Nyc. And your boy, the one and only nonprofit sector connector amidi.

00:19:42.340 --> 00:19:48.529 Tommy DiMisa: And we're back everybody. We're back. The show is back. Tommy D. Is back, Katrina Peru. It's back here

00:19:48.670 --> 00:20:02.949 Tommy DiMisa: from inspiring minds. Nyc, so let's Katrina right before the break. We were talking about graduation happens, and you get this internship to come up to New York City and start working in arts, education as an intern, correct.

00:20:03.753 --> 00:20:04.520 Katrena Perou: Yes. Correct.

00:20:04.520 --> 00:20:08.370 Tommy DiMisa: So let's take it from there. Let's let's let's hear about how that journey started.

00:20:09.114 --> 00:20:13.090 Katrena Perou: Yeah, so I needed to do an internship in order to graduate. And

00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:28.890 Katrena Perou: I originally was going to try to do something on campus, something local, because that was like the easiest route. And then they found me this internship at the Women's Sports Foundation in New York and I read what the script, what the the description was, and it seemed really interesting.

00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:44.830 Katrena Perou: So I applied. I got accepted, and that started my journey in New York, and I just remember being really nervous and kind of scared because I was. I was used to my safety net at Penn State. You know. I had everything paid for in my dorm, my clothes, my food, like everything

00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:57.849 Katrena Perou: for 4 years, and now I'm going to New York State, New York. I've never been before. I don't have any friends or family there, you know, but I felt like I was supposed to be here. I was like, you know what I want to go, and we're going to see where it goes.

00:20:57.850 --> 00:21:02.670 Tommy DiMisa: And you you were. You weren't traveling back and forth. I mean, you came on. You had to find housing and everything in the city somewhere.

00:21:02.670 --> 00:21:13.859 Katrena Perou: Yeah. Well, the the internship. They they had a private housing for us people who lived in the community that had rooms. So I stayed in this woman's basement with 3 other interns

00:21:14.180 --> 00:21:16.460 Katrena Perou: who were from other parts of the country as well.

00:21:16.800 --> 00:21:34.809 Katrena Perou: and it was a great experience, you know I got a chance to just kind of like venture out, meet new people. I was supporting the education initiatives at the Women's Sports Foundation, and I created their. I created their National Women's Sports Day poster that went out all over the country.

00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:57.970 Katrena Perou: and I remember them telling me that I had to use photographs and put a collage of pictures on this poster, and I was like, I want to draw it like, please let me draw it. And they told me. No, they was like, no, we always use photographs, so please use photographs, and the theme for that year was succeed in sports leading life, and I had a visual of what that could look like, and I was like, you know what? I'm going to go home. I'm going to sketch it.

00:21:58.170 --> 00:22:10.750 Katrena Perou: and then I want to bring it back and see what they say. So I went home and did a rough sketch, and it was like the evolution of a of a girl starting off as a little girl playing a sport, and then growing up, playing different sports, and then walking into a career.

00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:17.869 Katrena Perou: And I showed them the image, and they actually loved it. And then they gave me the green light to illustrate the poster, so.

00:22:17.870 --> 00:22:18.920 Tommy DiMisa: No photos.

00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:30.119 Katrena Perou: No photos, and I illustrated their one and only all the other posters they have every year is photographs, but the one illustrated poster is the one that I did back in 2,003.

00:22:30.120 --> 00:22:32.230 Tommy DiMisa: Do you? Still? You have a copy of it. Can.

00:22:32.446 --> 00:22:33.530 Katrena Perou: Do I have a copy?

00:22:33.530 --> 00:22:46.169 Tommy DiMisa: That's awesome. That's cool. Is that frame? Because I think that's just that into itself. It goes back to something I said earlier, which I pulled out of your Tedx talk, which about no, those folks told, you know a couple of times I heard it right there.

00:22:46.443 --> 00:22:50.550 Katrena Perou: Yeah, I hear no a lot, you know. You always get more no's and yeses.

00:22:50.550 --> 00:22:51.200 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah.

00:22:51.200 --> 00:22:59.349 Katrena Perou: But the the key is not. Allow the nose to stop you. It's like, all right. So that's a no. Let me try to find another way around it to get it done. If it's something that you really want.

00:22:59.520 --> 00:23:08.020 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, that's did you? So after graduation, did you want to get a role there like a job with that organization? Was there an opportunity? There.

00:23:08.502 --> 00:23:15.560 Katrena Perou: No, it wasn't. It was a small organization. And the people who worked there they they've had their jobs for 2015, 20 years they weren't going anywhere.

00:23:16.095 --> 00:23:24.390 Katrena Perou: So I ended up going back to Cleveland briefly, to look for a job. And it was actually hard to find employment there

00:23:24.510 --> 00:23:27.799 Katrena Perou: and then. I just got a 1 way ticket to DC.

00:23:27.860 --> 00:23:32.310 Katrena Perou: Because I thought that I wanted to be in DC. And I stayed on my friend's couch for like 6 months

00:23:32.520 --> 00:23:46.429 Katrena Perou: and I couldn't find anything there, and I was flying to New York to visit one day from Cleveland, and I sat next to this, this older Italian guy on the plane, and we kind of hit it off in the plane. We talked the entire trip.

00:23:46.490 --> 00:23:53.309 Katrena Perou: and he was the executive executive director of a settlement house called the Hamilton Madison House in New York.

00:23:53.430 --> 00:23:55.129 Katrena Perou: His name is Frank Modica.

00:23:55.260 --> 00:24:00.510 Katrena Perou: and I asked him for his card before we separated and gave me his card.

00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:10.360 Katrena Perou: And now it's like 2 months later, and I'm like, well, maybe I should reach out to Frank to see if he has anything for me. But I didn't think he's gonna remember me because I waited. I waited 2 months.

00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:16.319 Katrena Perou: so I gave him a call and he said. Katrina, what took you so long? I've been waiting 8 weeks.

00:24:16.320 --> 00:24:17.550 Tommy DiMisa: Oh, my God!

00:24:17.550 --> 00:24:26.309 Katrena Perou: He already told everybody about me, and he created a job for me as the Director of Youth Development at his Settlement house on the lower East Side of Manhattan.

00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:38.469 Katrena Perou: So just like that, I went back to New York and I got a job my 1st job ever. I was never employed before my 1st job ever was being a director at a settlement house in New York City. When I was 22 years old.

00:24:38.470 --> 00:24:50.779 Tommy DiMisa: What if you don't get on that particular plane? What if you decide you want to put your headphones on and not talk to anybody right, or he's not open to talking, or you didn't, or you never called him like you think about those things. I think about those things like, if you.

00:24:50.780 --> 00:24:58.780 Katrena Perou: Yeah, I do. I do think about that and and my internship. So I was. I was fresh off my internship, and they taught us about getting business cards.

00:24:58.780 --> 00:24:59.160 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah.

00:24:59.160 --> 00:25:08.719 Katrena Perou: They had their. They had their gala at the Waldorf Waldorf Historia, and they challenged all the interns to get as many business business cards as we could, and that we would get a prize.

00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:09.140 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah.

00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:14.414 Katrena Perou: And you know I'm very competitive. I ended up winning. But I was just like randomly, just walking up to people like, Hi, how are you doing? Get your card

00:25:15.980 --> 00:25:22.060 Katrena Perou: getting cards? But I remember sitting on a plane. I remembered what I learned in my internship about getting cards, you know. So

00:25:22.280 --> 00:25:27.770 Katrena Perou: also think about what if my internship didn't teach me about getting cards? I wouldn't have even asked him for his right.

00:25:28.020 --> 00:25:44.029 Tommy DiMisa: Right? Right? I I you know it's funny because I, the thing that's challenging for me in relationships is like where you run into somebody, and maybe, like I've done this where I've like. Say you and I are somewhere having a conversation, whether it's at a gala or networking event, right? Whatever reason, we don't exchange contact information.

00:25:44.250 --> 00:25:45.299 Tommy DiMisa: And then, like

00:25:46.040 --> 00:26:01.740 Tommy DiMisa: I walk away. And I'm like, Oh, my God! What am I doing like? I got to go back. I got to make sure, because I never know what where these relationships might go and how we might be able to impact each other. So like, I remember because I'm I'm 46. So I remember, like when there was no such thing as social media.

00:26:01.930 --> 00:26:14.260 Tommy DiMisa: But I would meet somebody and have a really cool relationship and connection with them. And then it was over. And like, I'm talking about young, I'm talking, maybe 25 years ago, maybe 30 years ago, right? Maybe I'm like 1617, 18 year old kid, right?

00:26:14.600 --> 00:26:21.660 Tommy DiMisa: And I was like, I look back and go if there was not a mech of short, of course, there was a mechanism. We could have written down each other's home phone number.

00:26:21.660 --> 00:26:22.170 Katrena Perou: Or something.

00:26:22.170 --> 00:26:37.640 Tommy DiMisa: Like that right. But but I remember not doing it. And I think about that a lot like these lost opportunities, and I don't think about it from a selfish perspective like oh, you know, I own an employee benefits agency, and they could have been a client. No man that's like so transactional. I think about it like.

00:26:37.830 --> 00:26:53.300 Tommy DiMisa: what could we have possibly impacted each other's lives and the lives of all those other people we know? Because, like, when you and I meet like I don't think it's just. Katrina meets Tommy D. And Tommy D. Meets Katrina. But it's those networks have the potential to collide right like, when I was watching the videos

00:26:53.390 --> 00:26:58.919 Tommy DiMisa: on your website. And again, the Tedx talk this morning, I was just thinking, man, we met in the summertime.

00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:25.500 Tommy DiMisa: And I haven't really connected enough with Katrina to make an impact and bring her into my world and relationships and things like that. And that's something that I take very serious. So I go back to just the opportunities and and gang. I guess what I'm saying is when you're out in the world amongst people. I always have business cards on me, mine right? And I always am looking for opportunities, and when I meet a young person who's maybe in their twenties, or in college or something, when I ask them.

00:27:25.660 --> 00:27:38.380 Tommy DiMisa: like they're still in college. And I say, Do you have a linkedin page? And they're like, yeah, I'm like, Yes, yes, man, and the ones who don't, I say, do me a favor. Do you a favor? Make a linkedin page? Let's get something going, you know, because there's not.

00:27:38.380 --> 00:27:59.800 Tommy DiMisa: I was talking to one of my children, and I was saying, Listen, I think I might have you come out and do some camera work for me, because it's difficult to do selfies all the time, like take pictures of myself. But if I had somebody else holding my phone, it would be easier. But I think of having my own kids when they're 17 and 18 years old to start a Linkedin page, you know. Obviously, Instagram is a whole nother thing for young business people.

00:27:59.940 --> 00:28:12.679 Tommy DiMisa: but it's so important to build these networks. If you don't meet meet Frank Modica, what could happen if you don't grab his card right, if you decided. Maybe he was just being nice to me. Maybe he don't really want to help me out.

00:28:12.730 --> 00:28:15.447 Tommy DiMisa: None of these things happen. Man, you know, it's

00:28:15.930 --> 00:28:25.133 Tommy DiMisa: Brian Priolo says, Wow, that's an amazing story. Fate is awesome checking out on Youtube. Yeah, it is awesome things happen. You know I have a friend of mine who?

00:28:25.740 --> 00:28:42.000 Tommy DiMisa: who? We collaborate on the networking group Tng, which is a national networking organization. His name is Michael Goldberg, and he always says peripherals wide like we don't know what's coming at us, and if you're open to this is my stuff. If you're open to opportunities, and you're ready to make that relationship, man, just

00:28:42.080 --> 00:28:51.569 Tommy DiMisa: you never know where it can go. I'm rambling, but I think it's important to tell these stories, you know, so Frank has this gig for you creates this opportunity. It was the Hamilton. Give me the name of the settlement house. One more time.

00:28:51.570 --> 00:28:53.150 Katrena Perou: Oh, the Hamilton Madison House.

00:28:53.150 --> 00:28:57.739 Tommy DiMisa: Hamilton, Madison House, as in like Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, or.

00:28:57.750 --> 00:29:03.069 Katrena Perou: You know what? I never really knew what, where they got the Hamilton Madison House name from.

00:29:03.070 --> 00:29:03.700 Tommy DiMisa: Okay.

00:29:03.830 --> 00:29:09.040 Tommy DiMisa: but that these are this is an organization. Though he went back and created, he said to his team, like.

00:29:09.060 --> 00:29:14.240 Tommy DiMisa: I found this young woman who is gonna be great for us. Let's create a role. I'm just waiting for her to call me. That's the vision I have

00:29:15.070 --> 00:29:15.460 Tommy DiMisa: excellent.

00:29:15.460 --> 00:29:19.060 Katrena Perou: He never had my number. I only had his card, so he had no way of contacting me.

00:29:19.060 --> 00:29:31.620 Tommy DiMisa: So so, which is interesting to me, too. So here's the other side of that gang. Young people, make a business card. Have a business card, right, you know, and be able to hand out your contact info or with technologies. Grab your phone.

00:29:31.620 --> 00:29:32.140 Katrena Perou: I do?

00:29:32.140 --> 00:29:56.040 Tommy DiMisa: Flash each other on the Linkedin thing. So all right. So you go down there. I can't believe it, we went on. We got to take another quick break. We come back from the break. I want to hear about Hamilton Madison House what that 1st role was for you, because I know, in watching you and speaking to you. You know there was a certainly an evolution in what you saw, and certainly what you saw at the top of organizations, and who was running these organizations that really informed

00:29:56.600 --> 00:30:09.859 Tommy DiMisa: a lot of decisions you made right and and really, and that led to, I think, in a lot of ways. What inspiring minds Nyc. Is all about. So when we come back, let's dive into that. We'll we'll fast forward. I'll try to talk less and make you talk more. How's that sound?

00:30:11.260 --> 00:30:13.499 Tommy DiMisa: We'll be right back philanthropy and focus.

00:30:14.100 --> 00:30:14.939 Katrena Perou: Alright. Thank you.

00:32:14.990 --> 00:32:30.389 Tommy DiMisa: We're back. I'm actually sharing. If you're watching the video and the website for the imagine awards New York City. Imagine awards New York city, or rather Nyc. imagineawards.com. I'm showing all the finalists, and it makes me think here's 1 of my clients actually Venture House. I'm going to their gala

00:32:30.450 --> 00:32:32.070 Tommy DiMisa: in New York City

00:32:32.090 --> 00:32:56.940 Tommy DiMisa: on the 10th of this week, which is national mental Health Day. And then this week, on the 8, th I'll be at the gala for transitional services for New York. Tsiny, it is certainly gala season in the nonprofit sector, but check out the website nycimagineawards.com, and then you'll see as I'm holding, showing right now the innovation award inspiring minds. Nyc. And my guest is a finalist

00:32:56.990 --> 00:33:06.529 Tommy DiMisa: in the leadership excellence, category for the New York City. Imagine awards Katrina Peru, executive director, founder New York City. Inspiring minds. New York City.

00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:17.639 Tommy DiMisa: Katrina. Let's get into kind of this story. So yeah, you're now in New York City. Right? Yeah. With this job you meet Frank. You get the gig. Now, what does that look like? And how does that take us to the next chapter of your

00:33:17.680 --> 00:33:19.080 Tommy DiMisa: career. Journey.

00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:26.690 Katrena Perou: Yeah, I think it was a perfect starter job for me, you know, because again, I never even had experience like working for anyone before.

00:33:26.910 --> 00:33:34.749 Katrena Perou: and but one of the things that stood out to me the most when I started that job. Because I'm I'm fresh off a basketball team. I'm used to being part of a team environment.

00:33:34.760 --> 00:33:37.579 Katrena Perou: And when you're playing part, when you're playing a part of a team.

00:33:37.610 --> 00:33:39.439 Katrena Perou: everyone knows their role.

00:33:39.610 --> 00:34:00.200 Katrena Perou: And you know your role, and you also understand how my, you know, I understand how my role is going to connect with the other person's role. Right? So if I'm a point guard. I know what the forward does. I know what the center does, and we all kind of working in harmony together, and we all understand what our shared goal is which is to win right? And when I started working, I realized that that's not how the workforce works.

00:34:00.200 --> 00:34:14.389 Katrena Perou: You can have a job, and people don't even know what the person working next to them is doing, you know, and sometimes they're not even always clear on what their role is, or what their job description is. And then, if you were to ask everybody what the shared goal, what the shared mission is, everybody might give a different answer.

00:34:14.540 --> 00:34:18.201 Katrena Perou: you know. So that was one thing that was kind of like, blatantly obvious for me

00:34:18.630 --> 00:34:20.170 Katrena Perou: when I started working.

00:34:20.170 --> 00:34:29.559 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, what do you do with that? Because that's that sounds like an obvious thing, like we should all know. You know, I I am part owner in several companies, but I think one in particular.

00:34:29.904 --> 00:34:48.479 Tommy DiMisa: Where there's only 5 of us, you know, and we 3 owners and and 2 employees, and we think in terms of like, we have to continue to to hone that mission and make sure everybody's bought in, and even in a small organization sometimes not. Everybody knows where the organization is going and that, and we are a for profit company.

00:34:48.808 --> 00:35:04.560 Tommy DiMisa: That that must have looked unusual for you to see, like I've been playing on a team forever, right? And especially at a very high level at the collegiate level final for the whole thing. When you work, walk into a business, and and it sounds like it wasn't going in that direction where everybody didn't know their role. So how?

00:35:05.110 --> 00:35:06.819 Tommy DiMisa: What did you think about that?

00:35:07.300 --> 00:35:26.220 Katrena Perou: Yeah, I was like, well, I didn't like it. So control over the people who I was managing. And that was the 1st thing that I tackled is like, why are we here, you know, like we had to have a shared goal, you know, creating shared goals. One thing that my coach used to do after every game is that we will look at it. We had a goal board, a goal board that was hanging up in our locker room.

00:35:26.270 --> 00:35:46.539 Katrena Perou: and it was like 20 goals on there, and after every game we will look and get it. You know. We'll look at our goals and see if we reached our goals after each game, and we'll get a sticker like, you know. We might get a sticker, for no one scored over 20 points, you know. We'll get a sticker on the board. We'll get a sticker, for you know the amount of rebounds that we got, and it was just, and then if we and if we were to get all of our stickers, we would get like

00:35:47.000 --> 00:36:10.169 Katrena Perou: new sweatsuits, or there's some kind of incentive for it right, and we rarely got all 20, but it was something that we, but we all knew what our goals were. So I ended up creating a goal board from our organization. You know, I was like, these are our goals and hung up on a wall, you know, and it's like, and we went measure them. We had our team meetings. It's like, how do we do with attendance? We didn't get it all right, but it kind of it kind of makes you be intentional with talking about

00:36:10.310 --> 00:36:32.259 Katrena Perou: on a regular basis things that are important to you and your organization, and being able to troubleshoot like all right. Well, we fell short. What do we need to do to do to adjust? Or maybe this goal is unreachable, and we need to change the goal. But it keeps everybody on the same page as it relates to what we're working towards and also everyone's role is different. You know. What is your with your job. How do you contribute to us reaching this goal?

00:36:32.260 --> 00:36:44.102 Katrena Perou: You know what you do is very important, you know, in order for us to get there. So I also make sure everybody was very clear on what their roles were. Not. Everybody had a job description. So I made job descriptions for everyone, you know

00:36:44.360 --> 00:37:13.690 Katrena Perou: and I found a really fun way for everybody to share their roles with each other in the team meeting, where we knew where everyone presented. This is what I do. This is what you go to me for, you know. But you'll be surprised, not just at that organization. A lot of organizations. People might not always know, like what that person on their team is doing, and how they could be a resource to you. So I wanted to make sure that everybody knew who everybody was, what they do, and how they could be a resource to you, and how it all ties to our overarching shared goals as a

00:37:13.740 --> 00:37:15.700 Katrena Perou: you know, as a program department.

00:37:15.980 --> 00:37:26.059 Tommy DiMisa: You ever hear the story about the man who was mopping floor floors at NASA, and like he was out one night, and somebody asked him, What do you do? And he's like I'm I'm helping us get to the moon.

00:37:26.260 --> 00:37:30.150 Tommy DiMisa: He didn't say I'm a janitor. He didn't say I'm on floors, and no disrespect to people who do that.

00:37:30.150 --> 00:37:30.840 Katrena Perou: Oh no!

00:37:30.840 --> 00:37:46.720 Tommy DiMisa: Paint it that way. The point is, the man was part of the the larger vision, the larger mission, right? So so I guess, as it relates to our sector. You know whether it's somebody in the development department, whether it's somebody in programs department, whether it is the Ed, the CEO of the organization. You know.

00:37:47.080 --> 00:37:53.919 Tommy DiMisa: we all can be internal resources to each other from that internal networking perspective. And what do we do? And how do we help? You know.

00:37:54.170 --> 00:37:54.550 Katrena Perou: Nope.

00:37:54.600 --> 00:38:01.520 Tommy DiMisa: Be part of that. You know, we're all gonna go in this. We're going in the same direction. So how do we work together to best utilize each other right.

00:38:01.690 --> 00:38:02.850 Katrena Perou: Yes, exactly.

00:38:03.800 --> 00:38:08.228 Katrena Perou: and sometimes I would even end my team meetings with a huddle. You know we all put our hands in the middle.

00:38:08.430 --> 00:38:08.860 Tommy DiMisa: Why not?

00:38:08.860 --> 00:38:10.360 Katrena Perou: Say nothing. Why not?

00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:13.800 Tommy DiMisa: Because that's fun, man, you know, on 3 on 3, right.

00:38:13.800 --> 00:38:17.031 Katrena Perou: It was fun we had a chance to. We used to make chance.

00:38:17.370 --> 00:38:40.159 Katrena Perou: because, even being a being an athlete, we had chance that we would say before games to get excited and to get hype and when I would run my after school programs every Friday. It was like Chant Friday, you know, all the kids and all the staff will get in the cafeteria, and we had like these little fun, corny, stupid chants, we would say, but it would. It would raise the vibration in the room. All the kids would be like, Yeah.

00:38:40.160 --> 00:38:42.320 Tommy DiMisa: Because it's energetic man. It's real.

00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:42.640 Katrena Perou: Last night.

00:38:42.640 --> 00:39:04.370 Tommy DiMisa: That's not just like silly stuff to do it like fires up. It's a state change. I think, of a guy like Tony Robbins, like incantations and things like that and changing state. And that's what it does, man. It's it's for real. I want to move this conversation to a point where where you start to take on some leadership in other organizations, in your career and and things that you've kind of opened your eyes to things you saw.

00:39:05.010 --> 00:39:22.250 Katrena Perou: Oh, yeah, so I did take a little bit of a break after I left Hamilton Madison House, because I have my son Quincy Peru, who's actually now in college. But I stayed home. I was a stay at home, mom, for a few years, and that was an interesting time for me, because I started to

00:39:22.560 --> 00:39:47.269 Katrena Perou: trying out new things, because being at home with a child was really hard for me at first, st because I was always used to being out and about. Now I'm like still. So I have to have a project as I'm raising my son and my ex-husband at the time my husband at the time he was. He was working in orthopedic surgery. And he's Haitian, and he won Haiti when the earthquakes happened to to support on a medical mission.

00:39:47.270 --> 00:39:47.720 Tommy DiMisa: Sure.

00:39:47.720 --> 00:39:53.780 Katrena Perou: And when he came back he was just like really distraught, like man. I don't feel like I did like I scratched the surface over there. It was so bad.

00:39:54.050 --> 00:39:54.850 Katrena Perou: and

00:39:55.750 --> 00:40:02.239 Katrena Perou: and I had just went to this community school practicum at Columbia University. I went to this workshop there.

00:40:02.320 --> 00:40:12.089 Katrena Perou: and there's this initiative in New York City called Community Schools, where schools get holistic support, both medical and social emotional support, where everything a kid needs is in one building.

00:40:12.210 --> 00:40:19.049 Katrena Perou: and I remember going to a site visit in one of those schools, and I was inspired by all the all these resources these schools had.

00:40:19.140 --> 00:40:24.709 Katrena Perou: so I said to him, I said, Well, what if we were to start a community school there? And he kind of laughed like.

00:40:25.220 --> 00:40:28.760 Katrena Perou: you know, how how are we gonna do that? We don't know.

00:40:28.760 --> 00:40:29.590 Tommy DiMisa: In Haiti. You meant.

00:40:30.165 --> 00:40:30.740 Katrena Perou: Haiti.

00:40:30.830 --> 00:40:38.779 Katrena Perou: He's like, I was like, you have medical connections. I have education connections. Maybe we could figure something out and and what I did that that was an experiment is like.

00:40:39.430 --> 00:40:40.440 Katrena Perou: you know.

00:40:40.780 --> 00:41:03.589 Katrena Perou: it seems like it's it's something that's impossible. But what if it isn't right? So I just I just invited some friends over who wanted to help with the stuff in Haiti, and there was one lady who came who I didn't know her name was Fran Jesty, and she heard my vision of having this community school in Haiti. But then, when I was done doing my presentation, she came up to me, and she said, Look, I have a nonprofit here in New York City that does work in Haiti, and I have a school with 400 kids.

00:41:03.660 --> 00:41:09.533 Katrena Perou: and then just like that, she gave it to me. So now I have this school with 400 kids in Haiti

00:41:10.050 --> 00:41:14.760 Katrena Perou: and Fran and I we raised. We raised. So I'm raising my son.

00:41:14.940 --> 00:41:25.969 Katrena Perou: So I was very disciplined and structured with my schedule, so every he had nap time at the same time every day. So during his nap time, that was a time where I would work, and I would try to fundraise and do what I could to

00:41:26.090 --> 00:41:32.219 Katrena Perou: help the school because they needed walls built. They needed meals every day. And

00:41:32.330 --> 00:41:45.429 Katrena Perou: yeah, and it ended up. We ended up raising the money that we needed. A year later I flew out there. I visited the school, and one of my favorite pictures to this day is a picture of me in front of the school with 400 kids, and they all have book bags and supplies.

00:41:45.530 --> 00:41:56.279 Katrena Perou: And I love that picture because it's symbolic to me of the power of our mind like that started off as an idea or a thought, you know, and something that most would have thought was impossible.

00:41:56.410 --> 00:42:08.520 Katrena Perou: But when you act on your thoughts and ideas. You'll be surprised, you know how far it can go if you take the necessary steps to make it happen, and that's when I really that's that's when I really started to believe that anything's possible.

00:42:09.106 --> 00:42:22.929 Katrena Perou: So when it was time for me to go back to work again, I was like, all right. Well, if anything's possible, if failure didn't exist, what would I do instead of just instead of just going for what's right in front of me, or what's presented to me. What do I really want to do?

00:42:23.080 --> 00:42:26.714 Katrena Perou: And I didn't have the answer right away. It was just like

00:42:27.959 --> 00:42:43.069 Katrena Perou: you know, because but then, what I'm doing right now with inspiring minds is exactly what I would do if failure didn't exist. And the reason why I say if failure didn't exist, because we don't really realize how much fear blinds us from being able to see what we really want to do.

00:42:43.180 --> 00:42:49.810 Katrena Perou: As soon as you take fear out the equation, the fear of failure out the equation. You're able to see things that you weren't able to see before.

00:42:49.940 --> 00:42:58.810 Katrena Perou: you know. And I was able to see what I really wanted to do, and a lot of times people are afraid to go for that. But my thing is like, Go for that, you know. That's what you really want.

00:42:59.300 --> 00:43:06.170 Katrena Perou: Then start, you know, start start taking the steps to to do those things. That's probably what your real purpose is in life.

00:43:07.070 --> 00:43:17.839 Tommy DiMisa: If failure didn't exist, what would I do? Gang take that one away, man, Katrina. What an inspirational story! That's why the organization is called inspiring minds right? And and that's what you do.

00:43:17.880 --> 00:43:35.639 Tommy DiMisa: Shout out to Vanessa Romulus. She says. That's amazing. I agree. It is amazing. And you're changing lives every day, Katrina, and are the people that work with you? And and there's such community around what you do. And it's funny because there's so much I want to talk about, and we we have to bring to a close in the next 12 min or so. So I want to come back. And I want to really hit hard.

00:43:35.640 --> 00:43:51.539 Tommy DiMisa: What inspiring minds Nyc. Does, because it not only does it empowering the young people, but it empowers the other community partners that you work with. So I really want you to drive home the program of what this organization is doing. Maybe we can get into that chalk beat article which you shared with me a couple months back.

00:43:51.540 --> 00:44:20.794 Tommy DiMisa: because that was talk about bold leadership. I would definitely what we got to talk about chalkbeat, and we got to get to a point of. Here's what inspiring minds Nyc actually does. Here's the other organizations you collaborate. Here's what looks like how those organizations are able to elevate and expand and and evolve into doing even more powerful work through these relationships. So when we come back, let's talk community, let's talk the future of this organization, and I'm fired up to be with you on October 29, th at the New York City. Imagine awards and

00:44:21.270 --> 00:44:25.319 Tommy DiMisa: I don't know. I feel good vibes. Let's let's take a quick break. We'll be right back.

00:44:25.670 --> 00:44:26.489 Katrena Perou: Alright. Thank you.

00:46:28.910 --> 00:46:31.150 Tommy DiMisa: Do that cut through the static tuning in the attic.

00:46:31.870 --> 00:46:44.320 Tommy DiMisa: shout out to some more folks checking in Sjb, checking in with a quote on Youtube, saying, the cost of fear equals the best possible future you could have had the cost of fear. Gang

00:46:44.410 --> 00:47:10.090 Tommy DiMisa: like, Get outside of your comfort zone. Fear is there right? But push through it. Get through it, man, and then once you win after you get through it, it just emboldens us, I think, to win again and win again and go. Oh, I've been through this nonsense before. This is just the fear checking in trying to hold me back whatever let's get past it right? So Katrina Peru is a seasoned collective impact strategist with over 21 years of leadership experience in the nonprofit sector. She is a leader in this world in the nonprofit space

00:47:10.090 --> 00:47:16.559 Tommy DiMisa: I want to just read. We didn't get into this earlier, but I want people to understand some of your backstory to Director of Groundwork, Inc.

00:47:16.650 --> 00:47:37.789 Tommy DiMisa: Camba, you're at Camba, chief program officer at Urban Arts partnership, and obviously the founding executive director of the organization. We've been talking about this morning, also the Waba, the Women's American Basketball Association, showing up with some love and just saying we appreciate their thought, provoking conversation. These must be a lot of your folks making moves with Mariano.

00:47:37.790 --> 00:47:59.470 Tommy DiMisa: Let's saying, let's go. And with some fire. So I'm digging it. We're really blowing up today on the Youtube. So that's fun. That's definitely I love Youtube myself. Man, I learned so much from being in the world of Youtube. All right, Katrina, let's get into it. What is inspiring minds? Nyc, like, what does it look like? I've been? I've been in a room with you. I've seen you know your vision. But I want people to understand it.

00:48:00.642 --> 00:48:03.807 Katrena Perou: Yeah, so inspiring minds, we partner

00:48:04.380 --> 00:48:10.499 Katrena Perou: well, we empower youth to confront critical community community issues through culturally responsive educational programs.

00:48:10.530 --> 00:48:28.700 Katrena Perou: We partner with about 20 schools in New York City to provide leadership development programs during the school day, art space programs during after school and all of our programs culminate with a shark tank which provides an opportunity for our young people to receive seed funding and technical assistance for businesses that address issues in our community.

00:48:29.510 --> 00:48:50.050 Tommy DiMisa: So some of the things that came out of when we met there. There's others that other organizations that you empower like they've come in and do the program work for you. So when you set out on this road, you made sure that you had somebody to lead the women's program. But it wasn't like, I'm going to do the program. It was like, let me find organizations that have this type of program. Can you speak to that model.

00:48:50.650 --> 00:48:56.890 Katrena Perou: Yeah. So I received my 1st grant in 2,019 from the William Keenan Charitable Trust.

00:48:56.970 --> 00:49:24.669 Katrena Perou: and the model that I wanted to create was a collective impact model where I can partner with other organizations in the community to serve to serve our students. And there are already a lot of small black owned organizations in Bedford Stuyvesant that were doing amazing work. But they didn't really have the resources to really do it, like maybe at a higher level. So when I received the funding I sat down, 3 of them and I said, Hey, let's work together, you know, like

00:49:24.670 --> 00:49:44.350 Katrena Perou: Brian favors, who was running break in the cycle consulting services. He's a mastermind when it comes to rights to passage programs for boys and girls and culturally responsive teaching. So I said, Hey, why don't you run that part of the organization? And there's another good friend of mine named Akiba, you know, and she runs an organization called Yay X,

00:49:44.350 --> 00:49:59.859 Katrena Perou: and she created my civic engagement program, you know, and she actually piloted the program for me for for the 1st year, and the 3rd person I sat down with was Lindsay Fauntleroy, who runs an organization called the Spirit Seed, and she focuses more on wellness, on health and wellness.

00:49:59.950 --> 00:50:05.519 Katrena Perou: And I said, look, we can, we can create one leadership model where the kids go through all 3 programs

00:50:05.530 --> 00:50:16.549 Katrena Perou: to develop leadership skills in a way that feels holistic. So I believe that you know when it comes to leadership you can't lead if you don't understand who you are and where you came from.

00:50:16.620 --> 00:50:23.019 Katrena Perou: you know. So that's that's where Brian favors came in with the rites of passage program and for kids learning their true history.

00:50:23.030 --> 00:50:40.829 Katrena Perou: I also believe that you can't lead if you don't understand. If you don't understand how to take care of yourself, you know. How can you take care of others? If you're not taking care of your own, you know wellness, and that was something that I wish that I would have got more of as a leader. You know, as far as development, because no one really talks about that when it comes to leadership development. But leaders burn out.

00:50:40.830 --> 00:50:42.530 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, which part the wellness part like.

00:50:42.530 --> 00:50:55.389 Katrena Perou: Doing this part is like you want to burn out taking care of other people. And like a lot of civil rights leaders, activists had mental health issues in their latter years because it was stressful. And you know, maybe they didn't have the tools to take care of themselves in that kind of way.

00:50:55.510 --> 00:51:07.730 Tommy DiMisa: I wanna just say one quick thing on that. Sorry to interrupt you. But that mental health conversation. I want to revisit that with you another day another time, because I'm very. I'm very focused on ending the stigma around the conversation about mental health and mental illness.

00:51:07.730 --> 00:51:09.089 Katrena Perou: Yes, I would love talking about.

00:51:09.090 --> 00:51:15.310 Tommy DiMisa: Yeah, cause I got I got T-shirts made up. We're doing a whole thing. I'm gonna have a whole campaign on that. So I want to come back to that with you at another time.

00:51:15.310 --> 00:51:15.970 Katrena Perou: Okay.

00:51:15.970 --> 00:51:18.429 Tommy DiMisa: Please continue with with inspiring.

00:51:18.430 --> 00:51:42.780 Katrena Perou: So kids will cycle through that program. And then the 3rd program they will cycle through was our civic engagement program. Because I also believe that you can't lead if you don't know how to activate your power in your community. So the 1st 2 programs are more about inner development, and the last 3.rd The 3rd program is more about, you know, external leadership. And I got activating it. So our kids actually cycled through all 3 programs. And it felt like one organization, you know, even though they were interfacing with 3 different

00:51:42.850 --> 00:51:44.170 Katrena Perou: organizations.

00:51:44.430 --> 00:52:10.099 Katrena Perou: They went through a holistic experience, and we worked lock and step again. We had shared goals. We met on a regular basis, you know, and everybody knew what their role was in the process, and we all had our own superpowers. My superpower was doing the events. We had youth conferences that culminated what we did at the end of each semester engaging in the community. So I helped the kids create all these social media campaigns and deal with social issues at that time.

00:52:10.110 --> 00:52:15.310 Katrena Perou: you know, and also just thinking of being an architect and figuring out how we're all going to work together.

00:52:15.330 --> 00:52:37.549 Katrena Perou: So again, 2 of them ended up transitioning out because they had their own organizations. But what they did was they created. They helped create the model and helped. They helped me to train other people to then run those programs as they went on to continue to do their own thing, and and Brian favors, he actually ended up becoming one of my staff members. He's my director of education.

00:52:37.730 --> 00:52:43.360 Katrena Perou: and he ended up moving his contracts from his organization under inspire mind. So ended up being a merger

00:52:43.784 --> 00:52:52.905 Katrena Perou: and then we interface with so many other local organizations. For one off projects, or sometimes at one school, a school might want something that I don't do.

00:52:53.480 --> 00:53:08.060 Katrena Perou: but someone in the community who does it. So I would just bring them in. It ends up being an ecosystem of organizations cycling in and out from the community to serve our kids, and it doesn't feel like 20 different organizations. It feels like one shared experience that kids are having.

00:53:08.060 --> 00:53:31.410 Tommy DiMisa: I love that. And I'm just as I'm hearing you talk. The team environment again is coming up for me. The fact that you got these shared goals, and and so much to learn from from the work you're doing. I think we, you and I need to do just like another interview like on how do? How organizations can adopt the model that you've used, you know, not not even if they're doing the same or similar work, but just from a structural perspective. As to.

00:53:31.410 --> 00:53:42.999 Tommy DiMisa: you know, share goals, team know who's on the team? Who does? What? Who am I passing the ball to? Figuratively or sometimes literally, but depending on the organization. But that I want to talk to you more about.

00:53:43.770 --> 00:53:45.030 Tommy DiMisa: There was a

00:53:45.330 --> 00:53:47.530 Tommy DiMisa: there was a story you told me where

00:53:47.610 --> 00:53:58.160 Tommy DiMisa: a young woman had this had her model around civic engagement, or something like that, and and you like empowered her, and were like, Well, why don't? And she was like a student, right like at the time.

00:53:58.900 --> 00:54:26.480 Tommy DiMisa: And there's a lot of those stories, I think, where? Where, like the student has the answer, and you're like, All right. So let's run with it, or let me help you get like. So tell me the one about the young woman. Then there was a gentleman who wanted to get contracts for his program that I think he created as he was coming up through the work, through the inspiring minds. I want to see work, and you helped him. I'm sure he's just an example of many others. You've helped how to go and get government, you know, city contracts with the school, so I guess, start with that young woman who I'm referring to her name. I don't remember right now.

00:54:26.480 --> 00:54:45.850 Katrena Perou: Yeah. Her name is Kylie Richardson, and, as I mentioned a little bit earlier, we culminate our year with running shark tanks, so every year. I give seed funding to about 8 to 10 high school kids to create programs that address issues in our community. And Kylie Richardson was one of those students. She was very, very passionate about politics.

00:54:45.880 --> 00:54:51.480 Katrena Perou: and I give them. I give them a purpose equation. The purpose equation is, what are you passionate about, plus.

00:54:51.620 --> 00:54:52.950 Katrena Perou: what are you good at.

00:54:52.980 --> 00:54:59.749 Katrena Perou: plus a problem you want to solve. And then, when you combine all 3 of those things together, it points you to a purpose, and also your own business.

00:54:59.940 --> 00:55:14.880 Katrena Perou: So Kylie was passionate about politics. She had the ability to teach and engage her peers, and the problem she wanted to solve was a disconnect that teens have when it comes to politics in her community, because it's not really communicated to them in a way where it's culturally responsive.

00:55:15.190 --> 00:55:37.619 Katrena Perou: So she created this program called Chuck's Roundtable to do just that to solve that problem. And and it was amazing, like, there's kids who normally wouldn't be interested in politics, and that became their favorite program. You know, she just made it fun. You know, they were debating. They were doing role play. They were learning, you know, and I was like, you know what? This is better than our civic engagement program. Let's just adopt Kylie's program.

00:55:37.620 --> 00:55:37.929 Tommy DiMisa: At all.

00:55:37.940 --> 00:55:55.320 Katrena Perou: And it's still her intellectual property. We helped her get her Llc. And that program expanded across 6 to 8 schools in New York city, and same for the other students. The young man you just brought up his name is Arnold Ludd. He created a program called Glows up Guns down to address gun violence in our community.

00:55:55.350 --> 00:56:05.329 Katrena Perou: you know, and since that time he's been he's been in about 8 to 10 schools. He got a chance to meet the mayor. He's gotten all kinds of contracts. He's featured on the news on a regular basis.

00:56:05.390 --> 00:56:16.979 Katrena Perou: So that's what I'm most passionate about is helping people find their purpose like I feel like I found mine, and I wanted to create an infrastructure and a platform for others to be able to not only exercise their purpose, but also find it as well.

00:56:17.380 --> 00:56:26.440 Tommy DiMisa: I can't. I can't say how happy I am that I got the opportunity to meet you, and and certainly this is just the beginning of a dialogue that I'd like to have with you for a long time. Because.

00:56:26.590 --> 00:56:30.199 Tommy DiMisa: can you just give me the purpose? Equation? One more time.

00:56:30.860 --> 00:56:37.849 Katrena Perou: And so what are you passionate about? Can I believe that your purpose is most definitely tied to something you're passionate about?

00:56:37.880 --> 00:57:03.429 Katrena Perou: What do you have the ability to do? These can be natural boring gifts or gifts that that you developed over the years. And then a problem you want to solve, which is a very empowering thing to think about, because we can solve whatever problems we want, you know. So how are you creatively tying your passion and your skills to a problem you want to solve. And when you combine all 3 of those things, it will actually point you to the direction of what your purpose in life may be, and it could also be your own business.

00:57:04.130 --> 00:57:08.620 Tommy DiMisa: Just incredible, Kylie Richardson, you said. And, Alan, what was Alan's last name?

00:57:08.620 --> 00:57:09.729 Katrena Perou: The Arnold Ludd.

00:57:09.730 --> 00:57:11.070 Tommy DiMisa: Oh, Arnold! Blood and.

00:57:11.070 --> 00:57:16.910 Katrena Perou: They're 2. They're 2 of many. We have a lot of kids who are creating businesses and running them in our community as we speak.

00:57:16.910 --> 00:57:22.980 Tommy DiMisa: I wonder if we could play a cool game one day where we just bring on a bunch of these young people who've been super successful, and interview them and help them tell their story.

00:57:22.980 --> 00:57:24.150 Katrena Perou: They would love that.

00:57:24.150 --> 00:57:46.220 Tommy DiMisa: Let's make it happen. I mean, maybe we'll do that in one of my lives where I want to do. I'm going to bring a film crew out. Maybe we'll do a whole day of something like that could be fun. So we'll talk more about that. A lot of folks checking in on on Youtube. You can. Always we stream on like 6 different platforms. Gang you want to check in with me Tommy d dot, Nyc on Instagram, the nonprofit sector Connector on Instagram. And I just made this new Instagram, too.

00:57:46.240 --> 00:57:52.950 Tommy DiMisa: called ending the stigma together because it's incredibly important that we end the stigma around mental health conversations. Because listen.

00:57:53.530 --> 00:58:06.359 Tommy DiMisa: we all have challenges and we got to talk about them. Let's open up, go to the website. I am youth.org slash, inspiring dash minds! Dash! Nyc, what about your Instagram stuff? You want to shout out real quick before we go.

00:58:06.360 --> 00:58:14.077 Katrena Perou: Yeah, our Instagram is inspiring mindsnyc, it's Facebook, inspiring mindsnyc, and on X we are, I,

00:58:14.570 --> 00:58:16.310 Katrena Perou: I am. Nyc, 12.

00:58:16.310 --> 00:58:38.239 Tommy DiMisa: I am. Nyc. 12. Listen, everybody. Make it a great weekend. We'll be back next week in the show, Katrina. Thanks for everything. I'm looking forward to seeing you in October at 29th October 29, th at the imagine which gang, if you want to check it out with me, Tommy d at philanthropyinfocus.com is email, because if you want to learn more about the Imagine awards and you can't find the website which I told you was Nyc. imagineawards.com. If you can't find it, call me text me, we'll figure it out. We'll get you worked out.

00:58:38.260 --> 00:58:41.189 Tommy DiMisa: Thanks again, Katrina. Make it a great day. Everybody see you next week. Bye.

00:58:41.190 --> 00:58:42.170 Katrena Perou: Alright. Thank you.

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