The Hidden Power of Relational Intelligence in Building High-Performing Teams with Dr. Jennifer Brown

The Hidden Power of Relational Intelligence in Building High-Performing Teams with Dr. Jennifer Brown

Relational intelligence may be the one advantage humans keep as AI gets smarter, and Dr. Jennifer Brown has spent 25 years proving it builds stronger teams. A regional superintendent at the KIPP Foundation, she coaches CEOs and executive directors on what really makes a team work. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Dr. Jennifer Brown, Regional Superintendent at the KIPP Foundation, to talk about the people skill that has shaped her entire career and why she believes it will outlast the robots. Jen grew up as the daughter of a soldier, moving constantly and learning early how to read a room, adapt, and build trust fast. She traces that thread from a high school teacher cadet class to teaching eighth grade English, to district turnaround work, to leading KIPP Jacksonville, and now to coaching former CEOs as part of a four-person regional superintendent team she compares to an Olympic dream team. Along the way she names the thing leaders kept seeing in her: relational intelligence. She breaks down the difference between teamwork and what she calls "teamship," the discipline of how a team actually functions, and the trust, selflessness, and energy that separate a real team from a group of talented individuals. Jen also gets honest about her decision to step back and center her family, why she believes there is no balance, only trade-offs, and what it takes to open more doors for women in school leadership. Tune in to hear why the most human skill you have might be the most strategic one you own.   Chapters: 🎖️ [01:54] Daughter of a soldier: growing up everywhere and calling no place home 🍬 [06:19] The Now and Later moment and the adaptability military kids learn early ⚖️ [09:16] From dreaming of LA Law to discovering she did not want to be a lawyer 🍎 [11:31] The teacher cadet class and the two teachers who changed her path 📚 [16:31] First teaching job, an hour of onboarding, and the hidden society of a school 📈 [22:02] Getting tapped for leadership and her first taste of school turnaround work 🤝 [25:11] Relational intelligence: the skill people kept naming in her 🧭 [27:05] Teamship over teamwork: the discipline of how a team actually functions 💬 [36:42] The Fantastic Four, hard moments, and the trust that builds a real team 👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 [40:04] Choosing family: why she is stepping back and what comes next ♀️ [44:14] No balance, only trade-offs: opening doors for women in school leadership Links: LinkedIn: Dr. Jennifer Brown  [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-brown-ed-d-73075b3/] Website: The Pamoja Team [https://www.pamoja-team.com/] Connect with Dr. Jennifer Brown to follow her thinking on relational intelligence, teamship, and what it takes to build high-performing teams, and to catch her weekly leadership series, What's in Brown's Bag.   Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc/] Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com [https://strongerconsulting.com/] Publish a Book That Matters:  booksthatmatter.org [http://booksthatmatter.org/] Start a Podcast That Matters:  podcastsmatter.com [https://podcastsmatter.com/] Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org [http://geniusdiscovery.org/]  For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org [https://podcaststhatmatter.org/] Stay strong.

Stop Reimagining School, Start Building Better Ones: Why Intentionally Diverse Schools Are an Antidote with Ashley Heard

Ashley Heard has spent eight years making the case for intentionally diverse charter schools, and she is more convinced than ever that they matter right now. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Ashley Heard, Development and External Affairs Lead at the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition, for a conversation that is about much more than charter schools. It is about what schools can mean for democracy, belonging, and fairness. A South Louisiana native who grew up moving around the country, Ashley came up through Teach For America and has worked in education ever since. Now raising three kids in New Orleans, she talks openly about navigating school choice as a parent who knows the system better than most, and still finds it hard. Choice only counts, she argues, when the options are good and actually accessible. Ashley makes a sharp case against innovation for its own sake. We do not need to reimagine education, she says. We have research on what helps kids learn, and we should do more of it well. Drawing on a definition of learning she picked up in law school, she explains why a truly great school has to be a brain disruptor, and why putting kids alongside others who do not look, think, or believe like them is the point. The conversation also turns personal, as Ashley reflects on moving from hustle to flow, leaning on her team, and the habits she wishes she had built earlier. Tune in to hear why Ashley believes diverse schools are an antidote to this moment. Chapters: 🎓 01:15 Meet Ashley Heard and eight years at the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition 🌍 02:33 From a childhood on the move to finally home in New Orleans 👶 04:01 A third kid, a Cinco de Mayo baby, and what changed 🏫 06:34 Choosing a school for her own son, and the guilt that comes with it 🧭 07:50 Good choices versus great ones, and why access is the real problem ⭐ 10:38 Bar-setting schools, and the one that nails culture and results together 🚫 14:49 Stop innovating for innovation's sake, we already know what works 💡 15:48 What TNTP's Opportunity Makers found about schools that get results 💰 19:04 You cannot build a great school without well-paid, well-trained teachers 🧠 23:40 Learning is brain disruption, and why diverse schools are the answer 🗳️ 27:23 Schools as a tool of equity and an antidote in this political moment 🔄 32:20 Leading as a woman right now, and moving from hustle to flow 📖 38:01 Reading for pleasure again, and a book that became a friend 🌱 40:09 A wisdom bite for the next generation: build healthy habits early Links: Website: Diverse Charter Schools Coalition [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ashley-heard-consulting-llc/] LinkedIn: Ashley Heard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-heard-b5b55720/] Connect with Ashley Heard on LinkedIn or explore the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition to learn more about her work supporting intentionally diverse public charter schools across 28 states. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc/] Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com [https://strongerconsulting.com/] Publish a Book That Matters: booksthatmatter.org [http://booksthatmatter.org/] Start a Podcast That Matters: podcastsmatter.com [https://podcastsmatter.com/] Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org [http://geniusdiscovery.org/] For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org [https://podcaststhatmatter.org/]

Stop Chasing Innovation in Education: Why Relationships and Retention Are What Actually Work with Erik Greenberg

Education leader Erik Greenberg never planned to work in schools. Now, as CEO of Academies of Math and Science, he argues that the answer to America's education problem is not innovation. It is relationships, retention, and the slow work of building community schools in the neighborhoods that need them most. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Erik, CEO of Academies of Math and Science, to talk about why a STEM charter network serving low-income and immigrant communities has staked everything on teaching math and reading better than anyone else. Erik grew up in Colorado Springs with a built-in math tutor for a dad and teachers he still talks to in his forties. He fell backward into education after an international business degree, spent more than a decade in higher ed and early education, and only in the last few years came to see how unevenly opportunity is handed out. That realization became the thing that drives him. He and Mike get into why education has barely changed in centuries, why the research keeps pointing back to one enduring teacher relationship, and why a kid's third year in the same school produces a jump in growth even when nothing else changes. Erik makes the case that school choice, for all its benefits, can quietly erode the community a school is supposed to be. Listen in for a candid conversation about high expectations, never-ending work, and why the most ambitious thing a school can build is a place where people belong. Chapters: * 🏔️ 01:27 Meet Erik Greenberg: Colorado Springs kid who fell backward into education * 💡 04:28 The teachers he still talks to in his forties, and why that is disappearing * ⚖️ 05:31 Not every kid gets the childhood I got, and I am not okay with that * 🏫 08:30 Why AMS will only ever serve underserved communities * 🔁 11:18 Education is one of the most archaic parts of society * 📖 15:11 Teach math and reading better than anyone: the whole mission * 🤝 20:39 Generational versus immigrant poverty, and the one enduring teacher relationship * 📈 24:09 Why a kid's third year in the same school changes everything * 🌱 35:46 Building community schools where everyone belongs * 🧭 46:17 If you want to lead, you have to read: the mentor who changed his career Links: Connect with Erik Greenberg: LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikgreenberg13/] Academies of Math and Science: amsimpact.com [https://amsimpact.com/] | LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/company/ams-impact-group/] Reach out to Erik to learn more about building STEM-focused community schools in underserved neighborhoods, and the talent AMS is looking for to do that work. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc/] Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com [https://strongerconsulting.com/] Publish a Book That Matters: booksthatmatter.org [http://booksthatmatter.org/] Start a Podcast That Matters: podcastsmatter.com [https://podcastsmatter.com/] Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org [http://geniusdiscovery.org/] For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org [https://podcaststhatmatter.org/] Stay strong.

From Classroom to Movement: How Dominique Lee is Reshaping Education

From classroom teacher to founder of a cradle to career movement, Dominique Lee built the BRICK Education Network in Newark to do what schools alone never could: support a child and their family from before birth all the way through a career. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Dominique Lee, founder and CEO of BRICK Education Network, to talk about what it actually takes to change outcomes for Black and brown children when the system was never built for them in the first place. Dominique traces the path from a Teach For America placement in Newark's South Ward to the moment he decided he was done. After watching his district treat a school full of Black children as the place to dump teachers nobody else wanted, he asked a simple question about what to do next, and BRICK was the answer. Fifteen years later, what started as five young teachers with an amorphous plan is now a two generation model spanning maternal health, schools, housing, and workforce development. Mike and Dominique get into why trust is built by listening and then executing, not by running another focus group. They dig into the equity argument at the center of his work: communities should not have to fight for the basics that wealthier neighborhoods simply expect, and systems, not exhausted families, should carry the load. Tune in to hear why Dominique believes the way forward starts with denying yourself and picking up something bigger than your own mission. 🎙️ 00:50 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out www.podcastsmatter.com [http://www.podcastsmatter.com] 🧱 01:11 Meet Dominique Lee and the BRICK Education Network 🚗 02:13 Growing up between Pontiac and Bloomfield Hills, Michigan ⛪ 06:12 The faith that still guides every decision he makes 📚 10:00 Need help with your book? Visit www.booksthatmatter.org [http://www.booksthatmatter.org] 🍎 12:54 From Teach For America to the day he walked away from the classroom 🙏 17:55 One question at Riverside Church, and five teachers with an amorphous plan 🌱 19:51 Building a cradle to career model, from maternal health to workforce 👂 24:51 How trust gets built: listen, then execute, skip the focus group 🏥 28:34 The wellness center the community told him not to build ⚖️ 33:29 Why systems, not exhausted families, should carry the load 🤝 37:25 The real problem is that people don't trust people 💡 43:47 Go from expert to thought leader at www.geniusdiscovery.org [http://www.geniusdiscovery.org] 🔥 44:25 Abundance over zero sum, and the case against scarcity thinking ✝️ 49:00 Deny yourself and pick up something bigger than your own mission 🌐 52:31 Find more podcasts that matter at www.podcaststhatmatter.org [http://www.podcaststhatmatter.org] Links LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dominique-lee [https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominique-lee-3b785620/] Company: BRICK Network [https://www.linkedin.com/company/bricknetworks/posts/?feedView=all] Website: bricknetworks.org [https://www.bricknetworks.org/] Reach out to Dominique Lee to learn more about the cradle to career model BRICK is building in Newark's South Ward and beyond. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc/] Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com [https://strongerconsulting.com/] Publish a Book That Matters:  booksthatmatter.org [http://booksthatmatter.org/] Start a Podcast That Matters:  podcastsmatter.com [https://podcastsmatter.com/] Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org [http://geniusdiscovery.org/]  For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org [https://podcaststhatmatter.org/] Stay strong.

Make the Exception the Rule: Why Strong School Boards Decide Who Gets Opportunity, with Ethan Ashley

Ethan Ashley got handcuffed at a police precinct at age six for stealing a pack of gum. He went on to finish high school at sixteen, earn a law degree from Howard by twenty-two, win an elected school board seat, and build a national organization that trains the people deciding what happens in your kid's classroom. His throughline: his story should have been the rule, not the exception. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Ethan, former school board member and CEO of School Board Partners, to talk about why elected school boards are one of the most powerful and least understood levers in American public education. Ethan traces an unlikely arc: born in Lakewood, raised in Compton, sleeping on the couch of a Hispanic family in East LA so he could stay dual-enrolled in community college as a high school freshman. A college recruiter who paid attention to an eighth grader, and a mentor who picked up the phone to Howard the day before a missed deadline, are the kind of people he credits for everything that followed. He started his legal career representing kids sentenced to die in prison, working the Louisiana arm of Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative, before deciding he wanted to work at the front end of the school-to-prison pipeline instead. Ethan and Mike get into why most school board members have no idea what they signed up for, what Brown v. Board actually turned on, and the three things leaders almost never say: I'm sorry, I don't know, and I need help. Listen in for a conversation about opportunity, the people who open doors, and building systems so the next kid does not have to be the exception. 🎙️ 00:53 Want a podcast just like this one? Check out www.podcastsmatter.com [http://www.podcastsmatter.com] 🛫 01:32 Meet Ethan Ashley: from row 14F to leading school boards across the country 🏠 02:07 Born in Lakewood, raised in Compton, and a grandmother who went west 🎓 05:08 The recruiter and the mentor who opened the door to Howard 🛋️ 07:10 The East LA family whose couch made dual enrollment possible 📚 13:54 Find support for writing your impact-driven book at www.booksthatmatter.org [http://www.booksthatmatter.org] ⚖️ 15:09 A pack of gum, handcuffs at six, and why he chose the law 🏛️ 19:00 What Brown v. Board actually turned on: the school board nobody names 🗳️ 25:25 Good people get elected, then learn being an advocate is not the same as governing 🙏 31:29 The three things leaders never say: I'm sorry, I don't know, and I need help 🌟 31:58 If you are a leader or changemaker looking for support, check out www.geniusdiscovery.org [http://www.geniusdiscovery.org] 🤝 34:24 Meeting the moment: ICE, school closures, and AI inside School Board Partners 🧭 43:26 Advice to his younger self: stay curious and connect deeply 🎧 47:49 Find more podcasts that matter at www.podcaststhatmatter.org [http://www.podcaststhatmatter.org] Links: LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/ethanashley [http://linkedin.com/in/ethanashley] Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethancashley/ [https://www.instagram.com/ethancashley/] Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ethancashley [https://twitter.com/ethancashley] School Board Partners: https://www.schoolboardpartners.org/ [https://www.schoolboardpartners.org/] School Board Partners on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-board-partners/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/school-board-partners/] Connect with Ethan Ashley on LinkedIn or explore School Board Partners to learn more about how it supports elected school board members across the country to lead with courage, competence, and impact, including the Our Collective Power national conference. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc/] Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com [https://strongerconsulting.com/] Publish a Book That Matters:  booksthatmatter.org [http://booksthatmatter.org/] Start a Podcast That Matters:  podcastsmatter.com [https://podcastsmatter.com/] Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org [http://geniusdiscovery.org/]  For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org [https://podcaststhatmatter.org/] Stay strong.