Behaviorally Speaking: Leadership for Change Makers

S2 E4: Presence and Persistence in Leadership: Leading with Data, Empathy, and Heart ❤️ 💚 💛 🇬🇩

What does it mean to lead with both data and heart? In this episode, Dr. Esther C. Bubb sits down with Dr. Renisha James-Thomas, a Grenadian-born educator and Evaluation Coordinator in Texas, to explore how leadership is shaped by cultural identity, resilience, and disciplined presence. Renisha shares how her upbringing in Grenada instilled a deep sense of community, optimism, and perseverance. She explains why data should be approached with curiosity rather than judgment, and how empathy helps leaders uncover the human stories behind behavior. Key themes include: • The power of presence in leadership • Looking beyond numbers to understand context • Leading with empathy in special education • Black educator persistence and resistance • Caribbean values that shape effective leadership Memorable Quotes: • “Numbers don’t lie, but mathematicians do.” • “The moment you’re in is not the moment you’ll be in forever.” • “We likkle buh we tallawah: we are small, but we make a big impact.” About Our Guest Dr. Renisha James-Thomas is a seasoned special education leader whose career spans classroom teaching, district‑level evaluation coordination, and research on the lived experiences of Black educators. She supports one of Texas’s larger special education populations, overseeing evaluation processes for nearly 2,000 students and working alongside school psychologists, educational diagnosticians, speech‑language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, and other service providers. Her day‑to‑day work is the real engine of the system: coordinating services, navigating difficult conversations with families, mediating disagreements, managing contracts for evaluators, and keeping timelines and compliance requirements steady in a fast‑moving environment. Renisha is known for bringing clarity, steadiness, and a sense of humanity to processes that can easily overwhelm both families and staff. As a Black educator in a state where Black professionals remain significantly underrepresented, Renisha’s leadership is shaped by both lived experience and scholarly inquiry. Her doctoral research in educational leadership examined the persistence and resistance of Black educators, how they stay, how they push back, and how they carve out space in systems not originally built with them in mind. That lens guides her work today, from mentoring new educators to advocating for equitable evaluation practices to strengthening structures that protect vulnerable students and honor the labor of the service providers who hold up special education every day. Her approach is direct, grounded, and deeply rooted in community, care, and disciplined standards.

S2 E3: From Oversight to Empowerment: Leading Systems of Growth in Special Education

What happens when a leader shifts from managing people to designing systems that help them thrive? In this episode, Dr. Esther C. Bubb speaks with Thomas C. Fitti, MS Ed, Director of Education and Development at Quantum Education Professionals. Tom shares how his career in special education administration prepared him to lead large-scale workforce solutions that help schools reduce operational friction, strengthen compliance, and build sustainable capacity. Key takeaways: • Shift from correction to reinforcement. • Use data to improve systems, not judge people. • Build relationships over transactions. • Lead with active listening. • Develop stamina by anchoring in your purpose. Memorable quote: “Upper Darby taught me how to work. Quantum gave me the platform to scale that work.”   About Our Guest Thomas Fitti is a strategic education leader and workforce solutions executive driving system-level impact across public school districts. Currently serving as Director of Education and Development for Quantum Resource Professionals in the Northeast, he joined the organization in July 2025 and leads the implementation of Q360 Workforce Solutions, a managed service provider model that helps districts streamline vendor management, strengthen compliance, and improve staffing outcomes. His work focuses on reducing operational friction, increasing visibility into workforce performance, and building sustainable, in-district capacity to better serve students. Prior to joining Quantum, Thomas spent more than two decades in public education as a special education teacher, coordinator, and administrator in districts such as Upper Darby and Downingtown. He has led large-scale program development, including the expansion of autistic support and emotional support services, managed multimillion-dollar budgets, and driven initiatives that reduced out-of-district placements while improving student outcomes. Known for his practical, relationship-driven approach, Thomas combines deep operational knowledge with a commitment to supporting educators, students, and communities at every level.

S2 E2: Blueprints for Change: Engineering Leadership and Social Responsibility in Grenada

What does civil engineering teach us about leadership, accountability, and social responsibility? In this episode of Behaviorally Speaking: Leadership for Change-Makers, Dr. Esther C. Bubb sits down with Timothy Bubb, Managing Director of SAFED, Inc., to explore engineering‑informed leadership, mentorship, and nation‑building in Grenada. With over 34 years of experience across the Caribbean, Timothy shares how civil engineering is not just about structures, but about people, systems, and society. He explains how principles like safety, function, economics, discipline, and aesthetics translate into leadership practices grounded in integrity, clarity, and accountability. From defining engineering as “the art of using nature’s resources for the benefit of humankind,” to applying structured thinking in leadership, the discussion explores mentoring young leaders, cultivating responsibility, addressing gender‑based violence through early education, and redefining leadership as everyday behavior. Key takeaways include: * Why leadership requires balancing competing priorities to find optimal solutions * How explaining the “why” drives performance and accountability * The role of attention to detail in identifying and developing future leaders * How integrity and compassion coexist in high-stakes, deadline-driven environments * Why early intervention is critical in addressing social issues like gender-based violence This episode challenges leaders to move beyond silos, think systemically, and commit to being the best they can be, for themselves, their teams, and their communities. 🎧 Listen now and discover how structure, purpose, and behavior intersect to drive meaningful change. Guest: Timothy Bubb, Managing Director, SAFED, Inc., Grenada, WI Mr. Timothy Bubb, Eng, has 34 years experience in civil engineering in the fields of Roads, Bridges and Retaining Walls, Water Supply and Sewerage, Industrial, Public, Educational and Institutional Facilities, among others, having carried out in the said fields, needs assessment, structural assessment, preliminary design, final design, preparation of tender documents, tender evaluation, preparation of contract documents, contract administration, technical inspection of construction, and project management.  Mr. Bubb is Managing Director of SAFED Inc., which has been engaged by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) as consultant for projects in Grenada, St. Lucia, and Dominica. Mr. Bubb is experienced in the implementation of internationally funded infrastructure projects, having worked on such projects in Grenada, Barbados, Anguilla, St. Lucia and Dominica, where his duties have included inspecting and approving the Works to ensure compliance with the Drawings, Specifications and good engineering practice, redesigning portions of the Works as became necessary or desirable as a result of conditions encountered during construction, tracking construction progress against the Programme of Works, issuing Payment Certificates, Variation Orders and Site Instructions, preparing progress reports and maintaining contemporary records of the Works.  Mr. Bubb’s engineering competence is further enhanced by his familiarity with the FIDIC Conditions of Contract, the CDB Conditions of Contract, AutoCAD drafting software, and popular project management, spreadsheet, and word-processing software. Mr. Bubb is a proactive, organized, and methodical manager, with a rational approach to his duties and a penchant for efficiency.

S2 E1: Celebrating Season 1 and Welcoming A New Season of Change, Momentum, and Meaning

A New Season of Change: Momentum & Meaning in Season 2 | Season 2 Premiere Season 2 begins with reflection, gratitude, and vision. In this solo season premiere of Behaviorally Speaking: Leadership for Change-Makers, Dr. Esther C. Bubb celebrates the close of Season 1, reflects on the milestone of surpassing 1,000 downloads, and shares lessons learned from a season of courageous conversations on leadership as behavior. This episode explores why progress is data, why reflection is leadership behavior, and why momentum matters in change-making work. Dr. Bubb also previews an exciting Season 2 lineup featuring voices across education, behavior analysis, engineering, youth leadership, advocacy, and systems change, expanding the conversation into community, social responsibility, and leadership in action. In this episode: * Celebrating the Season 1 milestone * Lessons learned about behavioral leadership * Why reflection fuels progress * Season 2 themes and upcoming conversations * An invitation to lead where you are This isn’t just a new season. It’s a deeper conversation. 🎧 Listen, subscribe, and share with a fellow change-maker.

Season 1 Episode 20: From Awareness to Action: Creating Healing-Centered Leadership Cultures

Series Title: Regulated to Lead: Trauma, Toxic Stress, and the Responsive Systems That Shape Behavior Part III Episode Title: From Awareness to Action: Creating Healing-Centered Leadership Cultures What does it take to move from trauma-informed awareness to sustained systems change? In this concluding episode of the Regulated to Lead series, Dr. Esther C. Bubb is joined again by Shannon Fitzpatrick Thomas and Tracey Wise for a powerful conversation about what it means to create healing-centered leadership cultures where trust, regulation, psychological safety, and shared ownership are not just values, but daily practice. Together, they explore how leaders can move stakeholders from skepticism to shared ownership, reframe resistance as opportunity, and build responsive systems that reduce harm while strengthening people. In this episode, they discuss: * How healing-centered leadership shows up in everyday behaviors and organizational routines * Moving from reacting to responding through regulation, co-regulation, and reflective supervision * Building trust, transparency, and psychological safety in teams and systems * Why “progress over perfection” and “curiosity over control” matter in complex leadership work * How small, consistent shifts can create lasting systems change * Why leaders aren’t just managing tasks, but shaping environments that shape people Powerful takeaways from this episode include: * Resistance can be an opportunity. * We can’t expect regulated outcomes from dysregulated environments. * Connection over control. Response over reaction. Healing over harm. * We’re not just managing tasks as leaders. We’re shaping environments that shape people. This episode concludes our three-part journey: * Part I — Understanding what shapes behavior * Part II — Responding instead of reacting * Part III — Building systems where healing-centered leadership can thrive Whether you lead in education, behavioral health, human services, or organizational systems, this conversation offers practical wisdom for leading with humanity, responsiveness, and purpose.