The Stronger Podcast

The Stronger Podcast is where the real conversations behind education and nonprofit leadership come alive. Each episode spotlights executives, founders, and purpose-driven leaders who are shaping schools, organizations, and communities across the country. These are the people on the front lines, opening school doors, building new models, and creating opportunities for kids every single day. Leaders share their journeys, the challenges they are navigating right now, and the mission that drives them. It is the kind of candid, heart-level exchange you would normally only hear after hours at a conference. Listeners can expect stories of impact, resilience, vulnerability, and vision. Sometimes inspiring, sometimes raw, always real. This podcast is not about selling products or ideologies. It is about connection. By amplifying the voices of those doing the work, the goal is to build community, spread powerful ideas, and ultimately fuel the larger mission of creating opportunity for millions of children. If you care about education, leadership, and what it takes to build change from the ground up, this is your front-porch seat to the conversation.

The Stronger Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 41 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts The Stronger Podcast, a business show with 41 episodes published.

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  Episode #41

  Charter School Boards Should Keep Their Noses In and Fingers Out: Rebuilding a School the Community Co-Owns with Dr. Tara Raines

  Aug 13, 202642 min

  Dr. Tara Raines chairs the board of a Las Vegas charter school that just separated from its New York management network, and she is rebuilding it around the rule she keeps for herself: noses in, fingers out. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Tara, board chair of DPAC Nevada and Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy at the Ballmer Institute for Children's Behavioral Health, to talk about giving a school back to the community that built it. The campus sits in the historic Westside, Las Vegas's historically Black neighborhood. It opened in 2001 as Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy, and people still light up at the name. Tara met a parent who chose the school because a taxi driver told her it was the best place in Las Vegas for Black children. A New York charter management organization took over operations in 2017, and Tara is direct about what the distance cost. Today the elementary school is performing badly enough that the state has raised closure, which she calls criminal for the school serving the highest proportion of Black children in Nevada. She and Mike get into why she wanted an executive director who has run an organization rather than a school, and why the principals carry the instructional work. Tara also walks through her research on how schools route children into the justice system, and the new bachelor's level profession she is helping states license so kids get support before they hit a diagnostic threshold. Tune in to hear why a schoolyard fight that ended in a three day suspension in 1987 can end in an arrest today, and what Tara says that costs a childhood. Chapters : 01:44 Meet Dr. Tara Raines: special education teacher turned school psychologist 05:50 The taxi driver who still recommends this school on the historic Westside 07:17 Local governance went away when a New York network took over 09:10 An independent school built around what families actually want 12:27 Noses in, fingers out: what a board member is actually for 13:33 A leader who runs organizations, not one who has run schools 17:28 The board chair wants a peer, not someone taking directives ️ 23:53 The campus becomes co owned by the community again 28:51 Campfires in a candle factory: what happens when police work in schools 30:46 Going upstream so kids do not have to hit a diagnostic threshold 35:28 Get the adults healthy before asking them to show up for kids ️ 40:28 Do not show up to glorify the problem, bring solutions Links : Email: tcraines@uoregon.edu Reach out to Dr. Tara Raines to talk about board governance through a school separation, or about the bachelor's level behavioral health credential she is helping states stand up. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com Publish a Book That Matters: booksthatmatter.org Start a Podcast That Matters: podcastsmatter.com Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org Stay strong.

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  Episode #40

  Education Leaders Don't Last Twenty Years Anymore: Lead Yourself Before You Lead Others with Bill Kurtz

  Aug 6, 202647 min

  Education leader Bill Kurtz spent twenty years building DSST Public Schools into one of Denver's top performing charter networks, then spent nine months learning how not to be it. His warning to the sector: we are not getting twenty year leaders anymore, and it is not because they do not want to stay. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Bill, founding CEO of DSST Public Schools and now a coach and advisor to CEOs across sectors, to talk about building something for two decades and then handing it off well. Bill traces the path from Wall Street to a small Catholic grammar school in the South Bronx, where he taught social studies and coached the boys basketball team to an undefeated city title. His banker colleagues thought he had lost his mind. Six years as principal of Link Community School in Newark followed, then a newspaper ad for the founding head of the Denver School of Science and Technology. He and Mike get into why DSST was built on values rather than compliance, and what Bill believes that gives graduates entering an economy being reshaped by AI. Bill is also direct about the identity trap of founding something. You become DSST and DSST becomes you, and he started unwinding that before he ever left. Tune in to hear Bill's distinction between self worth and self confidence, and why he thinks the education sector keeps betting on the wrong one. Chapters : 01:21 Meet Bill Kurtz: founding DSST in a Denver ready for change 07:58 STEM leaders, not the assistants serving the innovators 12:36 Why a values driven school matters more in the age of AI 19:12 Leaving Wall Street for a K-8 in the South Bronx ️ 25:10 A newspaper ad and three months to founding DSST 28:36 Becoming DSST, and the nine months it took to decompress 38:26 Lead yourself to lead others, and why twenty year leaders stopped happening ⚖️ 44:46 Self worth is not self confidence Links : Substack: Lead Yourself to Lead Others LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bill-kurtz-1173796b Email: wrkurtz01@gmail.com Reach out to Bill Kurtz to talk about founding, succession, and leading yourself well enough to stay in the work for twenty years. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com Publish a Book That Matters: booksthatmatter.org Start a Podcast That Matters: podcastsmatter.com Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org Stay strong.

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  Episode #39

  Washington Thought It Was Different: What It Takes to Grow Great Charter Schools Anywhere with Julie Kennedy

  Jul 30, 202654 min

  Charter schools have been legal in Washington for just over a decade, and Excellent Schools Washington founder Julie Kennedy has a blunt read on why the start was rocky. The sector decided Washington was different from everywhere else, and then hit every headwind other states had already worked through. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Julie, Executive Director of Excellent Schools Washington, to talk about twenty five years of building schools and leaders, and what a ten year old sector needs to do next. Julie grew up in Bellingham, attending the same schools her parents and grandparents did. She was a fourth grade Mathlete converting base ten to base six in her head before falling asleep. Her cousins walked into the same buildings through different entrances and got a different message about whether they were worth investing in. She was rejected by Teach For America in an early round and landed at North Star Academy in Newark through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, as a long term sub and homework helper. She stayed at Uncommon Schools for more than a decade, helping grow the New York region to fifteen middle and high schools. Julie now runs Excellent Schools Washington as an investor, pooling philanthropic dollars and backing schools and founders who can grow. She and Mike get into what leaders opening a second campus always get wrong about scaling culture, and why good enough has cost Washington students decades. Tune in to hear about the four month policy paper Julie wrote in graduate school and the family funeral that landed on the day she presented it. Chapters : 01:46 Meet Julie Kennedy: fourth grade Mathlete, third generation Bellingham student 04:27 Same schools, different entrances: what a building tells a kid 07:51 Rejected by Teach For America, then placed at North Star by luck 12:24 Building the muscle to hear one hundred percent of the feedback 22:29 The second campus mistake nine out of ten leaders make 25:31 A mini Charter School Growth Fund for Washington state 27:51 Washington decided it was different: how good enough became the bar 37:27 152 Uncommon alumni now work at the schools that taught them 40:57 What Brett Peiser asked a 22 year old candidate in a hallway ⚖️ 47:28 The tension between strategy and urgency, and giving yourself grace Links : Website: www.excellentschoolswa.org LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/julie-trott-kennedy Explore Excellent Schools Washington's work and connect with Julie on LinkedIn to follow a charter sector that is only ten years old. Her ask on this episode was direct: talented people with a high bar for what students can achieve, and an open invitation to come see Washington in July. Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com Publish a Book That Matters: booksthatmatter.org Start a Podcast That Matters: podcastsmatter.com Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org Stay strong.

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  Episode #38

  Not Everything That Ends Is a Failure: Career Pivots, Growth Mindset, and Redefining Fulfillment with Tess Vigil

  Jul 23, 202648 min

  Tess Vigil has had her role reduced or eliminated four times, and she will tell you none of it was failure. It was clarity. From a Los Angeles dress company to culturally responsive education to AI enablement in healthcare, her career is a case study in letting go of what looks impressive to chase what actually feels purposeful. In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Tess, who leads change management and organizational effectiveness in patient education at DaVita, to talk about why a career is less a ladder than a rock wall, and what it takes to keep making moves around the obstacles. Tess grew up a faculty kid at a Denver prep school, studied social psychology at Columbia in Carol Dweck's classroom two years before Mindset was published, and built her whole approach to coaching on the power of "yet." She traces the pivots that followed: teaching middle school English with Teach For America, running a locally produced clothing line she now calls her favorite failure, coaching young teachers, culturally responsive work at Denver Public Schools, national talent consulting, and finally a leap into healthcare tech. Mike and Tess get into why direct feedback is a muscle most workplaces never train, why a conflict-free relationship is probably not a deep one, and why the healthcare system leaves the same families under-resourced that the education system does. They also talk about coaching, mentorship, and building a whole team of support rather than leaning on one person to be everything. Tune in to hear why Tess believes that letting go of something that isn't making you thrive isn't failure, it's the clearest thing you can do. Chapters : 01:19 Meet Tess Vigil: faculty kid, educator, and serial career pivoter 02:19 Growing up at the school her parents taught at, and an early lesson in wealth 05:35 Studying with Carol Dweck at Columbia, two years before Mindset 07:59 Growth mindset is not grit, and the quiet power of "yet" ️ 09:11 Direct feedback is a muscle most workplaces never train 18:05 My favorite failure: the dress company and what letting go taught her 24:01 From culturally responsive education to four roles reduced or eliminated 25:59 The pivot to DaVita and the equity gaps hiding inside healthcare 35:59 Everybody needs a coach, and why your partner should not be one 44:21 A life well led: fulfilled and purposeful over what looks good on LinkedIn Links : Website: Tess Vigil | Executive Coach & Creative LinkedIn: Tess Vigil Connect with Mike: www.linkedin.com/in/mmsc Stronger Consulting: strongerconsulting.com Publish a Book That Matters: booksthatmatter.org Start a Podcast That Matters: podcastsmatter.com Go from Expert to Thought Leader: geniusdiscovery.org For more great podcasts like this one, visit https://podcaststhatmatter.org Stay strong.

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  Episode #37

  People Already Know What They Need: Behavioral Health Systems, Agency, and the Softening That Leaders Resist with Denise Jensen

  Jul 16, 202645 minS0

  <p>Ten percent of Utah's children were using roughly ninety percent of the state's behavioral health funding, and no one system owned them.<br><br></p><p>In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Denise Jensen, LMSW, Partner and Lead Operating Officer at Stronger Consulting, and the founding director of Utah's children's system of care.</p><p>Denise grew up as the oddball in a family of seven kids in a conservative Idaho Mormon household, where the mother stayed home and the father went to work. She questioned that from childhood, made a lot of...

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