The Extra Mile - The Official Charity Miles Podcast

Edith Zuschmann is the CEO and Co-Founder of 261 Fearless, an organization she started with Kathrine Switzer, most famously known as the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon. 261 Fearless uses running as a vehicle to empower and unite women. They break down the barriers of geography and create a global community for women runners of all abilities to support, encourage, and inspire each other towards a positive sense of self and fearlessness.  A nationally ranked swimmer-turned-distance runner in her native Austria, Edith drives the passion to support women globally to find the joy and power in being active. She is a nationally certified athletic and running coach focusing on young athletes and women and continues also as a lecturer of sports marketing at the University of Applied Sciences, Wiener Neustadt, Austria, where she also received her master’s degree in business consultancy and leadership. 

Rocco Lungariello is the host and producer of the podcast, What Is Culture, a candid, interview-style podcast that explores workplace culture within Tangoe, an IT Lifecycle Management company. Just to highlight that: Tangoe is not a culture or HR company.  Like I said, they're an IT Lifecycle Management company. But their company culture is so important to them that they created their own podcast about it.  And it's not an internal podcast either.  It's open to the public. Tangoe is one of our newest partners for our Employee Empowerment program. So when I learned that they had their own podcast exploring company culture, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see what we can learn from them on the subject. Especially at this moment when so many of us are working from home, trying to balance the demands of family and work in a time of great uncertainty.   As challenging as these times are, they've given us all an opportunity to define our company and community cultures.  And they've shown us why creating a cul

Our good friend, Barefoot Jake Brown happened to be in Eugene, Oregon when the wildfires started miles away. Through all of his experiences living a minimalist, nomadic lifestyle-- including running across the U.S. barefoot-- Jake has developed a set of skills and resourcefulness that is especially helpful in a crisis. And since he's not the kind of person who can sit on the sidelines, he's doing everything he can to help people who are evacuating the fires, and might otherwise fall through the cracks. Big thanks to Jake for taking an hour to share a view from the ground there, and for all of his selflessness and hard work in helping others. For more info on Jake and how you can help, please visit baresoleproject.com.

6 days before her 24th birthday in 2014, Jess Stevens was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and immediately began intensive treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to save her life.  It was by far the scariest time in her life, but she made it to the other side, healthy and VERY grateful because of the doctors and nurses at DFCI. That is why, every year since Jess' diagnosis, she gathers with her family, friends to walk in the Jimmy Fund Walk for DFCI. Jess' team, “Neuk the Leuk,” is based off a phrase she used quite often as motivation while in treatment. They are raising funds specifically for the ground-breaking research that her main oncologist, Dr. Daniel DeAngelo, and his team are conducting to find cures for the many kinds of blood cancers that are currently without successful treatment plans. Although Jess was lucky to have a treatment plan that worked, only 61% of patients diagnosed with leukemia survive 5 years past diagnosis. That number needs to get to 100%! Jess and her team are also

If you like heavy breathing, you'll like this interview! It's my first live, in-person, on-the-run interview of 2020.   And I couldn't have asked for a better person to run with than Michael Rodgers, the New York Road Runners VP of Youth and Community Engagement. Michael directs a variety of programs that offer the running community opportunities to actively support NYRR's mission to help and inspire people through running. These programs include: 1. The NYRR Team for Kids charity team that has more than 7,000 annual members who raise money for free running programs serving more than 267,000 kids in New York City and across the country. 2.  NYRR Open Run, a free community run/walk program in 16 parks in New York City with more than 20,000 participants. 3.  NYRR Run for the Future, a high-touch, high-impact summer program for girls in their senior year of high school to build self-esteem, confidence, and leadership skills, while training for a 5K race. Participants who complete the program receive a $2,000 col

Stacey D. Stewart is the CEO of the March of Dimes. In my first podcast with Stacey back in May, I was surprised to learn that the U.S. is one of the most dangerous countries for women to be pregnant and give birth. I was also surprised to hear how doctors' implicit biases, make this even more true for women of color, even when accounting for income, education and other socio-economic factors.  Our first conversation happened before the murder of George Floyd and all that has followed since. Our national conversation around the BLM movement, implicit bias, systemic racism, white privilege and social justice is very polarized and heated. Many (white) people understandably recoil at the accusation that they are biased or "privileged" when they certainly don't feel that way. So, I wanted to reconnect with Stacey to see if she could help us better understand what implicit bias is, how it affects all of us, and what we can do about it.   Understanding how implicit and systemic bias affects even the most well-meani

We're thrilled to welcome the Jimmy Fund to the Charity Miles family. For those who don't know, the Jimmy Fund raises money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, a truly miraculous place. Their signature event is the Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai, which takes place each year on the course of the Boston Marathon®.  Yes, you can actually walk all 26.2 miles of the Boston Marathon course, from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, to raise money to fight cancer! (They also have shorter distances like a half marathon, 10k, or 5k.) For obvious reasons, they can't have the Jimmy Fund Walk in person this year. But we are honored to help them bring this very special event to life in Charity Miles. One of the things that makes the Walk special is how they dedicate each mile and half mile to a different hero-- a patient whose story exemplifies what makes Dana-Farber such a special place. These are the heroes that we'll be showcasing in Charity Miles.  One of those stories comes from today's guest,

Katherine Adamenko is the Manager of Well-being at Ropes & Gray LLP, one of the best law firms in the world. I used to work for a couple of law firms just like Ropes & Gray, and I can't recall anyone being concerned with wellness back then. But times surely have changed. When we were getting ready to launch our new Employee Empowerment program for companies to sponsor their employees, I cold-emailed a bunch of law firms to see who would be interested. Katherine was the first to get back to me, and was very helpful as an early adopter, and in providing feedback for us to make the program better. Since then, we've had many amazing companies reach out to join our Employee Empower program, including Salesforce, Allbirds, Workday, Gilead, Truist and more. In just a few short months, this program has already helped raise over $2 million in corporate commitments for great charities. Katherine's help was crucial in helping us get the platform off the ground. Which is why I wanted to talk with Katherine to sh

My first interview with Bob received more positive feedback than any other interview I recorded. For those who missed it, I highly recommend going back a couple episodes to listen to our first interview.   It's just two episodes back. In the first interview we talked about how to have uncomfortable conversations. In this conversation we talk a bit more about why to have uncomfortable conversations. We dive deeper into the purpose of uncomfortable conversations, the challenge of slippery slopes and how to why we need to build conflict resilience. Again some more background on Bob... Bob Bordone is a senior fellow at Harvard Law School, a former Harvard Law School Professor, and Founder and former Director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program. When I was in Law School (16 years ago!), Bob was my advisor.  With all that is going on in the world today, I thought it would be great to dust off my old negotiation and conflict management textbooks, and give Bob a call.

Meb Keflezighi is an Olympic Silver Medalist and the winner of the Boston and NYC Marathons.  He's a legend in the sport, and probably one of the most loved athletes in recent years. I asked for Meb's insight on how he handles unforeseen challenges, and for his perspective on the Black Lives Matter movement. Huge thanks to Meb for all he does to inspire. #EveryMileMatters

Bob Bordone is a senior fellow at Harvard Law School, a former Harvard Law School Professor, and Founder and former Director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program. When I was in Law School (16 years ago!), Bob was my advisor.  With all that is going on in the world today, I thought it would be great to dust off my old negotiation and conflict management textbooks, and give Bob a call. I'm glad I did.  Because now more than ever, we all need to develop our conflict resilience skills-- the ability to listen deeply, assert authentically, promote creativity, and foster mutual gain. For more on Bob click here. If you're listening to this before June 19th, click here to learn more about a panel that Bob is hosting on Approaches to Processing, Anger, Anxiety and Grief. #EveryMileMatters!

Jason Russell is the Co-Founder of Black Men Run, and a stroke survivor.  He's a voice we need to hear from. And he has a simple, but powerful message: Listen. Thank you, Jason. #EveryMileMatters! -Gene

Dan Pallotta is one of my heroes. His book, Uncharitable, dared to challenge the conventions that constrained the way we thought about charity. His 2013 iconic TED talk has been viewed nearly 5 million times. My first interview with him a couple of years ago is one of my favorite interviews ever. And now he's further distilled his insights into The Everyday Philanthropist, a simple, easy-to-understand guide to help us all understand that there’s a better way to do giving. In this interview, you'll get a small taste of what Dan is about. It's too good to sum up here. You'll have to listen. And then go buy the book. Seriously, go buy this book.  We're not getting a cut or anything.  But we need everyone to read this. Here's the link to find it on Amazon. Big thanks to Dan for helping us all dream bigger. #EveryMileMatters

Dave McGillivary is the race director of the Boston Marathon. As many of you know, the Boston Marathon was one of the first major events that was "postponed" because of the coronavirus.   When they originally postponed it, they were hoping that they'd be able to run it in September. However, as it became apparent that this would not be possible, either, they last week made the hard decision to "go virtual", at least for this year. It's not yet clear when we'll be able to have races and live events like the Boston Marathon again. Dave shares more about how they came to these difficult decisions, and what it will mean to run the Boston Marathon "virtually". He also shares his own story and journey to the Boston Marathon, his run across the U.S. for the Jimmy Fund, and so much more. Thanks Dave!

Kevin Carrol is a Katalyst, a spark. I first met Kevin at a conference several years ago and I've been a huge fan ever since. When I met him, he was the "Creative Katalyst" at Nike.  Phil Knight called him the Mayor of Nike. But his journey to Nike was never preordained.  He took a lot of twists and turns, like the feather in Forest Gump. Kevin was raised by his grandparents in Philadelphia after his parents, addicted to drugs, abandoned him at age six. Everything in his environment told him that he should never amount to anything. But out of necessity, he found a way to build community and seek wisdom from others-- drug dealers, veterans, positive deviants, teachers and more. Growing up, Kevin played basketball and football.  But after suffering a few concussions on the football field, he started playing soccer, which helped pave his path to college. From there, Kevin found his way to the Air Force where he became a translator while also studying to become a sports trainer. After leaving the Air Force, he th

Kristen Ulmer is one of the world's top extreme athletes-- ever. As a big mountain extreme skier, she was #1 in her sport for 12 years in a row, and regularly named the top female extreme athlete by all the magazines and authorities that rate that kind of thing. As she made her living by literally defying death on a daily basis, Kristen learned a lot about fear. She learned how to harness her fear to propel her to new heights.  And she learned how fear could cripple her if she ignored or tried to "conquer" it. For regular listeners of our podcast, you might recognize Kristen's voice from our intro music: "Fear is an asset, an ally here to help you be magnificent." That was from the first interview I recorded with Kristen, more than two years ago at the Spartan World Championships in Lake Tahoe. Since then, I've re-listened to that original interview several times.  It's one of my favorite that I've ever recorded.  Each time I listen, I learn something new. With COVID-19, we're all living through a very scary

In honor of Mother's Day, I'm tremendously honored to share this podcast with Stacey Stewart, CEO of March of Dimes, one of our newest charity partners. When we started working with March of Dimes, I was very surprised to learn that the United States is one of the most dangerous countries to be pregnant and give birth. Which is why Stacey and March of Dimes are leading the charge in fighting for the health of all moms and babies. In this slightly rainy (and hilly) interview, Stacy and I talk about the March of Dimes' history, how they solved the problem of the polio virus, and how they're now fighting for maternal health, both scientifically and systemically. It's also worth noting that March of Dimes pioneered the idea of walking for charity. That's why they're called the March of Dimes... In other words, they're the original Charity Miles! Thanks to Stacey and her team for the opportunity to support their mission. Congrats to Stacey for earning her 101 Mile Club T-Shirt during this interview! And of course,

Joe doesn't pull any punches. And I was taken aback when he jumped right into the interview by saying that he thinks we need to let everyone out of the quarantine now. But as we got into it, I understood what he meant. We can't hide from COVID-- just like we can't hide from any of our fears. Doing that only delays the inevitable, and maybe makes it even worse. There's a lot of practical and jarring wisdom in this interview.  Some if it may be hard to hear.  Some of it may even shake you up a bit. But maybe that's what we all need... On a more personal note, Joe has been one of the most influential mentors on my Charity Miles journey. I first met Joe almost six years ago and, through the years, I've tried to emulate many of his leadership qualities. He leads by example, from the front.  He has exceptionally high standards for himself and everyone he meets. He's always raising the bar.  Metaphorically and literally. In early March, as it became clear we were headed for a pandemic, I found myself getting very de

Kris Putnam-Walkerly is a trusted advisor to some of the world’s leading philanthropists. For over 20 years, ultra-high net worth donors, foundations, Fortune 500 companies, celebrity activists and wealth advisors have sought her advice to transform their giving and increase their impact. But Kris' expertise isn't just relevant for "big" philanthropists.  It's super relevant to anyone who wants to make an impact for charity Like all of us. In this interview, we discuss Kris' most recent book, Delusional Altruism, to uncover principles that can help all of us make a much bigger impact for all the charities we care about. This conversation is super important now, as many of our favorite charities are struggling in the shadow of COVID-19. They need our help NOW.  Kris' advice can help us all rise to the occassion. For more on Kris' latest book, click here: https://delusionalaltruism.com. Big thanks to Kris for sharing so much with us. #EveryMileMatters!

I met Robyn nearly 20 years ago, when we GAVE each other a high five. That one high five completely changed my life. Since it's #GivingTuesdayNow, I want to encourage you to GIVE someone else a (socially distant) high five. You'll make their day.  You might even completely change the trajectory of your life. Also, since it's Giving Tuesday Now, I want to encourage everyone to make a donation to charity TODAY. Of course, it's important to support COVID-relief efforts.  But I also hope you'll support the charities you would have supported before the pandemic. They NEED our help. COVID-19 did NOT cure cancer.  Or Parkinson's, Alzheimer's or Diabetes.   It doesn't educate children or provide clean water.  It doesn't protect our environment or animals. I know many of us are hurting personally. But nothing will make us all feel better than reaching out to help someone else.   Big thanks to Robyn for helping me learn this... and for changing my life. And big thanks to all of you for stepping up to rise to the chall