Phyllis Smith & Laura Smith

Phyllis and her daughter Laura discussed the birth of Berkeley, Phyllis' son born in the late 70s, and how they were informed about his diagnosis of Down syndrome. In their conversation, they mentioned that one doctor advised against pursuing surgery...

Jitka Prokesova & Rori Harris-Killough

Jitka shares her story of getting her nursing degree in communist ruled Czechoslovakia in 1985 and defecting to the U.S. two years later. In the U.S. she couldn't work as a nurse but it was all she ever wanted to...

Sijaama Branch & Scott Acord

Sijaama shares her story of having sickle cell disease. How she felt embarrassed as a kid and hid it from everyone but her family. Over the years she has learned to manage the symptoms, but still has moments where she...

Karen Ashley & Mike Drummond

As a Black woman, Karen has faced racism in the workplace and has been the only person of color in a meeting many times throughout her career. She shares with Mike what drew her to the DEI work she does...

Miriam "Merry" Bauch & Katy Abelson

When the war broke out, Merry's father and brother were sent to concentrations camps where they were killed. She was sent to a separate camp from her mother, but managed to find one another later in Zakopane, Poland after the...

Martha Marcus & Katherine Abelson

Martha and her mother managed to hide from the Nazis for a period of time in their home country of Hungry. Once they were discovered they were put in a concentration camp where they were treated like animals. They managed...

Jami Gramore & Scott Acord

Jami, is an only child for their adopted parents and has a complicated relationship with them mainly because of their gender identity of queer/nonbinary. Throughout their life they have struggled with depression and anxiety, but are working through it with...

Laura Reyes & Scott Acord

A positive experience Laura had with a nurse when her father died on Christmas morning, has shaped her career in Patient Experience. Laura shares stories about her fathers influence in her life and her families Christmas Eve celebrations.

Marti & Scott

Shortly after Marti's daughter Julia was born she was diagnosed with incontinentia pigmenti. It was affecting her central nervous system and the doctors didn't expect her to live more than a few years. Marti learned everything she could about this...

Rabbi Janet Madden & Scott Acord

Rabbi Janet Madden shares with Scott the significance of the high Holy-days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and what they mean to her. How an aptitude test at age 12 foretold of her becoming a Rabbi back when women...