Note: This episode deals with discussions of suicide and depression. Please listen with care.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, call 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, or visit 988lifeline.org to get help and guidance.
Jonnel is the CEO of the 55-year-old organization START Treatment & Recovery. He gives an overview of the organization’s decades of history and the thousands of people they have helped. START offers clinical care and conducts research on behavioral health.
START offers a program designed as a trauma-informed care program based on harm reduction for today’s vulnerable teens. Jonnel expresses hope and the success of the teen program.
“They’re coping. They’re getting support, and they’re growing.”
Jonnel tells Jeff and Carol that the median amount of time that the teens spend with START professionals is almost three years, and they are tracking individualized outcomes with their mental health professionals.
Jonnel tells Jeff and Carol talks about current issues affecting teens today, like high levels of worry, social determinants of health, substance abuse, and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Further reading: The State of Mental Health in America
Teens state that they thought they could handle it themselves, which might be tied to common conversations they’ve heard around resilience.
Soraya used her book to dismantle what we think we know about how to be resilient. She argues that we need to not think of resilience as rugged individualism, but rather as a part of community wellness.
Soraya sheds light on the reality of Ernest Shackleton’s famed and failed expedition to the pole in the early 1900s, including the glorification of his leadership style while downplaying the collective and caring community that the crew embodied.
In under-resourced communities, there are high levels of basic sustenance deprivation, and schools take on the role of community centers, providing resources for families and additional care.
Childhood resilience has become connected to the flawed metric of good grades. There are plenty of students who can get good grades who have high levels of mental illness and stress at home. Indeed, many of these students are motivated to get good grades as an avenue to decrease stress at home, but they are not actually building sustainable resilience.
Addressing issues in wage inequality are going to be crucial in creating true resilience in current and future generations.
Jeff and Carol talk with Mark about the history of people feeding one another as a sense of community and well-being. While the concept might seem radical given the history of the rugged individualism in the United States, these ideas have deep historical relevance.
To Mark Bittman, 2024’s version of these community kitchens are nonprofit restaurants, where those of means pay more money for the same food, creating opportunities for those with less means to access the same high-quality meals at a price point that works for them.
One of the first steps in Mark’s plan is setting up a pop-up restaurant where the team will conduct experiments and identify roadblocks before opening up a fully nonprofit restaurant.
While Mark hopes to open a full restaurant in the New York area, he’s also happy to work with others across the country who want to start nonprofit restaurants. Find more at The Bittman Project website.
Chief Executive Officer, START Treatment & Recovery Centers
Award-winning business leader with a proven history of success in creating positive change throughout all organizational levels with a deep commitment to equity in all forms, fostering inclusive and diverse environments and producing positive outcomes. Previously, Jonnel Doris was appointed by Mayor de Blasio as the Commissioner for the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and Co-Chair of the Small Business Subcommittee of the Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity. Responsibilities included leading the nation’s largest small business and workforce City agency with a focus on equity of opportunity, that leads to economic self-sufficiency and mobility for New York City's diverse communities. SBS actively connects New Yorkers to good jobs, creates stronger businesses, and builds a thriving economy in neighborhoods across the five boroughs.
Doris managed a budget of over $300M and over 300 employees while leading the City through the most difficult time in its history. Instituted numerous economic development programs during the pandemic, including 51 recovery programs, initiatives, and campaigns, several grant and affordable loan programs providing over $600 million to over 10,000 businesses and serving over 120,000 job seekers. Under his leadership, SBS provided over 337,000 services to small businesses, workers, and neighborhoods across the city.
Formerly, Doris served as the City's first Senior Advisor to the Mayor and Director of the Mayor's Office of Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBE). Under Doris' leadership, the City more than doubled its certifications to 9,620 firms, more than tripled its utilization from 8% to 30%, and awarded more than $14.6 billion to M/WBEs. Doris also led the City's efforts to secure a $41 million investment from four city depository banks: Amalgamated, Bank of America, TD Bank, and Union Bank for low interest revolving loan funds. His engagement in business communities, City agencies and both State and City legislatures has also influenced City efforts to pass several critical state and city legislation that expands opportunities for M/WBEs.
Doris previously served as the first Chief Diversity Officer for the Governor's Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR), which oversees New York State's $4.4 billion recovery allocation for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Irene, and Tropical Storm Lee.
At GOSR, Doris developed and implemented strategic initiatives resulting in increased utilization of state and federal M/WBEs and Section 3 businesses. He created the Office of Diversity and Civil Rights and developed GOSR's award winning Local Workforce Opportunities Program and Web Portal. These two resources continue to increase employment and business opportunities, while enabling thousands of M/WBEs, small businesses, and residents to participate in New York’s rebuilding efforts.
His professional career includes extensive experience in the energy, utility, government, and business sectors working at Public Service Enterprise Group Long Island, Long Island Power Authority, KeySpan, and in both State and City Government. He is also a former small business owner who understands firsthand the challenges small businesses face.
Doris has received numerous awards and recognition over his professional career. Some include: City & State Economic Development Power 75 (Ranked #9), City & State 2021 M/WBE Power 50 (Ranked #2), City & State's Power of Diversity: Black 100, City & State 2020 Responsible 100, The Network Journal Magazine 40 Under 40 Achievement Award; the Women Builders Council Diversity Champion Award; NYSAMC Public Sector Partner Award; City and State 40 Under 40 Award; National Minority Business Council Award; and the Hispanic Chamber M/WBE Advocate Award. Doris has guest lectured at Columbia University, New York University, Medgar Evers College, City College and Adelphi University. He also served on the Bishop’s Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission for the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.
Doris holds several degrees and certificates including, a Master of Arts in Public Policy and Analysis, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology from Stony Brook University, a Master of Divinity from Oral Roberts University, and a Turner School of Construction Management Certificate. Doris is also an ordained minister and currently resides in Queens with his wife Rev. Aisha Doris and two children.
Author of The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Grit, Strength, and Growth after Trauma
Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. As a cultural critic, she writes and speaks frequently about gender norms, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, politics, and technology. The former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women’s civic and political participation.
Soraya is also the author of The Resilience Myth: New Thinking on Grit, Strength, and Growth after Trauma, a thought-provoking exploration that challenges our most dearly held, common myths of resilience and urges us to shift our perspective from prioritizing individualized traits and skills to uplifting collective care and open-ended connections with our communities.
Her first book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by the Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and NPR and has been translated into multiple languages. She is a contributor to several anthologies, most recently Free Speech in the Digital Age and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change The World. Soraya is also a co-producer of a WMC #NameItChangeIt PSA highlighting the effects of online harassment on women in politics in America. Her work is featured widely in media, documentaries, books, and academic research.
As an activist, Ms. Chemaly also spearheaded several successful global campaigns challenging corporations to address online hate and harassment, restrictive content moderation and censorship, and institutional biases that undermine equity and negatively affect free speech.
Prior to 2010, Ms. Chemaly spent more than fifteen years as an executive and consultant in the media and data technology industries.
Author, Founder of The Bittman Project
Mark Bittman has been a leading voice in food culture and policy for forty years. He has written thirty books, including How to Cook Everything and Animal, Vegetable, Junk. He is the editor-in-chief of The Bittman Project.
