Shows
We come to leadEp. 10 - Voices from the Top Rung with Pati NavaltaOver the next few months, we’ll be focusing on a new series here on We Come to Lead called Voices from the Top Rung—featuring industry leaders and changemakers whose work lives at the intersection of transformation, systems change, and collective solidarity.So join us on the next episode where we hear from Pati Navalta, founder of Navalta Media.Pati is a two-time Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, a nationally respected communications strategist, and someone who’s spent her career helping leaders and organizations navigate the public square with clarity, integrity, and power. She’s also the stra...
2025-09-0958 min
We come to leadWCTLWelcome our latest series: Voices from the Top RungI sit down with the fierce and formidable Pati Navalta of Navalta Media. She breaks down why owning your story — and knowing exactly who you are — isn’t optional, it’s essential.This fierce, full, and F🔥 episode drops Monday.Stay tuned. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bealadderleader.substack.com/subscribe
2025-09-0501 min
Bring A FriendFrom the Vault: Pati Navalta (Artist for Peace)FROM THE VAULT | Enjoy this moving re-released episode from Season 4:It’s almost impossible to imagine losing a child to gun violence. But maybe even more unimaginable is having the strength to channel grief into action. Pati Navalta Poblete did just that. Following the tragic death of her son Robby, Pati began her quest to take guns that are turned in as part of government buy-back programs and to turn them into community art. What’s more, she has been able to bridge the conversation between gun-owners and those who wish to curb gun possession, fostering understanding and...
2022-09-1438 minBring A FriendMy Friend the TransformerIt’s almost impossible to imagine losing a child to gun violence. But maybe even more unimaginable is having the strength to channel grief into action. Pati Navalta Poblete did just that. Following the tragic death of her son Robby, Pati began her quest to take guns that are turned in as part of government buy-back programs and to turn them into community art. What’s more, she has been able to bridge the conversation between gun-owners and those who wish to curb gun possession, fostering understanding and dialogue that brings both sides closer together
2022-03-2338 min
Race and CoronavirusThe COVID-19 obit that went viralThis podcast features an interview with Kristin Urquiza, pictured here with her dad, Mark Anthony Urquiza, in 2016. Her dad died of COVID-19 last month, and her obituary for him — in which she blamed politicians for contributing to his death — went viral. And because this is our last podcast, we also talk about what we learned from this project, and our concerns for the future as this pandemic rages on. For more on our conversation with Urquiza, plus a perspective about gun violence amid this pandemic, please read our last newsletter. Thanks for reading and listening.
2020-07-2245 min
Race and CoronavirusCOVID-19 and Latino communitiesIn this podcast, we interviewed Maria Lemus, executive director of Vision y Compromiso, an organization dedicated to the health and well-being of underrepresented people, especially by training promotores — who are liaisons trusted by the Latino community — and community health workers.For more on our conversation with Lemus, plus a new campaign on behalf of essential workers, please read this week’s newsletter. Thanks for reading and listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit raceandcoronavirus.substack.com
2020-07-1527 min
Race and CoronavirusOn politics and pandemicsIn this podcast, we interviewed Aimee Allison, founder of She the People, about the political impact of the coronavirus crisis. She the People is a national organization dedicated to boosting women of color in politics.For more on our conversation with her, plus other political players, please read this week’s newsletter, which is all about politics. Thanks for reading and listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit raceandcoronavirus.substack.com
2020-07-0841 min
Race and CoronavirusThe coronavirus crisis and its effects on educationIn this podcast, we interviewed Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga and Cole Margen about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on education. Smith Arrillaga is executive director of The Education Trust-West, and Margen is a history teacher at Oakland High School.For more on our conversation with them, plus other teachers, students and parents, please read this week’s newsletter, which is all about education. Thanks for reading and listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit raceandcoronavirus.substack.com
2020-07-0128 min
Race and CoronavirusTech, COVID-19 and raceIn this podcast, we interviewed Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, a national group that uses online activism to advocate for African Americans. We talked about technology and its role in the response to the COVID-19 crisis and to the widespread protests over racism.For more on our conversation with Robinson, please read our story on technology, the coronavirus and race in this week’s newsletter. It also includes quotes from an Edward Snowden talk this week, plus updates on immigration news and anti-Asian sentiment. Thanks for reading and listening. This is...
2020-06-2422 min
Race and CoronavirusCOVID-19's effects on small businessesIn this podcast, we interviewed Luz Urrutia, Alicia Villanueva and Mikkoh Chen about how small businesses are dealing with the coronavirus crisis. Urrutia, left, is CEO of Opportunity Fund, a nonprofit microfinance organization. Villanueva, center, is owner of Alicia’s Tamales Los Mayas. Chen, right, is venture director for Gold Rush, an accelerator for Asian-led businesses.For more on our conversation with Luz, Alicia and Mikkoh, please read our in-depth story on small businesses in this week’s newsletter, which includes a separate story about a Bay Area business accelerator’s COVID-19 initiative, #FilipinosFeedtheFrontlines. Thanks for reading and lis...
2020-06-1727 min
Race and CoronavirusCovering coronavirus and raceIn this podcast, we interviewed Dion Lim, news anchor and reporter at KGO-TV/ABC7 News in San Francisco, about covering racism and the COVID-19 crisis as an Asian American woman.For more on our conversation with Lim, please read our story on media coverage of this pandemic in this week’s newsletter, which also includes a perspective on the importance of diversity in journalism and an update about former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Thanks for reading and listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...
2020-06-1025 min
Race and CoronavirusBlack health and the coronavirus crisisIn this podcast, we interviewed Drs. Fatima Cody Stanford and David Carlisle about African American health and coronavirus, plus bias and racism. Stanford is a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and Carlisle is president and CEO of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in South Los Angeles. For more on our conversation with Drs. Stanford and Carlisle, please read our in-depth story on African American health in this week’s newsletter. Thanks for reading and listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this wit...
2020-06-0330 min
Race and CoronavirusImmigration and the weaponization of COVID-19In this podcast, we interviewed Alida Garcia, vice president of advocacy at advocacy group FWD.us, about how the coronavirus crisis is affecting U.S. immigration policy and practices.For more on our conversation with Garcia, please read our in-depth story on immigration in this week’s newsletter. Also, check out our Q&A with immigration activist Jose Antonio Vargas, plus our recommendation of a new podcast series called “Homeland Insecurity.” Thanks for reading and listening. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonu...
2020-05-2725 min
Race and CoronavirusEssential workers in the time of COVID-19This podcast includes two interviews, one with Congressman Ro Khanna and the other with gig workers Vanessa Bain and Jon Wong. In the first interview, U.S. Rep. Khanna, who represents parts of Santa Clara County and Alameda County, spoke with us about his Essential Workers Bill of Rights, which he introduced with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts. In the second, Bain and Wong talked about their experiences working for delivery services Instacart and Caviar. Please read our in-depth story about essential workers — which includes more from our conversations with Khanna, Bain and Wong, plus statistics and other vo...
2020-05-2043 min
Race and CoronavirusAnti-Asian sentiment. Plus the importance of racial data about COVID-19In our first podcast interview, California Assemblymember Phil Ting, D-19th District, talked with us about anti-Asian sentiment because of this pandemic.Welcome to Race and CoronavirusWe are reporters and editors with decades of journalism experience between us. Levi, pictured on the left, spent most of her career at the San Jose Mercury News and has specialized in technology and business news. Pati, at right, is editor in chief at San Francisco magazine and has been a demographics editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, among other places. As l...
2020-05-1318 min
Race and CoronavirusIntroducing Race and CoronavirusWelcome. We are reporters and editors with decades of journalism experience between us. Levi Sumagaysay spent most of her career at the San Jose Mercury News and has specialized in technology news. Pati Navalta is editor in chief at San Francisco Magazine and has been a demographics editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, among other places. As longtime storytellers, we know we are in the middle of one of the biggest stories of our lives. Race and Coronavirus is a newsletter and podcast that will address something close to our hearts: tracking the effects of this pandemic o...
2020-05-0811 min
DatebookSponsored Episode: The Weapon of Art, Transforming Guns into instruments of HopeDuring a time when senseless gun violence continues to plague our country, artists are transforming weapons into instruments of hope and symbols of peace. In this sponsored episode of the Datebook podcast, King Kaufman speaks with four key individuals behind the upcoming Art of Peace exhibition at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). Pati Navalta Poblete, founder of the Robby Poblete Foundation, and Rudy Corpuz from United Playaz discuss their collaborative efforts to decrease gun violence. Artist Tsungwei Moo shares the story behind her artwork in the exhibition, and YBCA CEO Deborah Cullinan speaks on the importance of...
2019-07-1718 min
In The Thick Ad FreeThe Power of Baring Broken HeartsPati Navalta Poblete went from being a columnist and journalist to being in the news when her son died due to gun violence in 2014. Maria and Julio speak with Pati about how she has turned her grief into activism and her memoir A Better Place. Want to read more?
From The Mercury News, 'In wake of her son’s murder, Pati Navalta Poblete charts a course to peace.'
Visit the site of the Robby Poblete Foundation, which Pati founded on her son's name.
From Vox, 'America’s unique gun violence problem, explained in 17 maps and charts.'
For information r...
2018-07-0624 min
In The ThickThe Power of Baring Broken HeartsPati Navalta Poblete went from being a columnist and journalist to being in the news when her son died due to gun violence in 2014. Maria and Julio speak with Pati about how she has turned her grief into activism and her memoir A Better Place. Want to read more?From The Mercury News, 'In wake of her son’s murder, Pati Navalta Poblete charts a course to peace.'Visit the site of the Robby Poblete Foundation, which Pati founded on her son's name.From Vox, 'America’s unique gun violence problem, explained in 17 maps and charts.'For information regarding your da...
2018-07-0624 min