In this incredibly fun, thought provoking and visionary episode, Nancy and Jose are joined in studio by Mark Stuart, the President & CEO of one of the most important community organizations - the San Diego Foundation. Mark, the son of preachers and teachers, shares his journey to San Diego and enlightens all with the story of how his opportunity to "pet a panda" brought him to the San Diego Zoo from Philadephia, and ultimately to the San Diego Foundation! We also learn that Mark feels he is doing the same job he's been doing since his Freshman year in college when he joined the phone-a-thon fundraising team. And that job is noble, purposeful, and in his words - "joyful" - in that he gets to raise funding for programs he knows are changing lives.

Under his leadership, the San Diego Foundation has a new strategic plan, vision, and mission, all predicated on becoming deeper and better listeners to diverse voices in the community, the voices that are not the usual suspects for grants, but voices who know where real need is overlooked. Mark is a man with a motto of "keep running" and one who lives his life with the hope of achieving a tombstone which reads "he left the world a better place."

What else do we learn from this impactful leader? One of the ways he intends on leaving San Diego a better place is through affordable housing. Not with the usual model but with innovative thinking from Europe and beyond - proven models with different angles of attack to solve the problem. The commitment? $100 million fund, $10 million directly from the San Diego Foundation.

Here are some other amazing takeaways from the interview with Mark Stuart:

- The entire purpose of the San Diego Foundation is building equitable and resilient
communities
- He thinks deeply about workforce, workforce, workforce
- His reading of Kurt Vonnegut's "Piano Player" no doubt informs his thinking about
workforce
- He wishes he had learned to speak Spanish!
- The answers to the Rapid Fire questions!

A truly insightful conversation from a phenomenal gap minder. Thank you, Mark Stuart, for your contributions to San Diego and for fighting every single day to build equity, resilience and opportunity to San Diego, and for joining us on The Gap Minders.

Enjoy this episode and be sure to subscribe to the show.

If you have any questions or want to contact Nancy or Jose, please send an email to podcast@uwsd.org. Thank you for listening.

To learn more about the two social impact organizations making The Gap Minders possible, please visit www.TheGapMinders.org.