Speaker 1: Hello and welcome back. As you know, this show is
Speaker 1: all about deconstructing these big issues that affect all of us.
Speaker 1: We're highlighting ways we can work together to create positive change,
Speaker 1: and today we're taking on the absurdly massive issue of
Speaker 1: global health. It's complicated, as the kids used to say,
Speaker 1: and made even more so by the constraints of access, geography,
Speaker 1: even stigma. Health is one of those things that most
Speaker 1: of us don't think about until we don't have it.
Speaker 1: Like I think a lot about my health when I'm
Speaker 1: sick or injured. Otherwise it's not top of mind. And
Speaker 1: we're encouraged to think about health on an individualistic and
Speaker 1: personal basis. My health, my life expectancy, my step counts.
Speaker 1: All the apps encourage that individual self and not so
Speaker 1: much consideration of the collective self, our health. It's hard
Speaker 1: for me to be healthy when we aren't healthy. COVID
Speaker 1: seemed like it would have been the perfect place to
Speaker 1: jar us into this space of more collective consideration. But
Speaker 1: those individualistic tendencies, they are so hard to leave behind.
Speaker 1: I mean, just picture airline passengers cheering with the end
Speaker 1: of the mask mandate midflight, with no concern for the
Speaker 1: person sitting next to them. So what happens when we
Speaker 1: begin shifting conversations about health to a collective one, beyond
Speaker 1: the individual and beyond our own national borders. Today's guests
Speaker 1: they do just that, working with people both domestically and internationally,
Speaker 1: based on the belief that access to health care is
Speaker 1: a fundamental human right. Joining us today is Kim Goldsmith
Speaker 1: and Diet Director of Development at Doctors Without Borders. This
Speaker 1: organization is known for its efforts to bring medical humanitarian
Speaker 1: assistance to people based solely on need, regardless of race, religion, gender,
Speaker 1: or political affiliation. Kim has a huge task at hand,
Speaker 1: responsible for developing the many income streams within the nonprofit
Speaker 1: that allow more than sixty thou staff to provide over
Speaker 1: ten million medical consultations in more than seventy countries every
Speaker 1: single year. So what did you do last year? Our
Speaker 1: second guest also works in development as the Chief Development
Speaker 1: Officer for the Trevor Project. Amanda Ryan Smith is a
Speaker 1: part of the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention
Speaker 1: for lgbt Q plus young people of whom have considered
Speaker 1: suicide in the last year alone. Amanda and her team
Speaker 1: take on this challenge through different programs that center around
Speaker 1: crisis services, education, and advocacy. Let's dive right in. Welcome
Speaker 1: Kim and Amanda. We're we're exploring a lot of issues
Speaker 1: with this series and in particular with your two organizations.
Speaker 1: And on the surface, there's a lot of uh cultural differences,
Speaker 1: you know, domestically and internationally with Doctors Without Borders with
Speaker 1: the Trevor Project, but you share this universal belief that
Speaker 1: access to health care is a human rights issue, Kim,
Speaker 1: Doctors Without Borders has been providing emergency relief to communities
Speaker 1: all over the world for more than fifty years, and
Speaker 1: y'all typically focus on war and conflict, climate disasters, epidemics, pandemics,
Speaker 1: refugee crisis, you know, the really chill stuff around the world.
Speaker 1: Right now, it seems like all of those things are
Speaker 1: happening everywhere at the same time, and more people need
Speaker 1: your help than ever before. So with that overlapping set
Speaker 1: of demands that are also increasing, how do you prioritize
Speaker 1: who gets your support and for how long. Doctors Without
Speaker 1: Borders is a medical humanitarian organization and we provide medical
Speaker 1: care on a basis of needs without discriminating. Sian and
Speaker 1: so our decision to respond to crises is based on
Speaker 1: our independent assessment of medical needs, and we currently work
Speaker 1: in more than seventy countries, and we are continually assessing
Speaker 1: where we're needed the most, both over the long term
Speaker 1: and in response to humanitarrity and crisis. So what I'd
Speaker 1: like to do is highlight three examples. One is Haiti,
Speaker 1: a country where we've worked in for thirty one years
Speaker 1: and we have unfortunately seen many disasters there. Last August,
Speaker 1: amazing earthquake struck in southern Haiti, but because of our
Speaker 1: longstanding work, our Haitian surgical team was already working in
Speaker 1: our hospitals in the capital of Porto Place and they
Speaker 1: departed for disaster zone. Within hours, local hospitals were overwhelmed
Speaker 1: with patients traumatic injuries from falling walls and roofs, and
Speaker 1: our team started doing worth ap surgery pretty immediately. The
Speaker 1: next example I would highlight is Ukraine, again where we've
Speaker 1: already been working in the country for many years, when
Speaker 1: the war broke out in February. Historically, we've worked on
Speaker 1: drug resistant tuberculous hepatitis C, advanced HIV, and just improving
Speaker 1: access to primary care. But when the war broke out,
Speaker 1: we had to really reorient our work to meeting the
Speaker 1: emergency needs now. As Ukraine medical facilities are dealing with
Speaker 1: large influx of wounded patients, we are they're providing them
Speaker 1: with medical services, medical supplies, especially training on how to
Speaker 1: treat large numbers of wounded patients at the same time. Lastly,
Speaker 1: is one that's not really in the headlines. A lot
Speaker 1: treating children for malnutrition, spiking during a lean period each year.
Speaker 1: The malnutrition is particularly harmful for children between six months
Speaker 1: and five years of age, who need highly nutritious foods
Speaker 1: and so malnourished children have severely weakened immune systems and
Speaker 1: are more susceptible to common childhood diseases, and their diets
Speaker 1: have a profound impact on their physical and mental development.
Speaker 1: As we know, Amanda, I want to give you a
Speaker 1: chance to jump in here as well. The Trevor Project.
Speaker 1: You all work seven. You've got this confidential crisis line,
Speaker 1: this crisis services, and you're starting to expand into territories
Speaker 1: beyond the US, starting with Mexico. So can you paint
Speaker 1: a high level view of the current state of mental
Speaker 1: health in the US. Here's what we know. We know
Speaker 1: one point eight million lgbt Q plus young people seriously
Speaker 1: contemplate suicide every year. We know it's the second leading
Speaker 1: cause of death for those aged twenty four and under.
Speaker 1: What's going whired things the way they are. Our mission
Speaker 1: at the Trevor Project is to end lgbt Q youth suicide,
Speaker 1: and what we're seeing right now is that the last
Speaker 1: few years have just been incredibly difficult for lgbt Q
Speaker 1: youth and taken a huge toll on their mental health.
Speaker 1: Between a hostile political climate, unique challenges amid the COVID
Speaker 1: nineteen pandemic, repeated acts of racist and transphobic violence, we
Speaker 1: have seen that lgbt Q young people are more than
Speaker 1: four times more likely to consider suicide than their peers.
Speaker 1: It's a staggering difference, but it's not due to anything inherent.
Speaker 1: It's because lgbt Q young people are faced with more stigma, discrimination, rejection,
Speaker 1: and violence, which can compound and then lead to really
Speaker 1: negative mental health outcomes. We just released our fourth national
Speaker 1: survey at Trevor and the largest survey of its kind
Speaker 1: with nearly thirty four thousand respondents and the most diverse survey,
Speaker 1: and what we found is that fort of LGBTQ young
Speaker 1: people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year. Nearly
Speaker 1: one in five trans and non binary youth attempted suicide,
Speaker 1: and youth of color reported higher rates than white peers.
Speaker 1: All of this really is exacerbated for folks who have
Speaker 1: at least one marginalized identity, people of color, people with disabilities,
Speaker 1: people with the lower socioeconomic status. There are really unique
Speaker 1: challenges and stigma. There's very limited data on the mental
Speaker 1: health of LGBTQ young people, and we think it's so
Speaker 1: important for people to understand really what is happening from
Speaker 1: young people themselves. These are sobering statistics, um and uh um,
Speaker 1: and I think anyone hearing them for the first time
Speaker 1: might just, on the basis of the data be compelled
Speaker 1: to act, you know, to do something about that. Most
Speaker 1: of us don't carry those numbers around. You've done more
Speaker 1: than just act. You are part of this organization, You're
Speaker 1: committed to this work in a deeper way. Is there
Speaker 1: something more personal, you know, beyond the stats for you
Speaker 1: that motivates your continued commitment to the Trevor Project's mission.
Speaker 1: You know, I came to Trevor last year, and I
Speaker 1: really thought about myself growing up as a young queer
Speaker 1: person in Oklahoma. You know that I didn't have the
Speaker 1: support I really wanted and needed. And within a few
Speaker 1: months of joining Trevor, my own child came out as
Speaker 1: non binary. They are ten, and their pronouncer they them,
Speaker 1: and we have been working to make the world safe
Speaker 1: and supportive for them, and our research talks about the
Speaker 1: impacts of these attacks on young people. But what has
Speaker 1: happened in Texas in February? I saw what happened to
Speaker 1: my own child, and b was really a thriving fourth grader.
Speaker 1: Their teacher described them as everybody's very witty best friend,
Speaker 1: which is be they have never been a friend. They
Speaker 1: did not love. And in February, the Texas governor called
Speaker 1: parents like us child abusers and said we should be
Speaker 1: investigated for child abuse for supporting our trans or non
Speaker 1: binary children. And we had to create a safety plan
Speaker 1: with our ten year old. They had to practice what
Speaker 1: they would say if someone showed up at their school.
Speaker 1: We consulted with an attorney, We delayed a scheduled pediatrician
Speaker 1: visit for fear of what might happen, and we saw
Speaker 1: the struggle with nightmares, being more withdrawn, less confident, less
Speaker 1: Our witty fund B and we've been really working to
Speaker 1: support getting them back to Center, and we've ultimately made
Speaker 1: the decision to leave Texas because B does not feel
Speaker 1: safe here with what's happening. And I tell this story
Speaker 1: because this is a child that is surrounded by love
Speaker 1: and support in every part of their life. Their school
Speaker 1: is asking for our Trans and non Binary Youth Guide.
Speaker 1: They want to do the right thing, and this is
Speaker 1: what happens for them with these attacks. It is all
Speaker 1: the more challenging for the one in three trans and
Speaker 1: non binary young people who are not in supportive homes.
Speaker 1: And I think it's important for people to know that
Speaker 1: B is not struggling with their identity. B is so
Speaker 1: clear about who they are. They are struggling with a
Speaker 1: world that doesn't support them. And so I'm grateful to
Speaker 1: be at Trevor to help create that world for B
Speaker 1: and for all LGBTQ young people. It sounds like it's
Speaker 1: the rest of us who are having the hard time.
Speaker 1: Bees doing just fine, just being you know, Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for sharing that. That was incredibly heartwarming. I
Speaker 1: have no words behind that. It was just quite emotional
Speaker 1: and sad at the same time. Yeah, I want to
Speaker 1: talk about what y'all each do at your organizations. You're
Speaker 1: both in charge of raising money, keeping the lights on
Speaker 1: to be able to do the important, literally life saving
Speaker 1: work that each of your organizations do. Kim, I'll start
Speaker 1: with you, because so many of the challenges that Doctors
Speaker 1: Without Borders is focused on are literally a world away
Speaker 1: from your donors. They're far in space and far out
Speaker 1: of mind. So how do you make that empathetic connection?
Speaker 1: What messages are working to get people to care about
Speaker 1: folks in circumstances so different from their own. So I
Speaker 1: will say that, as everyone here knows, funding our work
Speaker 1: is an enormous effort that is clear, and we currently
Speaker 1: have more than a million donors in the US. Every
Speaker 1: single donor makes a difference. I don't care how small
Speaker 1: or how large the donation, and it's actually not hard
Speaker 1: to get people to care about international needs they already do.
Speaker 1: What's important to know is that our donors understand that
Speaker 1: their dollars enable us to be financially independent and operational independent.
Speaker 1: So what does that mean. That means that when there's
Speaker 1: a crisis that takes place we're able to respond rapidly
Speaker 1: using the resources that we already have. But that also
Speaker 1: means that when we take and stand on contentious issues
Speaker 1: or work in a conflict zone, it helps that our
Speaker 1: funding does not come from governments. We can say that
Speaker 1: funding comes from private donors like you and me and
Speaker 1: Amanda and its donors who care about the international work.
Speaker 1: Our donors don't get to visit our projects because they
Speaker 1: are in conflict zone. So the fact that they can
Speaker 1: imagine this is really incredible. Amanda, similar question for you,
Speaker 1: how do you connect with people who may not have
Speaker 1: a direct connection to the folks that the Trevor Project
Speaker 1: is serving. One of the things that has been so
Speaker 1: beautiful at Trevor is that the horrible attacks that have
Speaker 1: been happening, particularly on trans and non binary young people,
Speaker 1: have made so many people very angry and very upset
Speaker 1: and hurt and just furious at what's happening in our country.
Speaker 1: And to me, philanthropy is a tangible thing that you
Speaker 1: can do that you can turn that into a positive
Speaker 1: thing of really allowing us to exponentially grow our capacity
Speaker 1: to serve more LGBTQ young people. So I'll give you
Speaker 1: an example. We recently had our very first fifty mile
Speaker 1: challenge on Facebook for folks to fundraise for Trevor, not
Speaker 1: just to choose to give themselves, but to ask others
Speaker 1: to support us. And our goal was maybe a hundred
Speaker 1: new fundraisers. We had fifty seven hundred new fundraisers. We
Speaker 1: create a Facebook group for them to communicate their stories
Speaker 1: to each other. There were thirteen thousand people in the
Speaker 1: Facebook group telling their stories of why they were supporting Trevor,
Speaker 1: why they were walking fifty miles, and why they were fundraising.
Speaker 1: We will communicate the stories of the young people we serve.
Speaker 1: We will tell about our services, the importance of the research,
Speaker 1: and all the stats. But I think there's also something
Speaker 1: powerful for supporters connecting to each other to tell their
Speaker 1: story of what their struggle has been or who they
Speaker 1: love in their life that has inspired them to support Trevor.
Speaker 1: In this way, every dollar makes a difference at Trevor
Speaker 1: and supports a young person in crisis or helps create
Speaker 1: a world where they won't be in crisis in the future.
Speaker 1: Tell me about that world and that difference. The other
Speaker 1: side of the stats that we started with today, what's
Speaker 1: tangible progress? What does it feel like, what does it
Speaker 1: look like? Maybe it's a person, maybe it's a town,
Speaker 1: maybe it's a school. You know, there were more than
Speaker 1: two hundred harmful policies legislation targeting LGBTQ people proposed this
Speaker 1: year alone in the US, and for US, we have
Speaker 1: seen success in striking those down in sharing facts, research advocacy,
Speaker 1: working to give information to people on the ground to
Speaker 1: help advocate against those bills, and we have been successful
Speaker 1: in keeping some of that harmful gislation from moving forward.
Speaker 1: It's important that we win, but it's also no matter what,
Speaker 1: it's important for trans and non binary young people to
Speaker 1: see us fighting for them. Our crisis lenes have continued
Speaker 1: to increase, and it's not necessarily because there's more youth
Speaker 1: in crisis. They have seen that, but it's that youth
Speaker 1: know where to go if they need support. And we're
Speaker 1: making sure that young people know about us and can
Speaker 1: find us easily, and we're grateful to so many partners
Speaker 1: who help make that possible. Macy's will soon be running
Speaker 1: a round up at the register. And if you think
Speaker 1: about Macy's all across this country, in all the communities
Speaker 1: that they're in, they are asking people when they are
Speaker 1: shopping if they'd like to support the Trevor Project, and
Speaker 1: they are raising awareness about LGBTQ young people and asking
Speaker 1: people to do a tangible thing to support us. Kim,
Speaker 1: what does it look like for Doctors with Borders to
Speaker 1: be successful well and what does it feel like on
Speaker 1: the ground of the communities you serve. Paint that picture
Speaker 1: for me. I'd like to share a story which really
Speaker 1: shows the impact of what we do. A young man
Speaker 1: who was critically injured in a suicide bombing in two
Speaker 1: thousand and six. He was seventeen years old and he
Speaker 1: was playing volleyball with his friends at the time when
Speaker 1: the bomber struck the players and a crowd of spectators.
Speaker 1: You say was rushed to the hospital, but he suffered
Speaker 1: severe damage to his face and he lost his sight forever. Um.
Speaker 1: He struggled for years to live with his injuries until
Speaker 1: one day he heard an advertisement for Doctors Without Borders
Speaker 1: program in neighboring Jordan's and that provides reconstructive surgery for
Speaker 1: patients with traumatic injuries from war zones throughout the region.
Speaker 1: He spoke to one of our doctors by phone, and
Speaker 1: within two weeks he was accepted into the program. It
Speaker 1: took three years of surgeries at our hospital to repair
Speaker 1: and rehabilitate the injuries to his face from his nose
Speaker 1: so he could breathe. He became an independent person again,
Speaker 1: able to take care of himself, and began to dream
Speaker 1: again about his future. He was accepted for a refugee
Speaker 1: resettlement program here in the US. He moved to Texas
Speaker 1: Inner Tire Education and has become a motivational speaker. And
Speaker 1: he really is an inspiration to us all in showing
Speaker 1: how wounds and hardships can be overcome, what our services
Speaker 1: can provide and really just change the life of one person.
Speaker 1: Your listen into a podcast called Force Multiplier, Action meets Impact. Now,
Speaker 1: I'm sure you've grown to expect ads baked into your podcast,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna do something a little different to walk
Speaker 1: the walk. We've donated our ad space to the organizations
Speaker 1: that need it, most organizations directly tackling today's greatest challenges.
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Speaker 1: Visit Red dot org for the many ways your money
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Speaker 1: against pandemics. Hey, I'm still Baritune Day, your host for
Speaker 1: Force Multiplier, but I'm checking in with you with a
Speaker 1: little different energy because if you're listening, you like the show,
Speaker 1: and if you like the show, you might like my
Speaker 1: other show, How to Citizen, where we take citizen as
Speaker 1: a verb and find out from people practicing the ways
Speaker 1: we can shape our community by showing up, investing in relationships,
Speaker 1: understanding power, and valuing our collective selves. Check it out
Speaker 1: at how to citizen dot com or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcast. Both of your organizations, you have these frontline
Speaker 1: workers who are directly interfacing with some of our worst nature.
Speaker 1: You know, they're seeing people after their bomb has blown
Speaker 1: parts of their body off. They are walking children through
Speaker 1: the reminder that their lives have value and are worth continuing.
Speaker 1: So how do your staffs manage their own mental health?
Speaker 1: What are you all doing internally to stay centered, you know,
Speaker 1: and to stay hopeful and even to stay effective and
Speaker 1: functional given the weight of so many parts of the
Speaker 1: world that you carry. I think this is such an
Speaker 1: important thing to highlight, and as a mental health organization,
Speaker 1: I believe and say this all the time. My first
Speaker 1: goal is to have a happy and a healthy team,
Speaker 1: and I think wellness starts with me. I think that
Speaker 1: as a leader, I have to be an example of
Speaker 1: the expectations that I'm setting for the team and taking
Speaker 1: care of themselves and in enjoying their life outside of work.
Speaker 1: I talk openly that my family comes first, and I
Speaker 1: expect you all to do the same for everything important
Speaker 1: in your life. We want to reinforce a culture of
Speaker 1: self care and mental wellness, so we have pivoted to
Speaker 1: remote work. Trevor is a remote first organization. Our staff
Speaker 1: can live anywhere across the country. We've ensured that stafford
Speaker 1: afforded additional paid time off for COVID related illness. It's
Speaker 1: a continual conversation we're having about our commitment to supporting
Speaker 1: our staff and living their best lives outside of work.
Speaker 1: As well and supporting them through this critical work. Okay,
Speaker 1: that sounds like a great place to work. Doctors without borders.
Speaker 1: You're up. How are you going to top that? Are you?
Speaker 1: What are you all doing well? Actually, it's twofold. If
Speaker 1: we look at the international staff, the folks that are
Speaker 1: going into these emergency situations, and you know, burnout can
Speaker 1: happen really quickly. They're prepared with really understanding on their
Speaker 1: first assignment. There's a lot of briefings done about falling
Speaker 1: prey to those common risks to mental health because it
Speaker 1: can happen very quickly. In the field, we talk about
Speaker 1: the stresses people are going to encounter. We have something
Speaker 1: called psychosocial care, which is integrated into their support that
Speaker 1: we provide the staff. We also have peer support networks
Speaker 1: that help people process their experiences after they've completed those assignments,
Speaker 1: and those are really it's not just a one off conversation.
Speaker 1: Those are intense to three weeks a month long conversations
Speaker 1: about what they've experienced, what they've seen, and just how
Speaker 1: they're feeling about it, which is incredibly important. Here's a
Speaker 1: quick round for both of you. How's recruiting going. What
Speaker 1: are you actually experiencing in terms of volunteers and staff. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're continuing to see an increase in our volunteers. We've
Speaker 1: grown to more than seventeen hundred active volunteers and they
Speaker 1: go through forty hours of training that really prepares them
Speaker 1: to be on the crisis lines and to be connecting
Speaker 1: with youth on phone, chat or text. And then we
Speaker 1: are continually recruiting for our growing team at Trevor and
Speaker 1: have seen lots of folks really wanting to be part
Speaker 1: of this organization and we're excited to see that it
Speaker 1: has created the most brilliant team I have ever gotten
Speaker 1: to work with in my career and it's really just
Speaker 1: such a gift. So in terms of Doctors without Borders,
Speaker 1: we're in a really good position that there's no lack
Speaker 1: of interests of wanting to work with us internationally or
Speaker 1: for doctors without Borders. Last year, you know, we received
Speaker 1: an average of sixty four applications per month. This is
Speaker 1: medical staff. And this year we see the impact of
Speaker 1: the Ukraine crisis for example, where in March we received
Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty applications. As you know, this is
Speaker 1: really a difficult time, but there's still a lot of
Speaker 1: interest and it just continues. Luckily, Amanda, You've already shared
Speaker 1: some about you know, the impact on an l g
Speaker 1: b t Q plus youth of the stories around them.
Speaker 1: You know, about their belonging, about their value, about their worth.
Speaker 1: And I'm curious your take on media representation in this moment.
Speaker 1: Are we doing better? Are we getting it more right,
Speaker 1: telling factual stories that represent this community? And if not,
Speaker 1: you know, what more do you want to see? You know,
Speaker 1: lgbt Q representation in the media is just essential for
Speaker 1: young people. Over eighty percent of youth have told us
Speaker 1: that celebrities who are lgbt Q has positively impacted how
Speaker 1: they feel about being lgbt Q. And when young people
Speaker 1: see their identities and their experiences represented in the media
Speaker 1: and pop culture, it brings them hope and joy and
Speaker 1: strength and lets them envision a bright future for themselves.
Speaker 1: And it all so can foster empathy and acceptance among
Speaker 1: people who are outside the LGBTQ community. There has been
Speaker 1: such a promising increase in TV and shows representing our
Speaker 1: beautiful diversity in LGBTQ identities, and with most things, you know,
Speaker 1: there is always room for improvement. There is room for
Speaker 1: more growth. There is room for more diverse representation. But
Speaker 1: we feel that the news media in particular has been
Speaker 1: really good about covering lgbt Q experiences, reporting on mental
Speaker 1: health concerns increasingly, especially as we've seen lgbt Q identities
Speaker 1: being politicized. I'm gonna ask you to do an unlicensed
Speaker 1: diagnosis right now. So you're describing these positive stories and
Speaker 1: the value of of belonging, But the counter to that,
Speaker 1: one of the reasons you don't live in Texas anymore
Speaker 1: is because there's another story. And so you have this
Speaker 1: competition for narrative, one based in love and acceptance, one
Speaker 1: which I was described, is based in fear ignorance. Where
Speaker 1: do you think that other stories coming from? What's motivating
Speaker 1: it in terms of its ability to still garner enough
Speaker 1: people to its side to flip laws for example. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think unfortunately a lot of people think they don't
Speaker 1: know a trans or non binary young person, and there's
Speaker 1: a lot of misinformation and a lot of fear, and
Speaker 1: just there's so much that they get so wrong. And
Speaker 1: I want the folks who are politicizing young people's very
Speaker 1: existence to know the young people that we serve, to
Speaker 1: understand them and to know that kids like be are
Speaker 1: very clear about who they are and that trusting them,
Speaker 1: supporting them is life's aping. And I think there's just
Speaker 1: so much incredible misinformation, and I think it's also been
Speaker 1: politicized and used as a way to detract from different
Speaker 1: things that were happening. We definitely saw that in Texas,
Speaker 1: like inability to keep the power on in the winter.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, this show is so much about collaboration.
Speaker 1: What are some unexpected partners or collaborators that you've been
Speaker 1: able to forge at the Trevor Project, maybe in rural
Speaker 1: areas where supports lagging. Do you have an example or
Speaker 1: two of something we wouldn't expect that's been very effective. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: we are really grateful for our corporate supporters. We've had
Speaker 1: so many different organizations support us at Trevor. Or. Technology
Speaker 1: partnerships have really been an innovative way that's been very unique,
Speaker 1: in particular on developing a eye technology to train volunteers.
Speaker 1: They do role plays in preparing to become a volunteer
Speaker 1: and to understand their responses, and one out of four
Speaker 1: is done through an AI chat bot. So I think
Speaker 1: it's a beautiful thing when a corporation can take a
Speaker 1: strength that they have and help utilize that in the
Speaker 1: nonprofit world to make something even better. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm always fascinated to hear tech being used for things
Speaker 1: that don't destroy the fabric of democracy. You know, we're
Speaker 1: really lucky to have a technology team of more than
Speaker 1: forty plus talented experts across product engineering, AI, security and more.
Speaker 1: It's very unique for a nonprofit to have those types
Speaker 1: of resources and to be able to explore technology innovations
Speaker 1: that support our mission of ending lgbt Q youth suicide.
Speaker 1: Kim back to this collaboration point in unexpected pairings, are
Speaker 1: there stories from your supporters, you know, new combinations that
Speaker 1: feel non obvious or innovative in terms of who's supporting
Speaker 1: doctors without boarders, Well, actually there is. One of the
Speaker 1: most interesting partnerships that we have at the moment is
Speaker 1: with Ukraine's National Railways. And because of the war UM,
Speaker 1: many of the people in hospitals close to the front
Speaker 1: lines in the East need to be evacuated to hospitals
Speaker 1: in the West. The hospitals in the East are strained
Speaker 1: by mounting needs as you can imagine, and the hospitals
Speaker 1: in the west have more capacity right now. So the
Speaker 1: railways provided the trains and we have provided the medical staff,
Speaker 1: supplies and equipment that are needed for care to take
Speaker 1: patients as they take this twenty hour plus journey to
Speaker 1: the west. That's not an easy journey because one you
Speaker 1: have to assess which patients can really handle this twenty
Speaker 1: plus our journey. Trains don't go straight through the stop
Speaker 1: for two or three hours while there's a bombing or
Speaker 1: potential bombing taking place somewhere in the vicinity. So it's
Speaker 1: quite an experience. Can you imagine when there was the
Speaker 1: bombing of the train station in the east, our trains
Speaker 1: had just pulled out and then it didn't go back
Speaker 1: for quite some time. This is one of the more
Speaker 1: interesting partnerships that we have going at the moment in
Speaker 1: the Ukraine region. What's the what's the most pressing thing
Speaker 1: you want someone listening to this conversation, Kim to know,
Speaker 1: you know, as I reflect, I would like our listeners
Speaker 1: to know that the majority, great majority of our staff
Speaker 1: more than eighty percent, are from the countries and places
Speaker 1: where we work, and it is our staff in places
Speaker 1: like the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Yemen, in Afghanistan,
Speaker 1: who makes so much of a difference on the front
Speaker 1: lines of globe health. Together, we are all a part
Speaker 1: of a movement to provide life saving medical care to
Speaker 1: people who need it the most. And it's something we
Speaker 1: can only do if we support each other and work together.
Speaker 1: And that's really what Doctors Without Borders is all about, Amanda,
Speaker 1: what's your one thing? I really want them to support
Speaker 1: LGBTQ young people in their life. We know from our
Speaker 1: research that just one accepting adult in an lgbt Q
Speaker 1: young person's life can reduce the risk of a suicide
Speaker 1: attempt by forty So if you see the warning signs
Speaker 1: of suicide in someone, I want folks to remember care,
Speaker 1: c A r E. Connect with that person, ask them
Speaker 1: directly about suicide, respond with compassion and empathy, and empower
Speaker 1: them with information and support. Wow. Thank you both for
Speaker 1: giving us an opportunity to save lives. That's kind of
Speaker 1: what this conversation has been about to me. You know,
Speaker 1: there's there's a lot of fictional films out there with
Speaker 1: superheroes who throw hammers into other galaxies and all that.
Speaker 1: That's exciting, But here on Earth we can still save lives,
Speaker 1: and we can do it through the organizations. Both of
Speaker 1: you help move forward. So thanks for being so open, vulnerable,
Speaker 1: sharing your stories, your data, and a bit of your hearts.
Speaker 1: It's been a pleasure and a humbling opportunity for me.
Speaker 1: So Kim Amanda appreciate you both. Thank you, Thank you
Speaker 1: so much. Both Kim and Amanda play a similar role
Speaker 1: in their organizations. They got to engage volunteers, raise money,
Speaker 1: even figure out logistics associated with bringing health to people
Speaker 1: that need it the most, and talking to them, it's
Speaker 1: clear their ability to take care of themselves and their staff,
Speaker 1: even their families is essential to being able to do
Speaker 1: their work. I mean, who helps the helpers? This is
Speaker 1: a question that the global health system increasingly has to
Speaker 1: answer as we see a rise in physical and mental
Speaker 1: health threats in our volatile world. Each of these organizations
Speaker 1: is a testament to what collective power can achieve. Whether
Speaker 1: it's halfway across the globe, in a remote village or
Speaker 1: somewhere in the US, this movement isn't that complicated. At
Speaker 1: its core. Kim and Amanda's mission is pushed forward by
Speaker 1: their desire to help and the belief that everyone should
Speaker 1: have accesses to resources that help them heal. We me
Speaker 1: and you can be a part of this right where
Speaker 1: we are by being in each other's lives, by using
Speaker 1: tech to enhance that human to human connection, we can
Speaker 1: show up to help save lives. To continue this theme
Speaker 1: of collective caring, you won't want to miss part two
Speaker 1: of this conversation, where we hear from doctor carry Jose
Speaker 1: feelings as Urgin with Doctors Without Borders who's currently working
Speaker 1: in Haiti. They'll talk to us about what the reality
Speaker 1: is on the ground, what they see, how they manage
Speaker 1: their different patients, and how they take care of themselves
Speaker 1: while doing this very rewarding but difficult work. Are you
Speaker 1: feeling inspired and want to check out more information about
Speaker 1: the organizations we talked about in this episode. Learn more
Speaker 1: about our guests and how you can support their work
Speaker 1: by going to Salesforce dot org slash Force Multiplier. Force
Speaker 1: Multiplier is a production of I Heart Radio and Salesforce
Speaker 1: dot Org hosted by me Barretune Day Thurston. It's executive
Speaker 1: produced by Elizabeth Stewart, produced by Ivan Schien, edited and
Speaker 1: mixed by James Foster, and written by Yvette Lopez. A
Speaker 1: special thanks to our guests Kim Goldsmith and Diane and
Speaker 1: Amanda Ryan Smith. Listen to Force Multiplier on the I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your
Speaker 1: podcast m hm hm