Episode 15: Building Bridges with Miles Daniels

CEO of the Ruby Bridges Foundation, Miles Daniels joins Izzy and David to talk about the work of the non-profit, Camp Bridges, and meeting the Civil Rights Icon herself over 25 years ago. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Hello and welcome back to Voices of the Album Moral. I'm your host, Izzy Kelly Goss, and I'm here with my co-host, David Prizer.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

I am not you. I am me. I'm here.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

Well, yes, thank goodness.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 0:26

In just a little bit, we're going to be speaking with Miles Daniels, who is the CEO of the Ruby Bridges Foundation. But first let's talk Potato Festival. We had Debbie Mallenfont on for our last episode to discuss the festival ahead of time. But now we can look back. Today that we are recording is March 20th. Not March 20th, is May 20th. Wow, guys, I'm way ahead apparently. But it's May 20th, which means the potato festival was this past weekend.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

It's over. It is over. All done. There are potato peelings everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 1:00

Yes, they're sweeping the streets as we speak. No, they did have the potato peeling contest though. And let's see. I think.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Didn't she say it was the largest one? Something about the largest?

SPEAKER_03 1:11

She may have said that. I'm not entirely sure. I know who won. I know John Peel won. He won the potato peeling contest. John Peel.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Oh, that's that can't be true.

SPEAKER_03 1:23

That is true.

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Last name is Peel.

SPEAKER_03 1:25

Yes, he's the son of city councilman Joe Peel, and he's a local artist. John Peel, he does not have a lot of the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Is that where the word the peeling the potato came from?

SPEAKER_03 1:32

I don't think so, but I guess maybe his last name could have given him a natural ability. Um we also had the Little Miss Tater Tot festival or pageant. Um that was adorable as usual. I ate some potatoes. I ate the the free French fries.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

And so and somebody somebody let the foreigners in from Idaho. They did love with Idaho here trying to find out how actually to do a potato potato festival. Because they have missed it somehow.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

No, we did have the Royal Miss USA, um, Royal USA Miss Idaho, and they had Spuddy Buddy, the Idaho mascot, and as usual, they had the giant potato. They also had um a few more potato-related food items this year. They had a potato-based food truck. I got smokehouse fries, which were really good. They're just loaded with barbecue. I also had a deep fried PBJ. Have you ever had a deep fried PBJ?

SPEAKER_01 2:31

No, I no, I haven't.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

It's actually really good, but it's terrible for you. But it's a must for me every year. There were a lot of people this year, um, especially Friday night.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Do you think anybody really determined that, or was it a mistake? Oh, uh, excuse me, I dropped my PvJ into the deep fryer. Okay, honey, let's see what it tastes like.

SPEAKER_03 2:52

I mean, I feel like people they deep fry everything. They deep fry candy bars, cheesecake. They take it and dip it in batter and then put it in the deep fryer. And then, you know, that's just what funnel cake is. It's just the deep fry batter and they swirl it around in like a frosting bag.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Got some extra batter. Let's throw it into the fire.

SPEAKER_03 3:10

I mean, don't knock it till you try it. Um, but speaking of recent guests, we also had Lauren Baker on to speak about her journey to becoming the general manager of the Edenton Steamers.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Ghost Steamers.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Ghost Steamers and Ghost Skippers. They both start off their 2026 seasons coming up soon. The skippers are gonna kick off their season on May 24th.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

You don't kick off a baseball season.

SPEAKER_03 3:35

Well, what do you do then? Tee off? No, that's golf. That's golf.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

It's an opening. It's the opening game.

SPEAKER_03 3:42

The first pitch will be thrown.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

There you go. On May 24th.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

Okay, I'm so sorry. The skippers will throw their first pitch of the season on May 24th. It's gonna be a home game at Knobbs Creek Park, and they'll be playing the Outer Banks Swinging Mullets. And then the steamers will be playing their first game.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Do they all have bad haircuts?

SPEAKER_03 4:03

Uh, I don't think it's a requirement for the team, but I do suppose there may be a few on there that have mullets. I don't know that we should call that a bad haircut. That's a very popular at this time.

SPEAKER_01 4:13

For any of the listeners and it may have a mullet, do they have all good care good haircuts?

SPEAKER_03 4:20

Mullets are very in right now, but I you're bald, so I don't think you can you can be talking right now about mullets. I don't say it like it's an affliction. From everything I've seen, it's voluntary, but I'm just saying. I'm just saying, I don't think you can talk about other people's haircuts if you don't have hair.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

But I I aspire. I you aspire to have a haircut one day. I aspire to be to wear a mullet. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 4:45

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 4:45

I identify as a person with a mullet.

SPEAKER_03 4:49

Well, I'm so glad to hear that. Um, the steamers are gonna play their first game, May 27th, against the Roanoke Rapids static. Static electricity may be the source of your next haircut. That's not a good static is oh and then that'll also be a home game at Hicksfield in Edenton. Finally, for our fun news story of the day, the Black Pontiac Trans-Am car from the 1980s hit TV show Night Rider. Do you have you ever seen that show? You were alive in the 1980s. It's a talking car. It is a talking car, yes. I've seen reruns. Um, but recently it got a speeding ticket from the New York police department.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

What do you mean it got a speeding ticket? The car. It's not a self-driving car.

SPEAKER_03 5:32

No, listen, I'll explain. So the museum, uh the Volvo Museum, which is just outside of Sh Volvo, not Volvo, Volo Museum outside of Chicago.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

It's a square museum.

SPEAKER_03 5:44

It has they they have the car there and it hasn't left the museum in years. But an accord, according to an associated press article from May 13th, the NYPD sent a $50 ticket to the museum for the car supposedly going 10 miles over the speed limit in Brooklyn. It hasn't left the museum in years, so now they're trying to fight the ticket. Turns out there's a replica car uh that has the license plate Night Rider. It's a California license plate, and whoever is driving this car has been racking up tickets since 2024. It's the exact same car as the show. Um, but for some reason, even though it's registered, they're sending all of the tickets to the museum where the original car isn't even actually registered.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

That's that's the that's the show that launched David Hasselhoff's skyrocketing career.

SPEAKER_03 6:35

That's great. I do know who David Hasselhoff is, but I don't know anything he's been had was he in Baywatch? Okay, I know Baywatch. I also know, and Cole, you're young enough to know this. He was in the SpongeBob movie um in the early 2000s. Cole, have you seen that movie? Do you remember that? Yes, Spongebob and Patrick surf his body to the surface. Oh god. Um But, anyways, now that we've had some some basic news of the day, I think we're gonna shift on over to meet up with Miles Daniels for his interview. We're here with Ruby Bridges Foundation CEO Miles Daniels. Miles, thank you for joining us today.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

I'm so excited to hear your story and to hear more about the Ruby Bridges Foundation. You're the CEO of the foundation for one of the most important figures in civil rights history and honestly a lot of uh just general history in recent times. Um, how did this opportunity come about for you? You told me you were doing film in New York and communications in San Francisco. How did you wind up back in northeastern North Carolina as the CEO?

SPEAKER_00 7:45

So I moved back to northeastern North Carolina four years ago. I grew up uh not too far from Elizabeth City in Wancheese.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

Love Wanchies.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

Love Wanche's a little fishing village. I think most of your listeners are going to be familiar with Wancheese. Uh not much has changed since uh since it was founded. But um I grew up there, my family has been there since the 1730s, so long history of being part of the Daniels family and the lineage there, and at a certain point decided that um fishing was just not in my DNA. Um, you know, I'm from a fairly large family. Mom and dad had five kids, and most of my brothers all worked in the industry and write a passage was working on the crab docks, and I tried it, and that was when I knew I needed to figure out how to get out of Wanches. And so, you know, worked towards going to college and I went to Elizabeth City State for my first two years. Okay. Then I took a little bit of a break and um ended up finishing out at UNCW because I wanted to major in film studies. And so I worked with a gentleman out of college who was a professor of mine, Paul Wilkes, who's a well-known religious author and filmmaker, and worked with him for about four or five years, is which is how I met Ruby, and I'll share that momentarily. But um from there I went to New York and I worked in film and television for about eight years. And then I moved out to San Francisco and switched careers and uh found myself working in the world of corporate communications, public relations, digital marketing at a very exciting time when companies were just realizing how to use things like Twitter and Facebook and then Instagram, et cetera. So made a career out of that and um it was a global communications agency. Headquarters was in London, but our US headquarters was in San Francisco. So I worked my way up and eventually ran executive communications globally for the agency and ran Media Strategy for the six U.S. offices. So uh lived all, well, lived in San Francisco, but I was on a plane constantly and traveling. And around 2019, the CEO called and said, I'd like for you to move to London. So I had my work fees and everything. Long story short, um around that same time, I had lunch with a gentleman who owns a large vacation rental management company on the Outer Banks. And he just wanted to pick my brain about bringing someone in to build out their communications practice and work with their marketing team. So I said, I'll write the resume for you. I got on the plane the next day, and before the plane landed, he had called and said, Let's have a conversation. I was not thinking that person was going to be me. But it was an interesting time because, like I said, I had worked in Silicon Valley for many years, and I was at a point in life where I was looking for something different. Um, something, you know, I was chasing what looked good on paper, like a lot of people do in my 20s and 30s. And then I hit my 40s, and I thought I really want to do something that gives back uh to you know, makes a positive impact on people's lives, not just the money or so um the timing was serendipitous. So I found myself back here, but um I had met Ruby uh during that experience working with Paul Wilkes in Wilmington. So I've known Ruby now for almost 25 years.

SPEAKER_03 11:09

Oh wow, yeah, that's how old I am.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 11:14

You've known that makes me feel really old. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 11:18

That's okay.

SPEAKER_03 11:19

Why are you glaring at me, David?

SPEAKER_01 11:22

Because I always how I always look at you. Oh wow, you know that that going starting out where you started, then going to San Francisco, and then did you end up in London at all?

SPEAKER_00 11:34

No, I spent a lot of time in London, especially the last three years that I was in San Francisco because I became a senior vice president. And so that required a lot of time in London working with the executive team, working with my CEO at the time. So I felt like I was living in London part-time for the last two or three years, but I never moved permanently to London, which is good because that would have been just before COVID. So I would have been moving to London about a month and a half before the world shut down. And I cannot imagine looking at the difference between London and being back home on the Outer Banks, uh, vastly different in terms of what what everybody was experienced during that period.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

So this probably has nothing to do with anything, but it what fascinates me is when I meet someone who is on a path, and they end up over here. For those of you are listening, my hand is now on over in the right on my left. Um but you're you're not on that path. You're progressing forward on the path that that you forged. So to take you back, um I don't think you ever would have anticipated you couldn't have forecast that you'd be in this kind of role ten years before that time, back and you didn't think of this. This came up. What is it about you that drives your own path like that? Was that something that that was that an was that uh an urge you had as a young as a young kid? Have you always wanted to push forward on your own path like that? That that fascinates me.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

I think that's what propelled me early on to go to college, to have the courage to to move to a place like New York City and make it work.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

From Wanchi.

SPEAKER_00 13:21

From Wanchi, and then move from there to San Francisco and and not be afraid to, you know, show up and and do what I needed to do to climb that career ladder, et cetera. Um I think going back, David, to your point, um, three of my five, uh three of the five of us in in in terms of my siblings, all work in full-time ministry. And uh for years I've served on nonprofit boards, Homes of Hope India, where we build homes for abused and neglected girls in India. I was on that board for 17 years. I was on the board of NC State's College of Natural Resources, um, Chamber of Commerce, Dare Arts. So I've always I I think the by example, someone once said, preach often and seldom use words. I think my parents really instilled in us the importance of giving back to him who much is given, much is required, as the good book says. And I think watching my parents' lives with the means that they had available to them, they lived a life of servitude, of giving back to others. And that was really instilled in us at an early age. Now, the rest of it, as far as New York and Silicon Valley, was a means to achieve what I, the goals that I had set for myself in college and early in life. And the thread that connects everything that I've done in life is really just a love for storytelling, whether it's documentary films, journalists, helping companies in Silicon Valley tell their own stories. And now with the foundation helping shape the story of where we're going next as a foundation. So that's really from a career vantage point, that's probably the thread that ties it all together. But I think we're I've just always been wired. There was a two-year gap, I mentioned earlier, there was a two-year gap in between Elizabeth City State University and UNCW. I took that time and went into full-time ministry and became a credential minister, and I was an associate pastor in Newburn, North Carolina. And I was really soul searching. That was really a personal thing for me as well. But I decided I didn't want to go that route. And so I went back to college and then majored in Did you get any pressure at all from your family in that direction? No pressure in either direction. We we never got pressure to go to college. We just got pressured. I think my parents were always, if you're going to be a ditch digger, be the best ditch digger possible, treat people well, show up every day. My dad always said, if you go crabbing six days a week, you'll always have food on the table. So that work ethic was instilled in me, the morals, the values, the character, and the importance of all the things that we try to instill in children through the foundation, kindness and empathy, and you know, all of those things. I learned on the crab docks of Wanchies, you know, watching my dad, watching my mom. Um, and and so to I think it's part of my DNA. Um, money never did much for me, title never, you know. So, this what I'm doing now, and what I like to consider maybe the second chapter of my career is exactly where I feel like I should be and where I've really been working. You know, I I think everything that I've learned, Ruby called me last year to talk about this. The foundation was searching for a new CEO, and she said, What about you? Would you consider it? And I said, you know, I've actually been thinking a lot about it. I said, jokingly, I said, this is the longest job interview I've ever had, Ruby, almost 25 years I've known you. Um, so it's always been in the back of my mind. It was just finding the right opportunity uh to align with, and and this presented itself at exactly the right time for me.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

So I feel like it would not be crazy to say you cast your net on the other side of the boat.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Yes. I feel like that's a great way to do that. I love that. Yeah, well, well said. Very well. Yeah, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_03 17:00

That's that's always been one of my favorite stories.

SPEAKER_00 17:02

We can stop now. That's right. Perfect way to conversation. Pick up the mic and drop my drop mode.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

No, but speaking of stories, I do want to hear. You said 25 years ago you met Ruby Bridges. You told me that it was a good story. I want to hear.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

So uh again, fresh out of college, Paul Wilkes. Um, I just had dinner with Paul uh about a week and a half ago. He's in his upper 80s now, and he was a college professor teaching documentary film. And we had just watched the Eyes on the Prize documentary series, which features Ruby. And um, Paul had hired me to work on a project called the Pastoral Summit, which was funded by the Eli Lilly Pharmaceutical Endowment, uh, University of Notre Dame, and I believe UNC Chapel Hill was involved. I don't, I believe they were involved. So the premise was that um Paul and a team of researchers set out to study the positive impact of faith-based organizations and communities and towns and cities across America. So it started with research, ended up being two books that Paul, two or three books that Paul wrote, a documentary film, which is what interested me about the project because I was a film studies major and also just a big fan of Paul's, and then four national conferences that brought together clergy and and very ecumenical with the belief that our similarities are very or are greater than our differences. So Ruby was brought in for our conference in San Antonio as the keynote. Being the youngest person on that team, I think, Paul assigned me to stand stage right and escort Ruby to her vehicle. She had to catch a flight that afternoon, and I was very nervous. Um, I think it was around the age of 24, 25, and I was meeting Ruby Bridges, and I had just watched the eyes of the pride. So she comes off stage and she's so warm and friendly, and we shake hands, and somehow the topic of New Orleans surfaced on our walk to the vehicle. And she said, Have you ever been to New Orleans? I said, Well, our we just had a conference there six months ago, and that was my first visit. She said, What'd you think? I said, Oh, I loved it. I she said, What'd you love? I said, I love the food. The food was amazing. I said, But I really love the music. I'd always heard about jazz in New Orleans, and I said, I couldn't believe just the level of talent, street musicians, much less going into you know the French quarter, garden district, whatever, and hearing the bands there. But and Ruby loves music. I didn't know that at the time. And that really piqued her interest. And so she started putting the, she said, You must be a musician. I said, Well, play a little piano. So we're having a conversation. We round a corner and there's a baby grand in the lobby. And Ruby stops and she points at the piano. She says, Sit down, I've got time. I want you to play something for me.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

I play by ear. Uh I've never taken a lesson in my life. And I foolishly asked her what she would like for me to play. And she immediately said, Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World. Fortunately, I knew how to play that. And uh I played my, you know, I'm sure I hit a lot of bad notes that that afternoon, but she stopped and she said, That's remarkable. And and, you know, we continue the conversation. We walk to the vehicle and she pulls out a card and she writes a number on it. And she says, I want to stay in touch with you. So the conference ended about two days later, and I kept that card and I thought, uh, yeah, I'm probably this is probably her executive assistant or some member of her team. And so I called the number and voice picks up and says, Hello, and I says, Yeah, Miles Daniels, I met Mrs. Bridges at the Santa. She said, Oh, I remember you. And it was her. And um, from that day forward, uh, when she would visit New York for various television appearances or book launches, or when she came out to the Bay Area for the unveiling, there's a statue of Ruby in downtown Oakland and Alameda. There's just the Ruby Bridges Elementary School. So anytime that she was in, you know, New York or San Francisco, we'd always grab breakfast or coffee or dinner together. And then eventually, and I've always worked with her behind the scenes when she had questions about, you know, she has great PR people and a great team around her, but sometimes she had questions, call me and, you know, based on your line of work, what do you think of this or this? So we are sort of an unofficial consultant. And then I became a member of the Ruby Bridges Foundation board, eventually became the chair of the board, and last September, September of 2025, assumed the role of uh CEO of the foundation.

SPEAKER_03 21:31

So you've been involved with the foundation for for quite some time, and also as a 25-year-old who was very nervous to meet Ruby Bridges. Very nervous. I was very nervous as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

It's well, it's funny. Well, like you, you know, I travel with her a lot now, and I see myself and so many of the young people who uh come up and meet her and share their stories about the positive impact that Ruby and you know and her life have had on theirs. So yes, I I remember that.

SPEAKER_03 21:59

I was I was Nervous because we did learn about her in school, all like all growing up. And to see her there in front of me, she was just such a nice person. So I can really definitely envision her giving you a card with her personal number on it. And I think that's really great because, like you said, it's like a 25-year-long interview or 24, I guess. And and now you guys are doing a lot of really great things. Um, you have Camp Bridges, and that's when I met her. I met her at the Marty Gras with Ruby Bridges event, which was held here in Elizabeth City at Seven Sounds back in March. And that's a fundraiser for the camp. And it's for those of you who don't who don't know, it's it's a camp that's located here in northeastern North Carolina for kids ages eight to twelve. Is this going to be the second or third year this coming July?

SPEAKER_00 22:49

Technically, the second year. Last year was what we would consider the pilot camp because we wanted to make sure we partner with 4-H and the facility is in Columbia, North Carolina, not too far. Beautiful, beautiful camp facility. I, you know, growing up, I used to drive, like everybody drive past, you know, through Columbia, going to Raleigh back and I never knew this existed. And it's a remarkable uh campsite on the water. And so we have forged a wonderful partnership with 4-H. And so the kids get the full summer camp experience. And then on top of that, Ruby is very involved. And, you know, we have an afternoon where there's an activity related to Ruby or story. Last year, we showed the Disney feature film about Ruby's life, and then there was a fireside chat with Ruby and the kids. She's there to welcome the kids and their parents on the day that they arrive. And then the final night is a great uh award ceremony and dance night for the kids. And so this year we'll sponsor that and probably do like a Mardi Gras theme. We're still working through some of the details. And then we bring in, we'll bring in our own swim instructors. That's very important to Ruby, that kids who live in this area know how to swim, at least the basics in terms of water safety. Um, James Melvin, a great artist on the Outer Banks, is coming to do, you know, watercolor session with him. So we bring some of our own programming and activities, but the rest of the week is very much the same experience that a child would get going to 4-H camp.

SPEAKER_03 24:17

And having that located here, obviously this area is close to your heart, but it's my understanding that she has really enjoyed this area before. And that's part of the reason why she wanted to have the camp year. What was the full thought behind that? I don't really know the full story as to why this area is special for her.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

So, like I said, I moved um December of 2019 is when I moved back to the area. And then, of course, COVID. And um, sometime middle to late 2020, Ruby called me. Her mother had just passed. That was a big news story. I think she had a new book coming out, like the rest of us. She had been in quarantine, you know, staying at home in New Orleans. And somehow on Netflix, she found the Outer Banks. And she called me one night.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

The Outer Banks is in like the Netflix TV.

SPEAKER_00 25:10

The Netflix TV show.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

Okay, that's great.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

And she called me one night and she said, This is where you live, right? I said, Well, the Outer Banks is where I live, but that's filmed in Charleston. But I said, you know, if you like that, you'll love the real Outer Banks. She said, I think I want to come for a visit. She'd never been here before. So I found a great place for her to stay. And like most people who visit northeastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks, she fell in love with it immediately. She loves the water. There were so many things about it she loved. And um, we were at a social function one evening, and she was just sharing her vision. You know, Ruby grew up obviously in New Orleans. Um, her parents did not have the means to send her to a camp like Campbridges, which is the reason it's a hundred percent scholarship. Every kid that goes, we the foundation takes care of all expenses. And um, so her camp was out in Mississippi every summer, 19 cousins on their grandmother's farm. So she said, you know, if ever I have my own foundation or whatever, I I want to have a camp. And um someone at that uh event told us about the facilities in Columbia. And she said, Miles, I'd love for I think she asked me to go check it out. She had to fly out the next day or something. So I went and I called her. I said, Ruby, from everything that we've talked about, I can't think of a more perfect location. You love northeastern North Carolina, you visited the Outer Banks, and she said, That's where I want to launch my camp.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

Wow. And uh that's how it happened. And so we worked on it for a little over a year uh with a great, you know, local volunteers helping us to identify the kids who attended the pilot camp. We launched it last year and it was just amazing. And so Northeastern North Carolina is very near and dear to Ruby's heart. This is her happy place. This is pretty much where she comes when she wants to get away. Uh, it's where she does a lot of her writing, a lot of her thinking, a lot of her meditating, praying. Um, and so as far as you know, as far as I can tell, uh we'll we'll have a presence here, and this will always be where we launched Camp Bridges, and hopefully it'll continue and continue. You know, last year we had 32 roughly campers. This year we'll have 62. So we doubled, doubled in numbers. We we could have a lot more, it's just we're limited based on the campsite and their other camps going on the same week that we're there. Uh otherwise we'd love to to fill that camp.

SPEAKER_01 27:43

How old are the kids when they're when they're at camp?

SPEAKER_00 27:45

Eight to twelve. Okay. Eight to twelve. And and that's just that's the standard for H age for that particular week of camp.

SPEAKER_03 27:53

And it is, like you said a minute ago, it's it's scholarship-based. It's all free. And a lot of that is largely thanks to donations. That was a huge part of the Mardi Gras with Ruby Bridges event. Um you guys are able to fundraise to give these kids an experience. Um in her speech at the event, she spoke a lot about the purpose of the camp being rooted in bringing people together and teaching children compassion. I'm just curious to know the thought behind how that translates through the activities that you guys do with these kids. Like you said, she's very involved. So I have no doubt that she is working with them and and all of these activities are teaching them to work together. But I'm just curious from your perspective, how that translates throughout the week.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

Ruby's mantra, you know, whether it's a uh any book that she's written or speech that she's giving, whatever it might be, racism is a grown-up disease, let's stop using our children to spread it. That was the whole premise of the foundation being founded by Ruby in 19, I think it was 1999, almost 30 years ago. Um, and I like to think about that even beyond just racism. Um, division is a grown-up disease, let's stop using our children to spread it. So we're so much of our world is about building walls right now. The Ruby Bridges Foundation is really about building bridges of empathy, of kindness, of compassion, of courage, of all the things that Ruby learned at six years old, going into a classroom every single day, into a school where all the parents had pulled their children out. Only one school teacher stayed, Mrs. Barbara Henry. She's still alive and lives in Boston. And all the, I often think those are all the lessons that Ruby learned in that classroom. When the protesters got loud, Mrs. Henry turned the music up louder. And Ruby often says, although she looked like the protest, you have to think about the six-year-old perspective. Although Mrs. Henry, same-color skin, looked like the protesters, she couldn't have been more different. Every day she showed me her heart, is what Ruby remembers from that experience. So, what what I the way I look at it is we try to be that Mrs. Henry to children all over the country. We try to teach them the importance of courage and bravery and kindness and empathy, and that our similarities again are greater than our differences. So that is woven into everything that we do as a foundation, whether that's the annual Walk to School Day on November 15th, 14th, I'm sorry, uh, which Elizabeth City, some of the schools here participated in last year, which was remarkable. I think more will this year. Around 850,000 students last year walked to school in honor of Ruby's Walk on November 14th, whether it's Camp Bridges. So everything we do as a foundation is built around the idea that children aren't born knowing anything about division or hatred or walls. So if we can impact their lives and their hearts and their minds at an early age and plant those seeds, then that's the work that we're we're trying to do every single day through the foundation. And the camp is part of that work, an important part of that work. So throughout the week, they're having fun, they're painting and playing soccer and kayaking and learning water safety and meeting new friends. It was funny because when I first started working on the camp, I would send Ruby, you know, here's a description, here's the marketing. And she said, Mons, I really want to talk more about the importance of finding a friend, a friendship. I said, I didn't. And I realized that here's a six-year-old girl, you know, little girl, you know, pivotal in terms of civil rights and American history. But in her mind, she's a six-year-old girl who has no friends in a classroom by herself. She used to bring uh, her mom would pack her peanut butter and jelly. And she started hiding her sandwiches in the teacher's cabinet because she thought the teacher wasn't letting her eat with other kids because she was bringing her own lunch. So she thought if I hide again, six-year-old, if I hide my lunch, maybe Mrs. Henry will take me to the cafeteria. Well, there were no kids in the cafeteria. So I was just out at the Indianapolis Children's Museum, the largest children's museum in the world, and they have a whole Ruby Bridges experience where you get to walk to school like Ruby did. They the actual recordings of the protesters, and they have a little cabinet next to Mrs. Henry's desk where the artists, artistry team there have created the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that are still in the cabinet.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

That's making me tear up. Oh, it's amazing. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 32:38

So, you know, Ruby always says that what happened did not happen to me, it happened through me, that there was a reason that she was chosen. You know, no one knows why, but that's really always at the heart of everything we do as a foundation. And it obviously a huge part of Camp Bridges and the experience is making sure kids understand the importance of unity and cross-cultural difference and acceptance and kindness, which seem, you know, as adults sitting here talking about it, but you think about that teacher in your life, that uh coach in your life, whatever it might be, that parent in your life who taught you that by example. I was talking about my parents earlier and David Gregory. You know, how did you come back to this kind of work? Well, they were my barber hand. They taught me the importance of those values. And so we believe in the power of that. We're we're really a seed planting organization. We may not know, even in our lifetime, the impact that a summer camp built around Ruby's story or walk to school might have on the next doctor or teacher or president of the United States or whatever it might be, or somebody who chose kindness over, you know, walls. Um, and that's the beauty of the work, is if we just we we do it and we believe that it it will be, you know, we're planting the seed, it'll it'll come to fruition, that kids at whatever point in their life where they're faced with one of those two options will choose what Ruby's life represents.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Let me ask you something. Um I've recently uh started uh a project where where where I work at the Daily Advance and Ann's Multimedia, and I know I'm not gonna make a commercial about that, but but it it focuses on schools and teachers. And um I've talked with a couple of business uh people who are going to be partners, and it's amazing the story that this person has that at a particular firm who runs the firm, his name is on the firm, and he says, you know, I grew up on food stamps, and I'm interested how do kids afford their lunches? Is there a gap in in what they're paying and what the and and where the money is coming from? And he's talking about funding certain um events and initiatives to help uh the to help uh the kids and help to afford the school lunches and things like that. So now I'm gonna ask you, um, where does the where do the funds come from to support all that you're doing? Because these kids are in scholarship, so they're somebody pays for something. So where is this coming from? I mean, what what uh are you constant outreach? I mean, tell me a little more about the the story about how that comes about and and and things that you've encountered with businesses coming to you about the stories that they've told you.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

That's a great question. So is it you gave the example of the fundraiser here in Elizabeth City, Marty Graw with Ruby Bridges back?

SPEAKER_03 35:41

Silent auction auctions throwing money at these guys fund the mission.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

Which is amazing. It was amazing. We raised actually over 50,000. It was 31st. So that's remarkable. The community really rallied around Camp Bridges, uh, you know, here in northeastern North Carolina for 2025. And we did a very similar fundraiser uh out on the Outer Banks in December of 2024. And that community came together. So between those two, for you know, to answer your question, that funded 100% every every child who, you know, based on the total number of campers that were, you know, 30 some last year, 62 this year, um, just those two events alone enabled the foundation to cover all cost, all expenses related, you know, the t-shirts that they get to wear, the welcome bags, the all the things that are involved in camp beyond just the scholarships. Um, but yes, corporations, businesses, both nationally and locally. Um, a lot of it is Ruby out there giving talks and you know, portion of those proceeds going back to her foundation. So she's really carried the weight of the foundation for many, many years. I mean, the foundation was intentionally very, very kind of quiet for most of its existence until the last few years when Walk to School Day launched and now Camp Bridges. Um, so we're a 501c3. So we're, you know, we're nonprofit, and just like Arts of the Albemarle or any other nonprofit, whether it's regional or national as we are, we're a lot of us are going after the same funding resource, et cetera. But a lot of its individual donors who believe in our mission, a lot of its organizations and especially here in North Carolina, this community shows up in every single time. And it's amazing, you know, because Ruby didn't grow up here. The story didn't happen here. So that just being from here, that really means a lot to me personally, that we've had two fundraisers in between the two, we've been able, as of this year, to send nearly a hundred kids in northeastern North Carolina through an amazing experience.

SPEAKER_03 37:51

That is it's really amazing, and there's so much good that the foundation does. Like you said, the walk to school day in November, you said November 14th. Um, you said, would you just say around 850,000 last year?

SPEAKER_00 38:04

That's accounted for. So you officially signed, we work with AAA. Uh, they have a great team that works year-round on walk to school day, helping to get schools signed up and facilitating that. And so those are those are the children. Now, for example, Elizabeth City, there were a couple of teachers here who teach Ruby story as part of their curriculum. And I think they took it upon themselves. I didn't know Elizabeth City was participating. I was out in California because every year Ruby is at a different school. Obviously, she can't be everywhere that you know, wants that same day. But I went back to the hotel and I was just looking through social media and I saw I think the Elizabeth City Police Department had these wonderful pictures of students right here in Elizabeth City participating in Ruby Bridges Walter School Day. So as soon as I got back, I called Dr. Keith Parker, the superintendent. I said, let's go to coffee and talk about, you know, let's grab a cup of coffee and talk about how we can grow this here in Elizabeth, because you know, obviously this is becoming sort of a hub for Ruby Bridges. I'm here, the camp started here. Um, and and it's very exciting. So um I would say we have well over that number now that walked to school, but those are the, you know, the those are the ones who have registered and we have you know an accounting forficial numbers. The more official numbers. Unofficially, it's probably well over a million already.

SPEAKER_03 39:23

Wow, and that's just really special. Um, and it's not the only special program you guys have. You have what is it, the Lucille and Avon Bridges Award, which is named after her parents.

SPEAKER_00 39:34

Yes, just last week we were we reviewed those applications. I mean, again, just like the camp applications, very difficult to decide. To decide and select one recipient. So we have the scholarship, those are our three main initiatives scholarship, walk to school day, and camp bridges.

SPEAKER_03 39:50

And there's also the day of dialogue. I I did a little bit of research combed through the foundations of Christ. I I am as well. You know, I love to research. That's I I always I love to research, especially for for things like this, because it's so interesting to see about all of the things that you never even knew were going on. Um like the day of dialogue, during the I think it was during the Mardi Gras event, she talked briefly about she was six years old and she didn't fully understand why all of these people were were standing there screaming at her. And um, you know, uh like you said, racism, hatred is a it's a it's a taught trait. A lot of these people are still alive. They're people's great grandparents, grandparents, parents. And so I feel like, you know, a day of dialogue like that, that's really important. And I just want to know from your perspective, like how you feel the program or the program that the foundation uses, how do you feel like it is uh utilizing that day of dialogue to combat um racism, which or or even prejudice in general, which can be so fervently taught in households all across the country?

SPEAKER_00 41:05

Yeah. It's a great question. So day of the day of dialogue is really built around uh National Walk to School Day, every November 14th. And we frame it as a day of dialogue because it's not about literally walking to school. Every school and neighborhood and district is different. We want schools, school districts, classrooms, teachers to tailor that day for whatever's happening in their community, whatever challenges they're being faced with. It's not just racism. Ruby's story naturally gravitates towards racism. Racism is a grown-up disease. Let's stop using our children to spread it by nature of her story and what she means to civil rights and American history. But we want that to be a day where kids, whether it's bullying or homophobia, or whether it's we've had some kids, you know, it was a it was a playground in the neighborhood that needed to be cleaned up. So they organized around, you know, creating a safe space for kids in that neighborhood. So it's just really beautiful how it's been very tailored to individual schools and classrooms and districts. But most importantly, we want that day to be, as you said, a day of dialogue, a day that opens up these important conversations for children to have across America. Now, how teachers facilitate that and you know how it translates in terms of their community and their classroom is really up to them. But but it's all it all ties back to everything that we believe in and teach as a result of you know, Ruby's story. Again, cross-cultural difference, empathy, kindness, compassion, courage, bravery. Everything's built around those fundamentals. Um, but that's exactly what the day of dialogue is. It's really that's what November 14th, that's what we want it to be for classrooms and teachers and students alike.

SPEAKER_01 42:57

It's interesting you say that you talk about it it's almost tailored to the area or the part of the country or the region. Um, because uh you've lived in various parts of the country, the world. Um I've lived in a number too many places, and what I've what I've seen only that I've seen, I'm not smarter, I've just seen, is that there are there are things like prejudice, there are things there are positive things like joy and fun and and there are the way people feel about things. But they they're they're they're they're really subtle in some areas, they go in this direction, they're really subtle in in this direction. What what I saw in Chicago, I don't see the same things down here, but you know what it is. And again, I'm I'm no better than it than anybody else, because I've got my own I've got a few faults. Just I'm glad I'm not the only one here. But it's but it I don't that those messages do have to be tailored for the audience, and the audience is regional. And and local and however you want to put it.

SPEAKER_00 44:02

Yeah. There's Ruby wrote a great book. As you can imagine, she gets hundreds and thousands, you know, thousands of letters a year from students and teachers all over the world. She actually, uh I think she has a maybe two storage units now where she keeps every single and so a couple of years ago, she wrote a beautiful book, Dear Ruby, Here Our Hearts, where she took select letters, actual letters from children all over the world, and and wrote letters back to them as part of the book. And um some were about race, but um some were about mom and dad are arguing all the time and all these things that can't because there's something about Ruby that's very much still that six-year-old little girl. I've known her for 25 years, and there's just there's something, I don't even know, an it fact, what there's a presence when you meet her, there's a kindness, there's a human. What you see is what you get. I can tell you that with Ruby. The only thing some often people say, what you really like behind the scenes, I said the one thing, she's really funny, great sense of humor. Um, you know, and she's a person of really deeply rooted faith. Not what I would consider institutional religion, but a real connection to something greater. And those two that that really guides her in her life. Um, but that's really important, I mean, in terms of that's that's the reason for the day of dialogue, and and and to allow um to not manage that too much. But every community, like you said, San Francisco and cheese is very different than New York, San Francisco as well, right? Um, so walk to school day in uh Pasquatank County or Dare County here, northeastern North Carolina, Kertock County, probably is very different than um, you know, San Francisco or New York because the dynamics are different, the culture's different, the experiences are different, the exposure's different, everything's different, right? That's why people choose one over the other. So we want to just make it like, like we said, an open day. That's that's the most important thing to us, is this is a day where you have those conversations, those important conversations that we hope those kids remember and carry with them through the rest of their lives.

SPEAKER_03 46:10

And I feel like that expansion of that, allowing that to to go beyond just racism or basic prejudice, and allowing those schools to tailor to each individual need, I think that's really important. I think that's really amazing. Um, I also think that it speaks very highly of the foundation and the versatility. And just before we wrap things up, I want to know what you guys have in store. What does the foundation hope to see in the future? Um, as as far as the foundation itself, uh, like I said, it seems very versatile, but also across the country in general.

SPEAKER_00 46:49

The one thing that keeps me up at night, if anything, is you're never going to be able to give every child a a summer camp experience or you know, you know what I'm saying? Like scaling what we're doing. That that's really what I'm working on. I was just looking over the applications for Camp Bridges 2026 here in northeastern North Carolina. And so many of the kids who attended last year applied to come back this year. And just reading from their own words, and you know, there's a part of the application for parents as well where they talk about the impact that that week had on their lives. And I thought, man, I wish we had, you know, there was a full year between last year and this year. And how do we build resources and tools and stay in touch and digitize that and build that on the platform? And how do we scale camp bridges so that even if you can't physically attend to camp bridges? I mean, we're right now we're planning on scaling that experience beyond just northeastern North Carolina. So the idea next year is to have several more camp bridges across the country and trying to be strategic about where those are geographically. But I'm always thinking, how do we grow and expand so that we can reach more kids, right? Uh I don't think we necessarily have to grow and expand in terms of the initiatives. We've got great initiatives.

SPEAKER_02 48:11

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 48:11

Um, I'm always thinking, how do we connect those with more kids across the country? Because we are, although Ruby's a, you know, the camp started here in North Eastern North Ghana. I live and am from here, but the foundation is not it's national and it's global.

SPEAKER_02 48:26

Right.

SPEAKER_00 48:26

I mean, we had last year uh the 4-H counselors were each from a different country, which was amazing.

SPEAKER_02 48:34

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

And I remember one counselor from Amsterdam, he's a school teacher, and he was, you know, star-struck me, Ruby, because they teach it there. They teach her story there. Wow. And he when he first found out about Camp Bridges, he said, is this the real Ruby Bridges uh that's coming to the camp? And so globally, Ruby's story resonates. Um so, in terms of growth and expansion, how do we create experiences and programs and resources and and tools for teachers and students that that help us reach more is what I'm really focused on. With uh we have a wonderful board of directors, we have you know, great team, great volunteers. But that's what I would like to see over the next three to five years, is trying to figure that out.

SPEAKER_03 49:23

I think that sounds amazing. I can't wait to see where you guys go. And I'm so excited for all of the campers that get to join you guys this year. I'm honestly a little bit jealous. I think it sounds like great fun.

SPEAKER_00 49:34

Well, you have to come out that week and visit.

SPEAKER_03 49:36

That would be great. Yeah, camping. Do you think I'm a camper?

SPEAKER_00 49:41

No.

SPEAKER_03 49:42

That's actually a lie. I camped a lot as a kid and I actually really loved camping.

SPEAKER_00 49:46

I'm wrong.

SPEAKER_03 49:47

At least I did when I was like now that I'm 25, I might not enjoy the mistake.

SPEAKER_00 49:51

Well, I will say, I mean, you know, that this is uh I I don't know that it's glamping, but it's the very nice overnight. It's an in-between. I would I would not have been upset as a kid to camp bridges at all.

SPEAKER_02 50:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 50:05

Um, and it is remarkable. Last year I remember the the day that that the kid showed up with their guardian's parents, and many of them had not been to camp at all, as much less a week overnight. And the you know, the first day they're very apprehensive. And I, you know, you're worried that once the parents leave, is there by the you know, by the next day when we showed back up, I mean they're they're making new friends, and you know, it's just a wonderful, wonderful, positive environment and experience, and and the facilities are are quite nice by any standard.

SPEAKER_03 50:35

So well, I can't wait to see how this year's camp goes. And where you and the foundation go as well. So thank you so much. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you both. This has been a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 50:45

Nice meeting you and good luck.

SPEAKER_03 50:48

And thank you to all of our listeners. We hope you tune in again soon. We have some really great episodes coming up, so make sure that you stay checked in to our Facebook and our Instagram pages for all of our updates. And we hope you listen again soon.

SPEAKER_01 51:03

Goodbye.