What’s the difference between digital literacy and AI literacy—and why does it matter for the future of work?

In this episode, Corey sits down with Nancy Mwirotsi, founder of Pi515, to break down how technology is shaping economic mobility for youth. They explore why basic digital skills are still missing, how AI tools are changing critical thinking, and what it takes to prepare the next generation for real opportunities.

Nancy shares her journey building Pi515 to support underserved and refugee youth through tech education. She also explains how exposure, mentorship, and hands-on learning can change a child’s trajectory.

If you care about education, workforce development, or closing opportunity gaps, this conversation will challenge how you think about tech and youth development.

Show Notes

What you’ll learn:

 *  The difference between digital literacy and AI literacy 
 *  Why many students still lack basic tech skills 
 *  How AI tools can weaken or strengthen critical thinking 
 *  The role of mentorship in shaping career paths 
 *  How tech access impacts economic mobility 
 *  Why youth need exposure to real-world opportunities 
 *  The risks of over-relying on AI tools 
 *  How to prepare kids for the future of work 

Key Moments:

 *  00:00 – Introduction to Nancy and Pi515 
 *  03:00 – How Pi515 started and supporting refugee youth 
 *  05:30 – Why exposure shapes career possibilities 
 *  09:00 – Digital literacy vs AI literacy explained 
 *  13:00 – The danger of overusing AI tools 
 *  17:00 – Skills youth need for future jobs 
 *  20:00 – AI risks: misinformation and deepfakes 
 *  22:30 – How parents and educators can guide kids 
 *  27:00 – Best AI tools and how to use them wisely 
 *  32:00 – Youth, entrepreneurship, and making money with AI 
 *  34:00 – Why talent leaves cities like Des Moines 
 *  40:00 – Building innovation ecosystems for the future 

Notable Quotes:

 *  “Kids cannot be what they don’t see.” 
 *  “Digital literacy is basic skills. AI literacy is understanding the tool, the ethics, and the impact.” 
 *  “You can’t let the tool do the thinking for you.” 
 *  “We need to empower young people as leaders, not just learners.” 

Resources & Links:

 *  Pi515: https://pi515.org

Call to Action:

 *  Subscribe for more conversations on health, community, and opportunity 
 *  Share this episode with educators, parents, and leaders 
 *  Leave a review to help more people find the show

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Digital Literacy, AI Literacy & Youth Economic Mobility with Nancy from Pi515

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EPISODE DESCRIPTION:

What does it actually mean to advocate for your community — and where do you even begin? In this episode, host Corey Dion Lewis sits down with Morgan Newman, Grassroots Manager for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and a two-time cervical cancer survivor, for a deeply honest conversation about the art and science of advocacy.

Morgan shares how her own health journey became the foundation for her advocacy career, why trust-building is the most underrated skill in public health, and how coalition work can amplify impact without duplicating effort. Whether you're a seasoned organizer or someone who's never attended a community meeting, this episode will meet you where you are.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• How a personal cancer journey became the spark for a career in advocacy
• The three levels of advocacy — personal, community, and systems change
• Why building trust is the first step before you say a single word to a community
• How to enter communities you don't live in and still earn credibility
• The power of coalition building — and how to avoid the silo trap
• Why storytelling moves people faster than data ever will
• Preventing burnout and compassion fatigue in advocacy work
• How to stay educated and connected in a rapidly changing landscape
• Why advocating for yourself is the most foundational act of all


ABOUT MORGAN NEWMAN:

Morgan Newman, MSW, is a licensed social worker, cancer policy advocate, and board member of the Iowa Cancer Consortium. She brings a trauma-informed lens to community health work and is passionate about empowering others to tell their stories and make lasting systems change. Connect with Morgan on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgansnewman/].

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Iowa Cancer Consortium: iacancer.org
• Iowa Cancer Plan — available through the Iowa Cancer Consortium
• Live, Work, Play, Pray Newsletter — Subscribe on Substack [https://liveworkplaypray.substack.com/]

SPONSORED BY GOODFEED IMPACT AUDIO NETWORK
A network built for podcasts, making a difference. Join the waitlist: https://goodfeed.co/

ABOUT THE SHOW:
The Healthy Project Podcast explores the social drivers of health — where we live, work, play, and pray — through honest conversations with advocates, practitioners, and community leaders—hosted by Corey Dion Lewis.

★ Support this podcast ★ [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/coreydionlewis]

Advocacy Starts with You: Cancer, Community, and Coalition Building w/ Morgan Newman

Some things are true whether we talk about them or not. Iowa has one of the highest cancer rates in the country. The people most affected by it are often the last ones to hear about it. And the systems that were supposed to catch it early — the clinics, the screenings, the outreach programs — are losing funding right now, quietly, in ways most people won't notice until it's too late. This episode is about all of that. But more than anything, it's about people.

About This Conversation

Corey sits down with Jason Semprini — a public health economist, a lifelong Iowan, and somebody who has spent his career translating complex data into something that can actually change how communities live. What started as a conversation about economics turned into one of the most honest, grounded discussions about health, place, and power that The Healthy Project Podcast has ever had.

This one isn't for researchers. It's for anyone who has ever wondered why their community looks the way it does — and whether anybody in power is paying attention.

What We Get Into



The cancer rate nobody's talking about: Iowa ranks among the highest states in the nation for cancer. It's not a fluke. It's not a bad data year. It's consistent, it's climbing, and it's being driven by a specific set of cancers shaped by where people live and what surrounds them. Jason breaks down what the numbers are actually showing — and why the story is more complicated than any headline has captured.

Agriculture, jobs, and the health trade-off nobody wants to say out loud. Iowa's ag economy is the backbone of this state. It provides livelihoods, identity, and community for generations of Iowa families. It is also, according to clear and compelling research, contributing to adverse health outcomes, including cancer. Jason doesn't flinch from that tension. Neither does Corey. Because pretending it doesn't exist isn't protecting anybody.

What happens when the money disappears? Pop-up mammography clinics. Free screenings. Community health workers are going door to door. These programs exist because some people don't have a regular doctor — and for them, a pop-up clinic isn't a backup plan, it's the only plan. When federal funding gets cut, these are the first programs that feel it. Jason shares what colleagues on the ground are experiencing right now. It's not abstract. It's hitting real people in real communities today.

Prostate cancer, Black men, and what the system keeps missing. This part of the conversation hits close to home for Corey — founder of Save the Homies, a prostate cancer awareness initiative through My City My Health. It's not always that Black men in Iowa are getting prostate cancer at higher rates. It's that they're getting diagnosed later. The navigation to quality care is broken. The trust isn't there. The access isn't there. Jason connects this to a framework about biology and health systems colliding — and why fixing it requires more than a screening event.


The real cost of data we're not using. One of the most practical takeaways in the whole conversation: collecting health data you're not acting on isn't neutral. It costs money, it burdens patients, and it pulls resources away from interventions that would actually move the needle. If your organization is drowning in surveys nobody reads, this part is for you.


What a job well done actually looks like. For Jason, success isn't a published paper. It's a policy change. An updated screening guideline. An insurance expansion that took twenty years to become the Affordable Care Act. The work is long. The patience required is real. But the outcomes are lives — and that's the only metric that matters.


About Jason Semprini

Jason Semprini is a public health economist a

Why Your Zip Code Might Be Killing You — Iowa's Cancer Crisis Explained

Quad Cities advocate Royce Wright gets real about youth mental health, the homelessness crisis, and what it means to show up consistently for kids and communities that the system keeps overlooking.

SHOW NOTES:

Some of the most important public health work doesn't happen in clinics or conference rooms. It happens on street corners, in shelters, and in honest conversations with kids who just need somebody to show up.

This week on The Healthy Project Podcast, Corey Dion Lewis sits down with his cousin Royce Wright — a community advocate based in the Quad Cities who has built a reputation for doing exactly that. Royce works with at-risk youth navigating mental health challenges, behavioral issues, and identity crises, while simultaneously raising his voice about the growing homelessness crisis in his community. His approach is rooted in lived experience, patience, and an unshakeable belief that trust is the foundation of everything.

In this conversation, Royce shares what it's really like to work with kids who are struggling, why the family unit matters just as much as the child, and how a chance encounter while filming a TikTok video led to a viral moment — and a GoFundMe — aimed at opening emergency overflow shelters and youth spaces across the Quad Cities.

What We Cover:

Youth Mental Health & Advocacy

 * Why are so many at-risk kids caught in an identity crisis and performing toughness they don't actually feel
 * How adverse childhood trauma shapes behavior — and why patience is the most underrated tool in youth work
 * What it means to be authentic with young people who can read you in seconds
 * The importance of modeling behavior, not just preaching it
 * How to advocate for youth mental health even if you're not on the frontline

Homelessness in the Quad Cities

 * How policy changes around shelter placement have pushed the unhoused out of safe spaces
 * Why people become homeless faster than most of us realize — and why warm weather doesn't solve the problem
 * The viral TikTok moment where Royce connected with a young man who had just become homeless and didn't even know a local shelter was open
 * Why abandoned buildings in the Quad Cities are at the center of this conversation

Royce's Mission & How You Can Help

 * How Royce went from passing out coats from his storage unit to becoming a community voice
 * The GoFundMe campaign: Creating Safe Spaces for the Unhoused and At-Risk Youth
 * A $100,000 goal to fund emergency overflow shelters and additional youth spaces in the Quad Cities

Resources & Links:

🔗 Royce Wright's GoFundMe — Creating Safe Spaces for the Unhoused and At-Risk Youth [https://gofund.me/0ae10af9f]

Follow Royce Wright:

 * Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/1G4BoPQh51/?mibextid=wwXIfr]
 * TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@roycewright2013?_r=1&_t=ZT-94UfKe3EKpa] 
 * Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/real_roycewright_official13?igsh=eTlxZGV1ZHlxZGdn&utm_source=qr]
 * YouTube [https://youtube.com/@roycewright309?si=xbb6zUFJux_NNygp]
 * LinkedIn

About The Healthy Project Podcast The Healthy Project Podcast is hosted by public health storyteller Corey Dion Lewis [https://www.coreydionlewis.com/]. Each week, Corey brings honest, community-first conversations about health equity, mental health, social determinants of health, and the people doing the real work in underserved communities across the country.

🎙️ Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

Youth, Homelessness, Mental Health & Showing Up: A Conversation with Community Advocate Royce Wright

The CDC is being cut by more than 50%. Over 100 public health programs are being eliminated. And the communities that will feel it first — and hardest — are the same ones who've always been at the back of the line. In this solo episode, Corey breaks down what's actually being dismantled, why the framing of "cutting DEI" is designed to make you look away, and what it means for Black and Brown communities when the safety net has a hole cut through the middle of it. 

★ Support this podcast ★ [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/coreydionlewis]

When the CDC Dies, Who Actually Dies?

After 30 years bridging the gap between public policy and communities, Darolyn Davis knows why most public health engagement efforts fail—and more importantly, how to fix them. In this episode of The Healthy Project Podcast, host Corey Dion Lewis speaks with Darolyn Davis, founder of DNA Communications, about the critical disconnect between well-intentioned public health initiatives and the communities they aim to serve. This conversation goes beyond surface-level community engagement to explore what it really takes to build institutional trust.

Darolyn shares the pivotal moment in her career when she realized that policymakers were making decisions for communities without including the voices of those most affected. Working in the California State Legislature, she witnessed firsthand how missing perspectives—particularly women and people of color—led to unintended harmful consequences in public policy. This realization launched three decades of work focused on equity-first communication strategies, where community voices aren't just heard, but actively shape outcomes.

Key Discussion Points:

Why Traditional Outreach Fails Darolyn explains why treating outreach as a distribution problem rather than a relationship problem dooms most initiatives from the start. Sending mailers, holding meetings, and posting information online doesn't equal meaningful engagement—and communities see right through it.

The Trust Gap in Healthcare. The conversation addresses uncomfortable truths about why communities, particularly communities of color, distrust healthcare institutions. With Black women facing maternal mortality rates 3-4 times higher than white women, and Black Americans comprising only 5-7 percent of clinical trial participants despite representing 14 percent of the population, historical and ongoing systemic failures shape present-day healthcare decisions.

Measuring What Actually Matters Most agencies measure engagement success by counting meetings held or materials distributed. Darolyn argues for a completely different approach: measuring sentiment, behavioral change, and whether you've actually moved people from one understanding to another. She reveals why superficial metrics waste resources and erode trust further.

Real-World Case Study: Six Years to Build Trust Darolyn shares the remarkable story of working with the Bayview Hunters Point community in San Francisco. When a public agency wanted to build a new 62 million dollar community facility, residents initially refused—they didn't trust that promises would be kept. It took six years of consistent relationship-building, honest dialogue, and demonstrating follow-through before the community agreed. The result: a state-of-the-art Southeast Community Facility that now serves as a healthcare, education, workforce training, and community hub.

This case study illustrates a critical truth: meaningful change takes time, and there are no shortcuts to building trust.

Institutional Responsibility vs. Personal Choice One of the most important reframings in this episode is shifting from "Why don't communities trust us?" to "What are we doing that earns trust?" When trust is treated as an institutional responsibility rather than a personal choice, the burden shifts from communities to the organizations that serve them.

What Keeps Failing After 30 Years Darolyn identifies recurring problems: communities brought in too late in the decision-making process, equity treated as a checkbox, budgets too small for genuine engagement, organizations moving faster than relationships allow, and failure to acknowledge historical harms that shape current perceptions.

The Question Every Public Health Leader Should Ask Before launching any campaign or initiative, Darolyn advises asking: "Who is not at t

Building Community Trust in Public Health: 30 Years of Equity-Focused Communication Strategies with Darolyn Davis

Corey Dion Lewis sits down with Dr. Margot Kushel, a practicing general internist with over 30 years of experience at San Francisco General Hospital and Director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, to explore why homelessness is fundamentally a housing problem—not a healthcare problem—and what this means for medical professionals and communities.

Dr. Kushel shares compelling insights from her three decades of clinical practice and research, revealing how the lack of affordable housing creates impossible situations for healthcare providers trying to treat patients experiencing homelessness. From managing diabetes in a tent to storing insulin without refrigeration, she illustrates why "there is no medicine as powerful as housing."

What You'll Learn:

 * Why regions with high homelessness rates are defined by housing affordability, not mental health prevalence
 * How structural racism and redlining created the current crisis, with Black Americans 4-5 times overrepresented in homeless populations
 * The stark reality: only 36 affordable housing units exist for every 100 extremely low-income households in America
 * Why Housing First policies work better than Treatment First approaches, backed by evidence from veteran homelessness reduction
 * The hidden homeless population: workers living in cars, college students couch-surfing, and older adults losing housing for the first time
 * How the politicization of Housing First policies threatens progress and patient outcomes
 * Practical ways healthcare providers can advocate for housing as a health intervention

Key Clinical Insights:

Dr. Kushel explains why treating chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and mental health disorders becomes nearly impossible when patients lack stable housing. She shares real stories from her practice, including a 63-year-old patient who hadn't eaten in four days while fighting eviction, and discusses how readmission penalties unfairly penalize hospitals serving homeless populations.

The Evidence for Housing First:

Learn about the dramatic 85% housing retention rate of Housing First approaches compared to 5-10% success rates of traditional Treatment First models, and why the George W. Bush administration adopted this evidence-based policy. Dr. Kushel also shares findings from California's comprehensive statewide homelessness study, debunking myths about people traveling from other states.

For Medical Professionals:

This episode is essential listening for physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical students, residents, community health workers, social workers, case managers, and anyone in healthcare who treats patients experiencing housing instability. Dr. Kushel provides a framework for understanding how to advocate beyond the clinic walls.

About Dr. Margot Kushel:

Dr. Kushel is a physician and researcher who has dedicated her career to understanding and ending homelessness. She directs the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative and the Action Research Center for Health at the University of California, San Francisco. Her research informs policy at local, state, and federal levels.

Resources Mentioned:

 * UCSF Benioff Homelessness Initiative: homelessness.ucsf.edu
 * California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness
 * "There Is No Place" by Brian Goldstone

Episode Takeaway: "There is no medicine as powerful as housing. Homelessness is a housing problem."

Whether you're a healthcare provider frustrated by social determinants of health, a medical student learning about population health, or a community advocate, this conversation will change how you think about the intersection of housing and health.

Housing as Medicine: Why Homelessness is a Housing Crisis with Dr. Margot Kushel, UCSF

Today’s episode is not the one I planned to release. I was supposed to share an interview I was excited about, but it didn’t feel right to move forward after the tragic killings by ICE agents in Minnesota. Families are grieving. Communities are scared. And pretending everything is normal felt like the wrong move.

In this solo emergency episode, I speak honestly about not having the right words, but choosing to not stay silent. The Healthy Project was created to shine a light on the systems that harm people, and what happened in Minnesota is not just a headline. It is state violence. It is the predictable result of a system built on fear and enforcement.

This episode is about sitting with discomfort, naming what’s happening, and turning awareness into action. I share why immigration enforcement has always been violent, why no human being deserves to die because of documentation status, and what you can do right now to support impacted communities.

We talk about:

 * The ICE killings in Minnesota and why this matters to all of us
 * How silence protects harmful systems
 * The human cost behind immigration enforcement
 * Ways you can take action through education, mutual aid, and community support

This is a heavy episode. But it’s a necessary one. You don’t need perfect words to show up. You just need to refuse to look away.

★ Support this podcast ★ [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/coreydionlewis]

ICE Killings in Minnesota: Why Silence Is a Choice | The Healthy Project

As 2025 draws to a close, millions of Americans stand at the edge of a healthcare cliff. Sister Mary Haddad, President and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, returns to The Healthy Project to sound the alarm on an urgent policy crisis that threatens to undermine healthcare access for working families nationwide.

Following the passage of major Medicaid cuts in July that will affect 10 million people, enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act are set to expire at the end of the year. The result? An estimated 4.2 million more Americans are losing coverage, with millions facing dramatic cost increases. For rural communities already struggling with limited resources, the impact could be devastating.

This episode examines the intersection of healthcare policy, economic justice, and human dignity. Sister Mary draws on Catholic social teaching to frame healthcare access not merely as a policy preference but as a moral imperative rooted in the inherent worth of every person. She offers a clear-eyed assessment of how hospital closures, emergency department overcrowding, and the loss of telehealth flexibilities create a perfect storm threatening the most vulnerable among us.

Beyond diagnosis, this conversation explores solutions. What must Congress do immediately? How can healthcare systems balance mission-driven care with financial sustainability? What role should everyday citizens play in advocacy? And perhaps most importantly: what does hope look like when systems are breaking down?

In This Episode:

The Immediate Crisis

 * Understanding the connection between July's Medicaid cuts and expiring tax credits
 * Why 4.2 million working Americans face losing coverage
 * The "sticker shock" families are experiencing during open enrollment
 * Congressional gridlock and the December deadline

Rural Healthcare Under Pressure

 * Lower median incomes meeting higher insurance costs
 * The competitive disadvantage of rural insurance markets
 * Hospital closures and service reductions on the horizon
 * The hidden costs: hotel stays and hours-long drives for basic care

Emergency Departments as Safety Net

 * Why ERs become primary care when coverage disappears
 * The economic burden of treating delayed, acute conditions
 * Federal mandates and the impossible position of hospitals
 * Triage challenges when systems are overwhelmed

The Telehealth Question

 * How COVID revealed telehealth's essential role
 * Temporary extensions vs. permanent policy solutions
 * Access equity and the digital divide
 * Real stories from rural South Dakota

Moral Framework & Advocacy

 * Healthcare as inseparable from human dignity
 * Operating as a "ministry that functions as a business"
 * The responsibility of citizens to engage with the government
 * Moving from despair to concrete action

Looking Forward

 * Strengthening existing coverage systems
 * The critical need for primary care investment
 * Acknowledging that U.S. healthcare is "broken"
 * Building coalitions across providers, payers, and government

Sister Mary's perspective is particularly vital for those interested in the social determinants of health, healthcare economics, policy advocacy, and faith-based approaches to social justice. Her framing of hope as "concrete actions" rather than abstract aspiration offers a powerful counter-narrative to policy fatalism.

Guest: Sister Mary Haddad, RSM, President & CEO, Catholic Health Association of the United States

Resources: Learn more and take action: www.chausa.org [http://www.chausa.org]


Show Notes

Healthcare at the Precipice: Sr. Mary Haddad on the Looming Coverage Crisis

This episode explores how technology and healthcare intersect. We talk with Jhonatan Bringas Dimitriades, MD, CEO of Lapsi Health, about Keikku, the first FDA-cleared smart stethoscope with an AI scribe. You will hear how this tool impacts clinical workflows, patient communication, and the broader healthcare system.

Key points covered
• How clinicians use AI during real-world visits
• Measurable time savings in documentation
• Data privacy and HIPAA/GDPR compliance
• Effects on clinician burnout and emotional fatigue
• Future applications of AI in public health and care settings
• Skills health professionals need as tech advances


Why it matters
• You see how AI tools shape medical decision-making and patient engagement
• You get insight into how tech adoption fits into social systems and workplace culture
• You hear practical examples that support ongoing conversations in public health and social science


Think about this
• How does technology influence trust in the patient-provider relationship?
• What skills will workers need as AI expands in healthcare?
• What policies should protect patients and providers as these tools grow?

Listen and reflect on how innovation, behavior, culture, and care systems interact.


Resources Mentioned:

 * Website: https://www.keikku.health/
 * Connect with Jhonatan: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter/X
 * Physician burnout research [https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-health/us-physician-burnout-hits-lowest-rate-covid-19]

Stay Connected & Support the Show:
Want to keep up with conversations like this that challenge the status quo and center community voices? Sign up for The Healthy Project newsletter at www.healthyproject.co for exclusive insights, resources, and updates you won't want to miss.

Love what you're hearing? Support independent podcasting that prioritizes truth over trends. Join THP+ for just $5/month and get bonus content, early access to episodes, and the satisfaction of knowing you're fueling more conversations that matter.
Visit www.healthyproject.co to subscribe and support today.

★ Support this podcast ★ [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/coreydionlewis]

How AI Tools Like Keikku Are Reshaping Clinical Work and Patient Care

The Healthy Project is hosted by Corey Dion Lewis, Clinical Health Coach for a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). Because of his experience working directly with patients in underserved communities, Corey felt the need to speak up and address the issues and provide solutions to improve the healthcare experience for the ones that need it the most. The Healthy Project Podcast addresses topics related to health equity, prevention, diversity, and literacy for healthcare professionals addressing today's and tomorrow's biggest challenges. Thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and industry experts share their approaches to transforming healthcare into something meaningful and lasting.

The Healthy Project Podcast

Welcome to My City My Health, a podcast presented by The Healthy Project. This podcast is all about health equity and how social determinants of health can impact our communities. Join us as we speak with local community leaders who are making a difference in the health of their cities.

Each episode, we'll delve into topics such as culture, healthcare, prevention, community, and how these factors can impact health outcomes. We'll hear from experts in the field, as well as individuals who are on the ground working to make positive change.

Through these conversations, we hope to inspire listeners to take action and become advocates for health equity in their own communities. Together, we can create a healthier, more equitable world.

So join us for My City My Health, and let's explore the social determinants of health and their impact on our cities.

Corey Lewis

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