Pivot Point
A podcast about organizational leaders engaged in graduate research-practice partnerships; their stories of the projects they designed, carried out, and the pivot points along the way that made all the difference
Conversations with scholar-practitioners
Dr. Michael Neel – a faculty member at Vanderbilt University – interviews some of the most thoughtful, ambitious, and impactful leaders who have come through Vanderbilt’s Leadership and Learning in Organizations doctoral program. Before earning a doctorate, these leaders partner with an outside organization, conduct a research project in that organization, and offer evidence-based recommendations that make a positive impact. This is a show about how some of the most dynamic of these research-practice partnership projects were constructed and carried out, and the particular pivot points that made all the difference.
Episodes
Episodes
Dec 9, 2022
Dec 9, 2022
30 min
Dr. Michelle Nicome drew on decades of experience in philanthropy to support a University that faced multiple and overlapping financial challenges. In this episode, we will hear how she responded to these challenges and navigated her own challenge of moving between the roles of consultant and researcher.
Dec 2, 2022
Dec 2, 2022
36 min
When Dr. Lakita Little-McKinney began working with All-In-Milwaukee–a coalition of education partners helping limited-income, high-potential students graduate college–they wanted to better understand barriers to completion. Lakita found a way to center student voices in her investigation and empower All-In Milwaukee to expect more from its university partners.
Nov 25, 2022
Nov 25, 2022
1 hr 12 min
In this third episode, Dr. Leonard L. Richards Jr. encounters long-standing racial underrepresentation among faculty at a predominately white college of education. Even before critical race theory was in the news, Leonard was using it to bring together the past and present to chart a more responsible future for a college he loved.
Nov 18, 2022
Nov 18, 2022
36 min
In this week’s episode of Pivot Point, Riley Post helps West Point improve its peer evaluation process for cadets. You'll hear how Dr. Post identified inherent shortcomings in the process that existed, and how he supported the redesign of a more just and productive approach to peer evaluation for cadets at the United States’ most prestigious military academy.
Nov 11, 2022
Nov 11, 2022
37 min
Alex Yu says that when he launched his project he only had and a general sense that he wanted to help a non-profit organization improve. By the end of a process filled with all kinds of twists and turns, Alex was helping Colorado’s biggest LBGTQ+ advocacy organization remake the way they approached fundraising.
Nov 4, 2022
Nov 4, 2022
4 min
Working with organizations on improvement can be complex and messy, but also highly impactful. Dr. Michael Neel interviews some of the most thoughtful, ambitious, and impactful leaders who graduated from Vanderbilt University’s Leadership & Learning in Organizations doctoral program. In each episode, you’ll hear the stories behind how a research-practice partnership was constructed and carried out, and the particular pivot points that made all the difference.
Check out this trailer to learn more and look for the first official episode to post November 11, 2022. Please listen, subscribe, and share so others can find Pivot Point
Host: Michael Neel, Ph.D.
Michael Neel is the creator and host of Pivot Point and a faculty member in Vanderbilt University's Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations. Michael's teaching and scholarly interests focus on professional learning and on the intersection of policy and practice in learning settings. In addition to hosting the pod, Michael teaches in multiple programs at Vanderbilt including the Leadership and Learning in Organizations program, an innovative educational doctoral degree program that supports mid-career professionals across a range of industries. At present, he is working with colleagues at Vanderbilt on research projects that explore leader collaboration and professional learning initiatives.