What Happens When We Stop Asking Whether Students Have Potential and Start Asking Whether We’ve Built Pathways Worthy of Their Potential? My Guest: Hannah Oberholzer, Thrive Scholars Jacksonville

June 01, 2026

Episode Transcript

Being “the first” sounds like a celebration until you realize how often it comes with no blueprint. I grew up in a family shaped by immigration and four Holocaust survivor grandparents, where education meant security, not prestige and nobody was sitting around the table talking about college applications, networking, internships, or career strategy. That’s why this conversation hits so hard: talent and ambition are everywhere, but roadmaps are not, and two students with the same grades can still be separated by generations of hidden knowledge.

I’m joined by Hannah Oberholtzer, Executive Director of Thrive Scholars Jacksonville, to talk about what real college access and opportunity look like for high-achieving students from economically under-resourced communities. We dig into the biggest misconception about these students, why “they’ll be fine” is often wrong, and how Thrive defines success as more than graduating high school or even college. Hannah shares how Thrive’s intentional pathway includes a Summer Academy on a college campus, one-on-one college access coaching, financial aid navigation, mentorship, and professional development so students build the skills, confidence, and networks that lead to economic mobility and long-term career success.

We also get practical about the ecosystem around students: internships that typically start too late, transportation barriers that quietly shape who can show up, and why partnerships across nonprofits, business leaders, and community matter if we want outcomes that last for generations. If you care about first-generation college success, educational equity, workforce development, and building diverse leadership that reflects our communities, this episode is for you.

About Thrive Scholars Jacksonville

Thrive Scholars is a national nonprofit dedicated to helping high-achieving students from low-income and under-resourced communities gain admission to top colleges, graduate successfully, and launch meaningful careers. Their comprehensive six-year program provides academic preparation, college advising, mentorship, career development, internships, and professional networking opportunities that help students achieve long-term economic mobility. connecting students with academic resources, mentors, internships, and professional networks throughout Northeast Florida.

To find out more about Thrive Scholars, Jacksonville: https://www.thrivescholars.org/get-involved/jacksonville/

In anticipation of their 25th year, read the 2025 Impact Report here:

https://www.flipsnack.com/A5F8DCA8B7A/thrive-scholars-fy25-annual-impact-report

Do you have some feedback, thoughts or questions?

Want to be a guest on my show or have an Honorable Mensch to nominate?

Connect on Instagram @SchmoozewithSuze

Subscribe to the Schmooze with Suze Podcast for your dose of #Culture, #Values and #GlobalCitizenship... with a side of #chutzpah...

Don’t forget to leave a review if you enjoyed this episode.
Please LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and SHARE.
Thank you for helping us grow!

Society & Culture

See full episode transcriptTranscript is autogenerated by AI

Being The First Without A Map

SPEAKER_01 0:00

When I was growing up, I didn't come from a family where people sat around the dinner table discussing college applications, internships, networking opportunities, or strategic career paths. I come from four Holocaust survivor grandparents. Both of my parents were immigrants. Survival wasn't theoretical in my family. It wasn't a chapter in a history book. It sat at our kitchen table, it lived in stories, in accents, in values, in fear, in gratitude, and in the understanding that stability wasn't guaranteed. Education mattered deeply, but not because of prestige. Education meant possibility. Education meant security. It meant you'll have choices we didn't have. But here's the thing: I was the first person in my family who even knew about college. Not attended college, knew about it. There wasn't a roadmap sitting on the counter next to the mail. Nobody was discussing SAT prep or campus tours or financial aid deadlines. I didn't even know about that stuff. Nobody knew the language of higher education because we were still writing the first chapter. And somehow I found my way there. Which is why I think about this all the time now as a mother, as a community advocate, and as someone who spends a lot of time around young people. Because talent and potential are everywhere, but roadmaps, they're not anywhere. Two students can sit in the same classroom, earn the same grades, have the same intelligence and ambition, and still begin from completely different starting lines. One may inherit generations of institutional knowledge, the other may be trying to build a bridge while walking across it. And sometimes we tell kids to dream big without realizing that dreaming big and knowing how to get there are two entirely different things. Because opportunity isn't simply opening a door, it's helping someone recognize that door exists in the first place and reminding them, over and over, that they belong on the other side of it. Today's guest understands that deeply. Through her work with Thrive Scholars Jacksonville, she's helping students not just prepare for college, but build the tools, confidence, and networks that can change the trajectory of families for generations. Because when one person becomes the first, they rarely become the last. So, what happens when we stop asking whether students have potential and start asking whether we've built pathways worthy of their potential? And that's what we're going to tackle today. Hi,

Meet Thrive Scholars Jacksonville

SPEAKER_01 2:27

I'm Suze, bringing you a dose of culture, values, and global citizenship with just enough chutzbah to tackle the conversations others avoid. Today's guest is Hannah Oberholzer, Executive Director of Thrive Scholars in Jacksonville, an organization helping high-achieving students from economically under-resourced communities gain access not only to top colleges, but to the support systems and career pathways that help them truly thrive. Thrive's work begins before college and continues through mentorship, preparation, and professional development, so students don't just get a seat at the table. They know they belong there. Hannah's own path has woven through fundraising, advancement, public engagement, and community leadership before bringing her to this role where mission and impact intersect. Hannah, welcome to Schmooz with Suze.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

Thank you so much for having me. I am gonna get emotional just with your introduction here.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Then I'm doing my job right.

Hannah’s Origin Story Through Books

SPEAKER_01 3:24

So I always love a good origin story because none of us arrive where we are in a straight line. If college age Hannah could see today's leading Thrive scholars, Hannah, would she be surprised?

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Not at all. I am exactly where I need to be. And although I never would have, I didn't know about Thrive when I was in school and couldn't specifically say this is the seat that I would uh be in. This is exactly the work that I thought I would be doing, but I did not know my path to get there.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

You've worked in fundraising, advancement, museums, nonprofit leadership, and community work. What thread connected all of those experiences that sowed your path till today?

SPEAKER_02 4:13

I can tell you a story when I, so I am a fourth generation Jacksonville resident, native, deep roots in this community, and I come from a family who instilled in me the importance of giving back and pouring into this community to make our city a better place.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

To be the change you wish to see in the world.

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Exactly, exactly that. And from an early age, um I I so remember w uh volunteering at an organization I am still um love, uh love their love their work, love their leadership. Um and I hosted through my mitzvah project actually um uh on my way to my bot mitzvah, we hosted a book drive for for this organization to provide the young people who they serve with books to take home and keep themselves. Wow. And I was 12 years old at the time, so so imagine that. And I come, I am a come from a background where I had any book I wanted at home. It I never thought twice about having access to a book. I grew up and my parents read to me every single night. Um, if I wanted a book or was interested in a new series, I went and got the book. There was no questions. And I will never forget uh third grader, a young man who came up to me with a book and he said, Miss Hannah, do I really get to put my name in this book and take it home? And I was confused, of course. You the this book's for you, you write your name in it, and absolutely. And he asked me again, Are you sure? And I did not understand in that moment why it was why he continued to ask me with hesitancy. And he finally said, I've never had a book, and this is the first book that I I have and I can keep at home forever, and was getting emotional, and this was a third grader. Um, and at that moment I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to shape education policy because I did not understand why I could have any book I wanted, and this young man who lived less than 10 miles from me did not have a book at home. And it's that access to equal opportunity that you you spoke about beautifully introducing this work that I knew we had to solve for. I didn't know what that looked like for me, and I had a long journey of education and um experiences that helped shape my career and helped me get to where I am now. But in every every experience that I have had, um, starting in college, going to Washington, DC, to Atlanta, working in the political world, everything has shaped and helped me get to to where I am now at Thrive and and where I have the honor of leading this work in this community.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

So to recap, it sounds like middle school Hannah, because that's how old we are around that barba mitza age, is approached by a third grader, and that changed the trajectory of your understanding. As someone who I shared came from immigrant parents, I did not have access to buying books, but I was so, so privileged and lucky that I lived around the corner from the Brooklyn Public Library, which is where I spent most of my childhood absorbed in getting information education. And it was the first time through a program called Riff, Readings Is Is Fundamental. If you came every Friday and you returned the book that you read over and over, you would earn your free book. And I can tell you the feeling, and I'm getting emotional myself, of having my first free book that I could write my name in. Because I had grown up with grandparents who told me, don't get anything or keep anything, someone might take it from you. So you shaped lives starting as your mitzvah project. You helped

Who Thrive Serves And Why

SPEAKER_01 8:24

bring Thrive to Northeast Florida. What made you think that Jacksonville was fertile ground for that kind of work?

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Like I said, I have uh I have deep uh rooted relationships in in this city, and I've been fortunate enough to experience um the education landscape and and start to really understand the work that's happening to create that opportunity. And a lot of the work of our incredible youth-serving organizations and schools and uh um uh the city and um our business community, a lot of the work is focused on students who are who need to get caught up to ensure that they're reading on grade level so that they can graduate high school intervention. Intervention. Um and that work is critically important. And when I I look at the work that Thrive does, we work with a very niche population of students. These students are your highest achieving, they have they have firmly um, they know that education is the path to possibility and they have worked tirelessly to ensure that they're they're going to to get into college. But predominantly first generation college students, like you said, students from low-income backgrounds who are not going to reach their potential. They might be okay. These students might be okay. They're gonna graduate high school. They are. They're graduating high school with near 4.0 GPAs. But when we talk about helping, creating real opportunity for students to be able not only to dream big, but to realize those dreams, this population of students gets overlooked oftentimes, and there's an assumption that they don't need support.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

What's one misconception that people have about those high-achieving students from under-resourced backgrounds?

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Uh like I mentioned, that they're gonna be fine. They're gonna go to school and they're gonna figure it out and they're gonna get a job. And we don't need to worry about them. When in reality, you you mentioned this earlier, you don't know what you don't know. And success should not be defined by graduating high school. Success really shouldn't be defined as just graduating college. Success and how Thrive sees success is are you graduating college with these skills, the experiences, and the right, we call it your first destination of choice. Are you landing those jobs your first destination of choice? And are you making a good salary that will lift you out of poverty and enable you to create that economic mobility and financial security for yourselves? So our our families, um, students who enter our programs enter our program with an average household family income of about $45,000. Well, when these students graduate our program, they're in first jobs making over $70,000 as a starting salary. That is double, almost double their the income that they're coming from. And so you think about the impact that that has, not only on the individual, but on families. Like you said, we have siblings who now see what's possible when their older sibling has gone through our program and it changes the trajectory of their life. You they come back and they reinvest in their communities, they're uplifting um cities and uh and pouring into the economy. There's success becomes collective progress, um, which is really exciting to see. And when we talk about, you know, leadership needing to reflect the communities we serve across businesses and um and the importance of having diverse leadership and across our corporate or civic or academic institutions who are truly reflective of the communities we serve. These are the students who are gonna get there, they have the potential to ascend into these leadership positions and then drive that innovation, productivity, um, profitability and and pour back into the the success of their communities, and we hope they come back and do that in Jacksonville. And I think one of the really special things about this community is that our scholars can pick up the phone and they can call Susie. They can call the CEO of any company, and those leaders are having coffee with them.

SPEAKER_01 13:10

Yes, Jacksonville is called so dynamic in that respect. Um, you described something that I've viscerally had this image in my head of these same students that you're investing in now having their hands back to help up the people behind them. You're not just an example of what's possible, but now they're the pathway and the map that I didn't have on my countertop living right in your neighborhood, right in your community. So you talk about access, but access alone isn't enough. What happens? Give me an example of after someone gets accepted as a Thrive Scholar, what's that pathway look like for them?

SPEAKER_02 13:43

That

The Scholar Pathway After Acceptance

SPEAKER_02 13:44

pathway is extremely intentional and it's tailored. So imagine your 17-year-old self and the the information that you're trying, the everything you're trying to navigate. Well, if you fast forward to 22-year-old Susie, those needs and and everything you're contemplating looks differently. And so our program is designed very intentionally to remove barriers at each stage of of life. So when a student gets into our program, they start out with us at a summer academy. So they spend six weeks on a college campus. This year our students will be at Washington University in St. Louis. Wow! Which I'm so excited to visit. I've never been and I've heard amazing things. Um but they are joined by our students across the country, so we're a national program, and these students come from similar backgrounds but with shared hopes and dreams, and so they push each other, and these they're studying. Now I just think about my high school self. I would not have willingly participated in a program that required me to study three hours a day of calculus, three hours a day of uh intensive writing. But the program is designed to foster those critical thinking skills needed when you enter school. So despite graduating high school with these high GPAs and test scores, our students before our summer academy were getting into amazing colleges, but not able to persist in the degrees that they wanted to pursue because they weren't prepared for the academic rigor. So our Summer Academy program is designed to ensure that our students are academically prepared when they walk onto campus for the first time. And can you can imagine when I greet our students at the airport when they're they're getting ready to fly, it's many of their first time at the airport, and we're helping them navigate security and making sure they have the right information. They are learning how to manage their time, you know, when they're on campus. They're they're learning all of these things. Student success skills. Student success skills, life success skills.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

And I just want to call out that I said wow three times in a row, which is highly unusual. It's only the first summer of our program. Because I am so impressed, the more information that I get. So now these are students who have never probably left their zip code or left their city, and you're taking them to new environments where they're getting to see that I'm not a unicorn, I'm not hopeless. There are people just like me, and we are all in it to achieve together. Tell me what's one scholar story that lives rent-free in your head.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

A Jacksonville Student’s Brown Story

SPEAKER_02 16:28

could tell you many, but we are working. I have the privilege of working with a student from Jacksonville who first generation college student. His he knew he wanted to go to college. Um he but he didn't, he he didn't uh know what was going to be possible. Um he thought maybe at best he would be able to go to community college locally, live at home while while working, and that was gonna be the best option for his financial circumstances. And over the course of the senior year of high school in our program, our students get paired one-on-one. We call it a college access manager, who's helping our students navigate the college application financial aid process. What are the best fit schools for each individual, and how can we help you get there with little to no debt? And so throughout this process, um, this per student in particular, his his eyes just started opening uh a lot wider. And you fast forward, he is a sophomore at Brown, um, goes there, does not have to worry about financials, um room and board, uh books, tuition, food, all of it.

SPEAKER_01 17:51

Um can focus on his academics, social, emotional development, and what he wants to be as he grows into who he's becoming.

SPEAKER_02 18:00

That's exactly right. And Susie, this student in particular, when I tell you, he is um he's so special and he wants to his ultimate goal is to pay it forward and come back to this community and reinvest in this community who he recognizes has poured so much into him. Um last summer he came back and he's studying urban planning uh right now. Um I'm like, what better city to come back to? Um and uh and his brother is now in the program and is a Thrive Scholar. And when you meet these two brothers to hear his younger brother uh talk about everything now, he's able the access to opportunity that he has that he never in a million years thought was possible and and worked extremely hard his earlier part of high school just so he could get accepted into our program. Um I mean you think about it just um this this student, and there's so many more unique stories, and I um I become very close with the families too, and um and getting to know this these young men, um, their parents, and everything that their parents now know and can pour into um their friends and families um who are navigating college application and and all of it.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

There's just um it's it's emotional, but there's a word for it in Yiddish, it's called kvelling. Yes, kvelling is to be overwhelmed with pride, and that's what resonates on your face right now. You're glowing, and not just from the lights of my on-air sign. Um, and you touched on something that I want to go back to because I think it's such a beautiful part of this mosaic that is Jacksonville. Essentially, and I share this often, when I was pregnant and my husband got his job here, I said, I don't do Vills or Bergs, thinking that as a city girl I would never have any interest in being someplace where people likely are not like me and would never understand me. But it turned out it's a big small town.

SPEAKER_00 20:12

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

And relationships matter. You touched on how our business, our nonprofit, our public spaces, and community members are intrinsically uh involved with what happens to our community members. Can you give me some examples of those relationships that your students and Thrive Scholars, Jacksonville itself, has developed over the last couple of years?

SPEAKER_02 20:38

That

Internships And Local Relationships

SPEAKER_02 20:39

is probably one of the most meaningful parts about the work that I have the privilege of doing is seeing different sectors come together to realize this shared vision and and the importance of our work in this community. And so we see, and I'll I'll use an example of a handful of our partners, um, but if you look at solely the business sector and and how they are working to cultivate strong talent. What they've done, we see our scholars now who are in college, they call me, Hannah. I I want to come home for the summer. I want to be in Jacksonville, I want to gain the relevant experience specific to what I'm studying, and I need to make money. One of the things that I've learned since joining Thrive or hadn't given a lot of thought to since I was going through this process myself, was formal internship programs, especially in finance, engineering, they don't start till your junior year of college. So, how are you and students earlier and earlier now are expected to have. A resume right?

SPEAKER_01 22:03

Not even a resume, but a CV, like someone who's professionally been involved in community work and professional work their whole life. Their whole life.

SPEAKER_02 22:11

And how do you do that if you have to also support yourself and your family? So a prime example of a company who understands the student who we serve, understands that these students are incredibly hardworking. They're gonna bring something to the table. So our qualified scholars who went through the application process as any other applicant would go through, but happened to be younger in their collegiate life, were now eligible for opportunities. And two of them are coming home this summer because they they succeeded in gaining that internship opportunity and will be here rooted in this community over the summer, building those relationships. And that is just one example of one company here who is working when you talk about relationships and meaningful partnership. It's financial investment, it's the mentorship, it's the support, but it's creating real pathways to opportunity and it's doing the work that's required to get us there. And that's what I see across our industries and many businesses here who believe in our young people and want to see them succeed and recognize that we just have to create the opportunity, the equal opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

And it also gives now this real time in real life example for the community that they live in, that their siblings are in, like you said, like their cousins and friends that they went to school with, where perhaps you never considered these pathways before, but coming from, for example, Brown, maybe somebody else thought to themselves, I could never go to FSCJ, but look, this is a possibility, and who knows, maybe I could transfer after two years. You're seeing in real life what this example is like.

United Way And Community Leadership

SPEAKER_01 24:20

That's right. So, all right, you're deeply connected to a number of organizations here in town, but I want to talk about one that I too am passionate about United Way of Northeast Florida. The ecosystem through leadership initiatives and community engagement is very intentional about growing not just our community, but being the change we wish to see in the world. What keeps pulling you into that work and you were recognized as a rising philanthropist? How did that feel personally?

SPEAKER_02 24:50

You know, for me, uh, it's not about the recognition. I do want my daughters to grow up seeing the importance of playing a role in your broader community and helping um your your community succeed or being a partner in that work. And for me, that's what that why that award was was important. It's something that I can share with my my daughters as I hopefully raise them to be um. Fifth generation. Yes, fifth generation Jackson villains who who believe in in the success of this community and want to be a part of that. So, you know, the that's really my why with United Way. United Way works to solve the community's toughest challenges. Um and it's been deeply rewarding for me to one learn what those challenges are. What what are the barriers across our diverse community? And and help me understand where I fit into that equation and how to to play a role in removing barriers when possible. Um, but a lot of a lot of the positive experiences I've got from United Ways, the people I've I've met, and the everything I've learned about the amazing work being done across this community, across the nonprofit sector, um specifically in different issue areas, and how we are all working together and how we can work more intentionally together to maximize our collective impact. And United Way, I believe, should be a strong convener of that work.

SPEAKER_01 26:45

That leads me to my next question.

Collective Action That Actually Works

SPEAKER_01 26:47

We throw around words like impact and collective action all the time in nonprofit spaces. What did those actually look like in practice, whether it's through Thrive Scholars Jacksonville or your work with United Way? Give me some examples of the change you've helped to impact through collective action.

SPEAKER_02 27:07

That's a great question. I think about all the work that we're doing with that Thrive is doing to better partner alongside other youth-serving organizations as one example. So in where we can work more strategically alongside each other, and I can look at a read USA and and know that our students, many of whom work after school, this is a great example. Our students go to school and then they go and work at Panera, Chick-fil-A, or wherever they're working. I was a lifeguard at the JCC every day after school. There you go. Well, why don't we give them an opportunity to work for an organization that is mentoring and tutoring that next generation of young people? And that's what Read part of the work that Read USA does. So, how how can we through Thrive Scholars and a partnership through Read foster a pipeline of tutors into Read USA's program? And how can Read USA, who's working with these young people and help them develop the workforce skills, how can they feed those students, qualified students, into Thrives programs so that there's a continuum of support when these students graduate high school. Now we're with them not only through high school but into college and early career. And a lot of the work that I'm really proud of that we are working to build more intentionally is that that collaboration with other youth-serving organizations, um, you know, take stock and children. How can we we did a program um out east helping students understand the opportunities available to them through different organiz providing organizations? Ever not every student's gonna be a fit for Thrive, not every student's gonna be a fit for take stock, not every student's gonna be a fit for communities and schools. I'm I'm there's so many amazing, incredible organizations doing wonderful work, and there's a fit, each each unique student needs a unique type of service, um, and it's just connecting resources with opportunities, and I think it's our responsibility as nonprofit organizations to be present in the communities that we serve and demonstrate that partnership and um and ability to to refer and work work collaboratively with one another.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Jacksonville

Poverty As The Root Barrier

SPEAKER_01 29:44

is growing very quickly, so where do you think our biggest opportunity is when it comes to investing in young people?

SPEAKER_02 29:52

It's a great question. I mean, our our biggest opportunity is these young are our young people. These are the the future, this is the future of of this city.

SPEAKER_01 30:05

Um we want the Prophet once said, I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way. Are you familiar with this, Prophet?

SPEAKER_02 30:13

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

Whitney Houston. A hundred percent. And you're living that reality day to day. So talk to me about where if you had to rub a magic lamp and you only had one wish, what would be the one area that you would flip the switch and there would be access or opportunity?

SPEAKER_02 30:32

Well, that's a hard question because there's there's many things I'd like to flip, flip a switch, but I think the root of many issues is poverty. And I believe that where you are born and the circumstances you are born into should not define the opportunities you're you're presented with. It's our students are a living example. Students, these young people need to work hard, they need to have the drive and determination, but they need the they they need the opportunity. And you don't know what you don't know. And it's our responsibility to provide that opportunity, that equal access for these young people who are going to then just take the wheel and go and think about our future in ways that I could never in a million years think about or implement, or they're so much smarter than than me. Um and any of us, I'd argue. Um, and so I I I think when when we talk about lifting people out of poverty, um, that's probably the switch that I would would flip.

SPEAKER_01 31:45

So it sounds like more information to give people the knowledge that they don't necessarily have of all the avenues that you may have to cross a bridge to get to, but how do we get to the bridge in the first place?

SPEAKER_02 31:57

How do you get to the bridge in the first place? And and how and also How do you pay the toll? And also, yeah, I think it's you know our responsibility to to come and be a part of community, come be a part of each community, and each community's needs are gonna be different. And I don't have the solution sitting over on this part of town, and you gotta come to me to get that golden egg. Actually, let me come to you. Let me really understand what your needs are because they may be unique to your neighbor's needs on the opposite part of town, and let's drive the van over the bridge together.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Sure. Um so you're not just taking people on board, you're meeting them where they are, picking them up and giving them valley service. That's absolutely correct.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

And I think that's how impact is, and not only impact, because you can have short-term impact and you can say, We've graduated 98% of our students. Like, let's talk about real long-term lasting impact.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Sure, rate of recidivism is the next generation going to college, or did they have such a terrible experience that they're telling their kids it's too much money and it's not worth the investment? That's right. So I appreciate all of this information and your passion.

Lightning Round And Lessons Learned

SPEAKER_01 33:17

I want to switch over real quick to a lightning round. Yeah. Okay, first thing. Give it to mind. One word your team would use to describe your leadership style. Politely persistent. Ooh, I like that. A book that changed how you see the world since we started with books. I know there are there are too many. Come back to it. I want to give you a good answer. What's one skill every student should learn that isn't taught enough in school? Critical thinking. What is one piece of advice you receive that you still carry with you? Treat people with respect. What motivates you more? Solving problems or creating possibilities? Creating possibilities. A student email, conversation, or moment you'll never forget.

SPEAKER_02 34:10

That is such a an important and and good question. Um there are so many, but but I think of one student who really changed the way that I I see a lot of this work as a student who's we talked about earlier building trust and the importance of building trust. And I so believe that that's the root of all successful long-term relationships, and this student in particular um didn't doesn't have access to transportation and takes public transportation often. And I have never um I haven't had the opportunity or the maybe the need to travel around Jacksonville through through public transportation. But this student in particular does on a daily basis. And we were, she she traveled two hours, unbeknownst to me, to attend a a program that we hosted in partnership with two of our incredible partners, um Haskell and RSNH, on her day off of school. She traveled two hours, had to be there at 9 a.m. And as we were leaving the the program, she's getting ready to go on the skyway. I said, Why are you where does that even take you? Well, I have to then go to the um the bus hub, and then I get on a bus, and it takes me about an hour north, and I get on another bus, then I have to walk about 45 minutes. And I said, Well, let me take you home. And so we're talking, and um, she was talking, she was sharing a lot about her story and journey, and um she's now going to be starting at Rice University this fall, and she has it was in that that car ride, that 20-minute car ride. Let me just say, the 20-minute car ride. That would have been two hours by business and walking. Um, that I just I I have a such a deep respect for not only her, but s it gave me a a very um it grounded me in the the importance of this work.

SPEAKER_01 36:25

Um a book that changed how you see the world.

SPEAKER_02 36:36

This is a I don't know why this is coming to mind right now because I'm thinking a lot about the professional development books I've read, and and that's really where I want to go with this. But the diary of Anne Frank, which I read, um I read I've read often, um, and I I think about young people and the barriers that that they have to overcome and the attitude and the grace and the poise in which they carry themselves. Um and and I that's that book sticks with me. And I and um as I think about my own journey and how I want to carry myself and help uplift the next generation um of young people. Um they inspire me to do better always.

SPEAKER_01 37:25

Hannah I can't imagine you getting better than you are today because you are a light on this community, and I watch you navigate with poise, grace, and compassion, empathy, all of those skills that I myself want to impart to my daughter, and I know that your daughters are so lucky to have you as a role model. Your husband, whose dream you're currently living, that's in Jacksonville, is also extremely lucky. So I want to thank you for being on Schmooze with Suze. And if anyone wanted to reach out to you, where would they find Thrive Scholars Jacksonville?

SPEAKER_02 38:01

Easiest way because my husband is so lucky that I married him and took on his long last name. So I'm not gonna tell you my email address, but thrivescholars.org backslash Jacksonville, and all my information is there.

SPEAKER_01 38:16

Thank you so much for being here, Hannah. Thank you for the opportunity. There's something

Why Being The First Can Feel Lonely

SPEAKER_01 38:21

powerful about the word first. The first person to walk through a door no one in your family ever knew existed, the first person to fill out a college application, the first person to move from survival to possibility. In my family, four Holocaust survivors built lives after unimaginable loss. My parents came to this country as immigrants, carrying hope, resilience, and the belief that education could create choices they never had. I became the first person in my family who even knew what college was, and they became the first people to send my college graduation applaud proudly. What I realize now is that being the first can feel exciting, but it can also feel lonely because firsts often come with no blueprint, no inherited instruction, no one saying here's what happens next. You just keep stepping forward and hoping the ground appears beneath your feet. What Hannah and Thrive Scholars Jacksonville reminded us today is that talent isn't the rare thing. Potential isn't the rare thing. Opportunity is. And maybe one of the greatest forms of leadership isn't being the smartest person in the room. Maybe it's turning around after you've climbed a few steps and saying, Come on, there's room up here. There are kids sitting in classrooms right now who are future doctors, entrepreneurs, engineers, educators, civic leaders, and change makers. They may not know it yet. Maybe they're carrying responsibilities bigger than homework. Maybe they don't have the roadmap. Maybe nobody in their family has done it before. But sometimes all it takes is one organization, one mentor, one conversation, one person saying, I see you, because belief has a funny way of becoming contagious. When we help one student succeed, we're rarely changing one life. We're changing family trees, we're investing in our communities, we're changing the stories that future generations will tell around their own kitchen tables. And years from now, someone somewhere may say, I was the first, and because someone invested in them, they won't be the last.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

Absolutely right.

Honorable Mensch Dr. Natalya Roby

SPEAKER_01 40:24

And now it's time for our honorable mention. Mensch is Yiddish for someone who shows up with integrity, responsibility, and heart. This week's honorable mensch is Dr. Natalia Roby, President and Chief Executive Officer of Episcopal Children's Services, one of Florida's largest early childhood and family service organizations. If today's conversation was about pathways, access, and creating opportunity, then Dr. Roby is someone doing that work at the very beginning of the story. We spend time talking about college readiness, workforce development, and preparing young people for success. But long before SAT scores, internships and career trajectories, there are tiny hands holding crayons, little voices learning confidence, and children building the foundation of who they believe they can be. Dr. Roby understands something important. Investment in children isn't charity, it's infrastructure. It's building futures before the world has a chance to tell a child what they can or cannot become. For being a fierce advocate for children and families, for seeing possibility where others may see obstacles, and for helping shape the next generation before they ever step into a classroom, a boardroom, or a stage. Dr. Natalia Roby, you are today's honorable mensch. That will

Closing Thanks And How To Follow

SPEAKER_01 41:39

do it for us today. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Shmooz with Suze. If this conversation made you think, feel, or see something a little differently, share it, because these conversations matter. Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for your daily dose of chutzpah. I'm Suze, your well informed smartass, reminding you what's an envelope if not for pushing. Stay inspired and inspiring.

Digital Dispatch Podcast Podcast Artwork Image

Schmooze with Suze

Suzie Becker

Hi, I’m Suze. Here with your weekly dose of culture, values and identity- and where we tackle those topics others may consider off-limits. A little about me, I’m a busy Gen X mom who, quite frankly, wanted to grow up like the Brady Bunch… but ended up being raised in the shadow of Schindler’s List. So this means I’ve spent a lifetime navigating these mixed messages we get hit with daily. You know those conversations- where we wonder if it’s safe to speak our minds? Can we share our experiences? Voice our fears and concerns, or should we just keep our mouths shut? Well, too bad. I need to know! But I’m no expert. So, I’m going to schmooze the experts and get their thoughts. Why? So, when we engage with our kids, colleagues, or the countless committees we interact with, we can do it with competence, kindness, confidence, and maybe a bit of humor. If this sounds like your cup of coffee- welcome to Schmooze with Suze.

Contact Show