Why This COO Says Your Ceiling Is Meant to Be Broken

[0:16]  Welcome back to the Heart and Hustle podcast. We got Mr. Raimi in the building. What's good, man?

[0:21]  How you doing, man? Thanks for having me.

[0:21]  Yeah, I didn't have yeah, for sure, bro. I didn't have this plan by the way, but I was about to take a sip of my coffee and I was like, yo, Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, 'cause y'all got Dunkin' Donuts all over the place, don't y'all?

[0:31]  we do. I mean Starbucks is right right up there too in every corner, so yeah, yeah.

[0:37]  Yeah. I felt like when I went to New York, man, I felt I seen all these Dunkin' Donuts and I'm like, yo, is this like a up north thing that y'all just have these Dunkins all over the place?

[0:43]  Yeah. No, listen, for every every corner you'll have a Duncan, you'll have a Starbucks right across the street, so

[0:49]  Alright, so y'all your times have changed. And I haven't been there in a minute, man, but born and raised in New York, right?

[0:54]  yeah ma harlam harlem kid true and true so

[0:57]  Love it, man. Love it. You've never thought about leaving?

[1:00]  listen, I moved out to Jersey a few years ago, but I work in New York and folks asked me, it's like, Yo, why do you do that commute? And I'm like, I see myself in no other place than my own community coming back and giving back to So I'm I'm here for the long run, man.

[1:14]  Love that. And that leads us right into man, what organization do you represent? What is the title that you hold?

[1:19]  Yeah, I am the chief operating officer at Dream Charter School, which is a charter management organization based out of East Harlem in the South Bronx. Currently we serve over twenty six hundred students across early childhood to twelfth grade, but also support young people through the ages of twenty-four. and we've been a pillar in the community since nineteen ninety one. So we we've been around for a hot minute.

[1:47]  As long as I've been alive, man, I'm 36. Y'all been around about 35 years, so yeesh.

[1:50]  Yeah yeah, we've been we've been around for a little bit.

[1:54]  You know, I consider myself old, so you guys are old organization, you know what I mean?

[1:57]  Yeah, you know we're we're we're mature, mature organizations what we call it.

[2:00]  But sure, that's what it is. I like that. I like that. Yeah, I I really got a question that now that I think about it. You know, public school or any school that I go to, you always got a mixture. You got people that come from New York, people that were here, born, raised, or whatever. What does it look like at the school level? Is everybody from New York? Or do you get that, nah I'm from here, I'm from here? I d I would love to know.

[2:17]  Yeah, I think one of the beautiful things about Dream and Organization is we started out as a community based organization.

[2:25]  Mm-hmm.

[2:25]  and we've evolved quite drastically over the course of the years. So we started out in nineteen ninety one as a summer baseball program that

[2:32]  Wow.

[2:32]  was ran by a group of volunteers that transformed an abandoned garbage throne lab into two baseball diamonds for our young people in East Harlem. And we did so in a community that was considered by the New York Times at the time as the worst block in MY NYC. And

[2:51]  Wow.

[2:51]  I say that to say because in our DNA and the way we approach and believe about the work is the community-oriented approach. We do the work alongside our community, alongside our people, and ultimately for our people. So a lot of what you'll see from when we launched our after school program to our charter schools, you see people that are from the community and come back. We have parents in our in in our in our community right now that were participants in the program back in the day. We have young people who are now staff members. so you'll see a lot of folks from the community both in East Harlem and the South Bronx. so we're pretty we're we're pretty we're pretty close in in terms of our Oregon and folks come are pretty local to our schools.

[3:35]  I love it, man. And and you know, it seems like you're in this space of just chasing passion and purpose. How do you how do you get here? You know, a lot of times we chase paychecks. And I think a lot of times we're trained to go chase the money. But in reality, the the reward is really in helping somebody else see the other side. I can imagine individuals like us probably have family that don't get to see the other side, right? Like how does you how do you get here helping others pouring leading I would say really fertilizing the future.

[4:08]  Yeah. Yeah, and I think a lot of my beliefs and identity as a leader has been shaped by my experience as a New York City and Harlem native, but also as a Latino man growing up in New York City. you know, I come from a Dominican, Puerto Rican household. I was raised by two phenomenally strong Latino women, my mother and my grandmother. and my story is very similar to what you often see in our communities. I didn't grow up without a f I grew up without a father. you know, I grew up in poverty. you know, my day to day experience as a young person looked like me not knowing when we would have food and we would and when we wouldn't. I was food insecure, I was homeless. and I also resorted to the streets and the gang life when I was a young person. And a lot of that was really shaped by what I was experiencing and the narrative that I saw being placed by society on people who came from where I came from and looked the way I looked. and it really took kind of some some deep trauma and experiences. So I lost my mother to drug addiction and a drug overdose. I also lost a brother to gun violence, where I personally witnessed him getting killed just a few steps away from me. and it really took those experiences, albeit hard, for me to choose a different path. And ultimately where I am at today and the opportunities that I get to give back, was really shaped by key figures in my life from my grandmother always instilling in me to find pa purpose in what I do, always instilling in me the power of impacting others. and I remember she used to always tell me, she's like, Listen, it don't matter how much you make, it don't matter what title you hold, it don't matter what job you hold, if at the end of the day, when all is said and done and when it's your time to go, if people don't remember you for the way you made them feel, the impact you had on them, both on a personal and professional level, then guess what? The money can't go with you, right? So

[6:25]  Yeah.

[6:25]  I really see value in in really my my focus on ensuring that at the end of the day, whether it's one person or a hundred people, that I have a positive contribution to my community, to the people that I interact with, and play a role in really shaping a different narrative and future for young people like me, to to not have to go through what I went through to not have the experiences, the hurdles and challenges that I had to experience.

[6:50]  My God, you're like a mo motivational speaker. I'm listening to you like, let's go, Ravy. Let's

[6:54]  Yeah, I appreciate you.

[6:55]  go. Yo, how how does it make you feel, man? How does it you know, y you talked about just the beginning of of your your young adult times, right? And and who you are today. And we're still, as you mentioned, we're we're still a little seasoned, you know, young adults, I would say. But how do you feel about yourself, man? Knowing that this is where I was and this is where I am today.

[7:16]  Yeah, I think if I had to look at over the course of both my my life and career, there's been a lot of hiccups along the way, a lot of bumps along the way. and I can say that where I am today is where I've always been. I've definitely, you know, been on my leadership journey. I've had to find myself. You know, I've ha I've been a leader who's compromised or watered down who I am in my in my core, to try to fit into what I believed or what others believed was a typical mode of what a successful leader could be. and ultimately as I got older, as I got more experience and as I got the the blessing to to be mentored by some of the the best to do it, I learned that there's power in both me as a as a human, but also there's power in my story. And my grandmother used to say this, my wife says this all the time. Your trial is your testimony and what I previously early in my career would try to hide those personal aspects of myself. I see that as as power now. So I always joke, I'm like, you're gonna see me, the leader you're gonna get is a leader who's gonna rock his braids, who's gonna wear his Jordans, who's gonna talk real New York. And I do that because not only is that who I am, but I've personally seen the power of a young person being able to see you. And I remember a student in the hallways that I interacted with a few years ago. Had asked me, he's like, Hey, hey, what do you here? And I'm like, I'm the chief operating officer. And just to see that young person's face light up and be like, you serious? You do that type of work? and just see kind of the realm of possibilities in what that person saw in them young person saw in themselves, is why

[8:58]  Yeah.

[8:58]  I do this work. It's to show a proof point of, hey, as long as you put the work, as long as you put your mind to it, and are willing to break down whatever barriers exist. then you can achieve whatever you want. And that that's my goal is be able to to show others what they're what what they're you know, capable of, but also, you know, break break down barriers and give them the resources that they need to be successful in life.

[9:21]  I love that man. You when we talk about being authentic, that is so important nowadays, especially for the younger generation. They can read and see the BS from miles away. So it's like, yo, be you, meet them and and it also helps us meet them where they're at. Right now they feel a little bit more confident to approach us because we're not in a sudden tie. You know, that you are you just show up as you, man. I think that's so important because as kids we always wanted to show up as us. And then we was always sent in these different directions and representation. you know, matter so much. I always, and not just representation, the color of our skins, but the stories you we tell, right? Like you just mentioned. Kids realize, like, damn, if Raimi experienced this and Raimi could be here, then why can I? You know, or maybe they go into that same situation and realize like, man, maybe I should talk to Raimi a little bit more. You know, so I I I I love to I just love storytelling for that reason, man. Because I got to see so many people That had nothing and became something in their life. And and I'm just, you know, I'm I'm I'm still working on it, I would say. Life is a roller coaster. You talk it to the we're talking really to the young'uns, right? You're working with them all the time. Like, I want them to understand, yo, life be life in. You know what I'm saying? But just never give up. And you talked about mentor. How important is a mentor to you or was in your life, probably still to this day, is in your life.

[10:43]  Yeah. Yeah, and I think that's a great question. I would say like I do not become the person I am today. I do not get access to the opportunities that I've been exposed to and have

[10:54]  Mm-hmm.

[10:54]  today, without the village of supporters guiding me along the way. I was I was rough around the edges to say the least, growing up. and no, but based on my circumstances, like it would have been easy, both easy and understandable for me to go down a less productive path. but I had people who saw me who invested in me, whether it was my grandmother or mother, ensuring that I got access to you know, better schools. I remember going to a high school my first two years, where I would see I'm walking a math class and I see kids getting stabbed, or having to go through metal detectors every day, or going through buildings that bathrooms didn't work. I had to go across the street for bathrooms, or there wasn't water that you can actually drink. And I remember my mother trying trying to find a different school for me to get access to, which I eventually did. but then you have mentors both in school. I remember to this day one of the one of, if not the most influential person in my life, my baseball coach and history teacher, Mr. Quesada, who I quite literally attribute to saving my life. remember when I lost my my brother, I was a hothead on the time, right? And I remember going to practice the day after. And lashing out, having a rough practice, cursing him out as a coach, cursing my teammates out, and just not reflecting my best self. And I remember in that moment, he kicked me out of practice. And walking to the locker room, I was like, you know what? This is just what life is meant to be,

[12:26]  Yeah.

[12:27]  for people like me. And in a moment where it could have been easy for him to say, you know what, I'm gonna chuck kid the deuces, I'll find someone else. he stuck with me. And I remember him walking into that locker room and telling me. Hey, I actually kicked you out because I believed that you could do better and do more. And I never had anyone, let alone a Latino male, tell me that. and tell me that they expected more from me. And since that day, from that day on, I I started to rewrite my narrative, started to make better choices, I started to lock in and do better work, both in school and outside of school.

[13:02]  Yeah.

[13:02]  and since then, you know, the rest is history. and I've had no access to great professional mentors. to my principal mentors, Lavinia Makle, Jennifer Haynes, to my current mentors, you know, our co-CEOs, Rich Berlin, Eve Calabito, to, you know, peers that I work with, such as Chris Delane. I see the model and the power of leadership. I see the model and the power of giving back and pouring into the community. But I also see the power and the model of owning who you are and leveraging that and leveraging your experience a as a superpower, not not a deficit.

[13:39]  Talking some good stuff right there, man. That's why teacher are underrated and underpaid. You know what I mean? Like I I am truly right now in this process. I I lead a foundation and one of the first events is we're having is a legacy night. And my my brain went into we gotta invite those teachers from like ten, twenty years ago, especially I've been out of school for twenty years, but you would love to see that teacher that change your life. Because to me it was the same thing, man. It was educators that seen more in me than I seen in myself. you know, that believe I could. When I was like, there's no way someone like myself, you know, I am one of seventeen kids could ever get on the other side because I didn't have that at home, right? I didn't see that. and to have another male, like you said, a Latino, to to say that to you, goes back to representation. It goes back to a father figure. You know, when we lack that, it's so hard to just kind of navigate at times. And I think that's why dads are also very important in a child's life. Right. I mean, you a kid, you're a father nowadays, right?

[14:38]  Yeah, I got I got three my prides and joy. I got my my daughter's thirteen, I got my two boys nine and six, so

[14:44]  I mean, wha what what are you pouring into them nowadays, man? Now being a leader, now being able to be a father, what what are some of the things that you're like, yo, I need you to X Y Z?

[14:53]  Yeah, I mean, I remember when my my my firstborn was born, my daughter, it it quite literally changes your whole perspective on life. And it requires and pushes you to lock in in a different way, understanding that what's at stake is so much more than you now. and I think what that has really shaped for me is kind of two key aspects and how I live both my my life but also how I try to show up as a father. is one, motivation to Try to ensure that your kids and my kids have a life that's better than what I had, right? That have access

[15:30]  Mm.

[15:30]  to better schools, have access to better, you know, financial life than what I had. and that's just motivation to work hard and ensure that you lock in and give it a thousand percent every single day. but it also ensures that and the the power and I see this a lot both in schools but also with your with my own kids is they see everything and the power of moments.

[15:53]  Yeah.

[15:53]  And whether what you may think is a small moment of saying this word or this thing to a kid, but it means a lot coming from you as a father, you as an educator, and really pushes me to ensure that I'm being both mindful of how I show up, but ensure that I am setting the example of how I want them to live, the values I want them to uphold. and that's a lot of pressure, but also it's very fulfilling. to know that you you have the opportunity to shape the these li these young people, not not so young no more. I got a thirteen year old daughter about to go to high school next year. So I'm trying to cope with that still.

[16:33]  Man. man.

[16:33]  but yeah, just the power just the power of showing up. because when you're not there, if

[16:39]  Love it.

[16:39]  you're tired and you're not interacting, they notice that. If you come in

[16:43]  yeah.

[16:43]  grumpy and not not not the most positive, they notice that. so it just pushes me to to be want to be and work to be my best every single day.

[16:52]  I love that. Minds would notice and call it out. Nowadays they just don't care. Like they just say whatever they want to say. Like, yo, what what is wrong with you, bro?

[17:00]  Yeah.

[17:00]  no, I love it. what do you think your kids have taught you?

[17:03]  They taught me to love, man, and they taught me to be open. I am I'm naturally an introverted person. I I like to keep to myself, keep my circle small. but my my wife is quite literally the opposite of me and my kids are exactly like my wife. They're they're outgoing. they got a big circle. but

[17:23]  Love it.

[17:24]  they they've just pushed me really the to open up. you know, I'm a little bit old school in the sense of I was always taught keep it keep your poker face on. but they've taught me to open up and similar to what I what I noted about the power of living your truth and being your authentic self, also the power of being vulnerable and just naming how you're feeling. and that's something that was different for me before I had kids, but they've really taught me to like, you know, emotions are in deficit, own it, and

[17:55]  Mm-hmm.

[17:56]  then use it as a as an opportunity to be able to be a better communicator. and be a better connect better with with other people.

[18:03]  I love it, man. Yeah, I definitely say kids definitely they teach you, man. They teach you, they humble you. There's a lot of things that they they do for us. you know, they they'll definitely call out anything and everything. I I do love it though. I think it's truly a blessing. tell us a little bit more about we are dream. What what you know, or students-wise, how many students, what does it look like on a day-to-day for you guys?

[18:26]  Yeah, so I mentioned we started out in nineteen ninety-one. again in a community that have been pr disinvested historically, East Harlem. And you know, at the time it was considered one of the worst blocks in New York City. and it started with a group of volunteers. And I mentioned, you know, the power of believing in someone. and that that was the same premise. a belief in the community, a belief that what they the sub the supports they had been receiving or not. is not what they they deserve. They deserve more. And then just pouring in and making the necessary investment to help that community realize their absolute potential. so currently we we do charter schools, we say that all the time. We're we have charter schools, but we're so much more. so we serve young people from early childhood all the way to age of twenty four, whether it's through our schools, an early childhood program. Whether it's through our what we call our Legends program, which supports our young people in post secondary once they leave once they graduate. and once you're with us, you're with us for life. We're a community based you know organization and we support families as much as we do the students, understanding that to tackle the challenge of inequity, you gotta address it at every level. whether it's Rigorous academics, whether it's appropriate family supports, whether it's social emotional development, health and wellness, and deep family engagement. And what that looks like for us is running high quality schools that perform the state, city, and district. but and this past year, you know, we just achieve our highest results in our history. but also curriculum that integrates SEL, pairing with caring for adults at all our campuses, having access to sports. a robust scratch food program so that they ha have access to healthy nutritious meals as well as mental health providers. and among a variety of other things, such as families visits to homes before the first day of school, active family councils and things of that nature. But really tackling every aspect of a young person's life, all with the goal of helping them achieve what they see as success for their life and helping them to achieve a fulfilling future.

[20:47]  I love So how many kids are you guys serving on a yearly?

[20:51]  So currently we're serving over twenty six hundred students in all our schools and programs. and that that number, you know, our our goal is to serve as many kids as we can. but currently we serve over twenty six twenty six hundred students.

[21:05]  Was it was the highest you guys done, or is this the highest?

[21:07]  currently we're at our highest scale that we've that we have.

[21:11]  Love it. And you guys have room for more. So people that know and listening, you got room for more.

[21:15]  Listen, we're always we always joke like we never say no, 'cause you know, we we become whatever the community becomes. So if that means more schools, we'll do more schools. If that means more programs, we'll do more programs. So you'll you're rare you'll rarely hear no from us. We'll s we'll say not yet. but ultimately that's because we wanna wanna be whatever the community needs us to be.

[21:38]  Yeah. so just kinda listening to you, it seems like you guys are school, but you guys do offer programs after school as well.

[21:44]  Yeah, so we're an extended day, extended year program. that our in our approach is a grow whole child model that focuses on all the pillars I named. but we offer early childhood to twelfth grade programming, we offer extended day programming, and then we offer extended year programming. So essentially we're we're a year round operation. So once kids finish school, they can go into our extended learning and enrichment program, which is our after school period. and then once the ye school year ends, we then head into our summer programs period. so we're we're pretty robust and and unique operations.

[22:24]  This happened just all internal with a team, or do you guys also accept the volunteers to come in and help out? Like, what does that look like as well for the community to get involved?

[22:30]  Yeah, so we have all internal teams. so we have our school teams, we have our extended learning and enrichment teams, our summer teams. but we also have a strong volunteer program headed by members of our advancement team and we partner with extor external organization and partners that give back, whether it's volunteering at one of our pantry days, helping pack food. whether it's coming out the career days and speaking to the young people. but we're big on volunteers, 'cause we started out as a volunteer organization.

[23:06]  Yeah.

[23:06]  that's still very much part of our DNA.

[23:09]  Yeah, man. I think about this doesn't happen as you mentioned without the volunteers. And while you serve, you know, that many students, you also serve even more people. So you're serving these people by the thousands right now, man. Like, you know, you guys are really doing some some amazing things. How do people get inv like how do people support? Are you guys is it that you guys also accept donations? I'm I'm guessing is it that you guys are do just government funding? Like, what does it all look like for the financial backside of it?

[23:38]  Yeah, absolutely. anyone interested in learning more on how to contribute, can visit our website, we are dream.org. and then we're also we're always a h hop hops skip in a hop step away. so whether it's you know reaching out to members like myself or members of our advancement team, or whether it's reaching out to our general email to find out any opportunities to volunteer or partner. we're always looking for great mission-aligned organizations. and partners that are that are willing and interested in doing great work within our community.

[24:13]  What what with the alumni, are you guys staying communicated with them? I I can only imagine you guys keep them engaged as donors and bringing them back. But wha what stories come to mind about some of these alumni's where you maybe they didn't believe in themselves, but you've seen them on the other side and it just kind of fills your cup. You got any of those stories?

[24:31]  Yeah, I think one of the things that is really the the the finish line and the benchmark here is like our goal is really to create and cultivate again helping young people achieve success and not just in school but in life. but also success to us looks like when our young people and our alumni are running the organization. So our co CEOs, Rich Berlin Eve Calavito always say like, listen, we want to see one day where the CEO of these organiz of our Organization is an alumni. and I can think of kind of a perfect example, one of our current board members, Jalen Amaker, who is a a dream legend and dream alumni. And to be able to see and hear about his experience not only as a participant in the program, but also going to college, you know, again his law degree, and then coming back to be able to contribute back, not only as Department Advisory Council, but then now as a board member, I think shows a proof point of what what the what the work that we're we're doing with our young people and helping them get in positions of influence and positions where they can drive systemic change that can really drive impact in our communities.

[25:46]  Yeah, that's cool. Anytime that you can pull back that story, man, it is like see this is why we do it right here. This is always if you wanna know the why, look, this is the why right here. If if not yeah.

[25:55]  It grounds you right. When you put a person when you put a person to it and like an actual experience, it's d it is different.

[26:01]  I like it, man. What are some of the goals that you set out for yourself as a COO? can imagine at some point you you maybe transition somewhere else, but is there things that you know you want to get done before you even think about

[26:14]  Yeah, I mean I think my my biggest thing is I'm in this for the long run. This is this to me is not this to me is not a career, it's not a job. It it's it's life's work. and this to me is not about the money, not about the title, not about the positionality. It's about the impact. And there's a reason I'm still working in my community. and I'm very much driven by purpose and values aligned organizations. And when I found dream, I really found a home. so my work, whether it's in a capacity of working as a facilities porter or whether it's a COO, as long as I'm being able to contribute, give back to the community, help the community gain access to the resources they need, gain access to the types of spaces that they need and deserve, and ultimately play whatever role I need to play to help them achieve success for their life. And that's the name of the game for me. And I I will do that until my last breath. 'cause ultimately if you've you were to ask me what my what I want my legacy to be, I I want my legacy to be for even if it's one person to say, Hey, you know, that that person had a positive impact or helped me believe in myself a little bit more than I did before I interacted with them.

[27:29]  Love that man. It's great conversation, bro. I truly appreciate you just be on Authentically You. of course there's going to be a lot of young ones that listen to this, I can imagine. What do you say to those that may not be believing in themselves today? Me and you are representations of what it looked like when we didn't believe in ourselves, but we had people believe in ourselves. What is the message you share?

[27:50]  Yeah, I I would share a message that my grandma grandmother hammered home to me every single day is there are gonna be people, there's gonna be organizations, there'll be, you know, society will tell you this is what your ceiling is. This is what you know, that's much as you can do. and my grandmother used to s used to always say, if you hit a ceiling, break it and build a new one. so my message would be, your ceiling is whatever you want it to be. so whenever you feel like you hit a stopping point, break that bad boy and build the new one. and always be climbing to what the next thing is that's gonna help you elevate and help you get to what you define as success.

[28:33]  I appreciate you, sir. I appreciate you. Continue to just be yourself and never lose that, man. I've enjoyed this conversation with us, and I'm pretty sure the people that are listening or watching have been enjoying themselves. So I'm Ephrain. This is Ray Me. If you want to stay connected with what they're doing, it is wearedream.org. I catch you guys on the next one. Laters.