Exceptionally Good: Leaders for a Better World
We bring you in-depth interviews with exceptional leaders who drive toward a different bottom line — leaders from health care, philanthropy, non-profits, education and rescue services who are doing exceptional work for the good of the world. Exploring their origin stories, their leadership journey and the lessons they learned on their path -- sometimes the hard way -- we bring you close to understand how exceptional leaders tick.
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Exceptionally Good: Leaders for a Better World
16. Dr. César Cruz - Drawing on AI: Ancestral Intelligence
In this episode, we hear stories — an ancient form of wisdom — as I get to talk with the incomparable Dr. César Cruz.
A Mexican-born, Compton-raised educator, César has spent over three decades walking alongside young people who the system has marginalized—not to fix them, but to help them remember their worth. He is the co-founder of Homies Empowerment, a grassroots organization in East Oakland that began as a leadership class for gang-impacted youth and has grown into a full ecosystem for good.
In this deeply powerful and provocative conversation, he shares how AI “ancestral intelligence,” grief, graffiti, and basic human needs for belonging all shaped his vision for education.
In This Episode, we discuss:
- Speaking your truth and acting from the lessons of experience
- What gangs, and Girl Scouts have in common
- The journey from subtractive schooling to self-liberation
- Harvard, the complexity of his experience at a famous institution
- The dangers of founder syndrome and the healing power of letting go
- Learning from the deep challenges of being in the darkness of inner struggle — and the power of ancestors to bring us back
- Building a high school that centers youth voice, justice, and joy
“You are not what you do. You are not a human doer, you are a human being. So stop doing and just be.”
Relevant Links:
Maslow vs Blackfoot - Shane Safir
Ikigai - a passion that gives value and joy to life
The four categories:
- “what you love,”
- “what the world needs,”
- “what you can be paid for,” and
- “what you are good at”
Immunity to Change - the book for sale at Bookshop.org through Semicolon Bookshop
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Work with Ryan:
https://www.exceptionallygood.org/services
Exceptionally Good Articles on Substack:
https://substack.com/@exceptionallygood
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Producer, editor and host: Ryan Maxwell
Theme music: Ryan Raddatz
Guitar music: Adeline’s Guitar
The views shared on this podcast are those of my guests and the host and do not necessarily reflect those of any employer past or present.