Optimistic Voices

Vital voices in the fields of global health, global child welfare reform and family separation, and those intent on conducting ethical missions in low resource communities and developing nations. Join our hosts as they engage in conversations with diverse guests from across the globe, sharing optimistic views, experiences, and suggestions for better and best practices as they discuss these difficult topics.

Podcasting since 2022 • 74 episodes

Optimistic Voices

Latest Episodes

Systems Thinking That Works

In this episode, our co-hosts explore how the smartest move for engaging in global alliances in child welfare, health, and economic development might be asking a better question, not funding a bigger fix. We talk with David Peter Strohl, intern...

October 21, 2026 • 1:08:07

Radical Courage - 3 Women Willing to Pay the Price to Put Children First

A lot of people want to help vulnerable children, but few of us stop to ask the hardest question: what if we are the problem? Our support of children in adversity could be fueling family separation and making the situation worse. Dr. Laura Horv...

April 22, 2026 • Season 5 • Episode 5 • 1:20:53

Home Before The War - Nab's Journey Begins With Family

Home can disappear in a single night but the memory of it can keep you alive for years. We sit down with Emmanuel Mohammed Nabieu, known as Nabs, to begin a multi-part Child’s View journey that starts before conflict, before separation, and bef...

April 08, 2026 • Season 5 • Episode 4 • 38:44

The $4.5 Billion Disconnect Between What We Believe and Do About Orphans

Ninety percent of US Christians agree children thrive best in families. So why do so many of us still send money to orphanages and residential care? The latest Barna study puts real numbers on a problem we can’t hand-wave anymore: 28% of Christ...

March 29, 2026 • Season 5 • Episode 3 • 1:15:20

Trust for Africa - Rethinking Aid, Ownership, and Partnership for Child Welfare

Trust isn’t a slogan when children’s safety is on the line—it’s a discipline. We sit down with Naomi Schalm, Executive Director of Trust for Africa in Lesotho, to unpack what radical trust really requires in cross-cultural child welfare: honest...

February 28, 2026 • Season 5 • Episode 2 • 1:03:46