In Episode 269, I have the pleasure of conversing with Mandy Ficara, Founder of Every Last One Rescue. After a 16-year creative career, Mandy decided this year to drop everything and start a dog rescue non-profit. Mandy has an Associate Degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications from Fashion Institute of Technology and Bachelor Degree in Apparel Merchandising and Product Development from Bowling Green State University.

Every Last One Rescue is a foster-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization, committed to making a difference in the lives of animals in our community. Founded with the belief that every animal deserves a second chance at life, it works tirelessly to rescue dogs from the unnecessary risk of euthanasia at overcrowded shelters, provide them with the love and care they need, and match them with loving foster homes while they wait for their adoption day.

I first found about Every Last One Rescue a week after it launched at March 2024, when I was walking official Premier Chess mascot Max and met volunteer Sara Heilbronner, who was walking Milton, who was the first dog adopted through Everyone Last One Rescue!

In the episode, we speak about non-profit management, fundraising, volunteering, the upcoming Rescue Puppy Yoga event on May 19, the adoption event at Boris and Horton on May 18 and more.

In Episode 268, I have the pleasure of conversing with Alex Bores, New York State Assemblymember, District 73, who I have known most of my life, since we played in a lot of scholastic tournaments. He was a PS 6 teammate of Stefan Botarelli, the younger brother of my Churchill teammate and 246th Podcast Guest Fabio Botarelli, Founder & President of Chessability NYC.

As the Assemblymember for the 73rd District of New York, Alex serves the Upper East Side, Midtown East, Turtle Bay, Murray Hill, and Sutton Place. He is a fifth-generation New Yorker who was born, raised, and lived his whole life in Manhattan. After PS 6, he attended Wagner and Hunter High School. He then graduated with honors from Cornell University and received a master’s in Computer Science from Georgia Tech.

As an engineer, he has helped the Department of Justice solve violent crimes in New York City, working with three Manhattan District Attorneys, and building software for local governments’ COVID relief programs that helped 50,000 families keep their homes warm and their water running.

A community advocate, Alex has organized campaigns that have secured severance pay for fired workers, passed commonsense rent regulation, and reformed government procurement. Alex also worked to get the last form of mass transit in New York City to appear on Google Maps (the aerial tram which connects the East Side to Roosevelt Island).

We speak about extracurriclulars, community outreach, The Queen's Gambit Netflix series, artificial intelligence, the protests at Columbia University, strategic thinking in chess and politics, affordable housing, and more.

In Episode 267, I have the pleasure of conversing with Ranae Bartlett, who became US Chess Executive Director last month. She started at US Chess in September 2023 as Director of Operations. Before joining US Chess, Ranae was an Assistant General Counsel for a Fortune 5 company. She served as a local school board member in Madison, Alabama for ten years and advocated for chess education and funding chess initiatives in her school system. Ranae founded Madison City Chess League, a non-profit chess organization where she served as Executive Director for ten years and conducted over eighty chess tournaments. In 2020, she became the first Education Director at ChessKid.com, and in 2022 she co-chaired the Chess In Education Committee for US Chess.

We speak about her current plans for US Chess, The Nationals, the disparity of gender in chess, fundraising, ratings, Tournament Director certifications, the upcoming Saint Louis Chess Conference, the alabama chess scene, title 1 funds, our 2024 Summer Chess and Table Tennis Camp, pickleball, unrated events, the upcoming Chess in Education webinar How Philanthrophy Supports Chess in Education with our 47th Podcast Guest Dewain Barber, "the Dean of Scholastic Chess", John D. Rockefeller V, US Chess Director of Development Geoff Isaak, and Mark Indermaur, moderator, and more.