Urban Alchemy knows the skills and energy of people who were once incarcerated can transform people and places through love and respect.
MONTEREY, CA, UNITED STATES, July 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast, a collaboration of KAZU 90.3 and Monterey College of Law, welcomes Dr. Lena Miller, CEO and Founder of Urban Alchemy. Dr. Miller is a leading innovator in applying trauma-informed principles to public challenges such as homelessness, addiction, mental health, and police response. She founded Urban Alchemy, a nonprofit organization with a mission to transform people and places through love and respect and to heal communities challenged by the intersection of extreme poverty, mental illness, addiction, and homelessness. As the Founder of Urban Alchemy, Miller has created the largest community-based public safety programs in the nation, operating in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Austin, and Portland, Oregon.
Dr. Miller offers expertise in the fields of psychology, education, and activism, which all inform Urban Alchemy’s programs that help municipalities implement sustainable, human-centered initiatives that have a demonstrated ability to move individuals off the streets and reduce crime in urban areas. Prior to founding Urban Alchemy, Dr. Miller was the Executive Director and founder of Hunters Point Family agency that provided programming in youth development, arts, education, entrepreneurial ventures, workforce development, violence prevention, workforce re-entry, and environmental initiatives.
Dr. Miller has a Doctorate in Psychology from the University of San Francisco. She currently resides in San Francisco and is committed to bringing a peaceful and supportive presence, inviting communities to rebuild and restore a sense of pride and respect in traumatized spaces.
Dr. Miller’s episode on SideBar: Optimism in Action goes live Tuesday, July 7, 2026 on www.kazu.org/sidebar.
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KAZU 90.3 radio and SideBarMedia are excited to collaborate to add SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast to KAZU’s digital programming on the station’s website (www.kazu.org/sidebar). KAZU is the NPR affiliate station for Monterey, Salinas, and Santa Cruz. The SideBar: Optimism in Action podcast – sponsored by Monterey College of Law, a long-standing nonprofit sponsor of KAZU 90.3 radio – has become the first non-newscast, locally produced podcast featured on the KAZU website and mobile application.
SideBar: Optimism in Action is hosted by former law dean Mitch Winick, produced by David Eakin, a local theater composer, media consultant, and podcast producer, and promoted by Dena Dowsett, social media specialist. “The podcast features nonprofit leaders, advocates, and community members who represent extraordinary work that is improving the humanitarian, public policy, and charitable needs of our local, national, and global communities. Our focus this season is on the amazing individuals who are pursuing positive change during challenging times,” explained Winick.
New episodes of SideBar: Optimism in Action are published on the first and third Tuesdays of each month at www.kazu.org/sidebar. To learn more about the podcast, read our blog, and to preview and listen to more than 90 previous episodes, go to SideBarMedia at www.sidebarmedia.org. To learn more about Dr. Lena Miller and Urban Alchemy, go to https://urban-alchemy.us/
Mitchel Winick
SideBar Media
+1 831-241-8999
email us here
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