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> Curtis Jackson>Welcome to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. if you believe you can achieve.
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> Curtis Jackson>Welcome to the Living the Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire. Today's guest is someone who embodies resilience, reinvention, and purpose driven leadership. Mark Jeffries career began in the arts as he was a handpicked ballet protege by the legendary George Balanchine. But, at the age of 15, Mark suffered a couple of difficult tragedies, losing his brothers to aids, his brother to aids, and his mother to a sudden heart attack. These tragedies could have defined him, but instead it re strengthened his commitment and focus on shared support, community strength, and personal resilience. So we're going to be talking to Mark about his career and, you know, how those tragedies help shape him and everything that he's up to and gonna be up to. So. Mr.
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> Curtis Jackson>Jeffries, thank you for joining me.
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> Mark Jeffries>It's a pleasure to be here. I appreciate it.
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> Curtis Jackson>Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah. Thank you.
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> Mark Jeffries>So, Mark Jeffries, I, am currently a elected official. I'm, a councilman in the city of Cincinnati. I've been elected three times. this is, I always say this is my third phase in life.
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> Mark Jeffries>So as you mentioned, I actually grew up in New York, son of an immigrant. my dad and parents were dirt poor, didn't, have anything. And in fact, my father was a janitor. My first job was his janitor. and I several, times my mom was on food stamps just to get by. And as you alluded, we were steeped into the arts and my mom played piano for ballet classes. And like a lot of kids, I wanted to be a professional athlete. A lot of kids wanted to pursue that and, and my sister encouraged me to study dance and I was open to it and so decided to audition and was in all the Nutcrackers as a kid.
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> Mark Jeffries>And when I was 13, older, gentleman entered the class who was George Balanchine, who was the kind of legendary founder of ballet in America. And he chose me to enter the special men's program, an apprenticeship to New York City Ballet. So I quit school and I, then pursued that, professionally when I was 16, as you, as you mentioned, well, 15, my mom passed from a heart attack, my brother soon thereafter. And those really shaped my path going forward. ballet is an amazing career and, though it's very limiting, one has to retire when you're 35. it's very limited in terms of education and the opportunity to have a family. And so, so I was shaped by the sudden passing of these two people who I, obviously, deeply were a part of my life and decided to take a different direction. So I, went on to. Went back to normal, quote, unquote, normal school. ended up, going to the University of Chicago. I worked as a laborer local, 59. this is how I paid my way through college as a laborer working 78 hours a week. and then went to college, went on to going to business school and ultimately I ended up at Procter and Gamble. I was with P and G and became an executive at Procter and Gamble over 17 years and ran the Gillette business and Pampers. and it was during that time that I really started realizing how critical, my upbringing was and how it wasn't really a source of shame, but it was really a source of my strength. And I started to at that point, become more confident in this kind of elite company to tell my story and share more of that upbringing. And so that really started becoming more of a defined part of my life. I at the same time started becoming more involved with the community. I built out a park here in Cincinnati that's was rated the best riverfront park in the country, Smale Park. So a portion of that was a, piece that I worked on while I was at P and G and then decided to leave after they wanted me to go to Asia and didn't work for me and my four kids and my wife and so decided to leave and became an entrepreneur. And over time, as my involvement with the community became deeper, I decided to run for office and ran for Cincinnati City Council. It turns out that I won the first time and I've been serving and really enjoyed that service in the community.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, talk about how being handpicked as a ballet protege by George Balanchine in your early career, how did that shape your identity and work ethic?
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, it's the. It definitely shaped my work ethic, you know, so people who are dancers are incredibly resilient, and self driven. I at the time was fortunate enough to have ah, somebody sponsor tutors for me and that enabled me to get tutoring. So I was out of traditional school for several years, and during that time, was fortunate to have that structure of tutoring. But with that obviously comes a lot of discipline. And so it definitely shaped my sense of discipline. and it shaped my sense of purpose. and I am forever grateful for that.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, let's talk about how the loss of your mother and brother at such a young age reshaped your view of life and purpose.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, I mean, I was like a typical kid. so I was one of four. I was the. The. I, was the baby. And we adopted my eldest brother actually when I was, When I was around eight or so. and when he moved in with us and. And he was himself adopted by another family. But this was during the 80s and he had come out as gay when he was 16 and his adopted family at the time disowned him. So he came in and moved in with us and he became my brother. and part of our core family. And, was super tight with my mom. And then one day when I was 15, my, mom just left, for the day. she had no health problems that we knew of and got a call from my dad that she was in the hospital and had a massive heart attack. And I got there and she was already dead.
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> Mark Jeffries>So, soon thereafter, my brother, contracted hiv.
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> Mark Jeffries>This was before, the AZT or any of the medication.
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> Mark Jeffries>It was kind of the early days of AIDS where there was a lot of hysteria. People didn't know what caused it. People didn't know, whether it was contagious. and so he got, HIV and that became aids. And again, that was before treatment. Today people are able to get treatment and he passed soon thereafter. And so both, as you can imagine for someone of that age, it's a really, shaping experience. and it is really defining because, as you know, I'm sure when you were a kid you felt invisible and nothing, you know, nothing's going to stop you. And then, you know, when I was 15, and shortly thereafter, confronted with the reality that, you know, life is very short, and we. We need to be very deliberate about the choices that we make, in life and the life that we. We want to live.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, you. You often talk about the importance of shared support. So talk about what that looks like in practical terms for somebody who might be first facing personal hardship.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, I'm incredibly bothered these days that, we.
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> Mark Jeffries>I mean, especially in America, we have this idea of bootstrapping. Everyone should be doing it on their own and you don't need any help and that there's something almost wrong with you if you get help. but I'm a big believer based on my personal Experience of what I call the trifecta of support.
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> Mark Jeffries>And everyone has it and everybody needs it. that support from family, from community, and yes, institutions such as the government, and I don't care if you are our president, Donald Trump or Elon Musk, they had help too. Everyone has help.
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> Mark Jeffries>And, we increasingly are claiming, that people don't need help and the scaffolding of support that. That everyone needs. but they do. But in my case, when my mom passed and my brother, I had the support of family, I had the support of neighbors in our. You know, I grew up on the Upper west side, in the 70s and 80s when it was not the, you know, the neighborhood that it is today. It was very gritty, had a lot of crime, but I had support from my neighbors. I had support from teachers. I ultimately had support from the government and the stay in the form of food stamps when my mom, passed the support of a union in order to be able to go to college. And I think that, trifecta of support is something that we need to return to as a society that, we all succeed through the help of others. And I think, if we deny that, it's very dangerous because it absolves all of us of responsibility, to help others. And that's one of the firm beliefs that I have and one of the reasons why I also entered public service.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, going from ballet to nearly two decades at Procter and Gamble is quite a shift.
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> Curtis Jackson>So talk about, how you were able to make the transition from the arts to corporate leadership.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, it definitely happened over time. And I had no idea or plans to go into business at all. so I went undergrad to University of Chicago. I studied history, just because I have a passion for history and a sense of identity, and trying to understand my own identity with my father. Came, to this country from Holland, changed his name, Anglicized his name. And so I was always fascinated by how we define what it is to be an American and how one defines one's identity. And so that's what I focused on in college and left college and, ultimately went down to Washington D.C. and wanted, to work in public policy in some fashion.
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> Mark Jeffries>couldn't find a job, so I interned for free. And during that time I worked for a moving company. On Saturdays, I waited tables, and worked at a gym until I eventually got hired. And I worked on Capitol Hill for three years doing public policy work for two members of Congress, which was an amazing experience that really Shaped me. But at the same time I was ready to set down roots with a family. And you know, I, I didn't want my children to have the uncertainty that I did financially growing up of, of going living paycheck to paycheck. And I wanted to therefore pursue a career in business. So I went back to business school at Georgetown and interned at Colgate during my time in New York, because I thought I wanted to go back to New York, but I had a offer with Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. And I had no idea what Cincinnati was like, and said, ah, ah, I'll go there for two years and then I'll go somewhere else. And you know, those two years became 17. And it was an amazing, experience. it's a really iconic, company with iconic brands. And really had the opportunity to present to even the board of directors, on several occasions. And that was quite a journey for me to go from the, the boiler room in the union hall to, to ultimately to the board room at, at P and G. And, and as I said, so my last assignment was running the Gillette business. They asked me to run it and I, I was commuting to Boston, because I, I wasn't going to move, given my wife is a pediatrician in Cincinnati. We have four kids. And then they asked me to move to Singapore and I said no, that's not what's in my future because I didn't want to uproot our kids. I think one has to define what's most important to you at different points in your life. Is it more important to have that stability for your children, or just pursue your career and uproot them? And so I decided to leave and, and start my own company. And that was the, the journey from the arts to Procter and Gamble and business leadership.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, during your time at P and G, what are the most valuable leadership lessons that you learned?
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> Mark Jeffries>great question. I mean you, know, I would say, first I learned that my. And I learned this from one of my bosses. He was the general manager of Pampers, Kirk Perry at the time. and I learned that my upbringing, which I frankly, did not share with anyone until I was 36 years old at P and G.
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> Mark Jeffries>Upbringing meaning growing up poor and on, food stamps. I didn't share any of that with anyone.
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> Mark Jeffries>And when I met, Kirk Perry, my boss, he had shared during his onboardings with people about his upbringing, where he grew up similar on food stamps, worked at Wendy's etc as a kid to make his way through college. And I was inspired by that.
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> Mark Jeffries>That you know, that your. My background shouldn't be, you know, a sense of shame, but it should be a sense of strength. and in many ways I think my work ethic was, Was running from my past and trying to bury this past. But in fact, I, think it was my strength. So that was one of the things that, that I learned is I think when you share who you are with people, that inspires them. And I will tell you, you know, I had numerous people working for me after that, when I shared my story, that they told me things that no one knew that, ah, about them at the company. That, you know, for example, that they were gay or that they had this experience they grew up with that alcoholic parent or something else. And that created a bond. And what I learned from that is, look, there's two types of power. There's personal power and positional power. And positional power is you follow the person because they have the title, they're your boss, they're the director, they're a political, leader. But the real power is in personal power, where people follow you because they're inspired by you, because they believe in you, because, you're authentic. That was one of the things that, I took with me. the other, I think were kind of the classic business frameworks that one learns in business, which I do believe translate very well into problem solving in government. And I've taken a lot of those lessons and use them in a public service context, to really, try to have as much of an impact as I could.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, talk about what actually motivated you to go from corporate leadership to public office and what surprised you the most about serving on Cincinnati City Council?
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, I think a couple of things. So I started thinking about it really as, the. Without getting too political, the first Donald, Trump presidency, where, as I mentioned, I think this idea of nostalgia for a time when everyone bootstrapped it and everyone kind of made things on their own. You didn't need anyone. And I thought it was misguided. so that was one thing that motivated me, that, hey, I wanted to restore, this kind of infrastructure and the scaffolding, especially for neighborhoods that are forgotten. So that's one.
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> Mark Jeffries>The second is that I wanted to restore politics of respect. I think in many ways, regardless of one's party, we've lost that time when you can disagree without being disagreeable. And I wanted to Enter politics. To, restore that sense of dignity and respect, that I think we all should aspire to. And the third is to restore some trust in government.
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> Mark Jeffries>Good trust in government is at its lowest. I don't care what level of government it is. Trust and institution institutions is at its lowest, whether it's medical institutions or others. and I think the way that you restore trust is by showing up.
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> Mark Jeffries>The way you restore trust is by solving little problems, along the way. And those little problems become bigger. And gradually I think hopefully the public starts, getting more trust in their government, which I think is imperative in a democracy. So those are the things, the reasons why, I entered.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, talk about how you effectively combine business strategy with civic responsibility to create real community impact.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, I think, the first is in. I mentioned a lot of the frameworks that I, having served as an executive at P and G, that I took with me that I apply in, in business. and you know, the first is this phrase at Procter and Gamble called what has to be true. And so in not just the png, but in a lot of business, you know, there's just like in government there are a lot of barriers to, solving problems. People say, oh, it's just too difficult, it's too expensive. And instead of focusing on those, this is a framework I've used multiple times to say, well, no, what needs to be true?
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> Mark Jeffries>What kind of, what are the conditions in order to make this change happen? and that might be, hey, you need X number of resources or, you know, maybe you need to change a law. and you know, I mean, I think that has been, you know, incredibly powerful, in a lot of the work that I've done. And you know, I would, I would say the second is, you know, this concept of a, ah, problem, well defined as a problem half solved. So the idea that the more you can understand the problem, that you're trying to address, the solution starts becoming more apparent. And so I think in each of these cases, you start realizing that where do you focus on? Do you focus on your. There's three spheres, sphere of control, influence and concern. And this is true in my philosophy in personal life, but also in government that we have a lot of things to be concerned about in this world. And I try my best not to lose sleep over those, but really focus more on, yes, the things we can try to influence, where each of us has influence. But really what is the sphere of control? What can we control? How can we have an impact in our sphere of control. And that's the philosophy that I have in public service to, try to focus on those areas where I can control, where I can influence, in some way.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, let's talk about your nonprofit. tell the listeners about your nonprofit. And what gap did you see that encouraged you to found the nonprofit and what impact that your nonprofit has made that you are most proud of.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, so the, the non profit I founded when I was at P and G, and it happened organically. It's called Go Vibrant. And the mission statement is, making an active, energetic lifestyle irresistible. It's this idea that if you can make activity irresistible, make it irresistible for people to be active, then they will be much more inclined to do it. And we're a very sedentary society, as you know. I mean, especially this day and age with phones and, and video games and screens. And so we need to encourage people to be active and understand the sense of connection that comes with that. And so this came organically.
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> Mark Jeffries>When I was at P and G, I started working on the health initiative. It's called P and G Vibrant Living. And started with walking because I was working out of our downtown location. And we wanted to put in some walking routes downtown to get people walking, because walking is an incredible, form of exercise. It doesn't require any money. Nobody's, going to make fun of you because you don't have the right equipment or, you know, you have the wrong, you know, forum or something like that. And so gradually that evolved where we had walking routes in different neighborhoods. And then as I mentioned, I ultimately built out this park, in our, on our riverfront. And that really came from a trip that I made with my wife to, Vienna, as it turns out.
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> Mark Jeffries>And I saw this amazing park where movement caused things to happen. It was the Schomburg Palace. And I came back and I shared it with this gentleman at Procter and Gamble who was in charge of the fund, the, foundation fund. And I said, how do we bring this to Cincinnati? And he said, well, it's interesting that, it just so happens we're looking to give a gift to the city for 175th anniversary.
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> Mark Jeffries>We don't just want to give it to money, but we want it to give it to an idea. And so he said, how quickly can you make this happen? And so one thing led to another, and, ultimately we opened this park and everything in the park. it's about four and a half acres west of what's called the rolling bridge, which is a bridge built as a model for the Brooklyn Bridge, in New York. And, everything in the park, causes parents or whomever to interact.
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> Mark Jeffries>So, so there's a foot piano, kind of like the movie Big. If you saw that years ago, jumping on the foot piano. There's like a flying pig where the parent has to do like lat pull downs in order to move their kid. And everything is meant that the parent is not on their phone, but they're interacting with the child. And so I think that was one of the most meaningful, contributions. So every time that was a dilapidated parking lot before becoming this amazing park. And as I mentioned, it was ranked as the number one river shore and park in the country. When I go across our bridge and I see that, I think that's a source of some humble pride that I helped to shape that.
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> Mark Jeffries>Now we're moving on to focus on activity in kids, trying to address chronic absenteeism, which is a challenge across the country post pandemic that kids increasingly are chronically absent. They miss. In Cincinnati, it's 43% of kids miss at least 10% of school. And you can't learn if you're not present. So we're doing activity challenges in schools to make it irresistible for kids to want to be at school, to come to school. So they have a sense of belonging in school. And that is very meaningful because I think if we can impact, kids and make sure that they have more opportunity, then, I think that's very purposeful.
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> Curtis Jackson>Where your tech startup uses AI to help companies make healthier decisions. Talk about what that means in practical terms and why this is so important.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, so as I, as I mentioned, I left P and G to start my own company. I started one company, I sold it, and then currently the one I have is called foresight. The number 4s I G H T. And what we do, we use machine learning to mine literally billions of data points in science data, in market, social media, to, identify ingredients where they may be concerns associated with health.
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> Mark Jeffries>So we all know sometimes we see headlines, that don't use this ingredient because it may be linked to cancer or heart disease or something. And increasingly with, Robert F. Kennedy and the make America healthy, this is a big issue. And so what we do is we score different ingredients. So think about it as like the rotten tomatoes for ingredients. So, we score it on a scale of what the risk level is. So, ah, we help companies identify emerging risks. So there might be new Scientific literature that is emerging on the health of an ingredient or linked to potential harmful effects. And so by leveraging our platform, companies can understand that before it becomes a real challenge and hopefully they can change their formulation of their product. And so, for us it's incredibly meaningful because obviously it's a business. But then also, hopefully we're helping companies make better choices and ultimately which will help consumers and help everyday people, ensure that what they're eating or putting on or in their body, is healthy and not associated with, some, you know, some negative impact.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, looking back on your journey from personal tragedy to professional success, how would you define purpose today?
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> Mark Jeffries>I think purpose is being intentional in the impact that you want to have. When I was a kid, as a dancer, I was intentional with the impact that I wanted to have at the time, which is to pursue a really beautiful career, I believe, as a dancer.
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> Mark Jeffries>But it was a different purpose as I lost my mom and brother. Then ultimately I realized that I wanted to have, I wanted to have a broader purpose, you know, but frankly after, after college and as I wanted to shape a family, I redefined my sense of purpose differently and said, hey, my purpose first and foremost is as a father. I want to make sure that I give my kids opportunity and I don't want them to have the uncertainty, especially financial, that I did growing up and which is why I entered business.
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> Mark Jeffries>and ultimately, that was satisfying. But what I found even more satisfying and purposeful was the sense of, impact that I had when I built out. Go vibrant. When I built out a park. And that's really where I think, which led me to public service. And I absolutely love public service most days. Some days are better than others. You know, I always say there's three parts to public service. There's the people, there's the impact, and there's the politics. I love two of the three.
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> Mark Jeffries>The people, the people you meet. It's really phenomenal. there are just some amazing people out there. And then the second is the impact that I can have. Gives me a sense of purpose and if I can improve someone's life through a, whether it's a policy choice that I make or some other, that's really meaningful. So we just announced actually this week an initiative which I'm really excited about. it's called From Harm to Hope Cannabis Reinvestment Initiative. And so in Ohio, just like a lot of other cities or states, we have legalized cannabis. So for decades of course it's been criminalized. And we know that the impact has been disproportionately on some communities more than others. And particularly the African American community in Ohio. African Americans were arrested three to four times higher at a higher rate than white populations, even though usage was the same.
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> Mark Jeffries>We know that when marijuana and cannabis was illegal that it disproportionately impacted those communities. So now it's legal. We're getting revenue from it. So we have dispensaries and we get revenue and we will be getting revenue every year. And the proposal that I have, this Harm to Hope fund is creating a restricted fund and saying, hey, these revenue, this revenue should go back into those communities that were impacted when it was criminalized. And we need to repair a lot of this damage. And that starts with expunging records. There are about 5,000 people who still have a record. Look, they serve their time, when marijuana was illegal, but it's still on the record. And that hurts their ability to get jobs, especially now that this is legal. And so the first part is expunging those records. the second is addressing real long term issues. And the first one is eliminated lead poisoning with kids. So there are about a thousand kids in Cincinnati per year who get lead poisoned. And what we know from our children's hospital here, which is the number one children's hospital in the country, is as adults, they followed these kids who got lead poisoned as adults. Those adults who were lead poisoned as a kid were 48% more likely to be incarcerated. And so we have to address, meaning removing lead paint and to make sure that we're not poisoning our kids. So that initiative I think is going to have a huge impact on communities, not only for those on the expungement part who are given a clean slate and an opportunity to have a fresh start, but on kids, make sure they're not lead poisoned and harmed for life. And so that is incredibly impactful and gives me a great deal of a sense of surface.
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> Curtis Jackson>Tell us about any upcoming projects that you're working on that listeners need to be aware of.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, that's the most exciting one. you know, the Harm to Hope, the other few, that I'm working on, we are building out a trail network here. it's called, the Crown, and it's a 34 mile loop around the city. It's similar to the Belt Line in Atlanta. but it's not just a, cool little recreation Trail, which is great, you know, but I think it's a real anchor to help communities that have been forgotten. So a portion of the trail is going to go through a part of town called the Mill Creek Valley, which historically has been an industrial, center of the city with a lot of environmental contamination. and so I launched this initiative called Experience Mill Creek. The Mill Creek is a body of water that feeds into the Ohio. In fact, in 1997 it was listed as the most contaminated waterway in North America. And now it's finally been restored. and there's bald eagles there and amazing fish and everything. But the neighborhoods haven't come along. And so as we're building out this trail, I think it comes back to what we were talking about just being very intentional. We know that things like when a trail comes through a neighborhood that has historically been underinvested, that there's gentrification.
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> Mark Jeffries>And so how do we shape what the future of that development looks like? And so over the last year and a half, and working with those neighborhoods and neighbors, what kind of development do they want? And as we build that out, as we make sure there are food trucks or coffee shops or other retail stores, that the neighbors themselves are the owners, that they're the ones who are shaping it, and that they have opportunity. And so it's a really big challenge as, you know, it's not just something in Cincinnati, but as we develop to make sure that people who have been in those neighborhoods for years, when maybe there wasn't development, that they are just standing by and watching. I mean, I saw that growing up in New York in the Upper west side, that it was getting gentrified and my neighbors, my dad, we were all standing around and watching. and meanwhile you're left behind. And so that is important for me to kind of be the voice, not just the voice of those quote, unquote forgotten communities, but make sure that they have a process, and are part of a, process in their. In. In their government.
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> Curtis Jackson>Well, so people can keep up with everything that you're up to. Throw out your contact info.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah. So folks, can find me on social media.
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> Mark Jeffries>That's probably the easiest. I'm, on all the major social media, Facebook, Instagram, Tick Tock at, you know, Jeffrey's Ms. Typically, and folks can find me there. folks can email me, Vote Jeffries V o T E J-E-F-F-R-E-Y-S.com and always interested and Eager to hear from folks and if they have ideas or anything. Always, excited to connect with people.
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> Curtis Jackson>Close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe if there was something I forgot to talk about that you would like to touch on or ah, any final thoughts you have for the listeners.
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> Mark Jeffries>Yeah, thank. First of all, thank you, Curtis, thank you for having me on and thank you to your listeners. I find your show and your topic very inspiring. I mean, look, we are facing a really uncertain time and that's not a political, statement. I mean, I think for a lot of people they are, really unnerved, unnerved by the advance of technology, things like AI, and concern over job security, concern over their kids future, their own future, their own retirement. And I think it's in these times that it comes back to recognizing that we all do need, each other and we all succeed with the help of others. And I think we need to remind ourselves of that, that you know, no one is quote, unquote, successful in life on their own. Ah, it's only through all of the support we get. And yes, of course we have to work hard and we have to be resilient and we have to have a little bit of luck. but it's also all of our obligation, to make sure that we are building the scaffolding of support from family in the community and through our government to really enable everyone to have the opportunity to live the American dream and really, be successful and thrive as an individual. So really appreciate this opportunity to be here and really appreciate your listeners.
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> Curtis Jackson>Yeah, and we definitely appreciate you and all the things that you are doing and giving back to the community and you're serving in office and all the great impact that you and your company are doing and we know that you will continue. And ladies and gentlemen, if you're in Cincinnati, go check out that park and you know, follow rate Review Share this episode to as many people as possible. Also visit www.craveball337.com Go leave a review for the show. Sign up for the Living the Dream newsletter and share the website and show to everybody you know. Thank you for listening and supporting the show and Mark, thank you for all that you do and thank you for joining me.
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> Mark Jeffries>Thank you again, Curtis. I really appreciate it.
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> Mark Jeffries>Take care of.
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> Curtis Jackson>For more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, visit www.craveball337.com until next time, keep living the dream.