EP. 112: From Refugee to National Leader: The Van Ton-Quinlivan Story

What can a first-generation refugee teach us about courageous, purpose-driven leadership?Andrew Tallents interviews Van Ton-Quinlivan, CEO of Futuro Health and national expert in workforce development. Van shares her childhood journey escaping Vietnam, her parents’ resilience, and the experiences that shaped her mission to expand opportunity for others. She reflects on leading the largest community college system in the US, founding a nonprofit now active in 10 states, and learning to lead through influence rather than authority.Van also discusses the demographic reality facing healthcare, the shrinking working-age population, and the urgent need to rethink how society values and rewards caregivers.Key TopicsPurpose-driven leadershipLeading through influenceHow to take feedback wellWorkforce development modelsHealthcare staffing challengesLeadership storytellingAligning work with purposeTIMESTAMPS00:00 Introduction00:27 Van’s background03:00 Taiko drumming and hobbies04:20 Childhood, Vietnam War, and resilience08:30 Finding courage to lead and start over13:00 Learning to accept feedback17:30 Early career lessons21:00 Aligning purpose and work28:00 Workforce partnerships32:00 Becoming more human as a leader35:00 The future of healthcare38:00 How to connect with VanGuest BioVan Ton-Quinlivan is the CEO of Futuro Health, former Executive Vice Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, author, podcaster, and national leader in workforce development. Her work has been featured by WHO, BBC, the UN General Assembly, and G7 Canada. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.