Summary

In this episode of The Zekely Podcast, host Zeke interviews Montgomery County Commissioner Jamila Winder, exploring her journey, leadership, and commitment to community service. Discover her insights on politics, social justice, and her inspiring story of breaking barriers in Pennsylvania.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Commissioner Jamila Winder

02:04 Meteorology

03:08 Weather Game

05:10 Having a Spine

07:40 Radio

09:58 Lady J

12:27 Housing

15:12 Travel

16:36 Wander with Winder

19:45 Minimum Wage Increases

22:48 Representation

26:15 Why Democrat?

28:50 Most Influential

33:02 Family

35:15 Faith Leaders

37:13 Have Faith

40:09 Recovery

43:46 Hope

44:49 The Future

46:40 Wrap-Up

Jamila Winder: https://www.jamilawinderpa.com/

Full Video Episode Available On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheZekelyPodcast

Short Clips Can Be Found On TikTok: @drzeketayler/@thezekelypodcast and Instagram: @thezekelypodcast

www.thezekelypodcast.com

Hello, I'm Zeke and welcome to The Zekely Podcast. Let's talk Pennsylvania. The guest I have today lives in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. And in 2023, she made history by becoming the first Black woman elected to chair on the board of commissioners.

Since then, she's been advocating for the underrepresented, recruiting and retaining high quality employees, and making investments to improve the lives of those living in MontCo Thank you so much for being here, Commissioner Jamila Winder.

I’m Zeke, a doctor, a Pennsylvanian and unapologetic supporter of Democratic values. You might have seen me on social media working my ass off for Democrats and meeting some pretty amazing people along the way - like President Barack Obama and Governor Josh Shapiro.

For years, I’ve knocked thousands of doors all over Pennsylvania and poured my heart and soul into supporting candidates and causes that make a difference—from local school board races to national elections. The personal is political, and I take every election in Pennsylvania personally.

Where the mainstream media has failed you, I will give you truth and independence. You’ll hear from Democratic leaders, candidates, and change-makers who are working to improve the health of the Commonwealth, and it won’t be boring as hell.

No matter where you are, I’ll meet you with hope and a plan to make your community better one day at a time. Welcome to the Zekely Podcast. Let’s talk Pennsylvania.

Thanks for having me.

Jamila, you probably don't know this, but when I moved back to MontCo, you were one of the first elected officials that I met

at the celebration party at Coyote Crossing. Yeah, all the cameras were there, taking pictures, and I walked up just like, congratulations. You had no idea who I was. And there was so much going on, but I was so proud to cast my vote for you, and you've done so many good things. It was a great vote that I

I had no idea.

So congratulations, you've accomplished so much. And now you're here and we can talk all about you.

Well, thank you.

Yes, and thank you for coming to the celebration that night. It was a fun, fun night, wasn't it?

It was crazy. There was so much

going on, so much energy for you, and it was well deserved. We're gonna play some games, have some fun. You ready to go?

Okay, sounds good. Yep, I'm good.

All right, well Jamila, I understand that you wanted to be a weather woman when you went to college, but you

class. Is that correct?

That's correct.

Yes. So that dream was deferred. So went to Penn State for undergrad

and I did, I wanted to be ⁓ a weather girl and didn't realize at the time that, you know, you actually have to pass meteorology courses, right? So one of my first courses, science courses at Penn State was meteorology and I failed miserably. So I still stayed in communications, but

you

had to drop the meteorology part.

I had no idea that meteorology was so intense. I had no idea.

It is, you know what, they make it look so easy, right? And what I learned very quickly is that there is a science behind being a good weather person. So I'll leave the meteorology up to our local meteorologist in Philly. So yeah.

Okay.

Do you

still frequent the weather channel just to like tease that, you know, past within you

left that dream behind,

Well, look, I don't want you to feel too badly about not getting what you wanted all those years ago, but I figured we'd play a game about weather terminology. So I have some weather terms

Okay.

Hope you guys, okay?

that are real and some that I made up. And I want you to tell me whether they are real or whether they are not real.

Alright.

Okay.

You do realize that I failed meteorology, but I'm going to try. Okay. All right.

I know, I understand that you did, but I just feel like, you

know, I know you have this passion in you, maybe it'll come back to you. So this is like true or false, you don't have to define it. So how about anti-cyclone?

Okay, well, I'm ready. Okay.

true.

That is true. It is an area of high pressure typically associated with clear skies and calm weather. so this I'm telling you the dream is still there Jamila. You still got it. Okay, how about this one titular force?

Okay, all right, easy. It's still there. It's possible.

I'm gonna go with false.

That is correct. That is not true. I made that up. I was looking at actual terms and I somehow melded that together, but you're doing great. Okay, how about evapotranspiration? Evapotranspiration. That's actually true. The combined process of water evaporating from the surface and transpiring from plants. Okay, I only have two more. You could redeem yourself. So how about cut off

Sounds reasonable.

Okay.

false.

Okay. Wow. Okay. This is stressful. Okay.

low.

Okay.

That is true. It's a closed

upper level low pressure system that has separated from the main atmospheric flow, Jamila. Of course you knew that. Okay, here's the last one. Squall wall.

Okay, look at this! Alright.

True. ⁓ but the squall part is legit. Yes, yes, okay.

That's false, I made that one up. Yeah, I know, the white squall, the white squall, yeah, yeah, I know. But

look, you did a good job. I think that in the future, should you not wanna do politics anymore, which I'm not advocating for, I think there's still a future for you in the weather, I believe. Mm-hmm.

All right, so I'll tuck that dream, you

know, in the back pocket for a minute, just in case I need it. Okay.

I believe, ⁓

Jamila, you and your colleagues on the MontCo Board of Commissioners have made it a point to stand firmly against the Trump administration when it comes to stealing money from the county and ICE enforcement. And I wanted to thank you for protecting the people in our county, not just because I live here, but because not everyone has the spine to do what you have done. You have not obeyed in advance. So I wanted to thank you for that.

Of course.

⁓ no.

Right.

Well, thank you for acknowledging that. You know, it's been a tough dance, but, you know, we didn't want to be complicit and we wanted to have the courage to stand up for our friends and neighbors.

And again, that was a choice. You didn't have to do that. You didn't. And so I guess I was going to ask you why. Why did you, when so many people are just kind of backing down and falling in line, why did you decide this was important to you?

No!

think for me, the moment was in terms of just like having the courage to just stand up for what I believed was right was there was a moment where there was a big like ICE raid at Gigante.

supermarket, right? Like a couple miles down the road from where I live, a couple miles from where my son is going to school. And they were on the roof of that gigante with long guns. And I'm like, this can't be happening in our neighborhood, right? And so for me, like I really leaned into this idea about this is about people, right? This is not about politics.

We've got friends and neighbors who have called Norristown Montgomery County home.

we are treating them like the others. And I will not be complicit and not do what I can within the power of my office to stand up and say, this is wrong.

And, you know, I wish more elected officials would not be quiet about it and use the power of their respective office to invoke change.

Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, all politics is local. you know, if people are upset and angry about their communities and seeing ICE come in and do whatever they want, and when SNAP benefits were going away and there was no money to feed people, feed people in their communities, people like you stood up and said, no, you decided that I'm going to live the truth. I'm going to live in reality and help people. And that to me is such a huge Democratic principle.

Right.

Right.

Mm-hmm.

And I'm just grateful. I'm proud of you. I'm grateful that you are doing the right thing because not everyone chooses to do the right thing. And so thank you very much for that.

Thank you for that.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

Jamila, I understand in college you were a DJ and radio host on the FM radio station at Penn State, correct? How did you land on that gig?

I was, yes.

So it was interesting. I went to Penn State and my freshman year, there was a student radio station. Now it was an AM station, but I would walk by the station on my way to the dining hall. And there was a little sign on the door basically saying, if you're

this number a call.

And that's how I started. Like I never wanted to be like a radio DJ, but I started on an AM station and then did an FM show

Ladies Night. So it was every Thursday night from nine to eleven. And it was called Ladies Night. I had a co-host and

was Lady J.

Right? was my, that was my radio name.

J.

yeah, every Thursday night we would play, you know, all the hot R &B and hip hop hits and we'd get callers calling in. And the funniest part of this story is I used to get fan mail. So there was

huh.

a

not too far in, in, Belphon.

Okay.

and

the guys would send me fan mail. They would write about my show and then they would make a request for the following week. And so I would always give them a shout out on the show, but we had a lot of fun. And we would talk about all kinds of like hot topics, but it was something that I did all four years of college.

That's awesome.

Okay.

It's amazing.

That's amazing. And you didn't want to, after college, try the real deal on a larger radio station, parlay that into something else?

You know, after that meteorology weather girl thing, I was, no, I just, my mom's like, you need to get out, you know, get out of college with, you know, at least a B plus average and get to work some somewhere. And so I, it was pragmatic. You know, I had fun doing it. Made a lot of good memories, but that wasn't in the cards for the career. Lady J.

huh, yeah.

pragmatic.

Fagmatic.

Lady J. Lady, I hope

Lady J comes out again one of these days. That'd be awesome.

sometime soon.

Well, we're going to play a game. It was going to be DJ Winder, but I think it's going to be Lady J. OK, because I want to know what song you would play in these scenarios if you were the DJ. OK, it can be any song you want. And you have quite a history with music. So this should be, you know, can go R &B if you want to for all of them. So how about making your last student loan payment?

Okay.

Okay, here we go.

Okay.

Okay. Yeah, sure.

What would you slap on the radio

What's the song? Hip-hop hooray! ⁓ hey! You say that. Yes. I don't remember, but you know the song, right? That's why it... Yeah, my last student. And I still have student loans, so yes, I will be playing that, playing that. Yeah, there we go. Yes.

Hey, last loan! Yeah, who does sing? I don't know who sings that. I know the song, I know the song. Yeah.

I'm helping you now for the future to build your slide deck. Okay, here's this one.

⁓ Running out of toilet paper in a public restroom. Yeah, yeah, what songs can be playing?

running out of toilet paper in a public.

God, I don't know. You got me stumped on that one. What do you think? Come back to that one.

Yeah? Alright, we'll come back. I'll come back to it, I'll come back. How about this one?

First kiss on a date.

First kiss on a date. So what I would play is Man I Need by Olivia Dean. That's a new, ⁓ she's lovely. So I think if I was on a first date, even though I'm married, that's perfect for a first kiss. Yeah. Okay. ⁓

Mm-hmm. Man I Need. Okay. I love Olivia Deem. She's great. She's lovely. Yeah. Yeah. Come be the man I need. I love it. Yeah, that's a great, yeah, she's lovely. Okay, I'm down with that one. How about

finding out your credit card was stolen?

Yes.

Yeah,

yeah, we have the ups and downs, right? We can't, yeah.

Gosh, this is

some depressing R &B Saree.

Okay, okay. Yeah, like, it's a like slow R &B. Is that like slow R &B? Yeah.

You know who that is? It's like slow R &B, depressing. I

can't pinpoint one of her songs right now, but, but.

Yeah, okay.

I'm taking the journey regardless. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. All right, here we're gonna swing back, but try this one. Getting a refund on your taxes. That's coming up soon. I know, this is kind of, you know, this is a little money. There should be like a...

Just

Just Fine by Mary J. Yeah, Just Fine. That's a good one. Yes.

Mary J. Can't go wrong with Mary J. Lodge. She's a classic. She's a classic. All

right, let's go back to running out of toilet paper in a public restroom. What's blaring while you're sitting there wondering what the hell you're gonna do next? What are you gonna grab?

I'm like thinking like DMX or like some like angry, yeah, knocking on the door.

Start start barking. ⁓ Who's gonna get?

That's what I'm thinking. Okay.

Alright DMX. I love it. Well

lady Jay. You still got it. You still got

Hey, thank you so much for listening to this episode of The Zekely Podcast. And if you're enjoying yourself, please take a moment to rate my Podcast. Five stars would be great and leave a comment as well. And if you're watching this on YouTube, please hit follow. OK, back to the show.

Jamila, you talk a lot about providing stability for residents of MontCo in regard to housing. So I'm a firm believer that everyone should have

safe place to live and shelter. So I wanted to know what types of stability you've been able to bring to MontCo for all of its residents.

So one of the first things that I would say that all three commissioners agreed on was that, you know, we had a homelessness crisis in Montgomery County, you know, the second wealthiest county in Pennsylvania, and we've got more than 500 people sleeping on the streets.

And so one tangible thing that just,

really leaned into just in terms of my work was lobbying municipalities to be a part of the solution

what we saw as a result of that was

we saw Pottstown step up. We saw Lansdale step up. We just broke around in Norristown to

short term supportive housing solutions that will give us about two hundred and ninety beds when the Norristown

opens at the end of this year. And so, you know, that's addressing people that are the most vulnerable, friends and neighbors. But that's something that I can point to where

allocated budget dollars, we have had bipartisan collaboration, and then we've been able to work locally with municipalities to say, we've got to come up with a solution.

Yeah.

anyone

is sleeping on the streets in Montgomery County is one too many. So that's just one example

making sure that everyone has a safe place to lay their head at night.

think it's great. I look, I cannot even imagine waking up in that scenario. I can empathize. I certainly want elected officials that I vote for to think the way that you think, to set an example for the community, because it's not something I see every day. I mean, I do see patients in the hospital who are homeless. I do see patients who don't have access to a shower, and they still have to come in and get surgery. And the biggest issue is, what are we going to do afterwards? Well, you know, there are infection risks of leaving the hospital when you've had

Huh. Well then.

Right?

a sternotomy, getting your chest cracked open for heart surgery. And we have to say, how are we going to safely have these people survive so that they don't become more problematic in the future? They're going to be a frequent flyer to the emergency room because they don't have a place to wash their hands or get clean food.

And I want to make sure that someone like you is in charge so they have the resources to help themselves get back up and keep moving forward.

Jamila, you've done a lot of traveling. I'm kind of jealous. You've been to Dubai, South Africa, Germany, Poland, Israel, Jordan. I mean, the list goes on. What's been your favorite place so far and why?

one of my favorite places was Greece. So I went with six girlfriends and we went to Athens, we took the ferry to Santorini and Mykonos and it just, the people, the culture, the food, just the beauty of

What should I keep hearing? I have to go to Greece, Jamila!

Santorini and Mykonos, the history in

you know, I wanna go back. And we did so much, we packed so much into that trip. I was telling my husband who, you know, I consider us newlyweds. We've been married for about six years. I was telling him, we've gotta go to Greece

Yeah.

on a trip, because it's definitely a great place to visit.

I have never met someone who did not enjoy going to Greece for so many different reasons like you said. It's definitely on my bucket list and I haven't done that much traveling because you know the kids and just everything else going on but it's on my list and when I go I'm gonna have to reach out to you and give me some pointers on where to hit the

when you plan it, let me know. I'll give you some tips and tricks.

You'll be my point person for sure.

Well, we're gonna play Wander with Winder. Okay, I have some questions for you.

Okay, all right.

the key here is you cannot tell me any place in America. Okay, so it has to be out of the country no matter what I ask you, all right? So if I wanted to get a good massage, what country or place would I go to?

Okay.

so I would say,

yeah, on the, on the beach in, in, Mexico. So I love, I love traveling to Mexico.

Mexico? Okay.

I am keeping notes right now. All right. How about if I wanted to get ice cream? The best ice cream you've had not in America. Where would I go?

time.

So I would say Krakow, Poland.

They do this great ice cream in this, it's kind of like a cinnamon roll cone. I have a picture of it and they're huge. And so yes, best ice cream, Krakow Poland.

⁓

That sounds lovely. All right, how about, where would I go for the most extreme experience that you've gone on so far?

South Africa, Kruger National Park in South Africa.

South Africa? Okay,

so that where like the lions come right up to you basically and...

Yes, that's where

I did safari. I ⁓ flew into Johannesburg and then I flew from Johannesburg to Kruger National Park. And I would say that that was the most adventurous thing that I've done.

I've never been on a safari. went to Walt Disney World once at,

it, Universal? Animal Kingdom, that's it, yeah. But we saw some stuff, but I mean, that's not the same thing as, know,

Animal Kingdom? That's right, yeah.

Yeah.

the same thing, but that sounds awesome. All right, that's on my list. All right, how about best steak? Where would I go for the best steak? Can't be in the US.

Okay.

and it can't be in the US.

I would say probably Dubai. Good steak in Dubai.

Dubai. Okay.

Okay, but not the Salt Bae guy, because he's like really on the de- he's not cool anymore. So that was like a different good steak place. yeah, you know the Salt Bae guy? He was like, he was all over TikTok, he was viral. He was a guy who was famous for like dropping the salts off of his arm onto the steak. Does that like ring a bell at all? Yeah, yeah, the Salt Bae guy. So he was huge, and I think he started in Dubai or wound up there, but he turned out to be a fraudster. I mean he was like

I don't know about that guy. that, is that? ⁓ No, I don't know.

yeah, I've seen that, okay.

Hmm. ⁓ gosh,

okay. Not his thing.

He was abusing, no, abusing his workers and charging like $1,000

for a mid-steak. And yeah, I mean, there was a lot of notoriety in him. He took off really, really fast. But then he just crumbled and crashed and burned. yeah. Okay, fine. Okay, steak for Dubai. Okay, here's the last one. And maybe this is gonna be Greece, but maybe not. The most breathtaking view.

Okay, well, we're not talking about a steak from his his what but yeah, okay.

Okay, let's see.

I would have to say Greece. You know those pictures that you always see with the blue roof and you're overlooking the water, that's Santorini. And that's one of the most breathtaking views.

Grease, man.

Yeah. Okay.

wow. Well this was a fun game. Wandering with Winder is very successful for me, because I have some great notes right now, and I'm gonna use them when I travel someday when my kids are

Yeah, I hope not.

Great.

off and away with my lovely wife.

Yes.

Jamila, under your leadership, you increase the minimum wage for county employees in Montgomery to $20.52. And I need to remind everyone in Pennsylvania, the current minimum wage is $7.00.

and 25 cents. So what changes have you seen with your employees and departments since this was an

idea that like our county employees are the lifeblood of our operation.

And if we're not good to them, we're no good to the constituents that we need to serve day in and day out.

And so what I would say is

starting wage for county employees was really well received. Our vacancy

across the board has improved year on year. So we're able to recruit people, we're able to retain people.

And beyond the $20.52, we've just

focused on how do we make Montgomery County a destination place for people to work.

it's made a big difference and we'll continue to push the envelope to ensure that we're thinking about creative ways to reward, recognize the talent that we have on our team.

No, I think it's great. I mean, it's totally

necessary. Like we have to do this. And the fact that Pennsylvania is behind West Virginia and Ohio in terms of minimum wage, it's terrible. Look, I know that Governor Josh Shapiro, when he gets reelected and hopefully we get the trifecta, know, Democratic state house, and we flip the state Senate, we can raise the minimum wage because there's this whole myth, right, that if you raise the minimum wage, it's going to drive people out of Pennsylvania.

wild.

work.

It's.

Have you seen people running out of Montgomery County since we raised the minimum wage?

No, we've

it's been super great, great, great feedback. And

it's the minimum wage for our county workforce. doesn't, you know, but we hope that we like model what employers should be doing for their employees. It's the same thing with like paid parental leave. Like we've got the most generous paid parental leave policy.

in all of Pennsylvania in terms of government, right? And we're hoping that like, all right, we can be a model not only for businesses and organizations in MontCo but also for the rest of the state. And so we've tried to just be bold and big in terms of some of the decisions that we've made.

I mean, you have to lead by example and you have to show surrounding areas that you're not going to torpedo an economy, a local economy, by treating people with respect and dignity and give them a thriving wage. It's what people deserve. And I'm glad that our own Governor, Josh Shapiro, has that in his sight. But we, Pennsylvanians, have to give them the tools to do it. You you work in a way where you are surrounded by like-minded people and you have the power to do it.

That's right.

Josh Shapiro needs a Democratic State Senate. And that's the only way we're gonna get that done. So let this be another clarion call to anyone listening or watching. Let's get out the vote for Democrats in Pennsylvania this November 3rd.

That's why.

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Jamila you were sworn in as Montgomery County Commissioner on the first day of Black History Month And you were the first Black woman to be elected as chair of County Commission. That is an amazing coincidence I mean that is an amazing historic achievement and coincidence for yourself and for MontCo I mean did you feel that on that day?

Mm-hmm.

No, I absolutely felt that on that day. So it was not lost on me that my swearing in was on February 1st. And it was not lost on me, like as I looked out into the crowd for those that came out to see me get sworn in that there were a lot of women and girls that look like me.

And I think it's so important that, look, we honor the fact that I was sworn in on the first day of Black History Month and honor kind of all the people that came before me.

whose shoulders I stand on, but it's so important, especially in this era where, you know, sometimes I like read like the Facebook comments, right? People calling me like a DEI hire and, you know, making those kinds of comments, but like I'm here on my own merit, right? it is such a blessing, To be at the table and I've worked hard to get at the table.

Now I just want to make sure that, you know, the generation coming up behind me and the generation that has yet to be born kind of sees that these things are possible. Right.

Yeah, I think it's

more important that people like you are elected and have that representation when we see how racism

Yeah.

and misogyny and bigotry has come back so strongly. We need people like you to get elected and show that these are just false narratives and that you deserve to be in this space just like anyone else.

yeah.

obviously you 100 % deserve the position that you earned But I think it's important in this time and space for people like you to be out there and say no

Yeah.

That racist talk is not going to work on me. It's not going to work in our community. And we're going to keep showing up every day and fight for people who don't even like me. I'm going to fight for you even though you don't like me because that's my job. I'm going to fight for you regardless.

That's so important.

Yeah, that's so important, right? you know, like, there's so much vitriol out there. And, you know, sometimes I sit in our board meetings and there's people that are, you know, being bigots and,

saying things that are just so disrespectful. And I've just tried to kind of create an environment, you know, in the boardroom.

to ensure that that's a sacred and a safe place for everyone and model, right? That we can disagree on politics, we can disagree on policy, but we're gonna respect our friends and neighbors.

And that is exactly why you are in that position and you deserve that position because you will look at bigotry in the face and say, I will still take care of you. I will still make sure that you have a place to live, that you have food on your table, that have access to healthcare because that is your job. And it shouldn't be a partisan issue. It shouldn't be.

Mm-hmm.

What's exactly?

but you are a professional and we need more professionals like you in office all over the state of Pennsylvania. You're welcome.

Yeah, well thank you for that.

Jamila, why are you a Democrat and why do you choose to represent the Democratic Party?

I'm a Democrat because of my value system that I believe that, you know, rising tides lift all boats. And the Democrats have demonstrated time and time again that we care about people. Right.

We care about everyday kitchen table issues that are keeping working families up at night.

And I've, I've found just like through life and through my career, like when I attach my wagon to a person or an organization,

usually that value system alignment.

Right. Yeah.

And so

there's an opportunity in this moment, especially because people

disenfranchised with both parties in some instances. And I think part of the reason why I'm a part of this democratic movement is to help create buy-in and belief that the Democratic Party

is the party that will work for everyday Americans. And I'm gonna continue to lend my voice, use my

space in this office to influence people that may be just skeptical about our American politics just generally. So, but I'm a Democrat through and through because it aligns with who I am.

as a person and that value system. And it's helping people, especially working people that are just trying to get ahead.

Yeah, I agree. I'm glad that we share those values together. And clearly we both share a love for empathy, something that the Republican Party seems to think is the disease of America. We both know that leaning into empathy and helping other people is the most important thing you can do in a democracy. And clearly you are using your democratic values and principles to help MontCo. I mean, I don't have to look around and wonder if my county commissioners are looking out for marginalized communities.

I don't have to wonder if you're trying to raise a minimum wage because you did it. I don't have to wonder if you have to make sure that homeless people have shelter, that people who want to have children or God forbid, try and have children and have a miscarriage or have a traumatic c-section that if you work for the county, you're going to get that time off. That you're going to, all those things are democratic principles. And to me, that is super important. I know that I live in a place that's protecting all people that would look after me if I needed help or my family.

Right.

That's right.

to make sure that my patients have access to good healthcare and good people fighting for them every day. So I really appreciate that we share those values together.

Mm-hmm.

I forgot about that. Yes, I was.

I know,

I know, I'll work on that. I'll work on that.

Seriously, well, I think that's gotta be like top of your LinkedIn profile,

you know, on all your websites. Come on, we gotta do better.

You know what,

I'm not a great self-promoter, right? You know, it's like, just, I do the work, but it's nice to be acknowledged. So I forget, my husband always tells me what number was I on the list? Do you even know? I don't remember either, but I was glad to be on it. Thank you for acknowledging that.

Okay.

I know what number it was. Let's just

say you were top 25%. You definitely deserve that. Well, we're gonna play a game called Influencer. Okay, I wanna know if you were an influencer online, what genre would you pick? What specific thing would you do when it comes to exercise? So if you were an exercise influencer, what would you choose to do?

Okay.

I would choose to run. Yeah, I'd be a runner. I ran track. Now I'm not a good runner now, but if I had to be an influencer, I would like break out my sneaks and stretch a little bit and yeah, a runner.

You'd be a runner. So you'd be the one waking up. Okay. Okay.

huh.

Yeah,

I do enjoy those. I like when they start at very beginning, like waking up, laying out their outfit, you know, and it's like the pop, pop, pop, pop, the shoes, the shorts, the shirt, and then it shows them like getting their drinks ready and everything. I mean, I'm already seeing it. I could see it. I think you'd be great at it. Okay. All right, here's another one. What about food? If you were a food influencer, what would you choose?

huh.

I

I'll work on that.

You mean what type of food or?

Yeah, yeah,

yeah, it could be cooking, it could be eating, could be anything you want, food.

Yeah, I

would, I would choose, yeah, eating, right? Like trying different restaurants and that's what I would do. Yeah.

eating.

Okay.

Okay, I like that, I like that. How about repair? If you had to fix things, what would you choose?

Ugh.

I'm not good in that department. That's why I have my husband that's a carpenter.

Yeah.

maybe just like electronics,

yeah, maybe.

That's better than me. I'm very

bad at, you know, repairing things as well. I'd probably be really good at, like, unclogging toilets. I feel like I'm really good at, like, unclogging toilets at home. You know, my kids, just... You know, I'll be at work, and sometimes I work till 8 p.m. and at, 6 o'clock, go to text my wife and she'll say the toilet's clogged again. Like, well, I know what I'm doing when I get home in a couple hours, so that'd probably be my...

Ooh, that's a tablet.

we should be doing

it right. There you go. Okay. Okay.

my repair, my influencer peak would be on clogging toilets. Okay. All right. I have two more for you. How about

if you were an ASMR influencer, you know ASMR is?

No, ⁓ I kinda, but I don't... Explain it to me.

So

ASMR stands for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, but you probably know it as like the people who whisper. Where they'll like open up candies and they'll like crunch it and where they'll like brush their hair and you know you hear the brushing noises. That's like a whole genre, a whole genre. Yes. Oh yeah. I kind of like watching it as I'm going to sleep. I find it very relaxing

Okay. I'm gonna have to look it up. Okay. Okay.

I just love it. I love that stuff. But it drives my wife crazy. So what ASMR genre would you choose?

Hi.

Genre.

Would you like chomp candy? Would you do makeup? Like where you're tapping the different makeup things?

⁓ is there something where

like, I just like, like drinking wine or pouring wine or something?

Yeah, 100. I

could totally see you recording the wine being poured and then the smell. to smell the wine. Okay, I don't think I've ever seen... You may be on to something. I don't think I've ever seen ASMR wine tasting. So I think you should put a pin in that one. I might like that one. All here's the last one. Fashion. If you were a fashion influencer, what would you choose?

That's right in the middle. No, yep. And that's what I would do.

Hey! I'm right.

I would choose handbags.

you know, the latest trends in handbags. love a good handbag. Now, since I've had children, like my investment has gone to like childcare and not different handbags, but I definitely would,

Yeah.

Hmm.

Yeah.

Handbags that's definitely

my wife does not have a lot of handbags. but I look it's a huge market So I think you have definitely not have trouble being the handbag market, but I'm honestly I'm inspired by the wine ASMR So I think if you had to choose any of those Run with that one run hard Jamila. I love it

Okay. Okay, I'll do it. I'll do it.

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like for your family?

It's been hard. think that my husband's probably listening upstairs.

know, we went on this journey together as a family. At the time when I became commissioner, Max was only two. So I was a new mom, I was a newlywed, and I was caring for two sick

you don't really know until you actually do it the toll that it might take on your family. So we've had our challenges, right? Late nights, time away from home, trying to juggle, childcare. But I've had a really supportive partner. It's taken us.

a while to fully understand, right, the implications for our family. But I would say kind of going into my fourth year, we're hitting our stride. We know what to expect. But a lot of a lot of personal sacrifice to serve, right.

And I'll tell you, one of my biggest regrets is my mom. I didn't realize my mom was dying, Like I knew she was sick, right? ⁓ But I didn't really, like when I was running for election, like I didn't spend as much time with her as I should have, right? Knowing that maybe a year later, she wouldn't be here anymore,

Yeah.

I mean, I'm grateful

for your personal sacrifice and I'm also very grateful for your husband's sacrifice to allow you to have all those late nights and to be a single parent sometimes, you know, when you're taking care of business for the county. But yeah, you can't do this without support. You can't run for office without both people being on the same page because you just wouldn't be as effective, you know, and you come home at end of the day hearing probably some terrible stories and you need that comfort system and that support system to find some joy.

So thank you to you and thank you to your husband and your kids for allowing you to do such a

Yeah, thank

job for the community.

Jamila, you've made it a point to interact with many different faith leaders in MontCo. ⁓ What's a common issue that's been brought up by these leaders and what have you done to address it?

Mm-hmm. Uh-huh.

Yeah, so we convened like an interfaith lunch and we hosted it at Salem Baptist Church in Abington with Pastor Marshall

And what we saw or what we heard was housing insecurity, food insecurity, and then a lot of talk around just like the kind of the

the political violence and the negativity that is really affecting people's mental health and well-being. And they gave us some really good suggestions on things that they would like to see. And we've committed to convening on a regular

Well, I'm grateful that you're reaching out to all these different faith-based communities because I think what I'd never like to see is when people compete for who's suffering the most I do think that it is worthy to call out suffering. I think it is worthy to name names and say that this community needs a little bit more attention right now. But I think it's dangerous to say that this community is having the hardest time.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

always, you know, or use that type of terminology. I think that you need to come together in times of suffering and support each other and not pit different faiths against one another. I think that's when things become dangerous. it doesn't matter if it's, you know, whether based on the color of your skin or the religion that you practice, you know, if you look out for each other no matter what and recognize that, you know, coming after one community is coming after all of us, then you can

That's right.

Right?

overcome all of those challenges together. So I'm grateful that you're listening to all these communities and finding the commonalities and focusing on those. And I think that's the important thing you can do as a political leader in the

What's his name?

That's right.

right, let's play one more game and it's called, You've Gotta Have Faith. Okay, so I'm just gonna ask you if you have faith in these things. Do you have faith in vaccines? Good, I'm glad we're on the same page about that.

Okay.

Okay.

Yes. I got my

COVID and flu vaccine at the same time in a board meeting.

I'm sure that was rough

for the next 48 hours, as a doctor I'm proud of you and I fully support that decision. Next question, do you have faith in the mainstream media?

It was pretty rough. was.

nah, not rea- no, not really, not these days. No.

I agree with you. There's a large reason why I'm doing this humble podcast is because I feel like this type of messaging is not getting out to enough people, that the mainstream media has us focused on rage bait and terrible panels of, you know, what's happening in DC and creating this kind of sense of hopelessness. And I think that there's so much that we can do at the local level that gives us power and strength. And so, yeah, I'm very disappointed with the mainstream media right now.

Okay.

⁓

Yeah, and

I don't watch actually at home, don't watch a lot of news because it does. creates a lot of, you know, there's a lot of fear-mongering, anxiety, and it's just not good for mental health. And people are getting a lot of misinformation for sure.

I agree. I have two more. Do you have faith in mail-in ballots? Yeah, and for those who don't know, you you have as commissioner a ton of power over making sure that our mail-in ballots are not just sent out, but received and processed in a timely fashion. And you are an elected official that I had power in electing. I had power in that. And I know that you're gonna take care of it when it comes to mail-in ballots that are safe and effective.

I do.

That's right.

Yeah, and we're,

you know, and we're unpacking the executive order that the president just signed. But we are focused on ensuring that we don't disenfranchise anyone and that we give people access to the opportunity to vote. you know, it's mail-in ballot is a great way to make your voice heard.

Yeah.

Yeah, can't, I mean, I cannot stand Trump at all. But the fact that he shits on mail-in ballots when he himself uses mail-in ballots, it's just like, yeah, mean, hypocrisy just, it's ridiculous.

I know! It's wild, right? It's wild.

Here's the last one. Do you have faith in democracy?

I do, despite

all the craziness happening in the world and

look, I'm involved, I'm a part of this political orbit, right? It's like, how do you convince everyday people to still believe in democracy?

and believe in, you if you exercise your right to vote, right, and you get good people, good Democrats in office, life will be better, right? And so, but I still believe in democracy, but it's incumbent upon me as a leader in this party to give other people a reason to have faith in democracy, especially in these times.

Jamila, your brother has been sober for two years now,

How has supporting your brother helped you serve in your current role as commissioner?

You know, when I became commissioner, my brother was serving a 18 to 36 month sentence at one of our state penitentiaries as a result of his substance use disorder. And, you know, I was really embarrassed, Like to share, right? Like when you kind of go through this process, you kind of got to share every everything. And I was embarrassed and I talked to a few advisors about it as I was

getting ready to run this race. you know, people advise me to talk about it, you know, talk about your brother's story with his permission, of course. ⁓ And his experience has really shaped the way in which we set policy around how do we use our opioid settlement dollars, right? How do, you know, what services are we delivering through our office of drug and alcohol?

Yeah.

learned so much about through my brother's experience coming out of state penitentiary, going into a halfway

relapsing after being at a halfway house that was like a couple miles from Kensington,

we have to do better. Like my brother had to do, you know, that's his journey. He had to do the work to become ⁓ sober,

Yeah.

he really, I'll give you an example. You know, my brother lives in a sober house

and he's actually a house manager and people like really talk down about like those recovery houses, those sober living facilities.

That saved his life, right? But I wouldn't have known that. And as a result, now we're using opioid settlement dollars to help give people access to sober living houses. And that's one example of how we're giving people access to a safe place to lay their head. I wouldn't have known that had it not been for my brother's experience.

Yeah. I mean, as commissioner, you helped to invest $18 million towards innovative behavioral health emergency centers. I mean, I really like to highlight this because yes, we have a gun epidemic in this country. And yes, we also have mental health problems in this country that drives people in various avenues to addiction, depression, and sometimes violence. But Republican politicians do not want to invest in mental health services. They do not want to take tax dollars

⁓

and give it to programs to help people who are struggling in life and who choose those destructive paths. And you are doing that. You are investing in your community. You are helping people climb out of very dark places and give them a path to healing themselves and helping their communities and not be violent towards themselves or others. This is a democratic principle. And so when people say, we need more mental services,

Do you think you're going to get that with Republican politicians? Because you're not going to. They do not care about the human experience in terms of repair, recovery, and moving forward. So it makes sense to me.

It is wild.

Yeah, it's wild to me because again, like I always point to like all families are affected by addiction. You know, all families have someone that has dealt with mental health challenges, Republican and Democrat

every year.

I'm really happy for your brother and I'm happy that you took his journey to heart and now are now helping Montgomery County constituents in the same way. Give them the same chance

your brother had.

Jamila, what gives you hope?

gives me hope is like every day that I show up as commissioner, I get to meet

diversity of people that make this county great. And so despite

what's happening at the federal level, even the challenges at the state level with a divided legislature. Like what gives me hope is

everyday people

continuing to protect what makes Montgomery County a great place to live, work and raise a

You give me hope, Jamila. You really do. ⁓ People are constantly saying, where are the leaders? Where are the leaders in the Democratic Party? I'm looking at one. I'm talking to one right now. I don't have to worry that there aren't people in my own community waking up every day to make things better, not just for me, but for everyone living here. And so that gives me hope. Knowing that you exist and that you're working with our democratic values will always give me hope.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for that.

I appreciate it.

Jamila, my last question for you is, what plans do you have to get you through these next few years? Because it's been a bruiser living in America these past couple years. Yeah.

It has been.

You know, I think the thing that gets me through

crazy and the unthinkable is just

staying focused, right? Staying focused on what I can

relative to being county commissioner. What can I control with my family? I just try to stay focused and

and looking for the good, ⁓ even in some of the darkest moments, not saying that it's, that it's, ⁓ easy, but I think it starts with like turning off the

trying not to doom scroll, right. On, social media, trying to stay out of the comments. ⁓ especially the comments even on, you know, my County commissioner page, but.

I'm just staying focused on how do I make life better for people, right? And collecting the receipts and the examples of how I'm doing that. And I think that's gonna help and being able to demonstrate those kind of tangible ways in which we are. I think that's gonna help get me through the

how many years, two and a half? I wanna say two, this two, but.

Too many, too many.

There's, there's a, there's, there are, there are several bright spots, especially in Montco. We've got a great governor in Josh Shapiro.

listen, if we get that trifecta, when we get the trifecta, when we get the trifecta, it's gonna, it's gonna, it's gonna look even better. Right?

it's going to be

so awesome, Jamila. It's going to be so awesome. Yeah, we do.

Yeah, so we have that to look forward to, but we've got our work cut out for us, but

I know Manko is up for the challenge.

100 %

well, Jamila Winder, Pennsylvanian Democrat leader. We have work to do Pennsylvania and I have to say I know that in Montgomery County I'm not gonna have to worry if our elections are gonna be fair and just. This May 19th for the primaries and this November 3rd because I got to choose my commissioner, Jamila Winder, okay? And this November 3rd you have a chance to elect more Democrats up and down the ballot because

If you want someone who's not gonna work with ICE unnecessarily, if you want someone who's gonna protect your ability to vote, to help marginalized communities, to help you rise up and do better in your communities, you need to elect people like Jamila Winder. And she's a Democrat with democratic values. And like you said, if we get the fucking trifecta this year, I'm gonna lose my mind in all the good ways, all the good ways, but we have to show up and vote. We have to because...

Well, thank you.

That's right. That's the

key. We cannot sit on the sidelines. We can't complain about what's happening in Washington if we sit on the sidelines and don't vote. So I agree with you, but I'm looking forward to the win in November,

We can't.

percent.

November's a little bit of a ways away, but we'll do the work here in Montco and across Pennsylvania. I'm confident in that.

Thank you so much, Jamila, for everything that you do. And I look forward to all the accomplishments you're going to continue to get as commissioner.

Thank you so much for having me. This was fun.

Absolutely.

Well, thank you so much for joining me here on The Zekely Podcast. Stay hopeful and get involved and until next time, let's keep building a stronger Pennsylvania together.