Welcome to Quixotic Heights, where dreams take flight and where we explore the stories, ideas, and leaders transforming the future. Darlene Cunha, a Nurse Executive Change Coach and Caritas Leader, is working to reshape how we show up for the people who challenge us most. With decades of bedside, leadership, and coaching experience, Darlene advocates for a new model of care—one where compassion and clinical demands don’t compete, but instead coexist to elevate patient outcomes and staff well-being.

In this conversation, we will explore how to navigate difficult patient interactions, support overwhelmed care teams, and build organizational cultures rooted in humanity. Whether you’re a healthcare professional, a leader, or someone who wants to understand what compassionate care really looks like, this episode will stay with you.

Darlene Cunha, MMHC, BSN, CENP-RN, and WCS Caritas Leader | Coach, is a visionary healthcare executive with over four decades of experience leading clinical and operational excellence across diverse healthcare settings. Grounded in her nursing roots and guided by the Caritas principles of loving-kindness, dignity, and human connection, Darlene has served in executive leadership roles, including Chief Nursing Officer and Chief Operating Officer across academic healthcare systems. Renowned for her ability to lead complex systems through transformational change, she blends strategic insight with a deep commitment to healing and wholeness. Her leadership fosters cultures of compassion, accountability, and collaboration—prioritizing both operational performance and the sacred nature of caregiving. Darlene’s legacy is one of purpose-driven impact: mentoring emerging leaders, stewarding innovation with heart, and elevating the human experience at every level of healthcare delivery. https://www.linkedin.com/in/darlenecunha/

Welcome to Quixotic Heights, where we explore the extraordinary stories that shape our shared humanity.

Today, we’re joined by Dr. Randy Kluver—Dean of Global and International Studies at Oklahoma State University—whose family story is one of quiet courage and compassion.

In the years following the fall of Saigon, Randy’s parents, Mary and Ordell Kluver, opened their hearts and their home to sponsor more than 250 Vietnamese refugees who resettled in Oklahoma. Their story, now preserved in the book Chào to Main Street, published by Randy in their memory, captures the power of community, kindness, and connection across cultures.

We’ll talk with Randy about his parents’ legacy, the lessons their story holds for today, and how personal history can shape a lifelong commitment to global understanding.

Randy Kluver is the Dean of the Oklahoma State University (OSU) Global and International Studies program. His family sponsored over 250 Vietnamese refugees who came to Oklahoma in the 1970s and 1980s and resettled there. His parents wrote about their experiences in Chào to Main Street: An Account of Vietnamese Refugees in Western Oklahoma.“Captivating from start to finish.” — Major General (Ret.) Viet Luong
With the fall of Saigon in April of 1975, Vietnamese refugees flooded into US military bases to await resettlement in the United States. Ordell and Mary Kluver, from a small town in Western Oklahoma, soon found themselves immersed in a project to sponsor and help resettle 250 Vietnamese refugees in Clinton, Oklahoma, and the surrounding areas. They arranged for housing, education, and job placement. This book is their account, detailing the economic, social, and cross-cultural issues that arose from such an experience and exploring the genuine difficulties of introducing the Vietnamese people, with strong cultural traditions, into a vastly different, largely rural culture in the US.
“Considered one of the most successful group resettlement efforts in the US, this amazing story is barely known, and this volume tells the story of that migration with humor, tragedy, frustration, and above all, an undying commitment to providing those who had fled their homes with a chance to start a new life.”
— Scott Fritzen, President of Fulbright University Vietnam.
“Not only does this book reimagine what it was like for the many Vietnamese families who had to give of their lives for the sake of freedom and the struggles of starting over, but it also allows so many people to realize the hardships for those who were fighting to help the immigrants and the refugee families.”
—Thuan Hieu Nguyen, President, Vietnamese American Heritage Community of Oklahoma
“A heartfelt, powerful tribute to resilience and compassion.”
— Amy M. Le, Author of Snow in Vietnam

Join us for a fireside chat with the multi-talented Dee Britt.

Dee is the author of the Fireside Series, a voice actor, singer, retired physical therapist, and a burnout recovery specialist. ( @brittsburnoutblitz )

Dee’s work weaves together storytelling and healing, showing us ways to restore both body and spirit.

In this episode, Dee sings for us, showcasing the power of voice, how to balance passion with well-being, and the ways creativity can light the path out of burnout.

Dee Britt grew up in the small town of Anadarko, Oklahoma. When she wasn't playing basketball and running track, she was active in the United Methodist Church, where her parents were youth group leaders. As a young adult, Dee fronted various bands. Her songwriting revealed a passion for story writing and eventually led to her first book, Fireside: The James Johnson Story. The setting for Fireside, and the flavor of its characters, rose out of Dee's experiences with her “day job” as a physical therapist to countless assisted living center patients. While this book is not reflective of any one person or setting, it is an effort to give back – and give a voice – to those whose history is often overlooked simply because they are older or infirm. To her patients who have taught her about the important things in life, Dee sends a big thank you.

Website: www.deebritt.com

Instagram: @brittsburnoutblitz

Facebook: @deebritt1

Bluesky: @deebritt.bsky.social